Organic Agriculture

To achieve sustainable cropping enterprise, maintenance of soil and environmental health is of fundamental importance. Conservation of natural resource hence assumes greater significance due to large-scale deterioration of the resources for crop production. The purpose of this book is to draw attention to health of the soil; to indicate some of the consequences of this; to suggest methodology by which the lost fertility could be restored and to enlist research findings to utilize in making farm products as well as farm resources free from chemical pollution. This book provides an overall review of different tools for organic agriculture followed by discussions on sustainability. It covers the chapters on old and traditional tools of organic farming such as Ley farming, crop sequencing, agroforestry options etc. with latest reviews on them. Modern tools for organic farming such as biofertilizers, composting, biopesticides and residue management are discussed in detail. Socio-economic implications and farmers' perceptions of organic farming practices are also explained with a focus on ecological health. The possibilities of knowledge exchange in organic agriculture are evaluated and it is assessed how a large-scale conversion to organic agriculture would impact on food security. The information contained in this book would prove very useful to the researchers, teachers, students and environmentalists engaged in ecofriendly sustainable agriculture.