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1.1 Introduction

Orchard is an area of land on which fruit trees are grown. An orchard is purposeful planting of fruit trees that is maintained for food production. It encompasses fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchard management refers to management practices planned in the fruit orchard to maximize production of high-quality fruit and increase grower profitability. Decisions on soil preparation, crop cultivars, orchard systems and designs, location and site selection, making provision for water availability, canopy management, nutrient management, orchard floor management, pest and disease management, harvesting and mechanization etc. need to be taken care of while establishing an orchard. It is easy to establish an orchard considering its features critically but difficult to manage afterwards. It needs high managerial skills and technically skilled manpower to carry out different orchard operations. Orcharding is a long-term investment. Fruit plants once planted remain committed to the land for many years. Being perennial in nature, any mistake committed during initial years of orchard planning, is very tough to rectify.

1. INTRODUCTION

Fruit production is not only the growing of fruit plants but it is an outcome of well planned orcharding system. The designing of an orchard for successful fruit production depends upon various physical as well as climatic conditions and resources which help in building up of fruit growing systems. An orchard is a long term investment, mistakes committed at initial stage of planning, selection of site and soil reduces the return greatly from investment, beside wastage of time and energy. Thus, a faultless planning with utmost care and attention become quite imperative while planning a new orchard.

2. PLANNING OF ORCHARD

Before undertaking the actual planting of fruit trees, it is advisable to plan the complete process/steps, which will enable the grower to provide not only the most economic orchard management, but also for the economic layout and location of roads, drains, irrigation channels, hedges and wind breaks. For establishing an orchard of fruits, the major consideration must be given to four important aspects like climate, site or location selection, soil condition and basic facilities (economic and market consideration).

1. IMPORTANCE

Nutrients are known to influence each and every physiological process within plant system. A considerable amount of various nutrients has been reported to drain off every year with the yield, pruning wood and fallen leaves from the plant and soil system. Therefore, for successful fruit culture, assessment of nutritional status of an orchard assumes significance. The key to mineral nutrition of any orchard is the judicious application of fertilizers on the basis of leaf and soil analysis. The nutrients requirements of fruit trees may vary from crop to crop and includes the soil as well as foliar application of the required major and micro-nutrients. Low level of nutrient results in low yields which are much below the realizable potential. There are a number of reasons why better nutrient management in horticultural crops deserves serious attention. The nutrition management of fruit crops is important:

1. To obtain higher yields and higher returns.
2. To increase the returns from established orchards.
3. To help improving the nutritional standards of the people by providing adequate supply of fruits and vegetables at affordable prices.
4. To provide greater and better quality raw material for fruit and vegetable processing industries, and
5. To help earning foreign exchange through the export of high quality produce in fresh or processed form.

Growing fruits can be fun, delightful experience and a challenging hobby. There are several good reasons to grow fruits. Fruits add beautiful colour and variety to your garden. Large amounts of fruit can be grown in a relatively small area.Store-bought fruits are often picked, shipped, and sold before they are fully ripened and generally stock selections that look prettiest but are not necessarily the best tasting. In addition, fresh garden fruits are a good source of vitamins; minerals, carbohydrates, fibre (Table 1) and will provide your family with flavorful, delicious and nutritious food. As an added bonus, the fruits you grow will taste much better than the fruits you find in the grocery store. Establishment of an orchard are a long term investment and require critical planning, selection of proper location and site, planting system and planting distance, varieties and the nursery plants to ensure maximum production.

Even if you have limited space, you can still enjoy growing fresh fruits in your garden by growing fruit plants in containers. You can grow any fruit tree in a container for a few years and then transplant it. You can also choose a dwarf variety, which is well suited to living in a container. If you carefully choose the kind and varieties of a fruit before you plant, you can harvest dessert-quality fruit from early summer through the fall. Many fruit plants are aesthetically pleasing and are good for “edible landscaping.” Some fruits, such as apple, citrus, blueberries and figs, make outstanding ornamental plants. Some people find a natural setting with plants placed throughout the landscape most aesthetically pleasing. But this makes maintenance more challenging.

Selection of orchard soil in rainfed areas

A good or adequate soil for orchard production is to say that a given plot or area of land must possess the following qualities.

1. A deep and well aerated soil with good drainage.
2. Adequate nutrients for optimum tree growth and high yields.
3. Good Water holding capacity - the ability to store and feed the fruit tree with an abundant supply of water.

It is a scientific technique which provides maximum outputs of various inputs consistently without any loss of fertilizers and manure, plant, plant protection chemicals, produce etc. Therefore, one should understand the management of these qualities of both resource and output.

8.1 INTRODUCTION

Orchard is a place or a piece of land where different kinds of fruit plants are planted in orderly manner and managed efficiently for production of successive yield to get assured economic return. An orchard being capital-intensive and long-term venture careful planning, layout, selection of site, preliminary operations etc. are to be done. It is easy to establish an orchard considering its features critically but difficult to manage afterwards. It needs high managerial skills and technically skilled manpower to carry out different orchard operations. Any lapses in management can lead to incur heavy loss.

