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SP5-2014 Editors P K Shetty Claude Alvares Ashok Kumar Yadav ORGANIC FARMING AND SUSTAINABILITY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDIES Bangalore, India Organic Farming and Sustainability Editors P. K. Shetty Claude Alvares Ashok Kumar Yadav NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDIES Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bangalore-560012 © National Institute of Advanced Studies 2014 Published by National Institute of Advanced Studies Indian Institute of Science Campus Bangalore - 560 012 Tel: 080 2218 5000, Fax: 2218 5028 E-mail: [email protected] SP5-2014 ISBN: 978–93–83566–03–7 Disclaimer: The responsibility for opinions and factual matter as expressed in this document rests solely with its author(s), and its publication does not constitute an endorsement by NIAS of any such expressed opinion, nor is it affirmation of the accuracy of information herein provided. Typeset & Printed by Aditi Enterprises Bangalore - 560 023 Ph.: 080-2310 7302 E-mail: [email protected] ii Preface Environmental preservation, resource conservation and assuring of food quality for the ever growing population had been the major challenges in agriculture during the last two decades. Growing awareness among consumers for safe and healthy food grown in tandem with nature has triggered the growth of another food segment across the world. Organic farming was found to be the most viable and effective option to address all these concerns and to address the consumers need. Although modern organic agriculture has its roots in consumers’ desire for safe and healthy food and has emerged from western developed economies, of late it has also caught the attention of sustainability promoters and has been found to address all the global concerns. Organic farming in its modern form is not only productive enough to meet our growing demands but is also resource conserving and continuously contributing to the improvement of soil health and fertility. Ardent promoters of organic farming consider that present day organic agriculture, which is a mix of traditional wisdom and modern science and technology, can meet emerging demands and become the means for complete development of rural areas, especially in the developing countries like India where large chunk of farmers are small, with limited resources and with limited access to water, mainly through seasonal rains. With increasing hazards caused by the use of synthetic chemicals in agro ecosystems, organic farming provides an alternative option, not only for sustaining productivity and retaining soil health but also promising chemical residue free food. Today, organic farming is a well-researched science that combines the knowledge of soil fertility, plant pathology, entomology, and other biological and environmental sciences. Globally organic agriculture is being adopted by more than 162 countries and more than 37.2 million ha of land is registered under organic certification process. This does not include the traditional and/or default organic areas which remained untouched from green revolution era and may comprise of three times the certified area, located mainly in Africa and India. Besides this approximately 32.5 million ha of wild harvest collection area is also registered for organic certification. India is iii the second largest producer of organic agriculture commodities in Asia after China. As per the latest survey conducted by FiBL and IFOAM (2014) India’s share in the global market for organic food is although less than 1% but there is tremendous scope to increase it. Hopefully, India can soon become the leader in organic agriculture and accelerate the growth towards a sustainable future. In India, agriculture has been practiced for thousands of years, which was essentially organic, is also the repository of traditional wisdom and genetic germplasm. Civil society organizations and innovative farmers have developed technologies which are not only effective and productive, but are also explainable and accepted by the modern science. Many farmers with their farms are acting as centres of learning and serves as source of inspiration to thousands of upcoming organic agriculture enthusiasts. Organic farming has many advantages such as energy efficiency, preservation of traditional knowledge, eco- friendliness, profitability, reduction and mitigation of Carbon emissions, etc. However, there are various queries regarding its contribution in sustaining food security and nutritional quality, adoptability, organoleptic quality, certification, economic feasibility and the resistance capacity of organic produce towards pests and diseases, etc. This book contains lead papers from distinguished experts, policy makers and dedicated researchers. Efforts have been made to compile the latest information on the present status of organic agriculture in India and other major practicing countries. Efforts were also made to record initiations in organic agriculture by the various governments, farmers, non- government organizations and other stakeholders. We hope that this book will be of immense help to researchers in planning their future line of research, for policy makers to take rational decisions on organic agriculture for the benefit of farmers as well as consumers and for students and the general public to obtain a wealth of information on organic agriculture in India. It must be mentioned here that while the scholarly papers included in this volume do help enrich the readers’ understanding on the issues related to organic agriculture, the views expressed by the iv authors in their respective papers are their own and the editors do not necessarily subscribe to them. We thank all the contributors of this volume and are grateful for their valuable contributions. Our sincere thanks to Dr V S Ramamurthy, Director, National Institute of Advanced Studies and Dr Parveen Arora, Sc-`G’/Advisor, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India for their support and encouragement at every stage of its preparation. We are grateful to Ms I S Shruti, Mrs V B Mariyammal, Shri Krishna Prasad, Shri N R Shetty, Ms G F Aiyasha and Mr Thomas K Varghese for their support and involvement. P K Shetty Claude Alvares Ashok Kumar Yadav v Contents India’s Organic Farming Movement Claude Alvares ...................................................................................1 Future Sustainable Food Security of India through Organic Farming: Myth or Reality Ashok Kumar Yadav .......................................................................13 Current Status and Relevance of Organic Farming in Indian Agriculture P Ramesh ...........................................................................................29 Policies, Programs and Institutional Initiatives on Organic Farming in India K Ramakrishnappa ..........................................................................43 Organic Livestock Production in India: Why, How and Road Ahead Mahesh Chander ..............................................................................51 Scope and Potential of Organic Farming in Vegetable Crops M Prabhakar, S S Hebbar, A K Nair, K S Shivashankara, P Panneerselvam, R S Rajeshwari and K Bharathi .....................69 Maximising Yields in Organic Farming: Three Case Studies Leena Chandran-Wadia ..................................................................83 Bhaskar Save, the Gandhi of Natural Farming Bharat Mansata .................................................................................99 Organic Farming and Food Security: A Model for India C P S Yadav and Harimohan Gupta ...........................................121 The Full Value of Organic K C Raghu .......................................................................................135 Organic Farming in an Era of Climate Change M B Rajegowda, L Nagesh and Pradeep Gopakkali .................141 vii Biofertiliser Use in Organic Farming: A Practical and Challenging Approach P Bhattacharyya ..............................................................................157 Integrated Pest Management Strategies in Organic Farming C T Ashok Kumar and Sanjay Topagi ........................................171 Crop Production and Plant Protection in Organic Farming S R Sundararaman .........................................................................195 Weed Management in Organic Farming J P Saini ............................................................................................213 Organic Seed: Traditional Varieties and Technologies K Vanangamudi .............................................................................225 Safety, Quality and Certification in Organic Agricultural Produce Bobby Issac ......................................................................................245 Rapid Growth of Eco-friendly Low Cost Sustainable Organic Agriculture Production Systems in the World R Srinivasa Murthy, P Mazumdar, Manisha Rani, Sahina Tabassum and Krishan Chandra ................................................249 Role of Indigenous Liquid Organic Manures in Organic Crop Production N Devakumar, A C Somanatha, S Shubha and B Latha ..........259 Potential Demand for Organic Products/Farming in India and Abroad: An Overview S C Panda ........................................................................................273 Organic Farming from Farmers’ Perspectives Deepak Suchde, B N Nandish, A P Chandrashekhar and Syed Ghani Khan ....................................................................................288 viii India’s Organic Farming
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