Problems of organic farming

PROBLEMS OF ORGANIC FARMING

Organic farming is a holistic production system where the farm itself is considered as a living body and the interaction among the different sources like the soil minerals, organic matter, microorganisms, insects, plants, animal and humans should be in a self regulated way without the need and use of any external sources like synthetic and compounded fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators and livestock feed additives etc. Crop rotation, crop residues, animal manure, legumes, green manure, off farming organic waste and aspects of biological pest control are practised to maintain the productivity of the soil.

During the era of green revolution the crop productivity enhanced due to application of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides but, the indiscriminate use of those synthetic products made the soil sick and hungry as well as reduced the product quality though increased quantity. The produce was highly contaminated with hazardous chemicals. Due to these situations the term organic farming came into existence. Organic farming is gaining gradual momentum across the world. Growing awareness of health and environmental issues in agriculture has demanded production of organic food which is emerging as an attractive source of rural income generation.

While trends of rising consumer demand for organics are increasing, sustainability in production of crops has become the prime concern in agriculture development. India is capable of growing all kinds of organic food due to its diverse climatic condition. Indian farmers should be educated to boost up their cultivating skill in an organic way. Organic farming is not only protecting land and water resources, but also improving farm incomes. Although the term 'organic farming' is getting popularity in recent times, but the growth of organic food  market in India is not even 20-30 percent and the awareness about organic farming is still low in India  despite huge spending.

Advantages of organic fruit production:

Sustainability of fruit production in long run.

Self-sufficiency in production.

Autonomy of resources.

Food safety and security.

Enhances soil fertility and improve soil physio-bio-chemical property.

Maintains bio- physiological diversity.

Improve the quality, losture and size of the fruit.

Recycle the waste product.

Organic cultivation doesn’t cause environmental pollution.

Finally, human and  animal health and welfare is another key issue in organic agriculture

Disadvantages of organic fruit production: 

Requirement of bulk quantity of organic manure.

Lack of good marketing system.

Takes a minimum of three to four years for stabilizing the yield.

CONSTRAINTS IN ORGANIC FARMING:

Several constraints were identified for non-adoption of organic farming in India. Among these, the constraints like high cost of organic inputs, insufficient market for organic products, level of awareness about organic food, low yield and little price advantage for organic product are found to be the major constraints.

High cost of organic inputs:

According to a 2015 meta-analysis of studies conducted across five continents, organic farming is between 22 and 35 percent more profitable for farmers than conventional methods. The demand of organic sources to meet the requirement of crop is more as they contains most of the essential elements but in less amount. Availability of organic matter in bulk quantity is not feasible in India as the livestock population of the country is decreasing day by day. According to the study conducted by NDDB (2017) the total Livestock population of India in 2017 is 512.1 million numbers which was 529.7 during 2007 and the rate of decrease per year in livestock population was 1.76 millions. 3.33 percent declined livestock population of India’s has been reported by the census of Zee News. The major source of bulky organic matter is the excreta of livestock. The reduced population of those made the bulky organic matter unavailable as well as much costly.

Insufficient market:

Higher price of organic product due to more cost of organic inputs and cultivation practices is not accepted by the buyers. In India, most of the people relay on the practice of getting more in quantity than quality. The organic produce was costly so people were not interested though all of them were aware about the quality aspects.

Labour Problem:

Agriculture, dairy, horticulture and related occupations alone employ 52 percent of labour in India. About 30 million workers are migrant workers, most in agriculture, and local stable employment is unavailable for them. According to International Labour Organisation, ILOSTAT database, 2017 the percentage of total employment in agricultural sector has been reduced from 63 to 44 percent during 1991 to 2017 in India. Again the skilled labour in Agriculture was the major problem. The increased labour cost is one factor that makes organic food more expensive. The reduction in Labour force increases the daily wedge of a labourer which is practically a problem for most of our Indian farmers. Organic production is more labour-intensive than conventional production. On the other hand, the increased need for labour may be seen as an “employment dividend” of organic farming, providing more jobs per acre than conventional systems.

During the first few years there is less production from organic farming which can’t fulfil the food demand of the ever growing population of India. All the farmers of a particular area are being not interested in organic farming as they can’t able to bear the losses incurred during the first few years if some of them also do it again there will be problems like insect pest damage. The other constraint identified is little consumer demand for organic products, inconvenience of using organic techniques, higher production risk, and unavailability of consolidated land suitable for organic farming.

In regard to the relative importance of different constraints, it is found that socio-economic constraints is the main hurdle followed by infrastructural, technological and situational in the process of adoption of organic farming. Due to lack of human resources, substitute should be developed like development of machines and tools requiring less labour.  Rural farmers are not getting actual price of their produce due to the absence of organic products certification in the villages. The level of awareness about organic food products in India is extremely low and is limited to consumers in metro cities. Emphasizing on the need to increase awareness about certified organic food products is being of prime importance now a day. Creating market facilities is another important aspect so that the organic farmer will not face any marketing problem and earn more.