Crop yield, net returns and soil health – organic farming leads on all counts, finds CSE study

In its latest report, Centre for Science and Environment presents irrefutable evidence of the benefits of non-chemical farming, supported by its analysis on crop yield recorded during 2014-19. The yields were found to be the highest with organic farming, followed by integrated agriculture and finally, the inorganic approach.

Gaon Connection
| Updated: February 4th, 2022

The CSE report compares results of three approaches – organic farming, integrated (which partly involves chemicals) agriculture, and inorganic (dependent on chemicals) farming. Photo: Yash Sachdev

On February 1, while presenting the Union Budget 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that chemical-free farming will be promoted across the country and the foundation for it would begin with fields within a five kilometre (km) wide corridor along the Ganges. 

A day later, on February 2, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a New Delhi-based research and advocacy group, released its report titled Evidence (2004-20) on holistic benefits of organic and natural farming in India, which presents irrefutable evidence of the benefits of non-chemical agriculture. 

With respect to crop yield, the CSE report highlighted that out of the 504 times that yield results were recorded during 2014-19, the yields were found to be highest 41 per cent with organic approach, followed by 33 per cent with integrated, and 26 per cent with inorganic approach. 

Similarly, cropping systems with an organic approach have scored the highest in terms of all the parameters on soil health – organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

“In the case of vegetables, oilseeds and cereals, yield with organic approach was highest more times than integrated and inorganic approach. In pulses and spices, it was highest more times with integrated approach than with organic and inorganic approach,” the report observed. 

Similarly, cropping systems with an organic approach have scored the highest in terms of all the parameters on soil health – organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The report’s findings on soil bulk density, soil bacteria, fungi, micronutrients etc also offered a similar verdict. 

Also Read: A village in Bihar goes organic, transforming the lives of its women

“Despite the push given to it through periodic pronouncements from India’s leaders, the country’s efforts to upscale non-chemical farming practises have largely remained half-hearted at best,” said Sunita Narain, director general of CSE during the virtual event of the launch of the report. “CSE’s new report on the subject presents robust evidence which makes it clear that we can upscale organic and natural farming. It is time to invest adequately in a well-funded nation-wide programme for this,” she said.  

The CSE report compares results of three approaches – organic farming, integrated (which partly involves chemicals) agriculture, and inorganic (dependent on chemicals) farming. These results documented in the report are based on the evidence collected on various factors like crop yield, cost of cultivation, income, livelihood, soil health and environment, and food quality and nutrients. 

The report is based on two sets of sources – the results of the All-India Network Project on Organic Farming (AI-NPOF), 2004-19; and the CSE researchers combed through about 90 scientific studies on organic and natural farming published between 2010 and 2020 in India. 

Key findings of the report

The CSE report has brought forward some key points with regard to crop yield, income and livelihood and health of the soil. It presents a comparison between the three approaches of organic, integrated and inorganic farming.

“Among three approaches, out of 63 cropping systems, cost of cultivation was highest in 63 per cent cropping systems with organic approach at 15 centres, 8 per cent with integrated approach at three centres, and 29 per cent with inorganic approach at eight centres. With organic approach, the cost of cultivation was lowest in five per cent cropping systems,” notes the new report.

The CSE report has brought forward some key points with regard to crop yield, income and livelihood and health of the soil.

With organic approach, the mean cost of cultivation was lower than inorganic in 19 per cent cropping systems. The report goes on to say that the cost of cultivation is higher with organic approach than an integrated approach. “This high cost is explained by the fact that organic and bio-inputs used in the AI-NPOF are largely purchased from the market and not produced on-farm, as the project involves experimental farms. Whereas, organic inputs cost less if produced on-farm by farmers,” reads the report.

The food quality and nutrition with organic approach were also found to be better than inorganic and slightly better than the integrated approach, the CSE report observed.

Also Read: Non-pesticidal management in agriculture is a win-win for farmers and consumers

While the report’s release came a day after the announcement made by FM for promotion of chemical-free natural farming, Amit Kumar, programme director, Sustainable Food Systems programme, CSE, and co-author of the CSE report, said that these are relatively small steps compared to the need of the hour. 

“Hopefully, our new report, which highlights that there is strong long-term evidence that organic and natural farming is not only profitable and sustainable but also productive, will propel the country to invest more adequately to upscale and encourage such a mass movement,” he added.

The food quality and nutrition with organic approach were also found to be better than inorganic and slightly better than the integrated approach, the CSE report observed.

Also Read: Using indigenous seeds to sustain livelihoods, fight climate change and pay off loans

Recommendations of the report

CSE researchers have called for development of a roadmap to set the long-term agenda for adoption of agro-ecological approaches across different parts of the country in view of their benefits on multiple and cross- cutting aspects such as nutrition, livelihood of farmers, natural resource conservation, biodiversity, resource efficiency, soil- health, disease resilience and mitigation of climate crisis. 

In addition to that, the report has also demanded to shift the focus on supporting farmers during the transition to organic and natural farming through technical and financial support. Apart from this, it has called for a targeted, ambitious and well-funded nationwide programme developed to drive the change towards organic and natural farming and promotion of organic fertilisers and biofertilizers instead of chemical fertilisers. 

Also Read: Madhya Pradesh farmers say organic farming is profitable, and at the same time saves on medical bills

The report also recommended that states should step up their action in a concerted way to promote organic and natural farming. “This should be done through a series of measures such as those related to organic seeds, bio-inputs, capacity building of farmers and providing market linkages,” the report stated.