An overview of organic agriculture: A potential strategy for climate change mitigation
Article Main
Abstract
Indian agriculture has changed considerably in the past several decades. Since post green revolution era, Indian farming basically shifted from the conventional farming system to towards the mechanized farming system and relies heavily on agricultural inputs such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, heavy farm machineries and irrigation, which are dependent on fossil fuels. Large scale use of these inputs also contributed in emission of greenhouse gases which are mainly responsible for global warming and consequently climate change. Agriculture plays a unique role in the climate change mitigation because of its potential to lower greenhouse gases emissions through carbon sequestration. Organic agriculture is being considered as one of the appropriate farming systems that could serve the twin objectives of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Compared to conventional agriculture, organic agriculture is considered to be more energy efficient and effective both in reducing green house gases emission mainly due to the less use of chemical fertilizers and fossil fuel and enhancing the soil organic carbon. Promotion and adaptation of organic farming in developing country like India can serve as mitigation strategy of climate change.
Article Details
Article Details
Keywords
Climate change, GHG, INCCA, Mitigation, Organic agriculture
References
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Aher, S. B., Sengupta, B. and Bhaveshanada, S. (2012). Organic agriculture: way towards sustainable development. ARPN Journal of Science and Technology, 2:318-324.
Bhattacharyya, P. and Chakraborty, G. (2005). Current status of organic farming in India and other countries. Indian Journal of Fertilizer, 1(9): 111-123.
CGWB (2009). Groundwater scenario of India 2009-10. Ministry of Water Resources Faridabad: 1-46.
Chakraborty, M. K. (1998). Principles and practice of organic farming. Kisan World, 45- 48.
Eyhorn, F., Ramakrishnan, R. and Mäder, P. (2007). The Viability of cotton-based organic farming systems in India. International of Journal Agricultural Sustainability, 5(1): 25–38.
FAO (2011). Organic agriculture and climate change mitigation. A report of the round table on organic agriculture and climate change. December 2011, Rome, Italy.
Foereid, B., Hastings, A. and Smith, P. (2008). Cool farming: Climate impacts of agriculture and mitigation potential (p. 28). Amsterdam: Greenpeace International.
Garg, A., Shukla, P. R., Bhattacharya, S. and Dadhwal, V. K. (2001). Sub-region (district) and sector level SO< sub>2 and NO< sub> x emissions for India: assessment of inventories and mitigation flexibility. Atmospheric Environment, 35(4), 703-713.
Gattinger, A., Muller, A., Haeni, M., Skinner, C., Fliessbach, A., Buchmann, N., Mader, P., Stolze, M., Smith, P., Scialabba, N. E. and Niggli, U. (2012). Enhanced top soil carbon stocks under organic farming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(44): 18226-18231.
Goyal, R. K. (2004). Sensitivity of evapotranspiration to global warming: a case study of arid zone Rajasthan. Agricultural Water Management, 69 (1): 1-11.
IFOAM (2006). Mitigation and adaptation to climate change: The role of organic agriculture. IFOAM side event to the 24th session of the subsidiary bodies, Bonn, Germany, May 24, 2006.
IFOAM (2009). High sequestration low emission food secures farming. Organic agriculture a guide to climate change and food security. http://orgprints.org/16769/1/ IFOAM-CC-Guide-Web-20100210.pdf
IFOAM (2012). The world of organic agriculture. Statistics and emerging trends 2012. International federation of organic agriculture movements (IFOAM), Bonn and Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Frick, 27–35.
INCCA (2010). Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment, Climate Change and India: A 4x4 Assessment, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, 2010.
IPCC (2001). Climate change: the scientific basis. Intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge Univ. Press.
IPCC (2007a). Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
IPCC (2007b). Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Working group II contribution to the fourth assessment report. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK, 2007.
Jorden, R., Muller, A. and Oudes, A. (2009). High carbon sequestration, low emission food secure farming. Organic Agriculture- a guide to climate change and Food Security.
Khan, S. A., Kumar, S., Hussain, M. Z. and Kalra, N. (2009). Climate change, climate variability and Indian agriculture: Impacts vulnerability and adaptation strategies. In Climate Change and Crops. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Krishna Kumar, K., Patwardhan, S. K., Kulkarni, A., Kamala, K., KoteswaraRao, K. and Jones, R. (2011). Simulated projections for summer monsoon climate over India by a high-resolution regional climate model (PRECIS). Current Science, 101(3): 312-26.
Kumar, K. K., Kumar, K. R., Ashrit, R. G., Deshpande, N. R. and Hansen, J. W. (2004). Climate impacts on Indian agriculture. International Journal of Climatology, 24 (11): 1375–93.
Kumar, K. S. and Parikh, J. (2001). Indian agriculture and climate sensitivity. Global Environment Change, 11 (2):147-54.