Orchard

Establishment of orchard is a long term investment. It is require a proper planning, any mistake during the selection of site, planting distance, choice of crop/variety, quality of nursery stock etc. reflect greatly on the orchard performance and efficiency.

Orchard management is one of the important aspects in the horticulture industry. Success of orchards is mostly depends upon economic utilization of natural resources namely land, water, trees and other external inputs. All these resources have to be well utilized to the best advantage for higher production per unit area on a sustainable basis without adversely affecting the quality of the environment. Important aspects of orchard management are related with soil and water conservation, canopy management, nutrition management, weed management, plant protection measures, biotic and abiotic stress management, maturity and harvest, post harvest handling, utilization and marketing.

Soil management: Soil management aims at maintaining the fertility and productivity of soil. It creates favorable conditions for moisture supply, proper drainage and nutrient availability. It helps to maintain high fertility level and replenishment against losses, gaseous exchange, microbial activities, it helps to check soil erosion, suppress the weed population, economic utilization of interspace of main crops. Common soil management practices are cultivation, sod culture, mulching and rotation.

Orchard: Establishment of orchard is a long term investment. It is require a proper planning, any mistake during the selection of site, planting distance, choice of crop/variety, quality of nursery stock etc. reflect greatly on the orchard performance and efficiency.

Following points are keep in mind at time of orchard planning-

1.    Road- Orchard should be well connected with the road for facilitate transportation of material to the orchard and produce of orchard to the market.

2.    Orchard structure- In structure office, implementshed, go-down come store etc. are required. Area under these structures is not more than 10% of total area.

3.    Fencing and wind break- Before planting of plants, installation of fence is necessary for protecting the undesirable element. Fencing can be done by erecting a wall or by fixing iron angle or concrete cement pillar and titening with running 4 to 5 times at a distance of 30-40 cm barbed wire.

Orchard is a long-term investment and careful planning and resource analysis prior to establishment is essential. Lack of attention and care in the initial stages of orchard development results in irreversible damages. Essential resources for successful orcharding can be broadly grouped into two categories as biophysical and socioeconomical. Biophysical resources include land, soil, agrochemicals, planting materials, irrigation and manpower, while socioeconomic factors are finance, security, market, technical knowledge, transport, storage and social amenities.

Selection of crops and varieties should be done carefully, the most important factor being market demand. Popular fruit crops, which have demand in local markets, can definitely be a good choice. Previous experience and expertise of growers of selected locality can be made use before finalizing plans.

SITE SELECTION

Factors like climate, soil, availability of water, trained labour and inputs like fertilizers and plant protection chemicals should be considered. Accessibility to market, railway station, transport, nearness to road, storage facilities and processing units which facilitate expeditious disposal of perishable fruits, help in getting good returns from orchards. Successful fruit growing in a particular locality depends to a great extent on the natural factors especially climate and soil.

Purpose-There are several planting plans or systems which can be adopted for planting orchard. The following points need to be considered before choosing any system of planting.

1. It should accommodate maximum number of plants per unit area.
2. It should allow sufficient space for the development of each tree.
3. Orchard operation such as ploughing, dusting are easy to perform.

The old orchards become non-productive due to incidence of pest and diseases and neglect, once the orchard becomes old its productivity goes down, and it is general tendency of the farmers to neglect the orchard. In pomegranate when the survey was conducted it was observed that 25 percent of the old orchards become unproductive due to loss of vigor in the plant. Owing to heavy incidence of pest and diseases. There is still scope to review production from these orchards through intensive care. Rejuvenation can be bone by mechanical measures, chemical measures as well as by pruning of plants. Work carried out on non-selective pruning at CHES, Vejalpur has shown encouraging results.

Orchid Morphology

Most of the orchids are perennial herbs with simple leaves. Although the specialized flower structure confirms to a standard plan, the vegetative parts are shown great variation, a large number of them being epiphytes, or terrestrial and a few saprophytes are leafless in nature. Orchids can be divided into two groups - monopodial or sympodial depending upon their habit of growth. Monopodial orchids such as Vanda have a main stem which continues to grow year after. Sympodial orchids such as Cymbidium have a main stem, which terminates growth at the end of each season. A new shoot then grows from the base forming its own bulbous stem called pseudo-bulb, which eventually flowers. The pseudo-bulb or thickened stem is a very useful device for the storage of food and water and function like bulbs. In addition to the epiphytic orchids, there are also grounds orchids or terrestrial orchids, which grow like ordinary plants with their roots in soil. Most of the temperate zone orchids are terrestrial and tropical orchids are epiphytes.

Biosduval Scale/Orchid scale : Diaspis boisduvalii : Diaspididae

These scales are round flat and yellow in colour. Only the first instar crawlers move. The others are sedentary. The young and mature scales suck the juice from the leaves, petioles and shoots and also inject toxins into the plant. Affected plants turn yellow in patches, lose vigour and get stunted.

Orchids are the royalty among flower crops. They exhibit an incredible range of diversity in size, shape and colour of flower. They are valued as cut flowers and potted plants and are the most pampered plants. Orchid flowers are famous for the long lasting characteristics and bewitching beauty. No other plant has probably acquired the status of orchids. They have always been considered as mysterious plants.

