Organic Farming

ADVANTAGES OF ORGANIC FARMING

There are many advantages of organic farming. But first let's find out what exactly is it. Organic farming is a technique, which involves the cultivation of plants and rearing of animals in natural ways without any usage of chemical products. This produces better, healthier and more natural-like plant, dairy or poultry products. These have a better impact on our health than the products grown with chemicals. Hence, their produce has been increased by the government of many countries. Now let’s find out more of its advantages.

1. Organic farming minimises the external cost of farming as the cost of fertilisers, pesticides, etc. is expensive as compared to manure, animal waste or nature’s by-products.

2. Organic farming has an efficient use of resources as many of the products are recycled, for example, the soil is improved through crop rotation; cow dung, soil, compost etc. are used for making manure, etc.

3. Healthier food - Organic food grown in richer organic soils, has higher levels of micronutrients.

So, these products are totally natural, really good for health and should be consumed.

Devarsh Khatri (SMSMB)

PLACES WHERE ORGANIC FARMING IS PRACTISED

Agriculture has been around for about 10,000 years and a massive part of the produce has been grown naturally without the addition of any artificial substances. However, since the discovery of chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides, their development as well as usage has been accelerated. Their long-term yet significant disadvantages were only discovered in the past few decades. Since then, many countries and governments have introduced regulatory legislation and banned dangerous substances. Now, contrary to popular belief, organic, chemical-free farming is practised all around the globe with approximately 72,300,000 hectares of farmland being used for it. Danish consumers are considered the most pro-organic in the world. The government of Denmark also supports farmers financially to help them convert to organic methods and runs a free certification program. Austria, India and Thailand are other countries where the government has devised schemes and action plans to promote organic farming. The Falkland Islands, between Britain and Argentina, surprisingly have 35% organic farmland, the highest percentage worldwide.

It is evident that to combat the ever-growing environmental issues, all countries should promote organic agricultural methods and we, as consumers, support organic farmers as well as their produce.

Here's the list of nations that promote organic farming the most-

1) Uganda

2) Mexico

3) India

4) Australia

5) Falkland Islands

6) Argentina

7) USA

8) Spain

9) China

10) Germany

Aaashvi Ahlawat (SMSMB)

Credits: https://ofrf.org/ https://www.britannica.com/topic/organic-farming