Organic Farming & Sustainable Agriculture Important Point

Organic Farming & Sustainable Agriculture Important Point

Organic Farming & Sustainable Agriculture Important Point

 Sustainable Agriculture

Definition of Sustainable Agriculture:- Sustainable agriculture is the use of farming systems and practices which maintain or enhance the economic viability of agricultural production, The natural resource base, and Other ecosystems which are influenced by agricultural activities.
It is must include ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just, culturally appropriate and based on a holistic scientific approach.

Objectives of Sustainable Agriculture

• Make best use of the resources available
• Minimize use of non-renewable resources
• Protect and enhance the environment and natural resources
• Protect the economic viability of farming operations
• Produce sufficient high-quality and safe food
• Build on available technology, knowledge and skills in ways that suit local conditions and capacity.
• Soil quality is one important part of sustainable agro-ecosystem.

SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program)

• Initially it is known as the Low-Input Sustainable Agriculture (LISA) program, SARE was authorized by Congress in the Food Security Act of 1985. The LISA program got started in 1988.
• The Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 renamed LISA the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, and added two other programs–one for research on integrated crop/livestock operations, and another to train Extension Service agents in disseminating sustainable farming practices.

Organic farming:- It is define as which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetic inputs (such as fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, feed additives etc) and to the maximum extent feasible relies upon crop rotations, crop residues, animal manures, off-farm organic waste, mineral grade rock additives and biological system of nutrient mobilization and plant protection.

Difference between in Organic agriculture & Sustainable agriculture
Organic agriculture has strict restrictions as to which, if any, synthetically compounded chemical pesticides can be used on crops; does not allow the use of inorganic fertilizers or additives to be used in the soil nor antibiotics to be used in animal production. Crop fields must be certified chemical-free for three years before a farmer can market crops as organic. None of these restrictions apply to sustainable agriculture systems.

 Commonly available plants that can be used for making herbal extracts are as follows

The first two sprays of herbal extracts in a season should by a blanket spray, on observing the attack.

Common Name	Botanical Name	Useful Plant Parts
Neem	Azadirachta indica	Neem Cake
Pungam	Pongamia Spp	Leaf & flower
Jarayan	Lantana camera	Leaf & flower
Parthenium	Parthenium sp	Plant before flowering
Tobacco	Nicotiana tobaccum	Dried leaf, plant waste, stem waste
Artemesia	Artemesia vulgaris	Tender shoots & leaves
Chevanthi	Crysanthemum cinerrifolia	Flower
Turmeric	Curcuma longa	Rhizome
Ginger	Zingiber officinale	Rhizome
Devils	Trumpet Datura	Metal Leaf, fruit, flower
Etti	Strychnos nuvomica	Seeds

Companion planting to repel fungal disease:-

• Amorphophallus plants between rows of arecanut trees have anti-fungal qualities.

To treat paddy leaf curl:-

• Steep one kilo of agave leaves in 10 litres of boiling water in a
  copper container and allow to stand for 24 hours & after extract the Spray on the crop.

To tackle Rhinoceros beetle in coconut plantation:-

• Arrange two to three tubelights in various spots in the plantation so that the beetles are drawn to the light instead of to the coconut trees during the night.
• Neem oil is mixed with honey in equal proportions and sprayed on the apical part of the tree.

 Liquid extracts for disease management 

Disease	Type of compost
Late blight of potato ,tomato	Horse compost extract
Gray mold on beans strawberries	Cattle compost extract
Downy and powdery mildew of grapes	Animal manure-straw compost extract
Powdery mildew on cucumbers	Animal manure-straw compost extract
Gray mold on tomato, pepper	Cattle and chicken manure compost extract
Apple scab	Spent mushroom compost extract

Organic Farming & Sustainable Agriculture

 Biological agents to control pests of different crops

Biological Agents	Pest	Crop
Trichogramma brassiliensis (Egg parasitoid)	Lepidopteran, Heliothis sp	Cotton, Tomato
Trichogramma chilonis	Borers	Sugarcane, paddy, pulses, Vegetables
Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus (NPV) 100-200 LE/ac	Spodoptera sp & Heliothis sp	Vegetables
NPV – Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus of Spodotera litura 250 – 500 ml/ ha	Spodotera litura	Cotton, groundnut, pulses, cabbage, chillies
NPV – Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus of Helicoverpa armigera 250-500 ml/ ha	Helicoverpa armigera	Cotton, groundnut, pulses, cabbage, chillies
Chrysoperla Sp 5000 – 10000 eggs /ha	Caterpillars, White flies, thrips, aphids	Vegetables
Beauveria bassiana – 1.0% (Affects the young stage)	Helicoperva, spodoptera, borers, hairy caterpillars, mites, scales, etc	Vegetables, cereals, fruits
Metarhizium anisopliae – 0.5 – 1.0 % (affects all stages)	White grubs, Beetle grubs, caterpillars, Semiloopers, mealy bugs, BPH	Sugarcane, groundnut, rice, potato, cotton, cereals
Verticillium lecanii – 0.5 – 1.0 % (affects all stages)	All sucking soft bodies insects	Sugarcane, groundnut, rice, potato, cotton, cereals
Phascilomycetes	Nematodes	All crops
Bacillus thuringiensis var kustaki	Helicoperva, spodoptera, borers, hairy caterpillars, mites, scales, etc	Vegetables, cereals, fruits

