Organic Farming

Organic Farming

Subject – Agriculture

Concept –

• Organic farming is a type of agriculture or farming which avoids the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, & livestock feed additives.

Organic farming in India

• India ranks 1st in number of organic farmers and 9th in terms of area under organic farming.
• Sikkim became the first State in the world to become fully organic in 2016.
• North East India has traditionally been organic and the consumption of chemicals is far less than the rest of the country.
• The top three states — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, & Maharashtra — account for about half the area under organic cultivation.

Government Initiatives to Promote Organic Farming

• Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD)
  • Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD-NER) is a Central Sector Scheme, a sub-mission under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)
  • The scheme aims to develop certified organic production in a value chain mode to link growers with consumers and to support the development of the entire value chain.
• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)
  • Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, launched in 2015 is an elaborated component of Soil Health Management (SHM)of major project National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
  • Under PKVY, Organic farming is promoted through adoption of organic villages by cluster approach and Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) certification.
• Certification Schemes
• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)is the food regulator in the country and is also responsible for regulating organic food in the domestic market and imports.
• Participatory Guarantee System (PGS):PGS is a process of certifying organic products, which ensures that their production takes place in accordance with laid-down quality standards. PGS Green is given to chemical free produce under transition to ‘organic’ which takes 3 years. It is mainly for domestic purpose.
• National Program for Organic Production (NPOP):NPOP grants organic farming certification through a process of third party certification for export purposes.
• Soil Health Card Scheme has led to a decline of 8-10% in the use of chemical fertilizers and also raised productivity by 5-6%.

Organic Farming in other countries

• The largest adoption of conservation agriculture is seen in North and South America, followed by Australia and New Zealand, Asia, Russia, Ukraine, Europe and Africa, the researchers noted.
• Organic farming is in a nascent stage in India (2 per cent of the net sown area) and states need to step up their act to increase organic farming coverage.