Benefits of Organic and Natural Farming

But there is also the challenge of how to enable a scaled-up transition from chemicaldependent practices. We know that so far, only about 2 per cent of the country’s net sown area (140 million hectare, or mha) is ‘organically’ farmed, and a mere 0.41 mha in eight states is under natural farming.

This challenge of transition has several facets. Apart from mobilising farmers, training and supporting them during transition, and providing quality inputs and market access, another important part is to deal with the lack of conviction and consensus among the scientific community about the benefits of organic and natural farming – an issue which is often centred around the question of yield. This lack of conviction is also linked with the way how the evidence on benefits of organic and natural farming practices has been collated, presented and communicated so far.

In order to fill this gap, researchers at Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) have collected, analysed and consolidated the evidence generated on benefits of organic and natural farming over the last two decades across India. This evidence, compared with inorganic and integrated approaches of management, has now been presented in a comprehensive report with details on yield of different crops; cost, income and livelihood aspects; impact on soil-health and environment; and food quality. The report makes a strong case for considering holistic evidence on organic and natural farming for future policy, programmes and practice.

We invite all who are interested in the subject to a community release of CSE’s new report on February 2, 2022.

On February 3, 2022, CSE will conduct a stakeholder discussion on the subject – this event is not open to all, and invitations for it will be sent separately to stakeholders by CSE.

FOR MORE DETAILS, PLEASE CONTACT

SUKANYA NAIR
sukanya.nair@cseindia.org
8816818864