What is Organic?
Organic is a widely used and heard term, but, what does it actually mean and why it is raising so much popularity, these are some obvious questions. According to the scientific terminology, organic means a substance that contains carbon, but when we use the term with respect to food or consumer goods, the meaning changes. Organic farming or organic produce means the food or any other product, produced by using feed or fertilizer of plant or animal origin without employing chemically formulated fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics, or pesticides. Thus, these organic products are free from any harmful chemicals and are produced with complete harmony with nature. There is vast variety of organic products available in the markets today, including, food items, vegetables and fruits, milk, meat, oils, healthcare products, herbs, plants, spices, beverages and clothes as well.  All these products are produced and sold under certified labeling that ensures the purity and quality of these products. The standards used for certification varies in different countries but the common aim is to ensure the consumers about the quality of the product.

Organic farming
Organic farming or agriculture is a nature friendly method of agriculture which completely or largely avoids the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators, and livestock feed additives in production of crop.  In organic farming, the seeds used for farming are organic in nature, no genetically modified variety of seeds are used for crops. The fertilizers used for crops are also organic, obtained from leaves, plants and animal dung, mulches and other organic matter etc. No harmful chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides are used for growth and protection of crops, instead organic pesticides, organic herbicides, organic insecticides and organic fungicides are used. Natural methods are used to enhance the productivity of the soil like, multiple cropping, trap crops, mulches, frogs, toads, companion crops, etc. For example, sweet corn acts as an excellent trap crop for organic tomato production. Sweet corn attracts tomato fruit worm and thus protects tomato crop when inter-planted with it.
As the environment pollution and health problems are increasing due to the large-scale use of artificial fertilizers and chemicals, the scientist and farmers are shifting to this eco-friendly farming system. The long-term use of pesticides led to high levels of chemicals in the soil, water, air and even our bodies. Fertilizers may have a short-term positive effect on productivity but in a long run, they have are more negative impact on environment and humans as well. Organic farming is emerging as Viable Alternative of Farming. This integrated method set relationship among soil, minerals, water, plants, micro flora, insects, animals and human beings. It creates productive landscapes and successfully reconciles food production and environmental conservation. Today, organically produced food items are gradually replacing the market shelves due to their superior quality and health benefits. They are good in taste, flavor, and essential nutrients and at the same time, they are free from harmful or toxic chemicals.  

Benefits of Organic Farming
Organic farming is beneficial for both the humans and the nature. Some of the known benefits of organic farming are:

1. In organic farming, no fertilizers and pesticides are used, hence, no harmful synthetic chemicals released into the environment.
2. Organic farming improves productivity of land by healing it with natural fertilizers.
3. Organic farms provide support to the diverse ecosystem by producing safe and healthy environment for humans, plants, insects and animals as well.
4. Organic farming is highly beneficial for soil health. Due to the practices such as crop rotations, inter-cropping, symbiotic associations, cover crops and minimum tillage, the soil erosion is decreased, which minimizes nutrient losses and boosts soil productivity. The beneficial living organisms used in organic farming also help to improve the soil health.
5. It helps to promote sustainability by establishing an ecological balance. If organic farming techniques are used for long time, the farms tend to conserve energy and protect the environment by maintaining ecological harmony.
6. When calculated either per unit area or per unit of yield, organic farms use less energy and produce less waste.  
7. Organic farming reduces groundwater pollution as no synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are used in this method. 
8. Organic farming also helps to reduce the greenhouse effect and global warming because it has the ability to impound carbon in the soil.
9. In organic farming method, same crop is not located in the farm, which encourages the build-up of diseases and pests that plague that particular crop.

Organic Farming in India
In India, organic farming has been practiced since thousands of years. The great Indian civilization thrived on organic farming and organic manure has been practiced in Indian agriculture since the Vedic period. The traditional Indian agriculture was completely organic though it was not termed so. The techniques used for ploughing the field, sowing the seeds, use of fertilizers everything had organic sensibility. Dead leaves of plants and cow dung were commonly used as fertilizers and pesticides, bullocks were used in plough for farming the fields, for storing the seeds and crops chemical free storage facilities were used. Indian farmers have an inherent understanding of how to work closely with the nature, because only 30 per cent of India’s total cultivable area is covered with fertilizers because of assured irrigation and the balance 70 per cent of arable land is mainly rain-fed with little or zero use of fertilizer. During the British rule, Indian agriculture ruined and the production decreased immensely. The Green Revolution was adopted to overcome this problem and the farming practices shifted to the modern methods in which chemical fertilizers were extensively used. Though the production increased, the soil fertility affected and farming lands started to become unfertile. Now, the farmers are gradually shifting back to organic farming.

Even though the new Organic farming techniques are introducing in India, the Indian farmers are traditionally practicing many methods and techniques that adhere to organic sensibility. The Indian farmers have developed many intelligent natural solutions for their problems, i.e. the farmers in one of the desert village of Rajasthan developed a unique method to protect their crop from ants. They use mud pot with buttermilk and a few cobs of deseeded corn in it to store their crops, buttermilk and deseeded corn distract the ants and save the crops. This rural method is sure to beat modern chemical pesticides. India has some natural advantages for over other countries regarding utility organic farming. India has vast cultivated area which has remained free of chemical contamination. The large agricultural land is rain fed with zero or very less use of synthetic fertilizers, thus can be converted to organic farming easily. In other conditions, it takes about three years to reclaim chemically depleted farm for organic agriculture. Organic farming is useful for small farmer as it does not demand extensive inputs. The other reason behind the shift to organic farming is growing demand of organic food in domestic and international market. Though the health benefits of organic food are yet to be proven, the demand for them has aroused enormously and consumers are ready to pay higher prices for the same. With about 2.5 million hectares of land under organic farming (year 2004) and over 15,000 certified organic farms, India is one of the leading exporters of organic products.

Organic farming is an integrated system that benefits land, landholder and environment as well. It involves local human, natural resources and processes, with respect to carrying capacity of ecology. By reducing dependence on chemical or synthetic inputs and creating more balanced nutrient and energy flow, it strengthens ecosystem resilience, increases food security and generates additional income for cultivators. Organic farming responds positively to all sustainable agriculture and rural development objectives and helps in retaining soil fertility to improve crop production and socio-economic conditions of the farmers. Organic farming has many benefits but one of its major rewards is healthy soil that alive with beneficial organisms. The healthy microbes, fungi and bacteria used in this method keep the harmful disease causing bacteria and fungi in check. Crop rotation technique builds resistance in the soil that protects the crops from diseases. The farmers are careful about crop rotation, they do not plant the same crop in the same location repeatedly, which encourages the build-up of diseases and pests that infect that particular crop.