Journal of Agricultural Economics and Development Vol. 4(7), pp. 105-112, December 2015 ISSN 2327-3151 ©2015 Academe Research Journals

Review

Organic farming, sustainable agriculture and green marketing for fostering green economy

A. N. Sarkar

Asia-Pacific Institute of Management, 3 & 4 Institutional Areas, Jasola (Sarita Vihar), New Delhi, India. E-mail: ansarkar1@gmail.com.   

Accepted 10 November, 2015

Abstract

Organic farming is universally known to be a specialized form of farming practices, involving selected application of organic substrates such as manures, crop residues, green manuring crops, earthworm casts (vermiculture), etc., to enrich soil with adequate plant nutrients, and provide good soil structure and soil health with the aim of creating a sustainable form of farming system. Broadly, the aim of organic farming is: to create integrated, humane, environmentally and economically sustainable production systems, which maximize reliance on farm-derived renewable and natural resources to lend support to the management of ecological and biological processes and interactions, so as to provide acceptable levels of crop, livestock and human nutrition, protection from pests and diseases, and an appropriate return from the deployment of the human and other resources. There are several benefits of organic farming vis-à-vis conventional farming systems. Organic farming, among other things, promotes recycling of organic wastes, use of renewable energy and application of system-worthy low-cost and appropriate technologies using mostly the local farm-based resources. Organic farming has of late emerged as a potential alternative for meeting food security, maintaining soil fertility and increasing soil carbon pool. Organic agriculture has come a long way from a tiny, disorganized, idealistic fringe movement. Twenty-five years ago, some may have thought it was a relic of the 1960s that was headed for the compost pile. Now most food stores carry some organic products; it is the fastest growing sector in the grocery business, and the giants in the food processing and retail business, from General Mills to Wal-Mart, wants to cash in on the organic market (http://www.cias.wisc.edu/curriculum/modV/sece/sec_E_modV.htm). In this paper, an attempt was made to cover the various emerging areas of organic farming and sustainable agriculture, including the evolution and benefits of organic farming vis-à-vis conventional agriculture, long-term sustainability and environmental quality, linkage of organic farming with green supply-chain and food value-chain, eco-labelling and green marketing of organic farm produce, the future perspectives, etc. The desirability of good governance and compliance of quality standards and promotion of organic foods by providing various incentives are highlighted in the conclusion of this paper as viable policy measures by the producers, the government, as well as certifying agencies at large.

Key words: Organic farming, sustainable agriculture, green marketing.