Lal, R. (2004a). Carbon emission from farm operations. Environment International, 30: 981–90.
Lal, R. (2004b). Soil carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change. Geoderma, 123:1–22.
Lampkin, N. (2007). Organic farming’s contribution to climate change and agricultural sustainability. Welsh organic producer conference, 18th October 2007.
Maity, T. K., and Tripathy, P. (2004). Organic Farming of Vegetables in India: Problems and Prospects. www.share4dev.info/kb/documents/2997. Pdf
Mall, R. K., Singh, R., Gupta, A., Srinivasan, G. and Rathore, L. S. (2006). Impact of climate change on Indian agriculture: A review. Climatic Change, 78 (2-4): 445-78.
Meredith, N. (2008). Sustainable soils: reducing, mitigating, and adapting to climate change with organic agriculture. Sustainable Development Law & Policy, 19-23: 68-69.
Mimi, Z. A., and Jamous, S. A. (2010). Climate change and agricultural water demand: Impacts and adaptations. African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 4(4): 183-91.
MOA (2012). State of Indian Agriculture 2012-13. Ministry of Agriculture, GOI, Department of agriculture and co operation, Directorate of Statistics and economics, New Delhi.
Muller (2009). Benefits of organic agriculture as a climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy for developing countries. Environment for development Discussion Paper Series
Muller, A., Olesen, J., Davis, J., Smith, L., Dytrtová, K., Gattinger, A., Lamp-kin, N. and Niggli, U. (2012). Reducing global warming and adapting to climate change: The potential of organic agriculture. Working paper, draft version, 2012, FiBL Schweiz / Suisse, info.suisse@fibl.org, www.fibl.org.
Olesen, J. E., Schelde, K., Weiske, A., Weisbjerg, M. R., Asman, W. A. H. and Djurhuus, J. (2006). Modelling greenhouse gas emissions from European conventional and organic dairy farms. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 112: 207-222.
Pandey, J. and Singh, A. (2012). Opportunities and constraints in organic farming: an Indian perspective. Journal of Scientific Research, 56: 47-72.
Panwar, R. P., Singh, N. R., Ramana, A. B., Yadav, S., Shrivastava, S. K. and SubbaRao, R. (2010). Status of organic farming in India. Current Science, 98: 1090 -1194.
Patle, G. T., Bandyopadhyay, K. K. and Singh, D. K. (2013b). Impact of conservation agriculture and resource conservation technologies on carbon sequestration - a review. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 83 (1): 3-13.
Patle, G. T., Singh, D. K., Sarangi, A., Rai, A., Khanna, M. and Sahoo, R. N. (2013a). Temporal variability of climatic parameters and potential evapotranspiration. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 83 (4): 518-24.
Pimentel, D., Hepperly, P., Hanson, J., Douds, D. and Seidel, R. (2005). Environmental, energetic, and economic comparisons of organic and conventional farming systems. BioScience, 55(7): 573-582.
Pretty, J. and Ball, A. (2001). Agricultural influences on carbon emissions and sequestration: a review of evidence and the emerging trading options. Centre for Environment and Society Occasional Paper, 3.
Rao, D. G., and Sinha, S. K. (1994). Impact of climate change on simulated wheat production in India. Implications of Climate Change for international agriculture: Crop Modelling Study, 2(3), 4-0.
Schader, C., Stolze, M. and Gattinger, A. (2011). Environmental performance of organic agriculture' in Boye, J. and Arcand, Y. (eds.), Green Technologies in Food Production and Processing, New York, Springer.
Sharma, A. K. (2001). A Handbook of Organic Farming, Agrobios, Jodhpur, India, 2001.
Sinha, S. K. and Swaminathan, M. S. (1991). Deforestation, climate change and sustainable nutrition security: a case study of India. Climatic Change, 19 (1-2): 201-209.
Sinha, S. K., Singh, G. B. and Rai, M. (1998). Decline in crop productivity in Haryana and Punjab: Myth or reality. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, India, 89.
Verge, X. P. C., Kimpe, C. D. and Desjardins, R. L. (2007). Agricultural production, greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation potential. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 142: 255-69.
Wani, S. A., Chand, S., Najar, G. R. and Teli, M. A. (2013). Organic farming: As a climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy. Current Agriculture Research Journal, 1(1): 45-50.
West, T. O. and Marland, G. (2002). A synthesis of carbon sequestration, carbon emissions, and net carbon flux in agriculture: comparing tillage practices in the United States. Journal of Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment, 91:217-232.
Yadav, A. K. (2012). Status of organic agriculture in India 2010-11. Organic farming Newsletter, 8(2): 11-14.
