Low-input sustainable Organic farmng

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Low Input Sustainable Organic Farming
With increasing concern about the environmental, economic and social impact of chemical dependent, conventional farming have led many farmers and consumers to seek alternative practices, that will make organic farming more sustainable. Entrepreneurs see a market for selling food that has been grown chemical free.
Conventional farming practice means inorganic and synthetic chemical based agriculture. The degenerative effects of intensive farming practices on soil fertility and ecological balance are surfacing which needs immediate attention for sustaining the productivity rate.
The alternative farming system includes" ecological", "organic", "bio-dynamic" and "low input.”
Since adoption of green revolution agriculture was the envy of the world, almost annually setting new records in crop production and labor efficiency. Farms became highly machanised and specialised as well as heavily dependent on fossil fuels, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Today the same farms are associated with declining soil productivity, deteriorating environmental quality, reduced profitability and threads to human and animal health.
A growing cross section of society is questioning the environmental, economic and social impact of conventional agriculture. Consequentially, many individuals are seeking alternative practices that would make agriculture more sustainable.
Sustainable agriculture embraces several variants of non-conventional agriculture that are often called organic, alternative, regenerating, ecological or low input.
Just because a farm is organic or alternative does not mean that it is a sustainable. For a farm to be sustainable it must produce adequate amounts of high quality food, protect its resources and be both environmentally safe and profitable.
Instead of depending on chemicals a sustainable farm relies as much as possible on beneficial natural processes and renewable resources drawn from the farm itself.
A. Improved Soil:
To understand the rationale for sustainable agriculture on must grasp the critical importance of soil. Soil is a essential to the agriculture, is a complex, living medium. The loose but coherent structure of good soil holds moisture and invites airflow and earthworms mix the soil naturally. Rhizobium bacteria, living in the root nodules of legumes create fix nitrogen an essential part of plant nutrient. Other soil organisms including fungi, actinomycities and bacteria decompose organic matter, thereby releasing more nutrients. Micro organisms also produce substances that help soil particles adhere to one another.
To remain healthy soil must be fed organic materials such as various manure and crop residues.
Healthy soil is a hospitable world for growth air circulates through is freely, and it retains moisture long after rain. A tablespoon of soil contains millions of grains of sand, silt, and clay & has a vast expanse of internal surface area to which plant nutrients may cling. That same tablespoon of soil also contains billions of micro organisms including bacteria, actinomycities, fungi, and algae most, of which are principle decomposer of organic matter. Decomposition results in the formation of humus and the releases of many plant nutrients.
Another essential activity that takes place in the soil is the fixation o the nitrogen and other organism use to make the proteins. The amount of available nitrogen strongly influences sol productivity
B. Corp Rotation:
Emphasis is placed on rotation of the crop, building up soil diversifying crops and controlling pests naturally. When crops are rotated the yields are usually 10 to 50% higher, it also provides better weed and insect management, less disease buildup, more efficient nutrient cycling and other benefits.
C. Crop residues:
Regularly adding composted crop residues, manure and other organic materials to the soil is another central feature of sustainable farming, organic matter improves soil structure, increases water holding capacity, enhances fertility, physical conditions of the soil and promotes the tilth. The better the tilth, the more easily the soil can be tilled and the easier it for the seed germination, and for roots to extend downward. Water readily infiltrates soils with good tilth, thereby minimising surface run of and soil erosion. Organic materials also feed earthworms and soil microbes.
The main source of plant nutrients in sustainable farming system are-
a. Animal manure:- Farm yard manure, cow dung, sheep, pig and goat manure, poultry manure etc.
b. Green manuring:- Sanai (Sunhemp), Dhaicha, Barseem Grass etc.
c. Plant residues:- Grasses, plant wastes, saw dust, husk, dried and fresh hay, straw, agri-waste, vegetable market waste, etc.
d. Concentrates:- Oil cakes, bran, rice polish, dry fish, butchery waste etc.
e. Garbage:- Garbage collected from town (after removing inorganic matters) etc.
f. Night Soil:- Night soil from the selvage tank etc.

D. Integrated Pest Management (IPM):-
Controlling insect’s diseases and weeds without chemicals is also a goal of sustainable strategies and the evidence for its feasibility is encouraging is called integrated pest management, which involves biological controls. In IPM dramatically reduced huge pesticides on crops by adopting select tillage methods, planting times, crop rotations and plant residue management practices to optimize the environment for beneficial insects that control pest species or deprive pests of a habitat. If pesticides are used as a last resort, they are applied when pests are most vulnerable.
E. Comparative effects:
To compare the effects of sustainable and conventional farming system because of the differences in farming methods the soil on the sustainable farm contained significantly more organic matter, nitrogen and biologically available potassium then that on the conventional farm. It had the better capacity for storing nutrients, a higher water content, a larger micro organism population and a greater polysaccharide contents average yield of sustainable farm match with the production rather yielded almost 13% more than conventional farm.
The long-term profitability of a conventional agricultural seems questionable if the environmental and health costs currently born by the society or taken into account. If these indirect costs were factored into the costs of conventional farm production, then sustainable system would likely prove to be more profitable and more beneficial to the society.
Despite this encouraging result some farmers who have shifted from conventional to sustainable practices have experienced short-term difficulties. Some of the problems arose because the farmers abruptly stopped applying pesticide and fertilizer to all their fields.
Such radical changes can some times decrease yields because of severe weed problems, explosive increases insect- pests and diminished soil fertility.
The process of sustainable agriculture does not hinge on creating super crops, the system works with crops that are available now. Better education is important factor in low input sustainable farming system. Farmers need to know clearly what sustainable agriculture means and they must see proof of its profitability. Farmers and the public also need to be better educated about the potentially adverse environmental and health consequences of the pollution created by certain agri-chemical practices.
F. Characteristics: -
a. Farm Friendly Technology
In comparison of the conventional farm the sustainable farm soils has better physical, chemical and biological properties such as the soil texture, depth and porosity, water holding capacity, organic matter content. The organic matter content, soil respiration, mineralizable nitrogen, and the ratio of mineralizable nitrogen to organic carbon are reported to be higher on the sustainable farms i.e. higher microbial activity and thicker' topsoil on sustainable farms..
Earth worms which are also called as farmers farm factory are reported to be more than 25 times in number and 8 times in weight on the sustainable farms as compared to the conventional farm. These characteristics make the sustainable technology more a farm-¬friendly technology.
b. Export Friendly Agriculture
The sustainable farm products can be certified organic or sustainable products. These bio-grown products are free from all the chemicals. The produce has better nutritive values, taste and due to the natural growth they have good storage capacity. Even perishable vegetables and other produce lost longer on sustainable farms.
The demand of sustainable produce is increasingly growing in the national and international market. In most of the developed countries only certified food and agro-¬products are now getting entry and recognition. The cost of the sustainable grown produce fetches premium price up to 25%to 35% higher than the market price of a similar conventional product. As now the economical stability is one of the most significant characteristics of sustainable farming system the sustainable farm promises a better alternative because of its greater enterprise diversity and less year-to-year variability in gross revenue. ¬
In general at a sustainable farm net returns are about 40%"higher than their conventional counterparts.
c. Eco-friendly
It not uses any short of chemical application and the focus is on balance natural growth. The preparations are produced from the plant parts and most of the applications are based on ecological principles.
d. Sustainable
Cycling of nutrients and quality farm produce in adequate amount with all the environmental safety and profit characters make this farming system as sustainable.
e. Adoptable
The sustainable agriculture is an activated system of organic farming. Most of the methods are quite easy to adopt and based on the local resources.