 Biopesticides and IPM products for various crops 

Pest/Diseases	Biopesticides
Cotton Crop
Bollworms	Traps, lures, BT, NPV, Trichogramma
Whitefly, jassids, thrips	Neem 1500 ppm
Mites	Chrysoperla, verticillium, Baeuveria
Wilts and leaf spots	Trichoderma, Pseudomonas
Rice Crop
Rice Yellow stem borer, leaf folder	Traps, Trichogramma
Hoppers	Neem 1500 ppm, Baeuveria
Pulses
Bollworms or cutworms	Traps, BT, NPV, Trichogramma
Wilts	Trichoderma, Pseudomonas
Tomato, capsicum
Heliothis	Traps, BT, NPV, Trichogramma
Mites	Trichoderma, Pseudomonas
Brinjal, okra
Fruit borer	Traps, BT, NPV, Trichogramma
Mites	Neem 1500 ppm, verticillium

 Economic Threshold Levels (ETLs) of Major Pests of Rice 

Insect Pest	Economic Threshold Level
Stem borer	10% dead hearts or 2 egg masses / m2  Or 2% white ears
Gall midge	10% silver shoots
Green leafhopper	60/25 net sweeps or 5/hill at vegetative stage or 10/hill at flowering or 2/hill in tungro endemic area.
Brown plant hopper	2 / tiller when 1 spider / hill is present but 1 / tiller when spiders are not present
Whorl maggot	25% damaged leaves.
Case worm	10% damaged leaves
Leaf folder	10 % leaf damage in vegetative phase & 5% at flowering
Ear head bug	5 bugs/100 ear heads at flowering and 16 bugs/100 ear heads from milky stage to grain maturity
Thrips	60 numbers in 12 passes or rolling of the first and second leaves in 10% of seedlings.

 

Organic Farming & Sustainable Agriculture

Biocontrol module for pest and disease management In Rice Crop 

Pest	Biocontrol	Rate of application
Yellow stem borer	Trichogramma japonicum	2.00 lakh eggs/ha
	BT (Bacillus thuringensis)	0.75 kg/ha
Leaf folder	Trichogramma japonicum	2.00 lakh eggs/ha
Hoppers	Neem	1500 ppm
Sheath blight	Trichoderma	Seed treatment @ 4-5 g/kg seed
Leaf spot	Pseudomonas	Seed treatment @ 4-5 g/kg seed
Brown spot	Trichogramma japonicum	2.00 lakh eggs/ha
Neck blast	Nimbecidene + Trichogramma japonicum	500 g /acre + 2.00 lakh eggs/ha

 Economic Threshold Levels of Major Pests of Pulses 

Pest	ETL (Economic Threshold Level)
Aphid	20/2.5 cm shoot length
Pod borer	10% of affected pod
Spotted pod borer	3/plant
Stem fly	10% of affected plants
Tobacco cut worm	8 egg masses/100 m

Cultural Pest control methods in cotton

• Growing two rows of maize or sorghum or cowpea along the border to sustain and enhance the build up of natural enemies such as lady bird beetles, staphylinids, Chrysoperla carnea, Anthocorids Reduviids etc.
• Pollen of maize helps in retaining Chrysoperla in main
  cotton field.
• Plant trap crops like marigold or okra or pigeon pea along the
  border and irrigation bunds to divert American boll worm oviposition from main cotton crop.
• Growing castor along the border and irrigation bunds as trap crop for tobacco cut worm, okra for spotted boll worm and aphid.
• Use neem cake @ 1 t / ha under assured moisture conditions in nematode infested fields.
• Earthing up on 45th day fpr stem weevil.
• Basal application of FYM 25 t/ha and 250 kg/ha of neem cake for stem weevil.
• Install 15-20 bird perches per acre for the benefit of predatory birds like black drango, king crow, orange myna etc. after 90 days of crop growth. Provide drinking pots with water to them by placing them around the perches.

