Organic farming has the potential to address some of the
threats to agricultural sustainability. It is a well-defined
method of production that tends to minimise the use of
costly synthetic inputs, such as fertilisers, pesticides,
herbicides and medical products and makes agriculture
environmentally sustainable and economically viable. It
avoids nutrient exploitation and increases soil organic
matter content.
An interesting research sponsored by the South Asian
Network for Development and Environmental Economics reveals
that growing organic crops is at least as profitable as
crops nurtured on synthetic inputs despite their low yields
in Punjab.
It is because of their low input costs and significant
high price premium.
Further study reports that organic farms tend to better
conserve soil fertility and system stability than
conventional farms.
Importance of agriculture in Pakistan economy needs not to
be over emphasised. It accounted for 20.9pc of the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) in 2014-15 and is a source of
livelihood of 43.5pc of rural population.
However, farmers are under great stress as their profits
are shrinking sharply which may pose food security threats
to the country’s 190m people.
Current farming practices in Pakistan heavily rely on the
use of chemical inputs and high yielding varieties. This has
led to a decline in soil fertility and loss in topsoil,
organic matter and the crop production potential of soils.
These problems are especially important in the wheat-rice
belt, the breadbasket of northern India and Pakistan, which
covers over 12m ha and provides food security for some 500m
people.
The conventional farming brings small profits due to the
continued increases in input costs and stagnant market
prices of agricultural outputs (especially major crops like
wheat, rice and cotton) resulting from government
interventions that distort relative prices.
Organic farming has the potential to address some of the
threats to agricultural sustainability.
It is a well-defined method of production that tends to
minimise the use of costly synthetic inputs, such as
fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides and medical products and
makes agriculture environmentally sustainable and
economically viable.
It avoids nutrient exploitation and increases soil
organic matter content.
Soils under organic system capture and store more water
than soils under chemicals-used cultivation. Integrated
organic approaches also demand more labour inputs. In
addition, higher prices can be realised via organic
certification.
Higher farm incomes are thus possible due to lower input
costs and higher sale prices.
This research compares the productivity and profitability of
organic and conventional farms that grow two major crops,
wheat and rice, based on primary data collected from farms
located in three districts-Gujranwala, Sheikhupura and Okara
of Punjab.
The study shows the overall, input costs are 20pc
and 10pc lower in organic wheat and rice farms relative to
their chemical counterparts.
The average organic farm produced 14pc less wheat and
44pc less rice per hectare relative to the average
‘conventional’ farm.
However, organic crops earn significant higher price
premium. The benefit cost ratio is also higher for organic
crops as compared to ‘conventional’ crops.
But an interesting question arises: if there is a
significant difference in profits, one would expect an
en-masse shift from one system to the other, which has not
been observed.
In fact, if fertiliser and pesticides subsidies for
agriculture are withdrawn or a subsidy for organics is
introduced, there may be a natural shift to organic farming
as this would tilt the profit balance.
Organic agriculture needs to be encouraged as it is an
economically as well as ecologically viable farming.
It can ensure sustainable use of natural resources: the
labour intensive nature of the organic farming would also
provide more employment for rural unskilled workers, and
save valuable foreign exchange used to import chemical
fertilisers and pesticides.
Stakeholders point out four problems of organic agriculture:
first, markets for organic products are not well developed;
secondly, the organic inputs are not easily available to
farmers.
For pest and weed control, farmers are constrained to use
only mechanical and biological methods to which they have
immediate access. No subsidies are available for organic
products.
June, 2015
By
M KHAN | M IFTIKHAR UL HUSNAIN
Source:
Dawn News