organic farming

Organic farming for healthy food

Abstract

Imagine our world without soil and land. Can we survive without it? Can our environment be alive? No, then we need to take care of our land and soil.

Soil is the integral part of land resources. Nation’s prosperity depends upon the quality of the land and soil. Over the period of time in the greed of earning more money people usually use chemicals and harmful pesticides to increase the production of vegetation, which in turn degrades the soil and makes it unfertile.

To overcome these problems there are many solutions one of them is organic farming. Organic farming works in harmony with nature rather than being against it. This involves techniques to achieve good crop production without harming the natural environment or the people who live and work in it. It increases the life and fertility of the soil and makes it more productive.

To understand the concepts of organic farming and how it works, our team conceptualized the project to find that we can also use organic farming for terrace farming. We studied the impact of organic matters in the soil and how it helps to grow better crops. And finally we tried to find out that we can grow the vegetables that we eat at home terrace.

We visited to various farms, soil research institute to understand the same and gathered the data. Interestingly, we found that the answer is yes based on our experiments. It is possible to grow various vegetables at home without using chemicals and just by using compost which is made up of kitchen waste.

 Introduction

A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. ”

When the vision of great people like Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam is to see India as a developed country by the 2020, it becomes our responsibility to give our best when opportunities pour in.

All agricultural activities are directly or indirectly affected by how the soil is handled.

Hence, its health becomes a prime concern before one can address human and livestock health issues. Major issues of soil quality include chemical, physical and biological degradation

What is the solution to this problem?

Organic farming can be one of the solutions, but the productions of organic food are much less compare to the demand which increases the price of them. If we can grow these at home in our terrace using organic farming techniques we can contribute reduction of demand which helps in price control also and better nutrition quality of food.

To understand this we visited farm lands and met farmers to understand what they use as fertilizers, what are the challenges they face. We also visited one soil research institute to understand more about it.

Historical Background

The world food production cannot cope up with the Population as the total land area for production is decreasing because of urbanization, industrialization etc. hence the farmers are forced to use chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides to improve their food production and to meet the demand of growing population. This results in a decrease the quality of food and also intake of harmful chemicals indirectly that in turn lead to various health issues.
This is an initiative by 9th standard students to produce healthy food as it says "Grow what you eat or eat what you grow".

Aims and Objectives

Our aim of this project is to find that how organic farming is better than chemical farming.

·        To understand the soil properties.

·        To understand the alternatives for chemical fertilizers and test the same at home.

·        To have organic farming at home.

·        To produce what we eat.

Curriculum related to class and subject:

Class: IX

Subject: Science

Topic: Food Improvement

Essential Question

Can we grow various vegetables at home without using chemicals?

Procedures/Methodology

Visiting farmers…..

Our visit to Vittal Malaya Research Foundation

 

 

Exploring the blend of the water and minerals from below with sunlight and CO2 from above...

 

 

Tomato plantation

 

Our life depends upon the soil....

There can be no life without soil and no soil without life; they have evolved
together.

Checking for Chemical Properties

Calculation of pH value of the soil sample collected.

 Soil samples from the places like Athebele and Jigni were taken and tested for pH.

The pH value was calculated for the soil sample where Chilli, Banana, grapes Ragi and corn were grown.

Sl no.	Soil of- crop	pH	Colour of the soil
1.	Chilli	6.25	Light brown
2.	Banana	6.00	Light brown
3.	Grapes	6.25	Blackish brown
4.	Ragi	5.50	Brown
5.	Corn	6.50	Blackish brown

 

Experiment

Four containers were taken and added the soil and compost in that as follows:

Container 1 – With soil and no compost and sand in it. Methi (Fenugreek leaves) seeds were sown on 26/10//2013 in the morning.
Container 2 – With soil, compost and sand, in the proportion of 1:2:1. Methi (Fenugreek leaves) seeds were sown on 26/10//2013 in the morning.  
Container 3 - With soil, sand and compost, in the proportion of 1:2:1.  Chilli seeds were sown on 26/10//2013 in the morning.
Container 4 - With compost ,soil and sand, in the proportion of 1:2:1.  coriander seeds were sown on 26/10//2013 in the morning. 

Observation:

As on 6^th November 2013

Containers	No. of leaves	Length of the plant cm	Girth of the plant mm
Container 1	2	8.3	6
Container 2	4	9.4	5
Container 3	1	2.9	3
Container 4	2	6.3	4

As on 13^th November 2013

Containers	No. of leaves	Length of the plant cm	Girth of the plant  mm
Container 1	3	9.5	7
Container 2	6	11.2	5
Container 3	2	5.8	3
Container 4	3	9.2	4

Tools used :Field trip,Srvey,Experiments  etc.

Limitations:

Students found it difficult to take care of plants in a regular basis since they had to complete their syllabus of class IX

Analysis, data interpretation 

 2. Container 2 which contain more of compost gave better results. The number of leaves in container 2 was more. No of leaves in other containers was less.

Conclusion, end product

Soil with compost has good growth of seeds compare to soil without compost.

Excessive level of fertilizer and pesticides will help in growing more crops but it degrades the quality of soil and food.

Whereas organically grown food has high nutrition value and do not degrade soil and increases the life of the soil.

Suggestions

Organic farming is the good way to do farming in terrace and grow what we eat. This will help us in reducing the demand of food from the market and help in price control. Also the quality of food will be nutritious. Same concepts can be applied in the feild to have better quality of soil and avoid soil degradation.

 References

Reference to the site of Vittal Mallaya Scientific Research Foundation –

http://www.vmsrf.org/

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-fenugreek-leaves-i73956

www.soilandhealth.org

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/frequently-asked-questions/92475-white-spots-leaf-curling-asap.html