Biological control methods

• Application of Helicoverpa armigera or Spodoptera litura nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) @ 250-500 LE / ha (1 LE = 6×10⁹ POBs) (1LE / litre of water) depending upon the crop growth with jaggery and teepol in evening hours at 7th and 12th week after sowing.
• ULV spray of NPV at 3 x 10¹² POB /ha with 10% cotton seed kernel extract, 10% crude sugar, 0.1% each of Tinopal and Teepol for effective control of H.armigera.
• Inundative release of egg parasitoid, Trichogramma spp., at 6.25 cc/ha at 15 days interval 3 times from 45 DAS (American boll worm)
• Inundative release of egg-larval parasitoid, Chelonus blackburnii and predator, Chrysoperla carnea at 100000 / ha at 6th, 13th and 14th weeks after sowing (American boll worm)
• Seed treatment with Trichoderma spp. @ 4g / kg of seed for seed borne diseases

Botanical control methods

• Spray NSKE 5% or neem oil (5 ml/l) or fish oil resin soap 25 kg / ha @ 1 kg in 40 l of water or 5 % notchi leaf extract or 5% Catharanthus rosea extract (whitefly)
• Spray NSKE 5% or neem oil formulation 0.5% or neem oil 3% thrice at fortnightly intervals (sucking pests)
• Spray NSKE 5% as a strong oviposition deterrent (American boll worm)
• Spray fish oil resin soap 25 kg / ha @1 kg in 40 l of water (mealy bug)

Behavioural control methods

•  Use pheromone traps for monitoring American boll worm, pink boll worm, spotted boll worm and tobacco cut worm. Install pheromone traps at a distance of 50 m @ 5 traps per acre for each insect pest.
• Use specific lures for each insect species and change it after every 15-20 days. Trapped moths should be removed daily. If the number of trapped adult moths is 10 (American boll worm), 20 (tobacco cut worm), 15 (spotted boll worm) and 8 (pink boll worm) necessary action should be taken.
• Monitoring the activities of the adult white flies by setting up yellow pan traps and sticky traps at 1 foot height above the plant canopy. Locally available empty yellow palmoline tins coated with grease / Vaseline / castor oil on outer surface may also be used.
• Paint yellow colour on plastic drinking water pot, apply castor oil on it and move it on both sides with hand by walking in the field to attract and trap whiteflies.

Note:-

1. Use only incandescent light in light traps, as mercury lamp attracts natural enemies in large numbers.
2. The light trap should be lighted between 8 – 10 pm.

Organic Farming & Sustainable Agriculture

Economic Threshold Levels (ETLs) of Major Pests of Cotton

Insect Pest	Economic Threshold Level
American boll worm	One egg or one larva /plant
Spotted boll worm	10% infested shoots / squares / bolls.
Spiny boll worm	10% infested shoots / squares / bolls.
Pink boll worm	10% infested fruiting parts
Leafhopper	50 nymphs or adults/50 leaves
Whitefly	5-10 nymphs and adults / leaf
Thrips	50 nymphs or adults /50 leaves
Tobacco cut worm	8 egg masses/100 m row
Stem weevil	10% infestation
Mite	10 mites/cm2 leaf area
Aphid	15% of infested plant

Diseases of Cotton and their management

Disease and cause	Control measures
Seedling disease
Rhizoctonia, Fusarium and Pythium spp	Plant only high quality seed. Plant in warm, well-drained soil. Avoid crop stress due to a lack of fertilizer, excess water or excess herbicides. Plant on raised beds
Boll rots	Prolonged periods of high humidity or water on the boll surface are necessary for infection. Rank growth promotes boll rot. Avoid practices that result in a rank dense canopy.
Bacterial diseases
Xanthomonas campestris pv. malvacearum	Most varieties have some resistance. Crop rotation will control this problem.
Leaf spot
Alternaria macrospora Cercospora gossypina Ascochyta gossypii	These leaf spot diseases are of minor importance and specific controls are not recommended. They appear more frequently on stressed plants.
Fusarium wilt
Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum	Most varieties are somewhat  resistant. Maintain soil pH at 6.0 to 6.5, and use sufficient nutrients for plant growth.

 Use of biocontrol agents for weed control 

Name of the weed	Bioagent
Cyperus rotundus	Bactra verutana
Ludwigia parviflora	Haltica cynea (Steel blue beetle)
Parthenism hysterophorus	Zygrogramma bicolarata
Lantana camara	Crocidosema lantana, Teleonnemia scrupulosa
Opuntia dilleni	Dactylopius tomentosus, D. Indicus (cochineal scale insect)
Eichhornea crassipes	Neochetina eichhornea, N. Bruchi (Hyachinth weevil) Sameodes alliguttalis (hyancinth moth)
Salvinia molesta	Crytobagus singularis (weevil) Paulinia acuminate (grass hopper), Samea mutiplicalis
Alternanthera philoxaroides	Agasides hygrophilla (flea beetle) Amynothrips andersoni
Tribulus terrestris	Microlarinus lypriformis, M. lareynii
Solanum elaegnifolium	Frumenta nephalomicta

 Use of fish for weed control 

Name of the weeds	Fish
Lemma, Hydrilla, Potamogeton	Grass carp or white amur
Algae	Silver carp, common carp

 Use of competitive plants for weed control 

Name of the weeds	Competitive plants
Parthenium hysterophorus	Cassia sericea
Typha sp.	Brachiaria mutica

Organic Farming & Sustainable Agriculture