An Ultimate Guide to Organic Farming

What would you do to get rid of excessive synthetic fertilizers, GMOs, and herbicides on your farms? Organic farming can be a solution. But, wait. Most people like you can’t make sense of this buzzword.

You only know about high profits in the organic harvest. But this information can’t make you an organic farmer. Your numbers indeed seem like organic crops will pencil out in the market. But, organic farming is a lot more than increasing your farm’s revenue.

The logical end to shift toward organic farming is sustainable food and the environment.

Want to know more? This complete guide will give you a holistic approach to everything that’s into organic farming. So, let’s get started!

What is Organic Farming?

The concept of organic farming is broad as you can’t contain it in a single definition. NOSB defined it as:

“Organic agriculture responds to site-specific conditions by integrating cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biological diversity.”

Sounds unclear, right? Let us put it straight. As an organic farmer, you do the following:

You use natural fertilizers and pesticides.
Till the soil without any inorganic methods.
Use organic techniques to control weeds.
Take care of the soil nutrients with manure or compost, and harvest them

After using organic means, you must ensure your farming resources: water, soil, and energy. They shouldn’t affect biodiversity and, as a whole, the environment. So, organic farming, in the modern sense, encapsulates regenerative and sustainable agriculture.

Is Organic Farming Increasing?

Organic farming is farming for the future– That’s what people believe. That’s why we see compelling trends in organic agriculture worldwide. Organic farmland is expected to increase by 8.4% in 2026. It shows a steep curve in this market growth.

Still not convinced? Check this out.

The global opportunity analysis surveyed the organic food market worldwide. They presented some interesting statistics for you. Since we see a growing trend in organic farming, organic food consumption has been around the globe.

The recent interest in the industry shows organic food market will garner $484 billion by 2030. It is a whopping 11.7% compound average growth rate (CAGR). Organic food production, though promising, is still not enough to cater to the demands. So, you see higher organic food prices than conventional food.

Veggies are an essential part of our daily diet. You consume vegetables whether you live in America, Australia, Asia, Europe, or Africa. The current wave of eating organic shifts people from conventional food to organic. Thus, it makes a promising market.

That’s why you see the vegetable farming market rising from $9.79 billion in 2021 to $10.28 billion in 2022. These facts and figures show how the organic farming graph is rising. You may ask, why do we need to see the current trends? You need to know how the market behaves if you want to earn great profits through organic farming.

Why is Organic Agriculture Important?

Now that you know it’s a lucrative business to grow your organic farm. You can send your produce to the market and earn good revenue. It’s time to find out why it’s important.

What are its health and environmental benefits? And Why do you need to shift towards it? Money is a small piece of the organic farming puzzle. So, what’s the catch? Organic production has countless benefits for you; earning profits is a secondary one.

Organic Farming Environment Benefits:

An organic lifestyle saves the planet from the harmful effects of GHGs and global warming. The current agriculture practices show a bleak future for this planet. It shows how farming contributes to the rising pollution around the globe.

Agriculture takes the lion’s share of the freshwater. 70% of the freshwater goes to farming and food production. So, it contributes to 78% of global water pollution. Thus, it’s necessary to overhaul farming practices to achieve sustainability. That’s where organic farming comes into play.

Using regenerative farming techniques, we can cut down the carbon content. Also, deplete the expulsion of wastewater into waterways and oceans. Yes, you heard it right. We can reduce agricultural emissions by 50% if all Europe farms become organic. Stopping synthetic fertilizers can sequester the carbon back into the soil.

Health Benefits of Organic Farming:

You may want to know whether organic food has better nutrients in it or not. Health is the primary concern of many organic food consumers. Studies show that 70% of Americans believe eating organic has better health benefits.

Let’s find out why they feel so. There is a general belief that eating organic means choosing centuries-old farming. The food source processed through a method long adopted by humans is the best one. Knowing that most delicious foods come from pollinators such as bees is important. These small pests nurture our food cycle. This pesticide-intensive farming results in a declining population of bees.

Bees pollinate 75% of our crops. They are declining at an alarming rate in the US. It implies that you won’t be able to relish most of the crops available to us now. The food processed by organic means has the least pesticide traces in your food.

It’s a brainer that pesticides are harmful and even toxic for humans. Even small amounts can be detrimental to us. So, you can reduce the consumption of chemical-induced food by choosing organic products.