Indiastat (2013). Area under organic farming in India. http:// www.indiastat.com/agriculture/2/agriculturalarealanduse /152/stats.aspx. Assessed on 03.10.2013.
Ziesemer, J. (2007). Energy use in organic food systems. Natural Resources Management and Environment Department Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
Aggarwal, P. K. (2003). Impact of climate change on Indian agriculture. Journal of Plant Biology, 30 (2): 189 - 198.
Aggarwal, P. K., Joshi, P. K., Ingram, J. S. I. and Gupta, R. K. (2004). Adapting food systems of the Indo-Gangetic plains to global environmental change: key information needs to improve policy formulation. Environment Science and Policy, 7: 487–498.
Aher, S. B., Sengupta, B. and Bhaveshanada, S. (2012). Organic agriculture: way towards sustainable development. ARPN Journal of Science and Technology, 2:318-324.
Bhattacharyya, P. and Chakraborty, G. (2005). Current status of organic farming in India and other countries. Indian Journal of Fertilizer, 1(9): 111-123.
CGWB (2009). Groundwater scenario of India 2009-10. Ministry of Water Resources Faridabad: 1-46.
Chakraborty, M. K. (1998). Principles and practice of organic farming. Kisan World, 45- 48.
Eyhorn, F., Ramakrishnan, R. and Mäder, P. (2007). The Viability of cotton-based organic farming systems in India. International of Journal Agricultural Sustainability, 5(1): 25–38.
FAO (2011). Organic agriculture and climate change mitigation. A report of the round table on organic agriculture and climate change. December 2011, Rome, Italy.
Foereid, B., Hastings, A. and Smith, P. (2008). Cool farming: Climate impacts of agriculture and mitigation potential (p. 28). Amsterdam: Greenpeace International.
Garg, A., Shukla, P. R., Bhattacharya, S. and Dadhwal, V. K. (2001). Sub-region (district) and sector level SO< sub>2 and NO< sub> x emissions for India: assessment of inventories and mitigation flexibility. Atmospheric Environment, 35(4), 703-713.
Gattinger, A., Muller, A., Haeni, M., Skinner, C., Fliessbach, A., Buchmann, N., Mader, P., Stolze, M., Smith, P., Scialabba, N. E. and Niggli, U. (2012). Enhanced top soil carbon stocks under organic farming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(44): 18226-18231.
Goyal, R. K. (2004). Sensitivity of evapotranspiration to global warming: a case study of arid zone Rajasthan. Agricultural Water Management, 69 (1): 1-11.
IFOAM (2006). Mitigation and adaptation to climate change: The role of organic agriculture. IFOAM side event to the 24th session of the subsidiary bodies, Bonn, Germany, May 24, 2006.
IFOAM (2009). High sequestration low emission food secures farming. Organic agriculture a guide to climate change and food security. http://orgprints.org/16769/1/ IFOAM-CC-Guide-Web-20100210.pdf
IFOAM (2012). The world of organic agriculture. Statistics and emerging trends 2012. International federation of organic agriculture movements (IFOAM), Bonn and Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, Frick, 27–35.
INCCA (2010). Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment, Climate Change and India: A 4x4 Assessment, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, 2010.
IPCC (2001). Climate change: the scientific basis. Intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge Univ. Press.
IPCC (2007a). Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
IPCC (2007b). Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Working group II contribution to the fourth assessment report. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK, 2007.
Jorden, R., Muller, A. and Oudes, A. (2009). High carbon sequestration, low emission food secure farming. Organic Agriculture- a guide to climate change and Food Security.
Khan, S. A., Kumar, S., Hussain, M. Z. and Kalra, N. (2009). Climate change, climate variability and Indian agriculture: Impacts vulnerability and adaptation strategies. In Climate Change and Crops. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Krishna Kumar, K., Patwardhan, S. K., Kulkarni, A., Kamala, K., KoteswaraRao, K. and Jones, R. (2011). Simulated projections for summer monsoon climate over India by a high-resolution regional climate model (PRECIS). Current Science, 101(3): 312-26.
Kumar, K. K., Kumar, K. R., Ashrit, R. G., Deshpande, N. R. and Hansen, J. W. (2004). Climate impacts on Indian agriculture. International Journal of Climatology, 24 (11): 1375–93.
Kumar, K. S. and Parikh, J. (2001). Indian agriculture and climate sensitivity. Global Environment Change, 11 (2):147-54.
Lal, R. (2004a). Carbon emission from farm operations. Environment International, 30: 981–90.
Lal, R. (2004b). Soil carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change. Geoderma, 123:1–22.
Lampkin, N. (2007). Organic farming’s contribution to climate change and agricultural sustainability. Welsh organic producer conference, 18th October 2007.