Orchids belong to family Orchidaceae, the largest family of the flowering plants. The term ‘orchid’ has its origin from the Greek word, “orchid” meaning “testicle”, referring to the paired underground tubers of terrestrial orchids. There are several generas in orchids, which are popular for their separate importance as cut flower, pot plant, medicinal properties, flavour extraction, etc. The fascinating flowers exhibit an incredible range of shape, size and colour, long life of flowers on plant and an amazingly long keeping quality, which no other plant can claim.

Orchids belong to family Orchidaceae, the largest family of the flowering plants. The term ‘orchid’ has its origin from the Greek word, “orchid” meaning “testicle”, referring to the paired underground tubers of terrestrial orchids. There are several generas in orchids, which are popular for their separate importance as cut flower, pot plant, medicinal properties, flavour extraction, etc. The fascinating flowers exhibit an incredible range of shape, size and colour, long life of flowers on plant and an amazingly long keeping quality, which no other plant can claim.

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION

Majority of the cultivated orchids are native of tropical countries and occur widely in humid tropical forests of South and Central America, Mexico, India, Ceylon, Burma, South China, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, New Guinea and Australia. Brazilean cattleyas, Mexican laelias and Indian dendrobiums, cymbidiums and vandas have been extensively utilized for the development of modern orchid industry in the world.

INTRODUCTION

Orchids are the most beautiful flowers in God’s creation and have conquered the cut flower industry all over the world during the last few decades. They are most pampered of the plants, occupy top position among all flowering plants and are valued for cut flower production and as potted plant. They are known for their beautiful flowers, which exhibit an incredible range of size, shape and colour, long life of flowers on the plants and an amazingly long keeping quality which no other plant can claim.

Orchids are excellent for garden and can be grown in beds, pots, baskets, split hollows of bamboo pieces, etc. They are also suitable for interior decoration and remain fresh for many days. Before their aesthetic qualities were exploited, orchids were grown for their tubers which were considered as aphrodisiac. The leaves of Vanda roxburghii have been used against rheumatism in older days in India. Habenaria, a terrestrial genus of orchid also possess medicinal properties. Vanillin produced from Vanilla planifolia is used in flavouring industries. Orchids are used in indigenous system of medicine, particularly Ayurveda. Many of the orchid species contain alkaloids, which are important secondary metabolites. From Dendrobium nobile dendrobine and nobilonine are extracted. Similarly, laburnine from Liparis bicallosa, malaxine from Malaxis congesta and phalaenopsine from Phalaenopsis mannii are extracted. Pseudobulbs of Cymbidium madidum and Dendrobium speciosum are used as food.

Orchid industry in India is not as old as the cultivation and trade of other flowers. Our position in export market is very low as compared to south-east Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, where orchid growing has become a multi-million dollar industry.

Abstract: Orchids, one of the largest commodities in international cut flowers and ornamental plant market, in which genera Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis, and Vanda are most traded. Orchids occupy prime position among ornamental plants of the modern world. Both warm and cool temperature cultivars are grown in vitro germinated seeds or clones. Breeders have created polyploid cultivars (amphidiploids, triploids) which have greater flower number/raceme, large flowers and other valuable traits. Numerous genes have been identified in the genus with some sequenced genes being used to create genetic transformants. Genome breeding and wide crosses are routinely used to create new genetic variability. Future crop ideotypes are proposed to continue transformation of this crop during the next millennium.

Introduction

Orchids are the most beautiful flower and have conquered the cut flower industry all over the world. They are valued for cut flower production and as potted plant. Their beautiful flowers varied in size, shape and colour, long life of flowers on the plants and an amazingly long keeping quality which no other plant can claim.

Many of orchids are source of important secondary metabolites as given below.

Vanillin produced from Vanilla planifolia is used in flavouring industries.

Dendrobine and nobilonine from Dendrobium nobile.

Laburnine from Liparis bicallosa.

Malaxine from Malaxis congesta.

Phalaenopsine from Phalaenopsis mannii.

Orchid is a valuable flowering plant belongs to family Orchidaceae. It is considered that the family recognise for maximum number species ranged between17,000 and 35,000 worldwide (Garay 1960; Willis 1973). The word orchid is derived from a Greek word orchis for testicle because of the shape of the root tubers in some species of genus Orchis. India is a reservoir of 1300 orchid species from 184 genera, accounts for nearly 7 per cent of worlds orchids genetic diversity (Arora, 1983; Rampal and Nagrare, 2006) and 1150 species belonging to 164 genera (Satish Kumar and Manilal, 1994) of which about 800 species are found in the North Eastern region of the country (Nagaraju et al., 2006). Apart from species, more than one lakh hybrids developed in orchids. It is found all over the world from tropical to temperate and even alpine region. People always think that orchids are epiphytic only but it is not. It can grow in soil as terrestrial, on tree trunk (epiphytic) and on dead organic matter (saprophytes) and on rocks (lithophytes). Orchids produce unique flowers, affluent for their uniqueness in shape, size and colour, exquisitely attractive; remain fresh condition for long period of time in comparison to other flowers. Vase life of its flowers varied among species and hybrids ranged up to 40-45 days. Orchids are cultivated for trade of orchid species, cut-flowers, potted plants, flower basket, bouquet, stage decoration in high profile meets and functions and also used in many other value-added products (Kuehnle 2007). Many orchid species are used as food like Cymbidium hookerianum, Dendrobium chrysotoxum, D. kingianum, D. cathenatum and many more (Singh et al., 2016), spices (Vanilla planifolia and V. pompona) and medicinal uses (Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Flickingeria macraei, Vanda tessellata and Dendrobium macraei as reported by Ram Pal et al., 2020). The most popular and commercially cultivated genera are: Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Oncidium, Phalaenopsis, Vanda, Paphiopedilum, Mokara, Arundina, Paphiopedilum, Ascocenda and Cattleya in the country and even in the world.

