Organic Farming

Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost, biological pest control, and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm. Organic farming excludes or strictly limits the use of synthetic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock antibiotics, food additives, and genetically modified organisms.

 

Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, bio diversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all involved.

 

Plants need nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, as well as micro nutrients and symbiotic relationships with fungi and other organisms to flourish, but getting enough nitrogen, and particularly synchronization so that plants get enough nitrogen at the right time (when plants need it most), is likely the greatest challenge for organic farmers. Crop rotation and green manure("cover crops") help to provide nitrogen through legumes which fix nitrogen from the atmosphere through symbiosis with the bacteria rhizobia.. Crop residues can be ploughed back into the soil, and different plants leave different amounts of nitrogen, potentially aiding synchronization. Organic farmers also use animal manure.