Banner
Current IssueEditorial BoardOnline First ArticlesArchive
Current IssueEditorial BoardOnline First ArticlesArchive

Reviewer Article

volume 38 issue 4 (december 2017) : 316-320,   Doi: 10.18805/ag.R-1709

Organic farming in conserving bio diversity in India-A review
 

V
V. Kavitha
K
K. Chandran
1Department of Agricultural Economics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore -641 003, Tamil Nadu, India.
Cite article:- Kavitha V., Chandran K. (2017). Organic farming in conserving bio diversity in India-A review. Agricultural Reviews. 38(4): 316-320. doi: 10.18805/ag.R-1709.

ABSTRACT

The intensification and extension of modern agriculture is amongst the greatest threats to worldwide biodiversity and thereby food security. Promotion of genetic uniformity in the name of agricultural development cannot lead to sustainable agriculture and it has devastating effect on food security of next generation. Monoculture and replacement of traditional varieties by improved or exotic varieties has led to the decline of many traditional varieties in crops such as paddy, wheat, pulses, oil seeds and cotton in India. Thousands of varieties of rice, cotton, minor millets, pulses, and other crops are no longer in use. Besides, to sustain the yield under monocropping system, heavy pesticide applications were given to crops. This in turn affects the soil microbial population and insect diversity and questions the stability and sustainability of Indian agriculture. Sustainable farming systems such as organic farming act as a possible solution to this continued loss of biodiversity. This paper assesses the impacts of organic farming, relative to conventional agriculture on biodiversity, through a review of comparative studies of the two systems.

REFERENCES

  1. Anitha Reddy. (2010). Back to traditional varieties. Deccan Herald. June 20.
  2. Ashish Kothari.(1994). Reviewing diversity in India’s agriculture.Seedling.October 25.
  3. Balain, D.S. and Nivsarkar, A.E. (1991). Conserving biological diversity: Endangered breeds of domestic livestock, Zoos ‘ Print.
  4. Beecher, N.A., Johnson, R.J., Brandle, J.R.and Case, R.M.(2002).Young agroecology of birds in organic and nonorganic farm land Conservation Biology. 16: 1620–1631.
  5. Bhonsle, S. and Krishnan, S. (2011). Traditionally cultivated salt tolerant rice varieties grown in khazan lands of Goa. Indian Journal of Phytology. 3(2):11–17. 
  6. Bossio, D.A. Scow, K.M. Gunapala, N. and Graham, K.J.(1998). Determinants of soil microbial communities: Effects of agricultural management, season, and soil type on phospholipid fatty acid profiles. Microbial Ecology. 36: 1–12.
  7. Brown, R.W.(1999). Grass margins and earthworm activity in organic and integrated systems. Aspects of Applied Biology. 54: 207–210.
  8. Deb Debal (2012). From 1, 10,000 varieties of rice to only 6,000 now. The Hindu. April 6. 
  9. Divya Karnad, (2014). Tackling the demon of eucalyptus, at last. Deccan Herald. March 14. 
  10. FAO. (1999). Agricultural biodiversity, Multifunctional character of agriculture and land conference. Background paper 1. Maastricht, Netherlands.
  11. Feber, R.E., Firbank, L.G., Johnson, P.J. and Macdonald D.W. (1997). The effects of organic farming on pest and non-pest butterfly abundance. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 64: 133–139.
  12. FiBL( 2000). Organic farming enhances soil fertility and biodiversity: Results from a 21 year old field trial, Research Institute of Organic Farming (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland.
  13. Fraser, D.G., Doran, J.W., Sahs, W.W. and Lesoing, G.W. (1988). Soil microbial-populations and activities under conventional and organic management. Journal of Environmental Quality. 17: 585–590.
  14. Gillespie, P. (2011). Building adaptive capacity in the conservation of climate-tolerant traditional rice varieties in Tamil Nadu, India, Pesticide Action Network, Asia and Pacific, Penang, Malaysia. 8-17.
  15. Hilton-Taylor,C.(2000). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN Publications Services Unit, Cambridge.
  16. Hope Shand.(1997). Human Nature: Agricultural bio-diversity and farm based food security. Rural Advancement Foundation International, Ottawa, Canada.
  17. Hutton, S.A. and Giller, P.S.(2003). The effects of the intensification of agriculture on northern temperate dung beetle communities. Journal of Applied Ecology. 40: 994–1007.
  18. King, E.D.I.O., Abubaker Siddick, S., Girigan Gopi and Nat Kav (2014). Integrated agriculture enhances farm productivity and livelihoods in agro-biodiversity hotspots. Canada International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
  19. Letourneau, D.K. and Goldstein, B. (2001).Pest damage and arthropod community structure in organic vs. conventional tomato production in California. Journal of Applied Ecology. 38: 557–570.
  20. Liebig, M.A. and. Doran, J.W.(1999). Impact of organic production practices on soil quality indicators. Journal of Environmental Quality. 28: 1601–1609.
  21. Navneet Kaur (2014).Impact of intensive agriculture on natural resource base of Punjab-A Review. Agricultural Review. 35 (4): 279-286.
  22. NCAER (2014). An Analysis of Changing Food Consumption Pattern in India: A research paper prepared under the project Agricultural Outlook and Situation Analysis Reports. National Council of Applied Economic Research. New Delhi.
  23. Pagiola, S., Kellenberg, J., Vidaeus, L and Srivastava, J. (1997). Mainstreaming biodiversity in agricultural development: Toward good practice. Environment Paper., Number 15.Washington: World Bank.
  24. Pfiffner, L.and Niggli, U. (1996).Effects of bio-dynamic, organic and conventional farming on ground beetles (Col Carabidae) and other epigamic arthropods in winter wheat. Biological Agriculture and Horticulture. 12: 353–364.
  25. Satheesh, P.V (2010). Millets: Future of Food and Farming. Bhoomi for Earth Conscious and Sustainable Living. April-June.
  26. Simhachalam, P.,Gautam, R.K.,Ajanta Birah.,Baskaran,V. and Dam Roy,S.(2017).Butterfly diversity and distribution in bloomsdale research farm of ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair, South Andaman. Indian Journal of Agricultural Research. 51(1):32-37.
  27. Stolton, S., Geier, B and Mc Neely, J. (2000). The relationship between nature, conservation, bio-diversity and organic agriculture. IFOAM, Germany.
  28. UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (2003). Electronic source: Conservation databases. http://www.wcmc.org.uk/cis/
  29. Wickramasinghe, L.P., Harris, S. G., Jones, N. and Vaughan (2003). Bat activity and species richness on organic and conventional farms: Impact of agricultural intensification. Journal of Applied Ecology. 40: 984–993. 
Published In
Agricultural Reviews
Article Metrics
Metrics Icon
0
Views
0
Citations
Reviewed By
Share Article
Download Article
In this Article
    Contact us
    Follow us