Maity, T. K., and Tripathy, P. (2004). Organic Farming of Vegetables in India: Problems and Prospects. www.share4dev.info/kb/documents/2997. Pdf
Mall, R. K., Singh, R., Gupta, A., Srinivasan, G. and Rathore, L. S. (2006). Impact of climate change on Indian agriculture: A review. Climatic Change, 78 (2-4): 445-78.
Meredith, N. (2008). Sustainable soils: reducing, mitigating, and adapting to climate change with organic agriculture. Sustainable Development Law & Policy, 19-23: 68-69.
Mimi, Z. A., and Jamous, S. A. (2010). Climate change and agricultural water demand: Impacts and adaptations. African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 4(4): 183-91.
MOA (2012). State of Indian Agriculture 2012-13. Ministry of Agriculture, GOI, Department of agriculture and co operation, Directorate of Statistics and economics, New Delhi.
Muller (2009). Benefits of organic agriculture as a climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy for developing countries. Environment for development Discussion Paper Series
Muller, A., Olesen, J., Davis, J., Smith, L., Dytrtová, K., Gattinger, A., Lamp-kin, N. and Niggli, U. (2012). Reducing global warming and adapting to climate change: The potential of organic agriculture. Working paper, draft version, 2012, FiBL Schweiz / Suisse, info.suisse@fibl.org, www.fibl.org.
Olesen, J. E., Schelde, K., Weiske, A., Weisbjerg, M. R., Asman, W. A. H. and Djurhuus, J. (2006). Modelling greenhouse gas emissions from European conventional and organic dairy farms. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 112: 207-222.
Pandey, J. and Singh, A. (2012). Opportunities and constraints in organic farming: an Indian perspective. Journal of Scientific Research, 56: 47-72.
Panwar, R. P., Singh, N. R., Ramana, A. B., Yadav, S., Shrivastava, S. K. and SubbaRao, R. (2010). Status of organic farming in India. Current Science, 98: 1090 -1194.
Patle, G. T., Bandyopadhyay, K. K. and Singh, D. K. (2013b). Impact of conservation agriculture and resource conservation technologies on carbon sequestration - a review. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 83 (1): 3-13.
Patle, G. T., Singh, D. K., Sarangi, A., Rai, A., Khanna, M. and Sahoo, R. N. (2013a). Temporal variability of climatic parameters and potential evapotranspiration. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 83 (4): 518-24.
Pimentel, D., Hepperly, P., Hanson, J., Douds, D. and Seidel, R. (2005). Environmental, energetic, and economic comparisons of organic and conventional farming systems. BioScience, 55(7): 573-582.
Pretty, J. and Ball, A. (2001). Agricultural influences on carbon emissions and sequestration: a review of evidence and the emerging trading options. Centre for Environment and Society Occasional Paper, 3.
Rao, D. G., and Sinha, S. K. (1994). Impact of climate change on simulated wheat production in India. Implications of Climate Change for international agriculture: Crop Modelling Study, 2(3), 4-0.
Schader, C., Stolze, M. and Gattinger, A. (2011). Environmental performance of organic agriculture' in Boye, J. and Arcand, Y. (eds.), Green Technologies in Food Production and Processing, New York, Springer.
Sharma, A. K. (2001). A Handbook of Organic Farming, Agrobios, Jodhpur, India, 2001.
Sinha, S. K. and Swaminathan, M. S. (1991). Deforestation, climate change and sustainable nutrition security: a case study of India. Climatic Change, 19 (1-2): 201-209.
Sinha, S. K., Singh, G. B. and Rai, M. (1998). Decline in crop productivity in Haryana and Punjab: Myth or reality. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, India, 89.
Verge, X. P. C., Kimpe, C. D. and Desjardins, R. L. (2007). Agricultural production, greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation potential. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 142: 255-69.
Wani, S. A., Chand, S., Najar, G. R. and Teli, M. A. (2013). Organic farming: As a climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy. Current Agriculture Research Journal, 1(1): 45-50.
West, T. O. and Marland, G. (2002). A synthesis of carbon sequestration, carbon emissions, and net carbon flux in agriculture: comparing tillage practices in the United States. Journal of Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment, 91:217-232.
Yadav, A. K. (2012). Status of organic agriculture in India 2010-11. Organic farming Newsletter, 8(2): 11-14.
Indiastat (2013). Area under organic farming in India. http:// www.indiastat.com/agriculture/2/agriculturalarealanduse /152/stats.aspx. Assessed on 03.10.2013.
Ziesemer, J. (2007). Energy use in organic food systems. Natural Resources Management and Environment Department Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
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An overview of organic agriculture: A potential strategy for climate change mitigation. (2014). Journal of Applied and Natural Science, 6(2), 872-879. https://doi.org/10.31018/jans.v6i2.548
