Healthy food and eco-friendly production account for the increasing popularity of organic farming in modern societies. What is more is that farmers in an organic farming community get a better know-how of the way nature works. Such techniques of natural farming probably originated in the earliest horticultural societies and were common knowledge in subsequent agricultural communities, before the advent of mechanical cultivation and synthetic farming products. Yet, in the contemporary world, a better understanding of natural farming methods does not come every handily.

The main reason for losing track of those tried, safer, and eco-friendly methods of farming is a disproportionate dependence on readymade products – pesticides, fertilizers, mixtures etc – that allow you to be through with the labor in less time and saving the pains of toil, which have been the lot of traditional agriculture. The price to pay for this dolce vita style of farming is in the form of health risks and loss of our environmental shelter. But that is not all; we also lose the wealth of learning opportunities that abound in practicing organic farming. It is indeed losing a lot!

Let us take the case of organic farming communities where farmers have to go through tough menial labor, acquaintance with the right balance between beneficial and destructive organisms, non-toxic methods of crop protection and increasing yield, and natural enhancement of soil fertility and disease resistance. This kind of close interaction with the biotic and abiotic (mostly natural) components of agriculture nourishes practical knowledge of better productivity. Above all, the farmer learns to be solution-oriented by specifically approaching a problem as against synthetic, inorganic farming which tends to generalize a product’s efficacy over many crops and types of pests. The organic farmer has all the good chance to add to his trove of practical knowledge while those who rely solely (or dominantly) on industrial means of farming are obliged to passively follow whatever the manufacturer dictates.

Our consciousness of ecological and environmental issues, at this stage of our existence on earth, demands keen interest in, and attention to, problem-specific strategies for better results in production and environmental conservation. Variables like soil type, general climate, seasonal variations, and ecological relationship among different species etc, all need to be considered prior to formulating the right plan for farming on a piece of land. Organic farming communities aim at getting there – growing in wisdom for a healthy future.

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