Order: Coleoptera (beetles)
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota 
Division: Endopterygota 
Order: Coleoptera
Characters
1. They are commonly known as beetles.
2. It is the largest order and contributes 40% of total insects.
3. They bear two pairs of wings of which front pair is fully thickened,hence called as elytra, meet edge in the mid dorsal line act as hard or leathery cover for the posterior pairs of membranous wings.
4. Mouthparts are strongly mandibulated i.e. biting & chewing type.
5. Life cycle shows complete metamorphosis. Pupa is free or exarate type.

Order: Diptera
Sub Order: Orthorrhapha
Series: Nematocera
Family: Ceratopogonidae
Genus: Culicoides
Species: Culicoides oxystoma, C. imicola 
Common name: Biting midges or Biting gnats or punkies or No see-ums.
Hosts: Animals and man 
Distribution: Worldwide 
Morphology of fly

1. Size is 1-3 mm in length. They are the smallest blood sucking flies. They can easily pass through mosquito nets.

Bugs
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota 
Division: Exopterygota
Order: Hemiptera (Bugs)
Characters
1. These are true bugs.
2. Mouth parts adapted for piercing and sucking. Proboscis kept folded in head when not in use.
3. Two pairs of wings usually present, anterior harder pair called hemelytra.Posterior pair is membranous.
4. Both male and female are blood suckers.
5. Metamorphosis is incomplete

Lice
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota 
Division: Exopterygota
Order: Mallophaga (Biting louse) and order Siphunculata or Anoplura 
(sucking louse)
General characters of lice
1. Lice are permanent obligatory ecto-parasites of animals and birds. 
2. They are very host and site specific. 
3. Lice are dorsoventrally flattened, wingless creatures. 
4. Body is divided into head, thorax and abdomen. 
5. Eyes are reduced or absent in certain species. Compound eyes are absent.
6. Antennae are short. 

Order: Orthoptera

This order includes cockroaches and grasshoppers. They bear the following characters:

1. The body is oval and flattened in cockroach and elongated in grasshopper.

2. Two pairs of wings are present. Mesothoracic pair of wings is thickened (Tegmina) and act as cover for membranous metathoracic pair of wings.

3. Antennae are long and multi-jointed.

4. The legs are modified for fast running (cockroach) or jumping (grasshopper).

5. Metamorphosis is incomplete.

Order: Siphonptera (Fleas)
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota 
Division: Endopterygota
Order: Siphonaptera
Siphonaptera derived from two greek words viz. siphon (sucking) and apteron (wingless)
General characters of fleas
1. Body is laterally compressed.
2. Tegument is highly scleritized. Outer chitinous layer is very thick and it is dark brown in colour.
3. A pair of simple eye or ocelli are present on head. Compound eyes absent.

As milk to a cow or fruit to a tree, ore is to Earth Sciences. Different academic and scientific aspects of geology are of no consequence to a common man. Ores and ore minerals from which valuable constituents could be extracted profitably is what the world is after- be it the continental masses, oceanic depths, desolate icy Antarctic tracts or now, even other planets of the solar system. The subject of economic geology is thus a subject of greatest interest among other natural sciences.

This last section will dwell on the theme of metallic and non metallic ore deposits. The first chapter begins with fundamental definitions, signifying the importance of minerals in human affairs. It also looks at ore minerals against the background of average crustal composition and presents a glossary of important terms in economic geology. The second chapter is a lengthy chapter devoted to the ways ore deposits are formed ( ore genesis). Broadly, the processes are described under two categories, the internal processes and the surface processes. Fuel minerals are taken separately towards the end of this chapter. Chapter III briefly introduces the relationship between location of minerals deposits to the revolutionary theme of global tectonics which attempts to answer why a mineral deposits occurs where it occurs.

The fourth chapter is devoted entirely to the Indian Mineral Deposits. It begins with a few important themes of mineral economics and dwells on the description of important Indian Mineral Deposits as to their geology, geography and economic potential. Lastly, the fifth chapter exclusively deals with the facts and figures of the Indian Mineral Industry presenting recent available data of resources, production, import, export and future prospects. It also gives a brief introduction to the important geo-scientific organizations of the country.

