Effect of Organic Farming on Input and Income in Eastern States of India

Author: Acharya Balkrishna, Pawan Kumar, Vedpriya Arya, Ashwani Kumar, Gunjan Sharma, Ashish Dhyani and Ritika Joshi

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Abstract

Organic agriculture practices play a pivotal role in the improvement of soil physicochemical activity and ecosystem balance. This study deals with the effect of farmer training conducted as per the guideline of Agriculture Skill Council of India (ASCI) & National Skill Development Cooperation (NSDC) on organic farming input and income of small as well as marginal scale farmers of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. ASCI trained 24 scientist of Patanjali Organic Research Institute (PORI). The PORI scientists trained 96 farmers in selected states and they in turn trained 8413 farmers. Farming inputs showed that the maximum profit i.e. Rs. 35,300 for rice in Assam and 30,500 for paddy hybrid in Jharkhand followed by Bihar and West Bengal. The study concluded that the current training module supports farmer to improve their life style by organic farming practices.

Keywords

Farming input, Livelihood improvement, Organic farming, Training programme.

Conclusion

PORI provide immense support in organic farming for doubling of farmer’s income with maintenance of ecosystem and reduce heavy metal contamination. However, it state that more rigorous scientific assessments at both experimental as well as field level are needed in order to cope up organic agricultural system with clear sets of management. In Assam, tea, litchi, areca nut, strawberry and mushroom were seen high profit fetching crops. Rice alone cannot compensate the cost of cultivation. As a thumb rule, legumes like green gram, Black gram Subabul, fodder crop may be included in the system. In states like Jharkhand, organic farming is recommended for the farmers in rainfed area in the state with some support of inputs like seed and bio-fertilizers through National scheme or state organic policy. More mechanization by developing and supplying low cost implements may help the farmers to address the labor issue. More efforts can be made to promote organic farming by making clusters and

References

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How to cite this article

Balkrishna, A., Kumar, P., Joshi, R., Kumar, A., Sharma, G., Dhyani, A. and Arya, V. (2021). Effect of Organic Farming on Input and Income in Eastern States of India. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 13(3): 392-397.