| Organic Farming |
Article Index for Organic |
Articles about Organic Farming |
Website Links For Organic Farming |
Information AboutOrganic Farming |
|
Organic farming is a form of agriculture which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetic Fertilizers and Pesticide s, Plant Growth Regulator s, and livestock feed additives. As far as possible, organic farmers rely on Crop Rotation , crop residues, animal manures and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and Tilth to supply plant nutrients, and to control weeds, insects and other pests. According to the international organic farming organization IFOAM : "The role of organic agriculture, whether in farming, processing, distribution, or consumption, is to sustain and enhance the health of ecosystems and organisms from the smallest in the soil to human beings." {Link without Title} Approximately 31 million hectares (75 million acres) worldwide are now grown organically. {Link without Title} OVERVIEW "An organic farm, properly speaking, is not one that uses certain methods and substances and avoids others; it is a farm whose structure is formed in imitation of the structure of a natural system that has the integrity, the independence and the benign dependence of an organism" '' Wendell Berry , "The Gift of Good Land" Organic farming excludes the use of certain synthetic inputs, such as synthetic Fertilizer s, Pesticide s, Herbicide s and Genetically Modified Organism s (GMOs). In a number of countries, including the US, China and most of Europe organic farming is also defined by law, so that the commercial use of the term ''organic'' to describe farming and food products is regulated by the government. Where laws exist, Organic Certification is available to farms for a fee, and it is usually illegal for a non-certified farm to call itself or its products ''organic''. Elsewhere, for example, in Canada , voluntary certification is available, while legislation may be pending. Methods of organic farming vary. However, organic approaches share common goals and practices. In addition to the exclusion of synthetic agrichemicals, these include protection of the soil (from Erosion , nutrient depletion, structural breakdown), promotion of Biodiversity (for example growing a variety of crops rather than a single crop or planting hedges around fields), and outdoor grazing for livestock and poultry, though none of these is required in the United States to earn the USDA organic seal . Within this framework, individual farmers develop their own organic production systems, determined by factors such as climate, market conditions, and local agricultural regulations. HISTORY See Also: History of organic farming The organic movement began as a reaction of agricultural scientists and farmers against the Industrialization Of Agriculture . Advances in biochemistry, (nitrogen fertilizer) and engineering (the internal combustion engine) in the early 20th century led to profound changes in farming. Research in Plant Breeding produced Hybrid Seed s. Fields grew in size and cropping became specialized to make efficient use of machinery and reap the benefits of the Green Revolution . Technological advances during World War II spurred on post-war innovation in all aspects of agriculture, resulting in such advances as large-scale irrigation, fertilization, and the use of Pesticide s. Ammonium Nitrate , used in munitions, became an abundantly cheap source of nitrogen. DDT , originally developed by the military to control disease-carrying insects among troops, was applied to crops, launching the era of widespread Pesticide use. In Germany, Rudolf Steiner 's ''Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture'', published in 1924, led to the popularization of Biodynamic Agriculture . The first use of the term ''organic farming'' is by '' (1940), wherein he described a holistic, ecologically balanced approach to farming. The British botanist, Sir Albert Howard studied traditional farming practices in Bengal , India . He came to regard such practices as superior to modern agricultural science and recorded them in his 1940 book,'' An Agricultural Testament '' and adopted Northbourne's terminology in his book "The Soil and Health: A Study of Organic Agriculture" in 1947. Lady Eve Balfour , author of the organics classic '' The Living Soil '', established the pioneering Haughley Experiment on her Suffolk farm in 1939 that ran for more than 40 years. In the US, J.I. Rodale popularized Organic Gardening among consumers during the 1940s. The Japanese farmer and writer Masanobu Fukuoka invented a no-till system for small-scale grain production that he called Natural Farming. In the early 1940s. In 1972, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), was founded in Versailles , France. IFOAM was dedicated to the diffusion of information on the principles and practices of organic agriculture across national and linguistic boundaries. In the 1980s, various farming and consumer groups worldwide began pressing for government regulation of organic production. This led to legislation and certification standards being enacted beginning in the 1990s. Since the early 1990s, the retail market for organic farming in developed economies has grown about 20 per cent annually due to increasing consumer demand. While small