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Pros and Cons of Organic Farming

Bhakti Satalkar
With all the research being carried out in the farming sector, organic farming has emerged a clear winner. However, like everything else, organic farming also has its pros and cons which have been presented in here.
With the traditional methods of farming, food levels in the food banks of the world have increased. But very often the produce is full of chemicals, pesticides which eventually has adverse effects on human and animal health and the condition of soil. Organic farming came into being due to the shortcomings of traditional farming.

What is Organic Farming?

Organic farming is a technique of farming without any chemical or synthetic. It produces crops of highest nutritional values with least impact on nature. Crop rotation, green manure, natural fertilizers, biological pest control form the crux of organic farming.
It is a proactive ecology management strategy. This strategy enhances the fertility of the soil, prevents soil erosion, and at the same time protects the humans and animal kingdom from the side effects of chemicals and synthetics. Many of the farm products such as vegetables, fruit, herbs, meat, milk, eggs, etc., are produced organically by some farmers.
"Organic", as defined by law, implies quality assurance. The words "natural" and "eco-friendly" mean that organic farming techniques might have been used, but it does not necessarily mean completely following organic techniques.

Pros of Organic Farming

Most important advantage of organic farming is it maintains the life of the soil for the current and future generations. Water pollution is reduced. Mostly after it rains, the water from the fields, which contains chemicals, gets drained into the rivers.
This pollutes the water bodies. In organic farming no chemicals or synthetics are used and so water pollution is reduced. Organic farming helps build richer soil which is obtained by rotating crops. The rich soil helps in plant growth and reduces the rate of soil erosion drastically.
A French study has revealed that nutritional quality and micro-nutrients is present in higher quantities in organically produced crops. The micronutrients promote good health. Organically grown food tastes better and the overall cost of cultivating crops reduces as the farmers use green manure or worm-farming to replenish the lost nutrients of the soil.
Another option farmers use is growing legumes in rotation with other crops. Life of organically grown plants is longer than the plants cultivated by traditional methods and it is more drought tolerant.
The chemical fertilizers cause plant to ripen fast. When the crop does not get water it withers and dies which is not the case with organic crops.

Cons of Organic Farming

The first disadvantage is low productivity. With the highly developed chemicals and machinery  farmers are able to multiply the harvest manifold times. Organic farmers use the cultivation method as opposed to drilling method used by the traditional farmers. The cultivated soil is prone to wind, water erosion.
Traditional farmers opine that direct drilling does not cause any disharmony to the soil structure. Next argument is that organically produced food is costly than traditional food. The other valid argument is that organic food is not always available. There is a reason behind that.
Organic farmers grow crops as per the season. They do not artificially grow a crop, extend the life of plant or use chemicals, synthetics/ pesticides. So, oranges grow in winters and mangoes in summers. Eating a specific food item when in season surely benefits.
After weighing the pros and cons, it is noticed that the pros outweigh the cons. It is, therefore, best to consume organically grown food, although it is expensive.