Organic Farming a Way to Sustainable Agriculture Development: A Case Study of Karnataka, India

摘要

Increasing consciousness about conservation of environment and health hazards caused by agrochemicals of inorganic farming and consumer’s preference to safe and quality food are two major factors that have led to the growing interest in alternate forms of agriculture in the world. Hence, the present study was conducted with the object to assess the effect of organic and inorganic farming on sustainable productivity of various crops in the study area. Data were collected from organic and inorganic farmers following multistage purposive random sampling in three zones viz., Hilly zone, Northern Transitional zone and Northern Dry zone of Northern Karnataka. Thus it constituted a total sample size of 150. The study revealed a significant difference in the yield levels with respect to different crops. Among different crops, paddy, sorghum, maize, arecanut and banana were found highly significant compared to other crops. In sunflower, cotton and pomegranate crop yields were at par with inorganic yield levels. Average yield levels of different crops were higher in inorganic farming compared to organic farming, whereas the practice of organic farming resulted in sustainable yield and environmental protection over a time period of five to ten years.