When we say “Organic” a totally green, environment friendly and healthy Ideotype of a crop stand we imagine. Yes! Organic is all about the natural, green, safe, environment friendly organism which is totally free from hormones, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, antibiotics, chemical fertilizers, germ killing radiations’……..
Organic Farming ,the smart choice
When we say “Organic” a totally green, environment friendly and healthy Ideotype of a crop stand we imagine. Yes! Organic is all about the natural, green, safe, environment friendly organism which is totally free from hormones, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, antibiotics, chemical fertilizers, germ killing radiations’ as well as genetic modifications. In this way Organic Farming makes a sketch of changed agriculture Skelton. In past few years the organic products export have been grown up to billions $ and a significantly rise of 25-30% has been also seen. The totally environment friendly organic agriculture system involve practices like intercropping, manuring, crop rotation, crop residue recycling, mulching, mechanical weeding and integrated pest managements without using synthetic chemicals. Thus, this kind of ideal farming system provides good living for farm families.
As the fertilizers and pesticide producing industrial machinery raised some serious issues that Organic Farming doesn’t provide enough food to every individual and this system is failed to control pest and inoculums of various disease causing agents and although Organic Farming yields lower then conventional farming system beyond all these statements it gains very much attention by the serious agriculture lobbies.
Crop residues ploughed back in to the soil, crop rotation, green manuring through legumes (more precisely, the Fabaceae family which fix nitrogen from the atmosphere through symbiosis) and using by using animal manure an organic farmer maintain the soil health and fertility. Organic weed management deals with weed suppression rather then elimination by enhancing crop competition include selection of competitive crop varieties, high density planting, tight row spacing and inducing Phytotoxic effects on weeds. Broadly mechanical and physical weed control is also used in the form of mulching, mowing and cutting as well as thermal or flame weeding. Some bio-herbicides are also used such as acetic acid (concentrated vinegar). Organisms aside from weeds that cause problems on organic farms like insects, pests. To control these crops destructing agent’s use of field sanitation and intercropping is very much practiced but Organic farmers often depend on biological pest control, the use of beneficial organisms to reduce pest populations. When these practices are insufficient to control pests an organic farmer may apply naturally-occurring pesticides rather then synthetic substances which are prohibited. Naturally-derived pesticides (green pesticides) allowed for use on organic farms includes Bacillus thuringiensis (a bacterial toxin), neem (a tree extract).
Organic food produce is more nutritious and valuable with more flavenoids. The decreased cost of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers ultimately lower the total cost of input and by including the higher price consumer ready to pay for certified organic produce collectively make Organic Farming very profitable. Organic methods often require more labor, providing more rural jobs and taking more strong part in decreasing unemployment and “Brain Drain” of skilled labor towards cities. Organic farms withstand severe weather conditions better than conventional farms, sometimes yielding 70-90% more than conventional farms during droughts gaining some extra economic benefits. As of 2001, the estimated market value of certified organic products was estimated to be $20 billion. By 2002 this was $23 billion and by 2007 more than $46 billion. This rise in economic value of organic products is mainly due to public awareness about the effects of synthetic pesticide and fertilizers on human health and biodiversity.
Organic Farming also helps in mitigation activities ongoing to protect planet from the most horrible issue of today’s “GLOBAL WARMING”. Organic agriculture emphasizes closed nutrient cycles, biodiversity, and effective soil management providing the capacity to mitigation and even reverses the effects of climate change. Organic Farming is rapidly boosting in Punjab, sindh and northern areas so, there is a dire need of increasing its impact on national agriculture policies. Agriculture authorities should make such steps to aware people about the health hazards of pesticides and to tell how safe and environment friendly the organic system is. This will reduce the infertility, cancer, heart born diseases and mental retardation due to intensive pesticide usage in Indo-Pak region.
By: SYED UMAER ANWER
