Part IV

[OrganicABC]

Regular addition of organic manure improves the soil quality. The loss of nutrients in organic manure is very less due to its slow and delayed release.








Mean value of aggregated soil data from 16 pairs of farms each with organic (bio) and conventional (Con) farming practices


Soil property


All bio farm


All Con. Farm


Bulk density (Mg m-3)


1.07


1.15


Penetration resistance 0-20 cm (Mpa)


2.84


3.18


Carbon (%)


4.84


4.27


Respiration (µ/O2 h-1 g-1)


73.7


55.4


Mineralizable N (mg/Kg)


140


105.9


Ratio of mineralizable N to C (mg/g)


2.99


2.59


Cation Exchange Capacity (C mol/kg)


21.5


19.6


Definition and objectives of organic agriculture


The concept of organic agriculture is often misconceived and misrepresented





The organic agriculture in real sense is the one that envisages a comprehensive management approach to sustainably improve the soil fertility and control the pests so as to improve the B: C ratio.





Organic agriculture is a production system which avoids or excludes the use of all synthetic compounded fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators and live stock feed additives.





It relies on crop rotations, legumes, green manures, crop residues, animal manures, off farm organic wastes, vermi technology and methods of botanical and biological pest control.





Organic farming is the concept of farm as an organism, in which all the components – soil minerals, organic matters, micro organisms, insects, plants, animals and humans – interact to create a coherent self regulating and stable whole (Lampkin, 1999).





Sustainable agriculture prohibits reliance on all purchased inputs, whether chemical or organic and thus improves the B: C ratio.





Organic farming is propagated to make agriculture sustainable, hence, is a holistic production system with enhanced B: C ratio.





International federation of organic agriculture movement (IFOAM) stresses and supports the development of self supporting system on local and regional basis.


Principles of organic agriculture


The main principles are as follows:



To maintain long term soil fertility with ecological balance.
To avoid all forms of pollution resulting from agricultural operations.
To produce toxin free food stuff of high nutritional quality in sufficient quantity and better taste.
To reduce the use of fossil energy in agriculture practice to a minimum.
To give the live stocks condition of life akin to their physiological needs.
To enable farmers to earn a living through their work and improve their economic standards so as to make agriculture sustainable and farmers, the world over, dignified human beings.

The four pillars of organic agriculture



Organic standard
Certification/regulatory mechanism
Technology packages
Market network

Standard and certification


The most important component of organic farming in modern era is certification programme which consist of



Standard (rules)
Inspection (checking whether rules implemented)
Certification (judgement)

Only by these three norms, organic farming can be distinguished from other methods of sustainable agriculture.


These standards defined what can be leveled “certified organic” and sold commercially as such.


In fact, certification in organic agriculture generally refers to third party certification. Third party implies that it is not done by either producer (1st party) or the buyer (2nd party).


The system includes farm inspectors and audit trails (checking of records).


Certificate is valid only if it is done by accredited certifying agency.


Certification programme varies from country to country because of the differences in environmental, climatic, social and cultural factors.


Standard


Globally, there are more than 60 standards. International Federation for Organic Agricultural Movement (IFOAM) (Headquarter – Germany), first established accreditation programme in 1992 to accredit certifying bodies and to setup Intl. Organic Accr. Services (IOAS). FAO, WHO and Inter governmental bodies, 1962 laid out a set of guidelines for organic productions mostly in the EU states. In 1991 Demeter international a world wide network and Japan Agriculture Standard (JAS) were set up..


The statutory norms of product labeling depends on the destination to which the same is to be exported or the destined market of sale such as the US, EU, or Japan.



In the EU states, it must confer to EEC regulation no. 2092/91.
In the US, it must confer to the UASDA standards for organic foods.
In Japan, it must confer to Japanese Agriculture Standards (JAS) for organic products.

Highly accepted Certifications


It includes those from agencies and associations such as CODEX and IFOAM (International Federation for Organic Agricultural Movement) etc.They are accepted in the US, EU states and Japan, the most important organic markets.


The Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, in 2000 launched the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) to ensure focused and well directed development of organic agriculture in India. A national steering committee (NSC) was formed comprising of APEDA(Agricultural and Processed food Export Development Authority), Spices Board, Coffee Board and various government and private organizations associated with the organic movement to formulate the national standards for organic agriculture with the following guide lines;



No harmful chemicals have been applied to the land for at least 3 years
The farmer and processor have annual certification inspections
They have maintained detailed records of their practices
They use eco-friendly methods and substances for soil fertility and pest control.

On the recommendations of the National steering committee, the government has constituted the accreditation agencies for the NPOP. The works of these agencies are:



Drawing up procedures for evaluation and accreditation of certification programmes
Formulating procedures for evaluation of the agencies implementing the programmes.

The following agencies have been approved as accreditation agencies by the Government of India;



APEDA, 2. Spices Board, 3. Coffee Board, 4. Tea Board, 5. Coconut Development Board and 6. The Directorate of Cashew and Cocoa Development.

As per report, today there are 364 certification bodies across the world.


Certification bodies and their approval per region (IFOAM, 2004)





Region


Total


IFOAM


Japan


ISO65


EU


USA


Africa


7








1








Asia


83


4


65


1


1


2


Europe


130


10


9


45


100


28


Latin America/ Caribbean


33


4


-


10


5


8


North America


101


4


1


14


-


64


Oceania


10


4


6


3


6


4


Total


364


26


81


74


112


106





Technology packages


Conventional practices can’t be followed for growing crops organically. It includes following


a) Land preparation


b) Selection of variety


c) Organic fertilization


d) Biological control of pests – diseases – weed


e) Harvest storage etc.


Some countries have developed package of practices for some selected crops but there is an ample scope to refine this package with scientific methods and practices.


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