A Comparative Analysis of Organic and Inorganic Farming An Empirical Study of Rural Punjab

Abstract

The high production cost of inorganic farming, its adverse effects on human health and environment, the organic agriculture has triggered a controversial debate in the last decades, most importantly because it shed light on the darker sides of chemical-intensive conventional farming by offering an alternative. It is felt that a new agricultural technology is needed which will protect the soil, provide the food, fiber, fuel and other materials needed to sustain the population, save energy, increase production and productivity of land and also be economically viable for the small farmers, environment friendly and acceptable to the society. In doing so, the technology should recognize the advantage of the knowledge of the traditional farmers. This is possible only by switching over to Organic Farming from Inorganic Farming. Two options are there - either to completely go in for the Organic Farming or to choose the combination between the Organic Farming and Inorganic Farming. Organic farming normally does not involve capital investment as heavy as that required in inorganic farming. A large number of small farmers, those who do the inorganic farming have very little capacity to pay for most of the chemical inputs for agriculture. Therefore, small and marginal farmers can do organic farming with small capital. It can also provide more revenue to the farmers. The increasing demand for organic food is a major determinant for the scope of organic farming in future as the awareness is increasing rapidly about health and environment. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Oddisha and Karnataka are having a very large area under organic farming. As far as Punjab is concerned, it shows a dismal progress as compared to other states. Being a rich and agriculturally advanced state, there is a greater scope of organic farming in Punjab but it lags behind than most of the other states in India as far as organic farming is concerned. Therefore, the present study provides the comparative analysis of organic and inorganic farming