Vikas Maitri
Voluntary Development Society in Jharkhand
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www.vikasmaitri.org |
website for rural and tribal development |
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Vikas Maitri |
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Voluntary Development Society in Jharkhand |
What is Organic Farming? Why Vikas Maitri is promoting organic farming in rural communities? One may ask citing that what the country needs is food self sufficiency (apparently by using high cost inputs). The argument of Vikas Maitri has been: heavily subsidized food self sufficiency is a misnomer. Vikas Maitri had already undergone the experience of promoting high input agriculture among the rural farmers some 20 years back. What were the results ? Leave alone the long term effect on soil structure and environment, the total economic impact on the farmers who practiced high input agriculture was disastrous. It turned out to be after all a very unprofitable business where the farmer was losing more than he was earning. It may be true that the first few years production by high input agriculture in a virgin land may be quite high but as the years go by the laws of diminishing return start applying very hard. The process is quick on sandy loam soil structure vulnerable to acidity. Organic farming is also scientific except that it is not bound by narrow objectives. It is based on the principle that plants manufacture their own food in their leaves through a process in which solar energy is utilized for recycling matter. Organic matter comes mainly from the atmosphere with the help of sun, water and atmospheric gases. In the Bible the origin of man is described thus: "Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live" (Genesis 2:7). God in-fact may have used recyclable organic matter in creating man, the end product of which is humus, a form of the soil. The contribution of modern science is in the understanding of the role of nutrients in the growth of a plant. Modern technology artificially manufactures some of these nutrients. However, there is no dearth of natural nutrients which are in an inestimable reserve in the soil. These are normally not available to the plant because they may be locked up in the different layers of soil! The art of organic farming is to unlock these and bring them to the top layer of the soil where they are needed the most. The roots of trees play an important role in this process. A secret of organic farming is the creation of a conducive environment for the propagation of soil micro-organisms who play an important role in releasing nutrients from organic and inorganic matter and make these available to the plant in soluble forms. The use of hazardous chemicals in high input agriculture farming eliminate altogether these benevolent micro-organisms from the face of the earth.
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