    Reviewer Article

    volume 38 issue 4 (december 2017) : 316-320,   Doi: 10.18805/ag.R-1709

    Organic farming in conserving bio diversity in India-A review
     

    V
    V. Kavitha
    K
    K. Chandran
    1Department of Agricultural Economics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore -641 003, Tamil Nadu, India.
    Cite article:- Kavitha V., Chandran K. (2017). Organic farming in conserving bio diversity in India-A review. Agricultural Reviews. 38(4): 316-320. doi: 10.18805/ag.R-1709.

    ABSTRACT

    The intensification and extension of modern agriculture is amongst the greatest threats to worldwide biodiversity and thereby food security. Promotion of genetic uniformity in the name of agricultural development cannot lead to sustainable agriculture and it has devastating effect on food security of next generation. Monoculture and replacement of traditional varieties by improved or exotic varieties has led to the decline of many traditional varieties in crops such as paddy, wheat, pulses, oil seeds and cotton in India. Thousands of varieties of rice, cotton, minor millets, pulses, and other crops are no longer in use. Besides, to sustain the yield under monocropping system, heavy pesticide applications were given to crops. This in turn affects the soil microbial population and insect diversity and questions the stability and sustainability of Indian agriculture. Sustainable farming systems such as organic farming act as a possible solution to this continued loss of biodiversity. This paper assesses the impacts of organic farming, relative to conventional agriculture on biodiversity, through a review of comparative studies of the two systems.