An organic acid is an organic compound with acidic properties. The most common organic acids are the carboxylic acids, whose acidity is associated with their carboxyl group –COOH. However, sulphuric acids, containing the group –SO₂OH, are relatively stronger acids. Alcohols, with –OH, may also act as weak acids. Some other groups may also act as weak acids viz. thiol group and phenol group. In biological systems, organic compounds containing these groups are generally classified under organic acids. Some common organic acids are lactic acid, acetic acid, formic acid, citric acid, oxalic acid, uric acid, propionic acid and butyric acid. Organic acids have been used for decades in commercial compound feeds, mostly for feed preservation, for which formic and propionic acids are particularly effective. Since the ban of antibiotic growth promoters in many countries, organic acids have been used increasingly, not only because of their preservative qualities, but also for their nutritive properties. Organic acids and their salts are generally regarded as safe and have been approved by most member states of EU to be used as the feed additives in animal production.

Organic farming is getting more and more popular as a farm practice. Although most agricultural land is still processed through conventional farming, the demand for organic agriculture and organic crops is constantly increasing. Organic farming is defined in a variety of ways. The majority of them argue that synthetically manufactured fertilisers and pesticides are not allowed in organic farming. This is right; yet, organic farming encompasses much more. Organic farming is founded on unique qualities as a wholly natural and sustainable farm management technique. To put it another way, organic farming is both an agricultural practise and a philosophy of cooperating with nature.

Climate change mitigation is urgent, and adaptation to climate change is crucial, particularly in agriculture, where food security is at stake. The gases contributing to the greenhouse effect mainly include carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O) and methane (CH₄). These gases have varying global warming potentials, which can be expressed in CO₂ equivalents.

Agriculture, currently responsible for 2030% of global greenhouse gas emissions (counting direct and indirect agricultural emissions), can however contribute to both climate change mitigation and adaptation. The main mitigation potential lies in the capacity of agricultural soils to sequester CO₂ through building organic matter. This potential can be realized by employing sustainable agricultural practices, such as those commonly found within organic farming systems. Examples of these practices are the use of organic fertilizers and crop rotations including legume leys and cover crops. Mitigation is also achieved in organic agriculture through the avoidance of open biomass burning, and the avoidance of synthetic fertilizers, the production of which causes emissions from fossil fuel use.

Organic agriculture is associated with higher carbon sequestration as many organic practices help to improve soilquality and carbon sequestration. The most common organic practices that increase soil organic carbon are the use of organic fertilizers (such as the composted waste products from livestock husbandry), crop rotation involving legumes and the planting of cover crops.

Organic farming offers several ways to mitigate climate change when compared to conventional agriculture:

Primarily, organic farming, through its key practices of organic fertiliser use and crop rotations with forage legumes, tends to increase soil organic carbon levels resulting in carbon sequestration.This contributes to climate change mitigation, as it absorbs CO₂ from the atmosphere and stores the additional carbon in the soil. However, depending on soil type and climatic conditions, this process usually comes to a halt after some decades, when soil organic carbon levels have reached a new equilibrium and soils arethus saturated with respect to organic carboncontents. Furthermore, this storage of organiccarbon is reversible and the carbon can again be released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide when switching to unsustainable practices.

Agriculture is an important factor for human civilization as it not only provides food, feed for the livestock, fibre, fuel and industrial raw material but also supports the livelihood of a wide range of world population. Besides, it shows its prominent presence in the economy of the developing countries. Being a developing country, agriculture is the largest sector in India where about 54% of the population is engaged. The growth of agriculture in India during last seven and half decades (after independence) is quite remarkable in terms of sufficient food-grains production as well as in achieving self-sufficiency in food production. The task to achieve it was not so easy.

Introduction

Organic agriculture implies growing of agricultural crops and animal husbandry components while not chemical plant food, weed killer and pesticides used. An agricultural practice followed in organic farming squarely measure ruled by the principles of ecology and squarely measure amongst the ecological means that.

Organic agriculture could be a production system that avoids or mostly excludes the employment of synthetically combined fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, placental feed habit-forming and genetically changed organisms. Organic farmers admit crop rotation, inexperienced manures, compost, biological blighter management, and mechanical cultivation to keep up soil productivity and management pests as way as doable and practicable. Organic agriculture could be a distinctive production management system and key issue of maintenance of agricultural property that promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, together with multifariousness, biological cycles and soil biological activity, and this is often accomplished by victimization on-farm science, biological and mechanical ways in exclusion of all artificial off-farm inputs during this context, a serious thrust towards organic cultivation, however, would require variety of alternative initiatives and infrastructural support. Active involvement in learning crops and their diseases, development of organic manure, natural pesticides, coaching of farmers, and provision of storage and property square measure all vital areas to appear into.

Organic farming has become progressively vital in agriculture given the rising variety of issues that use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides squarely measure throwing up GM (genetically modified) crops could give a wonderful yield however their long-run effects square measure hitherto untested and other people aren’t quite able to trust these foods excepting for this, there has been a big rise within the demand for organic food across the globe. Promoting these organic-farming techniques solely leaves India best poised to take advantage on the export potential of those foods.

