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Title Of Research: Organic Farming As An Approach To Sustainable Development, An

Title of research: Organic farming as an approach to sustainable development, an  
                               economic evaluation.

Aims & Objectives: To find out ways and means to make agriculture sustainable as
                                against the current agriculture, which is grossly nonsustainable?

Introduction: Sir Albert Howard, the noted agricultural scientist  brought in to India by the British during the Raj, wrote in his " Agricultural Testament" (1940), " Since industrial revolution, agriculture has become unbalance, the land is in revolt, diseases of all kinds are on the increase, the nature of removing the worm out soil by erosion". In India, he worked with the Indian farmers, learnt from them and developed the famous "Indore process" virtually eulogizing the role of "humus" in restoring soil fertility. He also discovered the factor in plant nutrition, the symbiotic mycorrhizal association, the living fungus bridge between humus in the soil and the sap of plants. According to him, the maintenance of soil fertility is the first and foremost condition of any permanent system of agriculture.

            In the post independence period, especially since the inception of first five year plan there exited a gap between the demand and production of food in India. To achieve parity, Indian Agricultural scientists proposed paradigm shift from the traditional to the western methods. This was called, the Green Revolution. New seeds called high yielding or hybrid seeds were introduced together with chemical fertilizers. The crop plants which grew from these green revolution seeds were hungry is terms of chemical fertilizers and grew luxuriantly inviting pests and disease causing microbes. Pesticides and other toxic chemicals were applied to contain them.

            The green revolution scientists argued that the miracle seeds would dramatically change the agronomic practices and solve the food problem. Four decades of Green revolution showed another paradigm shift, crop failure, diminishing yield, soil, food and water contaminations, increased green house gas and farmers' suicides. The Indian agricultural planners were alerted when United States Environment Protection Agency (USEPA) revealed in 1991 that the projected estimate of "Methane Emission" from the Indian paddy field was staggeringly high, as much as 37.8 metric tones per year. Although they disputed the amount, they however, could not deny the report. This together with other such reports against massive use of agrochemicals might have contributed to the Indian agricultural planners when they formulated the National Agriculture Policy in July 2000 where in emphasis was attached to the promotion of Sustainable Agricultural Practices, advocating control use of agrochemicals both for plant nutrition and pest management, another paradigm shift. In the input management chapter, the role of organic manures and bio-fertilizers together with bio-pesticides were given their due importances The necessity of environmental protection was duely recognized. The role of agro-forestry for efficient nutrient cycling, nitrogen fixation, and organic matter addition and for improving drainage etc. was expressly felt and spelt.

 

            The term organic farming refers to a holistic approach to a farm as a living organism and the soil as a living object in which all the component parts, the minerals, the humus, the micro-organisms, the soil biota and the human interaction, in developing these components to the level of an ecosystem that is sustainable.

            Sustainable agriculture is that where there are no purchasable inputs or are in minimum and all inputs are internal and on farm generated ones, thus making the farmers the real producers. It is to ensure food safety together with food security.

            It is well known that applications of artificial chemical fertilizers (ACFs) in crop field ecosystems though enhance crop yield, it is only in terms of carbohydrate components and there occurs a deficiency in net protein content of food grains by 20-25% w/w with the amino acid balance greatly impaired, thus lowering the protein quality. Besides, ACFs also impede and set in imbalance the entire mineral and, micro nutrient pattern in crop plants. Application of super phosphates cause deficiency of copper and zinc components in the food grains. Excessive potassium applications decrease the amount of vitamin - C (ascorbic acid) and carotene in food grains. Besides, ACFs interfere with and possibly eliminate many of the soil microbes who are naturally helpful in building the productive top soils in the presence of adequate quantities humus/compost, more preferably well prepared vermicompost.

 

Material-Method:
             As proposed, approach was first made to achieve soil fertility through different organic amendments irrespective of the soil types. In kharif of 2003 Pongam oil cake was used @ 1.5 Q/Acre. In Rabi of 2004, Azolla green manure was applied with pongam oil cake. In Kharif of 2004-05, Sesbania (Dhanicha) green manure was applied with pongam oil cake, bacterial fertilizers, vermicompost and repeated applications of fresh cow urine.   .         The organic plots were run parallel to but away from the chemical plots of same size. The selected site was divided into 9 plots and each plot was relpicated 3 times. Each plot was applied with different organic treatments. The results thus obtained with reference to inputs used, crop yield and revenue generated were recorded and the same were reflected in the tables, together with B: C ratios and soil fertility status at different stages of cultivation.

