Organic farming has a history as long as farming. Traditional farming has been practiced for thousands of years. It is now considered to be organic farming although at the time there were no known inorganic methods. However an organic movement began in the 1940s as a reaction to agriculture's growing reliance on synthetic fertilisers and pesticides.

Organic farming revolves around the concepts of soil life and soil biology. A basic tenet is that biological diversity and soil organic matter are drivers of productive organic farming systems, and that soil high in organic matter leads to a healthy, biologically active soil that will have fewer crop fertility, pest, and disease problems.

Organic farming works in harmony with nature rather than against it. This involves using techniques to achieve good crop yields without harming the natural environment or the people who live and work in it. The methods and materials that organic farmers use are summarised as follows:

To keep and build good soil structure and fertility:   

• recycled and composted crop wastes and animal manures   

• the right soil cultivation at the right time   

• crop rotation   

• green manures and legumes   

• mulching on the soil surface

To control pests, diseases and weeds:   

• careful planning and crop choice   

• the use of resistant crops   

• good cultivation practice   

• crop rotation   

• encouraging useful predators that eat pests

• increasing genetic diversity

• using natural pesticides

Organic farming also involves:   

• careful use of water resources

• sustainable animal husbandry

Organic farming provides long-term benefits to people and the environment. Organic farming aims to:

• increase long-term soil fertility.   

• control pests and diseases without harming the environment.   

• ensure that water stays clean and safe.

• use resources which the farmer already has, so the farmer needs less money to buy farm inputs.

• produce nutritious food, feed for animals and high quality crops to sell at a good price.

Modern approach

Organic farming does not mean going back to traditional methods. Many of the farming methods used in the past are still useful today. Organic farming takes the best of these and combines them with modern scientific knowledge. Every insect is not a pest, every plant out of place is not a weed and the solution to every problem is not a synthetic chemical spray. The aim is not to eradicate all pests and weeds, but to keep them down to an acceptable level and make the most of the benefits that they may provide.

Combined systems and approaches