Abstract

Women empowerment is a buzz word of every platform starting from household issues to national politics. The best way to empower women is to make them economically self-reliant through entrepreneurial activities. In India agriculture is mainstay of the country and 70 percent women are farmers, so the best measure to empower them is through entrepreneurship in agriculture and allied sectors particularly organic agriculture as India currently holds a prominent position among 172 countries that actively practice it. At present, the country is home to more than 8, 50,000 organic producers, 699 processors, 669 exporters, and 7, 20,000 hectares under cultivation. Merely with 0.4 per cent of total agricultural land area under organic cultivation, India has attained global standing which infers that this industry still has a long way to go in terms of growth and opportunities for socio-economic development. Organic Food industry has been experiencing steadfast growth in past few years in India in spite of several challenges at producer, processor and consumer levels. With its annual turnover of Rs 4000 crore and annual growth rate of 25%, the country’s budding organic food market is transforming into world’s fastest growing organic food market with expected turnover of 10,000 crore by 2020. There is drastic change in consumer behavior and spending patterns in the country which has opened avenues for organic food industry at the national level besides export. This highscale opportunity is driven by the fact that organic food consumption is not even 0.1 percent of India’s $300 billion annual food consumption. Likewise, India’s share in the $100 billion global organic food market is less than 0.2 percent. Further, the scope of the opportunity is also driven by the increasing variety of organic foods hitting the market and the emergence of e-commerce as a channel in which to sell the product. India today is on the threshold of organic revolution where women participation will act as booster but need to be supported by Govts and technical institutions. Barriers to improving women’s agency include widespread deficiencies in policy support to women, and in fact to the organic farming sector as a whole. It is necessary to increase women’s research presence in organic research institutions (including at the higher levels). To enable women to conduct research in the field, it is important to allow women to set research agendas, and to work with their research needs and priorities. Food security as a priority for organic agriculture involves women’s empowerment since they hold a central role in providing nutrition for the household.

Abstract

Organic farming has proved to be effective technology for socio-economic empowerment of Indian farmers as it imposes positive changes in social factors in the local communities. There is tremendous scope of export, entrepreneurship and employment opportunities in organic farming in India. Local, regional, national and global markets are developing sinks for organic products. Organic crop production is sustainable and has positive impact on the ecology and socio-economic status of the peoples. Various socio-economic factors influence the farmers’ choice to adopt organic cultivation. Several threats and weaknesses exist. Hence, there is a need to address the weaknesses of the organic system by integrating it with innovative tools of marketing and ICTs so that there is alignment in demand- production-supply so concerted efforts are needed to establish production-consumption linkages through PPP mode. It will offset threats of organic farming thereby making it more remunerative and promising. The existing evidences suggest greater research efforts in this area are required. There is need to identify the gaps between the adoption of techniques of organic farming and remove them by strengthening production-consumption and marketing linkages. Moreover, it is important to assess and analyze the status of organic farming and feasibility to different sustainable practices in different production systems and farming situations across the country for promotion of this value added entrepreneurship.

Keywords: organic farming, status, constraints, entrepreneurship and socio-economic dynamics

Introduction

Organic farming is a comprehensive approach to production management that promotes and improves Agro-health, ecosystems including biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It prioritizes management approaches above off-farm inputs, and agronomic, biological, and mechanical farming procedures are used rather than synthetic resources (Ajibade, Ayinde, and Abdoulaye 2020). The term “organic farming” refers to a production technique that excludes the use of artificially formulated fertilizers, pesticides, or growth regulators for agronomic practices or the use of different chemicals for livestock production, i.e., feed additives, growth promoters and antibiotics, etc. (M. Singh 2021).

The terms such as organic, natural, biological, biodynamic, altemative and sustainable farming have entered the agriculture vocabulary. Inspite of these differences in terminology, basically identical ideologies, ideas and technologies are reflected. The common objectives of all the system are to develop farming methods to restore, maintain or build-up soil productivity, to protect the environment instead of causing pollution, produce safe and healthy food, and preserve or help the small farmer.

In Japan, the farmers study the nature, learn from it and apply the knowledge on their farms. For instances growing plots should also be mulched with straw or plant residues, this imitates the conditions in natural forest where ground is never bare. Instead of using pesticides, strong herbs or plants can be grown around vegetable plots to ward off the insects. To keep the soil health natural, organic fertilizers are used. Soil microorganisms and earthworms take care of the processes involved in decomposition and mineralization of the organic substances, fix atmospheric nitrogen, solubilise insoluble forms of phosphate and produce natural growth promoting substances and antibiotics,

The concept of sustainable agriculture is gaining acceptance and momentum because of rapid degradation of natural resources, increase in the cost of production in conventional agriculture system and deterioration in the quality of rural life caused by environmental pollution. Moreover it is risky and uneconomical to practise conventional agriculture in over 70 percent of the cultivated area in India which is presently under rainfed farming. Much of the know how to practice organic farming models has rested on the individual farmers till now. They however do not have the benefit of appropriate technology and scientific information and also institutional support to ensure success of the new farming system.

