Organic spices
Global awareness of health and environmental issues is spreading fast in recent years, especially in the developed countries. Sustainability in production has become the prime concern in agriculture development. The organic method of farming is the best option to ensure that the air, water and soil around us remain unpolluted, leaving the environment safe for present and future generations.
In many countries exploitative agriculture using industrial inputs has been the norm since the 1960s, in order to cater for an increasing population and to combat the occurrence of famine and natural calamities. Such a system of farming has been causing imbalances in the constituents of biosphere, bioforces, bioforms and biosources. As a result the health of ‘Mother Earth’ has been deteriorating. Organic agriculture aims to tackle the above concern, and also aims at protecting the environment from continuous decline.
The concept of organic farming is based on an holistic approach where nature is perceived to be more than just an individual element. In this farming system there is dynamic interaction between soil, humus, plant, animal, eco-system and environment. Hence organic farming differs from industrial agriculture as in the latter, biological systems are replaced by technical production systems with liberal use of chemicals.
Organic farming improves the structure and fertility of the soil through balanced choice of crops and implementation of diversified crop rotation systems. Biological processes are strengthened without recoursing to chemical remedies, such as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. In this farming system control of pests, diseases and weeds is primarily preventative, and if required, adopting organic products, which will not adversely affect the environment. Genetically modified organisms are not normally acceptable because of the manipulations made in their natural set up. Organic matter of various kinds, nitrogen fixing plants, pests and disease resistant varieties, soil improvement practices such as mulching and fallowing, crop rotation, multiple cropping, mixed farming, etc., are freely adopted. In brief, organic farming merges traditional and respectable views on nature with modern insights.
Bio-dynamic agriculture is yet another approach to organic farming. It is based on anthropsophy on the ideas formulated by the Austrian expert, Rudolf Steiner, in 1924. In this system, the maintenance and furtherance of life processes on Earth are achieved by harnessing cosmic energy and various influences of the sun, the stars, the moon and other planets. Bio-dynamic agriculture most often combines animal husbandry and crop production and use of compost and bio-dynamic preparations to revitalize soil and plants and subsequently animals and human beings. Sowing, cultivation and harvesting are timed according to cosmic rhythms.
Tags: organic, herbs, spices, cooking