Context

• Broadly, organic farming or natural farming denotes farming without using chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides.
• Green Revolution and other research and development in the field of crops cultivation have played an important role in increasing India’s food grains production drastically. However, indiscriminate and excessive use of chemicals and fertilizers coupled with insecticides and pesticides has put a question mark on sustainable agriculture.
• Organic Farming is based upon sound agronomic practices, crop rotation, use of farmland manure for bio-fertilisers and bio-pesticides for enhancing soil productivity and use of natural methods and bio pesticides to control pests and weeds are important ways to avoid harmful impacts associated with chemical fertilisers and pesticides on agriculture and allied sectors in the country.

Objectives of the Organic Farming Policy, 2005 

• Maintenance of soil fertility by encouraging and enhancing the biological cycle within farming systems involving micro-organisms, soil flora and fauna, plants and animals; 
• Identification of areas and crops suitable for organic farming Development of organic package of practices; 
• Setting up of model organic farms for getting seed material for organic cultivation;
• Assurance of production and supply of quality organic input; 
• Adoption of biological methods for pest and disease control; 
• Adoption of biological and mechanical methods for weed management; 
• Harnessing of traditional and indigenous knowledge relating to organic farming; 
• Creation of awareness among farmers towards organic agriculture; 
• Development of domestic market for organic produce; 
• Improvement in farmers’ income through quality produce; 
• Generation of rural employment opportunities; 
• Simplification of certification system and recognition of adequate certification agencies, especially for domestic market; 
• Promotion of group certification; 
• Maintaining a diversity of plant and animal species as a basis for ecological balance and economic stability 
• Improvement in conditions of livestock that allow them to perform all aspects of their innate behaviour 
• Development of regulatory mechanism for various organic inputs and produce. 

Benefits of Organic Farming Practices

• Organic farming minimizes the use of pesticides and chemicals, thereby reducing major environmental issues.
• Crop rotation increases soil fertility, and growing animals naturally helps advance biodiversity, with greater health benefits across all living species.
• Organic farming does not rely on synthetic fertilizers that contribute to a greater cause of energy conservation. Energy usage is lowered by at least 30–50% in organic farming systems.
• Organic farming is a sustainable and long-term method for food production as it takes a proactive and preventative approach.
• Organic farming improves soil and reduces soil erosion. In addition, soils with improved structure and higher content of organic matter promote better water management in agriculture.

Major Challenges in Organic Farming in India

• Many farmers and experts are unsure whether all the nutrients with the required quantities can be made available by organic materials. Sometimes, it is believed that the available organic matter is not merely enough to meet the needs.
• Organic farming requires more time for observation, timely control, and intervention. It is naturally more labor-intensive.
• Organic products are expensive due to the extreme care taken with organic farming. 
• Most large organic farms operate in an industrialized agriculture style, which involves adopting the same environmentally harmful practices as factory farms, which are hidden under cover of being organic.

Programmes and Policies for Organic Farming

1. Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY):

• The Government of India has been implementing the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana since 2015-16 to promote chemical free organic farming in the country in cluster mode.  
• Under the programme, financial assistance of Rs 50000/ha for 3 years is provided for cluster formation, capacity building, incentive for inputs, value addition and marketing. 
• The broad components of the scheme are 

(i) implementation, handholding, capacity building and certification 

(ii) Participatory Guarantee System Certification 

(iii) Incentive to farmers 

(iv) Value addition, marketing and publicity.

2. Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati Programme (BPKP):

• BPKP is a sub-mission under the PKVY which aims at promoting traditional indigenous practices, which give freedom to farmers from externally purchased inputs. 
• It focuses on on-farm biomass recycling with major stress on biomass mulching; use of cow dung-urine formulation and exclusion of all synthetic chemical inputs either directly or indirectly. 

3. Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER): 

• The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has launched the “Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region” for implementation in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
• The scheme aims at development of certified organic production in a value chain mode to link growers with consumers and to support the development of entire value chain starting from inputs, seeds, certification, to the creation of facilities for collection, aggregation, processing marketing and brand building initiative.

Conclusion

• Organic farming is a solution to nurture the land and regenerate the soil by going back to our traditional farming method, i.e., free from chemicals, pesticides, synthetic materials, growth hormones, and fertilizers, which is a great step towards sustainable development.