Organic Farming Boosts Yield

[rgiridhar]

Encouraging yield at organic farm

An increase of 0.1 per cent in organic carbon in soil pushes the crop yield up by 12 per cent


Hindu 23-Nov-07


Making a departure from conventional chemical agriculture, the Naganahalli Agricultural Research Station near Mysore has gone fully organic and the initial results are encouraging. The agriculture farm located off Bangalore-Mysore State Highway is spread over 25.2 hectares of land. It has 18.4 hectares of land under cultivation, of which 14.8 hectares of land has been brought under organic farming.

Preliminary analysis indicate an increase in organic carbon content in soil which is important for sustainable yield, according to Senior Farm Superintendent Vasanth Kumar. Reckoned to be the first such venture in the State, the decision to convert the research station to organic farming underlines a major shift in the Government’s perception on conventional agriculture practice that has come under flak for indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizer.

At Naganahalli, the authorities decided to adopt Integrated Organic Farming Techniques and laid stress on soil health because soil microbial activity is a must to increase its fertility. So paddy, guava, banana, mango, amla, sapota, avare, cow pea, beans, okra, radish, among other crops, were taken up for cultivation under organic farming methods. The focus was to increase the organic carbon content which holds the key for increasing the organic carbon content, said Dr. Vasanth Kumar, who pointed out that an increase of 0.1 per cent in organic carbon in soil increases the crop yield by 12 per cent.

The chemical character and the composition of the soil has altered ever since the farm switched to organic methods and the final results will be tabulated and analysed in due course before the final picture is available. However, the scientists here believe that the future is organic if the trends are any indication as the produce are chemically free and nutritionally superior.

The research station is affiliated to the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, and the experiment is being funded by the Organic Farming Cell of the Department of Agriculture. Also on the anvil is an outlet to market organically produced fruits, vegetables and cereals all of which is expected to meet the meet the parameters of the National Standards for Organic Products which is the scientific body to certify organic produce as authentic.