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Organic Farming and Organic Food
In recent years, there has been lot of emphasis on consumers preference for organic food which is considered relatively safer (free of chemical pesticide, herbicide and fertilizer residue), nutritious and environment friendly. Organic farming also helps in maintenance of soil health. In organic farming, pests can be managed by smoking with organic wastes or spraying with neem oil, etc. or through release of weaver ant for biological control. Coal tar and kerosene mixture have also been used. The preference for organic food may not be so much due to concern for health, as it is due to mere fad, so that it is sold at a premium and needs to be certified before it is sold in the export market as organic food. The global market for organic food is on the rise and India needs to capture a major share.
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The task force on organic farming headed by Kunwarji Bhai Yadav has recommended setting up of National Organic Farming Board to promote organic food and fibre in the country and to lay down quality standards for certification. Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) is also promoting export of organic food. In the 10th Plan, Planning Commission is also allocating Rs 100 crore for organic farming projects. In India, among the organic foods, cereals and vegetables (including organic wheat, organic tea and organic cashew) are the most important. Most of this organic food is produced for the export market.
Organic wheat. Organic wheat can be produced, by using only desi varieties like C-306 and RJ-1482, since the high yielding improved cultivars are not suited for organic farming; they instead need high doses of chemical fertilizers to express their high yielding potential. Farming of organic wheat involves the following steps. (i) Use of 16 to 20 tonnes per acre of fully decompose manure that should be aded to the field atleast two moths before sowing.
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(ii) The seed may be soaked overnight in cows urine (diluted with equal quantity of water) before sowing. Alternatively, seed or soil may be treated with Azotobacter, which not only expedites germination, but in addition to fixing atmospheric N2, also solubilizes phosphate. (iii) After the first irrigation, to provide N and K, ash derived from one quintal of dung cakes, mixed with approximately 40 litres of cow’s urine is applied before sunrise or after sunset. This can be repeated after 15 days, but not after the plants are 15 inches tall. (iv) foliar spray, made up of chillies mixed with neem oil and cottage soap (soap works as adjuvant or sticking agent for chillies) can be used to control pests. The above method is a bit inconvenient, when used at a large scale and therefore is often not preferred over chemical fertilizers and pesticides. But the high cost, inconvenience and low yields are compensated by the 3-4 times the price that the organic wheat will fetch in comparison to the traditional wheat. In India, farmers in Ladwa village (near Hisar in Haryana are practicing organic farming in wheat at a large scale and selling organic wheat at three time the price of common wheat produced through traditional practices. The yields are low initially but improves in subsequent years.
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Farmers in countries like USA, Australia and NewZealand, are practicing organic farming successfully. They may use bacteria, fungi and parasites in place of cow dung and urine. There are other growth promoting formulae, which overcome all nutritional and mineral deficiencies.
Organic tea. It has been recognized that while the demand of conventional tea was declining in recent years teat of value added organic tea was improving, despite its price being 3-4 time that of the conventional tea. Production of organic tea makes use f organic manure and biofertilizers. For pest control, either biopesticides or other methods like smoking, spray of mixtures of kerosene oil or neem oil, etc. are used (chemical pesticides can not be used in organic farming). The production of organic tea, therefore, is expensive and the productivity low, but higher market price more than organic farming on the same land. A 20-fold increase (from 0.15 million kg to 3 million kg) in the production of organic tea has been witnessed in India during 1990-2000 due to increased demand in the export market.
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Organic cashew nut. There is also an increasing demand of organic food like cashew and spices in the export market. In India organic cashew is grown in an area of 7.2 laks productivity level of 850 kg raw nuts per hectare. Since 90% of cashew farming in India is actually done without chemical fertilizers and pesticides, most of the cashew nuts produced in India is organic cashew, which can be sold at a premium if certified and labelled as organic food for export market.
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