independent producers and consumers initially drove the rise of organic farming, meanwhile as the volume and variety of "organic" products grows, production is increasingly large-scale. METHODS See Also: Organic farming methods . Note the Hedgerow in the background.]] The term holistic in often used to describe organic farming [http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&cluster=11381157588226686383 . Anthony Trewavas, in a nature-published article [http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&cluster=6645846781698780831] rejects the notion that a holist view is superior to reductionist 'chemical' agriculture. Enhancing soil health is the cornerstone of organic farming {Link without Title} . A variety of methods are employed, including Crop Rotation , Green Manure , Cover Crop ping, application of Compost , and mulching. Organic farmers also use certain processed fertilizers such as seed meal, and various mineral powders such as rock phosphate and greensand, a naturally occurring form of potash. Pest control targets animal pests (including insects), weeds and disease. Organic pest control involves the cumulative effect of many techniques, including, allowing for an acceptable level of pest damage, encouraging or even introducing Beneficial Organism s, careful crop selection and crop rotation, and mechanical controls such as row covers and traps. These techniques generally provide benefits in addition to pest control—soil protection and improvement, fertilization, pollination, water conservation, Season Extension , etc.—and these benefits are both complementary and cumulative in overall effect on farm health . Effective organic pest control requires a thorough understanding of pest life cycles and interactions. Weeds are controlled mechanically, thermically and through the use of mulches. Standards See Also: Organic certification Increasingly, organic farming is defined by formal standards regulating production methods, and in some cases, final output. Two types of standard exist, voluntary and legislated. As early as the 1970s, private associations created standards, against which organic producers could voluntarily have themselves certified. In the 1980s, governments began to produce organic production guidelines. Beginning in the 1990s, a trend toward legislation of standards began, most notably the EU-Eco-regulation developed in the European Union . In 1991, the European Commission formulated the first government system to regulate organic labeling. In one go, the European Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 set the rules in 12 countries, creating a huge market {Link without Title} . Organic certification, which until then was a voluntary quality control system, became mandatory to all operations and was also to be applied for imports. In the meantime, Europe had become the most prominent market place for organic products and an increasing number of suppliers all over the world accepted this niche as a new challenge and a rewarding option to export high quality and high priced speciality products. All these supplies, of course, had to comply with the requirements of the European market and thus the Regulation (EEC) N° 2092/91 became a universal standard for organic production systems An international framework for organic farming is provided by the International Federation Of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), the international democratic umbrella organization established in 1972. For IFOAM members, organic agriculture is based upon the Principles Of Organic Agriculture and the IFOAM Norms. {Link without Title} The IFOAM Norms consist of the IFOAM Basic Standards and IFOAM Accreditation Criteria. The IFOAM Basic Standards are a set of "standards for standards." They are established through a democratic and international process and reflect the current state of the art for organic production and processing. They are best seen as a work in progress to lead the continued development of organic practices worldwide. They provide a framework for national and regional standard-setting and certification bodies to develop detailed certification standards that are responsive to local conditions. Legislated standards are established at the national level, and vary from country to country. In recent years, many countries have legislated organic production, including the EU nations (1990s), Japan (2001), and the US (2002). Non-governmental national and international associations also have their own production standards. In countries where production is regulated, these agencies must be accredited by the government. Since 1993 when EU Council Regulation 2092/91 became effective, organic food production has been strictly regulated in the UK . {Link without Title} . In India, standards for organic agriculture were announced in May 2001, and the National Programme on Organic Production (NPOP) is administered under the Ministry of Commerce. {Link without Title} In 2002, the United States Department Of Agriculture (USDA) established production standards, under the National Organic Program (NOP), which regulate the commercial use of the term ''organic''. http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/standards.html Farmers and food processors must comply with the NOP in order to use the word. PRODUCTIVITY |
|
|