Organic Farming Towards Healthy Food and Safe Environment: A Review

Organic Agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and good quality of life for all involved. The practices followed in organic farming are not new to the “Ancient Indian farming” which focuses on green manuring, cattle manures and traditional varieties for getting better harvest. Due to the Famines occurred in India during the course of the 18^th, 19^th and early 20^th centuries which resulted in massive deaths there needs a shift towards yield oriented industrial based green revolution based agriculture practices. But these newly learnt yield oriented farming techniques and the irrational use of chemical inputs have caused many hazards, including soil erosion, groundwater level decline, soil salinization, pollution from fertilisers and pesticides, genetic erosion, negative effects on the environment, decreased food quality and increased cultivation costs, making farmers poorer year by year. Furthermore, the use of pesticides and fertilisers increased the amount of heavy metals in the soil, particularly cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and arsenic (As). As we almost reached the state of food security by increased production, we need to shift our perspectives towards healthy food production by organic farming for a safer food and environment.