Organic farming in conserving bio diversity in India-A review

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.