Organic Farming

The FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission defines organic farming as “a unique production management system which promotes and enhances agro- ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity, and this is accomplished by using on-farm agronomic, biological and mechanical methods in exclusion of all synthetic off-farm inputs”. It is a certification of a production system as opposed to the certification of a product. For a product to be certified organic, all operators in the product chain, including farmers, processors, manufacturers, exporters, importers, wholesalers and retailers must be certified organic. The establishment of organic animal/poultry husbandry requires a specific period called as “conversion period”. This period is the time taken between the start of the organic management on farm and certification of livestock farm and its product. Changing from conventional to organic management system for livestock enterprises requires a careful and gradual approach. It is learnt that global organic product has increased 20% annually over the past 10 years. Though Australia, European Union and USA are leading organic producers, a recent study indicated that developing countries including India are also adopting the system and marching ahead.

Agricultural sector, with the technological advancements, is also contributing to global climate change, loss of biodiversity and degradation of resources. Further, there is a serious global concern about chemical residues, healthy food and healthy planet earth. Organic and natural farming are acclaimed to be the best alternative non-chemical production pathways to reverse the ill effects of modern agriculture. However, these systems are not contemplated to meet the food security and other requirements of ever-growing human population, particularly in developing countries. In this chapter, based on the available and documented protocols and production practices of these systems, the additional research, extension and policy needs to strengthen these production pathways to attain economic, ecological and social sustainability are discussed while considering the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) of United Nations.

In general, any business directly involved in food production can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, food processors, retailers and restaurants. Requirements vary from country to country, and generally involve a set of production standards for growing, storage, processing, packaging and shipping organic certification ensures:

• Avoidance of synthetic chemical inputs (e.g. Fertilizer, pesticides, antibiotics, food additives, etc) and genetically modified organisms;
• Use of farmland that has been free from chemicals for a number of years (often, three or more);
• Keeping detailed written production and sales records (audit trail);
• Maintaining strict physical separation of organic products from non-certified products and
• Undergoing periodical on-site inspections.

In some countries, certification is overseen by the government, and commercial use of the term organic is legally restricted. Certified organic producers are also subject to the same agricultural, food safety and other government regulations that apply to non-certified producers.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The most significant factors distinguishing organic farming from eco-farming are the existence of production standards and certification procedures. Certification of organic farming is the procedure by which a written assurance is given by the certification agency that a clearly identified production or processing system has been methodically assessed and conforms to the specified requirements. It is a process certification rather than a product certification. Certification and labelling is usually done by an independent body to provide a guarantee that the production standards are met.  In case of organic products, certification is an acknowledgement that the products are produced according to organic production standards of certification bodies or associations or of the country. Organic production system is a land use system in accordance with set standards to the location specific conditions by integrating practices that foster cycling of resources, promoting ecological balance and conserve biodiversity. The prime principles of organic farming are,

Organic food sales increased steadily from the late 20th century. Greater environmental awareness, coupled with concerns over the health impacts of pesticide residues and consumption of genetically modified (GMO) crops, fostered the growth of the organic sector. Realizing the benefits of organic food, especially after COVID-19, consumers are also demanding organically grown food and fiber and are willing to pay premium price. But to tap the market, there is an inevitable need for certification. Recently launched Food Safety and Standards (Organic Food) Regulation, 2017 mandates that all food products sold as organic must be certified and comply the basic requirements of the Act. The organic food offered or promoted for sale shall also comply with all the applicable provisions of either National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) or Participatory Guarantee System for India (PGS India). Organic certification is a process certification. The requirement to confirm that the product is organic include labelling on the package and traceability for both domestic and export needs to be understood. For import and export of organic produce, transaction certificate issued by an Accredited Certification Body is required. These requirements are essential for fresh and processed food items. In this chapter, we tried to eloborate the process and procedures for organic certification.

Organic certification is the procedure by which the accredited certification Body by way of a Scope Certificate assures that the production or processing system of the operator has been methodically assessed and conforms to the specified requirements as envisaged in the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP).

The NPOP provides for Standards for organic production, systems, criteria and procedure for accreditation of Certification Bodies, the National (India Organic) Logo and the regulations governing its use. The standards and procedures have been formulated in harmony with other International Standards regulating import and export of organic products.

In India, there are two accreditation systems for authorizing Certification and Inspection agencies for organic certification. National Programme on organic Production (NPOP) promoted by Ministry of Commerce is the core programme which governs and defines the standards and implementing procedures. National Accreditation Body (NAB) is the apex decision making body. Certification and Inspection agencies accredited by NAB are authorized to undertake certification process. The NPOP notified under FTDR act and controlled by Agricultural Processed Foods Export Development Authority (APEDA) looks after the requirement of export while NPOP notified under APGMC act and controlled by Agriculture Marketing Advisor, Directorate of Marketing and Inspection looks after domestic certification. Currently 20 certification agencies have been authorized to undertake certification process.

National Programme on Organic Production

National Program on Organic Production (NPOP) was launched during 2001 under the Foreign Trade & Development Act (FTDR Act). The document provides information on standards for organic production, systems criteria, and procedures for accreditation of Inspection and Certification bodies, the national organic logo and the regulations governing its use.

