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"Organic farming is a holistic production management
system which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, biodiversity,
biological cycles and soil biological activity". It is based on minimal use of
off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance
ecological harmony.
Because of its biodiversity benefits, organic farming offers an important
agricultural management option. Organic farming has the potential for reversing
the decline of biodiversity and better energy consumption than conventional
agriculture. Besides, the obvious, immediate and positive effects organic
farming has on the environment and quality of food, it can greatly helps a
farmer to become self-sufficient in their requirements for agro-inputs and
reduce production cost. Organic farming area and trade of organic produce is
growing rapidly worldwide. Organic farming has the potential of developing huge
export and local market and creates employment opportunities in India.
Current Status of Organic Farming: As per the latest survey conducted by
International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and SOEL
Association (The World of Organic Agriculture, 2008), almost 31 m ha are
currently managed organically by more than 700,000 farms worldwide. This
constitutes 0.65 per cent of the agricultural land. The continent with most
organic land is Australia/ Oceania (12.4 m hal, followed by Europe (7.4 m hal,
Latin America (4.9 m hal, Asia (3.1 m hal, North America (2.2 m ha) and Africa
(0.4 m halo Currently the countries with greatest organic lands are Australia
(12.3 m hal, Argentina (2.2 m hal, China (2.3 m ha) and US (1.6 m halo The main
crop categories for arable land are cereals followed by fodder and other arable
crops, set-aside/green manuring, protein crops, vegetables, oilseeds, industrial
crops, medicinal & aromatic plants, root crops, seed production etc.
Global sales of organic food and drink have increased by 43% from 23 billion US$
in 2002 with sales reaching 33 billion US$ in 2005. Organic monitor expects
sales to have approached 38.6 billion US$ in 2006 and expected to touch 40
billion US$ in 2007. Although organic agriculture is now present in most part of
the globe, demands remain concentrated in Europe and North America. Demand for
organic products mainly comes from affluent countries. Six of the G-7 countries
comprise 84 % of global revenues.
ORGANIC FARMING AT A GLANCE
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In 2000, world market of organic produce was 18 billion dollar
which increased to 38.6 billion dollar in 2007
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In India, domestic market of organic produce is Rs. 1500 crore
and organic produces worth Rs. 2500 crore( 0.2% of world) were exported in 2007
-08
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India has only 0.03% of cultivated area(162 mha) under organic
farming with 1,426 certified organic farms producing approximately 14,000 tons
of organic food / produce annually (FAO,2003)
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Organic production in India is growing @ 15-20% annually • By
2012, an area of 2.0 million ha organic cultivation is targeted in India
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There are a number of "Organic by default" farms which
have either never been chemically-managed/cultivated or have converted back to
organic farming because of the farmers' beliefs or purely for reason of
economics
ORGANICALLY CERTIFIED AREA IN INDIA
Before the implementation of National Programme of Organic Production (NPOP)
during 2001 and introduction of accreditation process, there was no
institutional arrangement in India for assessment of organically certified area.
Initial estimates during 2003-04 suggested that approximately 42,000 ha of
cultivated land were certified organic which increased to more than 2.5 million
ha by 2005. Out of this cultivable land was approximately 76,326 ha; remaining
area was forest land for wild collection. Growing awareness, increasing market
demand, increasing inclination of farmers to go organic and growing
institutional support has resulted into substantial growth in total area under
certification process during the last three years. During 2007-08, a total of
865323.1 ha area was under organic farming out of which 401002.0 ha was
certified organic area and 464321.1 ha were under conversion process in India.
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