Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

A REVIEW ON SCOPE AND CHALLENGES OF ORGANIC FARMING IN INDIA

Marripati Venkata Manikishore Reddy, Sujatha H.T., Santosh Korav, Gayatri Kumari and Aakash Meher

Abstract

India grows a diverse range of food crops, including grains, pulses, and oilseeds. In the pretext of enhanced output, a vast amount of agrochemicals are being applied indiscriminately while keeping both soil and human health factor at bay. Hence, the need of the hour is an alternative agricultural approach that can meet the needs of current food requirements while offering security against potential ecological problems. Organic farming has been shown to be a viable solution to both of these issues. Therefore, understanding the organic agriculture, area and production scenario in the world and India, management practices, scope and challenges in adopting organic agriculture is the subject of this review. Organic farming has fewer prerequisites than chemical farming, and it is capable of providing economic security to mediocre farmers in a country like India. All production practices involve eco-friendly approaches. However, fulfilling the current food requirement is quite challenging for organic farming due to some of the issues like small land holdings, scarcity of organic inputs, weed control, carbon to nitrogen ratio, low yield, insufficient marketing infrastructure, etc. Despite many challenges, organic farming has much scope due to women’s employment, rural development, public health and environmental security.