Another drawback of inorganic foods is the use of modified organisms in the diet. It’s clear under the sun that GMOs can cause major calamity in the human race. Genetically engineered food is unnatural. Half of Americans are wary of the adverse effects of these products on their health. Thus, the only way to get rid of it is through organic food.

Organic Farming is good for Animals:

While discussing the health benefits of organic farming, it would be remiss not to mention meat. Organic meat, whether chicken or beef, is way better than non-organic. There are quite a few reasons for that. First, the non-organic farms are congested and unhygienic.

Thus, they are the hotbed of major air and water-borne diseases. The farmers discard the farm water into the open. As it gets into spills, it contaminates the groundwater. Though the meat seems to have the same nutritional value, it may cause diseases because of the feed they get.

The antibiotics and hormones can make the chicken resistant to body antibodies. It can cause serious diseases anyway. So, organic meat remains fresh as you get it straight from the farm compared to non-organic.

What Techniques can you Adopt to Become an Organic Farmer?

You must embrace many techniques if you are new to organic farming. It seems an interesting task, yet it isn’t much easy to become successful in this pursuit the first time. You must fight pests, weak organic matter, intensive soil conditions, and water issues like any farmer.

But without using pesticides, herbicides, or synthetic fertilizers. Thus, it takes time to become adept in organic farming and make it a profitable business. Let’s find out what practices can help you nurture your crops.

Inspect your Farm Soil:

First of all, you need to assess your farm’s soil conditions. Healthy soil contains many bacteria, fungi, protozoa, algae, nematodes, and other beneficial worms. Most of them provide nutrients to the soil, which help the plants grow. Some are also responsible for controlling pests.

You need to analyze your soil’s organic matter. For this purpose, you can research on Google or ask an experienced farmer. There are several soil testing labs near you. You can choose one to identify loopholes in your soil.

Prepare the Soil:

Once you have done your analysis, you can move a step forward to make your hands dirty in your field. Use the evaluation to provide depleted nutrients to the soil. You need to bring four things in front of you.

Determine how much nitrogen content is present. How much carbon can it hold. What should be the best water concentration in your soil? Add compost to the soil. It contains carbon and nitrogen materials such as straw, brown weed, traces of green leaves, food residues, etc. You also need to determine the right temperature to create the compost.

People also use vermicompost techniques to create their natural fertilizers. Besides, you can use manure in the soil. It will make your soil rich in nutrients. Once you have compensated the soil with its nutrients, you wait. Soil needs time to prepare itself for crop production.

Organic Tilling:

You may have seen tractors plowing the fields. It doesn’t seem a nice sight. Although conventional tilling increases seed germination chances, it breaks the intricate soil network. Mechanical tilling increases the chances of soil erosion and wastes energy.

Yet, you can use organic no-till methods of manual tilling. Moreover, you can go for hybrid techniques developed by major organic firms. Organic tilling may take much time but is beneficial for soil health. After all, soil health defines your organic food quality.

Pest Control:

Pests are sometimes beneficial for your farm’s food production. For example, honey bees are natural pollinators. They nurture many species of crops and foods. Conversely, some pests harm crops by feeding on their leaves and seeds. Conventional farming depends on killing those pests through toxic chemicals.

It may end the pest attack but disrupt nature’s food cycle. Thus, organic farmers use polyculture to fend off the attacks of insects. Diversifying your crops is very useful as it produces a variety of yields. Different pests have different prey on different crops. You can save vulnerable crops by pest repellant crops. In this way, you save your farm from pests.

Use No-Crop time:

Once you are done harvesting your crops, you shouldn’t leave the soil idle. You shouldn’t plant the same crop each time as it will reduce nutrient content in your soil. Instead, you must adopt the cover crop technique to plant a crop that will provide nutrients to the soil. Cover crops can help sequester more carbon into your soil. Also, they fight greenhouse gas emissions.

Wrapping up:

Organic farming is not something new. It has been here since the agricultural revolution. As time passed, people developed modern techniques to get more yield from fewer acres of land. On the one hand, it increased food production. In contrast, it affects the soil and the environment.

Recently, there has been a great awareness of the organic lifestyle. Many people prefer organic food from the farm. It has increased organic food prices in the market. Thus, farmers get interested in this venture. This article provides a complete guide to organic farming.

It includes its steps and benefits for humans and the environment. If you want to dive into organic farming, it’s the right time to follow these guidelines. Let us know your feedback in the comment section.