    REFERENCES

    1. Anitha Reddy. (2010). Back to traditional varieties. Deccan Herald. June 20.
    2. Ashish Kothari.(1994). Reviewing diversity in India’s agriculture.Seedling.October 25.
    3. Balain, D.S. and Nivsarkar, A.E. (1991). Conserving biological diversity: Endangered breeds of domestic livestock, Zoos ‘ Print.
    4. Beecher, N.A., Johnson, R.J., Brandle, J.R.and Case, R.M.(2002).Young agroecology of birds in organic and nonorganic farm land Conservation Biology. 16: 1620–1631.
    5. Bhonsle, S. and Krishnan, S. (2011). Traditionally cultivated salt tolerant rice varieties grown in khazan lands of Goa. Indian Journal of Phytology. 3(2):11–17. 
    6. Bossio, D.A. Scow, K.M. Gunapala, N. and Graham, K.J.(1998). Determinants of soil microbial communities: Effects of agricultural management, season, and soil type on phospholipid fatty acid profiles. Microbial Ecology. 36: 1–12.
    7. Brown, R.W.(1999). Grass margins and earthworm activity in organic and integrated systems. Aspects of Applied Biology. 54: 207–210.
    8. Deb Debal (2012). From 1, 10,000 varieties of rice to only 6,000 now. The Hindu. April 6. 
    9. Divya Karnad, (2014). Tackling the demon of eucalyptus, at last. Deccan Herald. March 14. 
    10. FAO. (1999). Agricultural biodiversity, Multifunctional character of agriculture and land conference. Background paper 1. Maastricht, Netherlands.
    11. Feber, R.E., Firbank, L.G., Johnson, P.J. and Macdonald D.W. (1997). The effects of organic farming on pest and non-pest butterfly abundance. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 64: 133–139.
    12. FiBL( 2000). Organic farming enhances soil fertility and biodiversity: Results from a 21 year old field trial, Research Institute of Organic Farming (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland.
    13. Fraser, D.G., Doran, J.W., Sahs, W.W. and Lesoing, G.W. (1988). Soil microbial-populations and activities under conventional and organic management. Journal of Environmental Quality. 17: 585–590.
    14. Gillespie, P. (2011). Building adaptive capacity in the conservation of climate-tolerant traditional rice varieties in Tamil Nadu, India, Pesticide Action Network, Asia and Pacific, Penang, Malaysia. 8-17.
    15. Hilton-Taylor,C.(2000). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN Publications Services Unit, Cambridge.
    16. Hope Shand.(1997). Human Nature: Agricultural bio-diversity and farm based food security. Rural Advancement Foundation International, Ottawa, Canada.
    17. Hutton, S.A. and Giller, P.S.(2003). The effects of the intensification of agriculture on northern temperate dung beetle communities. Journal of Applied Ecology. 40: 994–1007.
    18. King, E.D.I.O., Abubaker Siddick, S., Girigan Gopi and Nat Kav (2014). Integrated agriculture enhances farm productivity and livelihoods in agro-biodiversity hotspots. Canada International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
    19. Letourneau, D.K. and Goldstein, B. (2001).Pest damage and arthropod community structure in organic vs. conventional tomato production in California. Journal of Applied Ecology. 38: 557–570.
    20. Liebig, M.A. and. Doran, J.W.(1999). Impact of organic production practices on soil quality indicators. Journal of Environmental Quality. 28: 1601–1609.
    21. Navneet Kaur (2014).Impact of intensive agriculture on natural resource base of Punjab-A Review. Agricultural Review. 35 (4): 279-286.
    22. NCAER (2014). An Analysis of Changing Food Consumption Pattern in India: A research paper prepared under the project Agricultural Outlook and Situation Analysis Reports. National Council of Applied Economic Research. New Delhi.
    23. Pagiola, S., Kellenberg, J., Vidaeus, L and Srivastava, J. (1997). Mainstreaming biodiversity in agricultural development: Toward good practice. Environment Paper., Number 15.Washington: World Bank.
    24. Pfiffner, L.and Niggli, U. (1996).Effects of bio-dynamic, organic and conventional farming on ground beetles (Col Carabidae) and other epigamic arthropods in winter wheat. Biological Agriculture and Horticulture. 12: 353–364.
    25. Satheesh, P.V (2010). Millets: Future of Food and Farming. Bhoomi for Earth Conscious and Sustainable Living. April-June.
    26. Simhachalam, P.,Gautam, R.K.,Ajanta Birah.,Baskaran,V. and Dam Roy,S.(2017).Butterfly diversity and distribution in bloomsdale research farm of ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair, South Andaman. Indian Journal of Agricultural Research. 51(1):32-37.
    27. Stolton, S., Geier, B and Mc Neely, J. (2000). The relationship between nature, conservation, bio-diversity and organic agriculture. IFOAM, Germany.
    28. UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (2003). Electronic source: Conservation databases. http://www.wcmc.org.uk/cis/
    29. Wickramasinghe, L.P., Harris, S. G., Jones, N. and Vaughan (2003). Bat activity and species richness on organic and conventional farms: Impact of agricultural intensification. Journal of Applied Ecology. 40: 984–993. 
    In this Article
      Contact us
      Follow us
      Published In
      Agricultural Reviews

      Editorial Board

      View all (0)