Comparative Cost Analysis of Organic Farming ...

Comparative Cost Analysis of Organic Farming and Inorganic Farming in India

Author Name : V. Kumar, D. Murugan

ABSTRACT

In India, the values of organic farming i.e., 'no chemical inputs crop rotations, and environmental preservation'had been in practice in traditional agriculture for centuries. The farming practice was entirely dependent on natural inputs and cattle centric. In the mid 1960s, India faced a severe shortage in the production of food grains. With a view to solve the problem of scarcity in food grain production, the Green Resolution was introduced in Indian agriculture and undoubtedly it brought an increase in food grain production and India attained self sufficiency in food grain production.  Conversely, the New Agricultural Technology brought many adverse effects in terms of increase in the cost of chemical inputs viz., fertilizer, pesticide and weedicide, land degradation, and destruction of farm ecology. In this context, the farmers are returning back to the traditional native agricultural practice ie., organic farming. It is noticed from this study that the cost of agricultural production is low in organic farming as compared to the conventional agriculture as the organic farming uses only farm based inputs and return is also high. In view of this, this study has made an attempt to analyze the cost and return structure of paddy and turmeric crops under organic farming and inorganic farming in Kerala and Tamil nadu States in India.

Keywords: Green Revolution, Organic farming, Inorganic farming, Cropping Intensity, Self Sufficiency.