            All plots were of 20 square meters. Each application was replicated and the mean values were reflected in the tables. Since the experiments were fields trials the crops were influenced by the nature and natural calamities like flood, hail storm and draught.

           Paddy was selected as the crop because it was the principal crop that had acquired a monoculture pattern, the paddy field ecosystem of India have been singled out by the USEPA as the contributors of the green house methane gas and the crop whose yield was under distress sale for the last two years..

            Pest problems were mostly non existent.  Occasionally, the same was managed by using various traps such as light traps and pheromone traps and application of Trichocards besides application of botanical sprays of leaf extracts of  Vitex negundo  and  Azadirachta indica. The traps and cards kept the yellow stem borers at check when the sprays kept the hoppers at check. Attacks of diseases like BLB was not observed in any of the experimental fields, although positive results of cow dung water in containing BLB were achieved in a few non experimental fields.

Techniques employed:

           Soil fertility indices were generated through prescribed methods such as Subiah and Asija (1956) for Nitrogen, Olsen's method for Phosphorous and Ammonium Acetate method for Potash.

Results:

 

Cropping
Season

Crop Type

Farmers Name

Soil type

              B.C Ratio
Chemical   I  Organic   

2003-04 Kharif

Swarna(HYV Paddy)

RamChandra Mahrna

Sandy loam

1.33

2.04

2003-04 Kharif

Swarna(HYV Paddy)

Shaktidhara Mandal

Forest soil

1.65

2.25

2003-04 Kharif

Swarna(HYV Paddy)

Dibakar Biswal

Clay loam

2.111

2.652

2003-04
Rabi

Lalat(HYV Paddy

Surendranath Patra

Deltaic Alluvial

1.788

2.561

2004-05
Kharif

Pooja(HYV Paddy)

RamChandra Mahrna

Sandy loam

1.468

1.987

2004-05
Kharif

Mugei(Native Paddy)

RamChandra Mahrna

Sandy loam

1.451

1.890

2004-05
Kharif

CR-1018(Improved Paddy)

Shaktidhara Mandal

Red forest soil

1.67

2.151

2004-05
Kharif

Jangalijata(Native Paddy)

Shaktidhara Mandal

Red forest soil

1.49

1.978

2004-05
Kharif

Pooja(HYV Paddy)

Raghunath Barik

Coastal alluvial

1.971

2.429

2004-05
Kharif

Mugei(Native Paddy)

Raghunath Barik

Coastal alluvial

1.587

2.962

2004-05
Kharif

Swarna(HYV Paddy)

Bijay Patra

Coastal saline

1.668

2.064

2005
Rabi

Khandagiri(HYV Paddy)

Benudhara Dey

Sandy loam

1.677

2.088

2005
Rabi

Lalat(HYV Paddy)

Debendra Mishra

Sandy loam

1.663

2.042

2005
Rabi

Lalat(HYV Paddy)

Sridhara Sethi

Sandy loam

1.564

1.914

2005
Rabi

Lalat(HYV Paddy)

Kanheiyalal Dalpati

Coastal saline soil

1.313

1.839

2005
Kharif

Kasturi(HYV Paddy)

Pitambar Jena

Clay loam

 Not done

4.47

 

Inference:

               Organic amendments were applied on-field by the research team but the job of repeated applications fresh cow urine was left to the farmers which they had grossly neglected except Pitambar Jena. Consequently, varied B: C ratios were obtained and they were appraised of this Himalayan blunder which they had committed.

 

Author: Dr. Ashok Kumar Panigrahi, Principal Investigator, UGC MRP, FM (Auto.) College, Balasore (Orissa), 2003-06.

Acknowledgement: Financial support from University Grants Commission, New Delhi-2.   

About the Author

Author is an avid natrure analyst,has worked on & written books,research papers and short & large articles on several aspects of the nature such as farming,forest,food and water etc.

Acf Hopper