Let’s grow organic grains this rainy season
THE introduction of chemicals in farming got many delirious at the sight of what they could accomplish. Yields exploded. At the start, the soil was healthy.
Any damage brought about by chemical fertilizers was hardly noticeable. Pests had not developed resistance to the chemicals. The technology spread across the world as it was considered the revolution in agriculture.
Fast forward to today, and many people are marvelling at organic farming again. This is after learning that conventional farming methods come with a host of problems, including health-related diseases like cancer, pollution, degradation of soil and water, and impact on domestic animals.
Organic farming is a technique, which involves the cultivation of plants and rearing of animals in natural ways. This process involves the use of biological materials, avoiding synthetic substances to maintain soil fertility and ecological balance thereby minimising pollution and wastage.
In other words, organic farming is a farming method that involves growing and nurturing crops without the use of synthetic based fertilizers and pesticides. Also, no genetically modified organisms are permitted.
It relies on ecologically balanced agricultural principles like crop rotation, green manure, organic waste, biological pest control, mineral and rock additives.
Organic farming makes use of pesticides and fertilizers if they are considered natural and avoids the use of various petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Basically, organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity 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.
In the conventional farming methods, before seeds are sown, the farmer will have to treat or fumigate his farm using harsh chemicals to exterminate any naturally existing fungicides.
He will fertilize the soil using petroleum-based fertilizers. On the flip side, the organic farmer will prepare and enrich his land before sowing by sprinkling naturalbased fertilizers such as manure, bone meal or shellfish fertilizer.
Before planting seeds, the organic farmer will soak the seeds in fungicides and pesticides to keep insects and pests at bay. Chemical are also incorporated in the irrigation water to prevent insects from stealing the planted seeds.
On the other hand, the organic farmer will not soak his seeds in any chemical solution nor irrigate the newly planted seeds using water with added chemicals.
In fact, he will not even irrigate with council water, which is normally chlorinated to kill any bacteria. He will depend on natural rain or harvest and stored rainwater to use during dry months.
When the seeds have sprung up, and it’s time to get rid of weeds, the conventional farmer will use weedicide to exterminate weeds.
The organic farmer will not use such chemicals to get rid of the weed problem. Instead, he will physically weed out the farm, although it’s very labour-intensive.