The organic constituents of soils or soil organic matter is the most essential components of soil consisting of plant and animal residues at various stages of decomposition, cells and tissues of living or nonliving organisms and the substances synthesized by their decomposition. Soil organic matter exerts profound effect on soil productivity as it acts as source and sink of plant nutrients especially nitrogen and sulphur. It also involves in major biochemical processes to transform or release of plant nutrients into their available forms. Thus, it plays vital role in soil fertility maintenance, through increasing cation exchange capacity and improving soil physical properties, such as bulk density, aggregation, water retention capacity and also supports all kinds of biological activities in soil. The soil organic matter mostly concerns only with dead organic fractions formed from the decomposition of original plant and animal residues using as a source of food and energy by the soil microorganisms. It can be distinguished into –

Organic crop production is a cornerstone of sustainable agriculture, emphasizing environmental stewardship, biodiversity, and soil health. By eliminating synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, organic farming fosters resilient ecosystems and enhances soil fertility through natural processes such as composting and crop rotation. This method not only reduces pollution and greenhouse gas emissions but also promotes the conservation of water and energy resources. Organic crop production supports biodiversity by creating habitats for various species, contributing to a balanced ecosystem. Moreover, it offers health benefits by providing consumers with produce free from harmful chemicals. As global concerns about climate change and food security grow, organic farming represents a viable path towards a sustainable future, ensuring long-term agricultural productivity and ecological balance.

Organic farming is a crop production method respecting the rules of the nature, targeted to produce nutritive, healthy and pollution free food. It maximizes the use of on -farm resources and minimizes the use of off – farm inputs.

The general guidelines on organic production of crops are prepared based on National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) launched by Government of India. These guidelines enable the growers to attain more or less the same level of the productivity of conventional farming within a few years and at the same time maintain the fertility of the soil and protect the ecological balance.

From an ecological perspective all organisms are part of nature, irrespective of what they do. To a farmer, all organisms that reduce the yields of their crops are considered pests, diseases or weeds. Insects, birds or other animals are also pests whenever they cause damage to crops or stored produce. Fungi, bacteria and viruses are also recognized as disease causing organisms when they lead to conditions that interrupt or modify the vital functions of growing plants or stored produce. All unwanted plants that grow within crops and compete with them for nutrients, water and sunlight are considered weeds. Such plants can also be hosts for pests and diseases.Presence of these organisms in crop fields is not a problem until their numbers increase beyond a level where they attack, and cause substantial reductionin field crop yields or quality of harvested and stored produce.

The organic approach to plant pest, plant disease and weed management makes reference to the four principles of organic agriculture: the principle of health, the principle of ecology, the principle of fairness, and the principle of care. Generally, organic farmers aim at sustaining and enhancing the health of their soils, plants, animals, humankind and—in the widest sense—the planet. The health of individuals and communities cannot be separated fromthe health of ecosystems. Therefore, by providing healthy soils and a diversified natural environment, farmers are able to produce healthy crops that foster the health of animals and people.

Healthy plants are also able to resist and tolerate physiological disruption and damage from disease-causing organisms and pests. Thus, organic farmers aim at optimizing the growing conditions for their crops to make them strong and competitive. At the same time they encourage natural control mechanisms to prevent pests, diseases and weeds to develop in a way that they cannot damage the crops. They, therefore, give priority to preventive measures to prevent and limit the spread of infections, instead of relying on direct control measures. Direct control measures are mainly applied when pathogens have already developed.

25.1 Introduction

There has been a recent increase in the consumption of organic food, particularly in developed countries. Consumer awareness is growing in terms of organic food products in recent years as almost all the food ingredients are grown under intense production systems which utilize lot of chemicals and pesticides to control the pests and diseases. Organic farming can be defined as an approach to agriculture where the aim is to create integrated, humane, environmentally and economically sustainable agricultural production systems producing acceptable levels of crop, livestock and human nutrition, protection from pests and diseases, and an appropriate return to the human and other resources employed.

Introduction

The green revolution which initiated in India during 1960’s to 1980’s was an attempt to overcome the then prevailing threats of food scarcity and lack of foreign exchange. The food scarcity was a result of severe drought which engulfed the country as well as the political situation it had to face after its short period of gaining independence (Reddy, 2010). The only way out to overcome the acute food scarcity was intensive agriculture, with the use of high yielding varieties, chemical fertilisers and pesticides which heavily boosted agriculture production in India. The remarkable increase in production and productivity resulted in non-judicious use of chemical inputs to extract the maximum from the degrading soil. This marked the era of soil, water and air pollution and extreme health hazards to all life forms.

Rachel Carson’s “Silent spring” in 1962 was an insight into the path of DDT the then prevalent pesticide through its effect on the food chain as well as the environment. She was one among the scientists to raise her voice against the indiscriminate use of pesticides. The evident impacts raised concerns over the continued use of chemical inputs (Lairon, 2010). The situation warranted the reduced or limited use of chemicals in agriculture which resulted in an “organic movement”. This caused a slow, but evident shift in the interest of growers and consumers towards organic agriculture for health security, food safety, quality and better returns (Niggli et al., 2007).

This review is an attempt to analyse the various factors affecting the safety and quality of organic food products in comparison with conventional food. Drawing a proper conclusion was a difficult task due to the limited availability of scientific papers published in this aspect, indication of only trends rather than solid proofs and non-revelation of non-significant data regarding related experiments. However, this review could evaluate the positive and negative aspects of organic cultivation and food production from the available data, so as to suggest measures for improving the quality and safety of organic food products.