Master’s Seminar

Organic Vegetable Production

Speaker: Course Instructor:

Abinash Kumar Patel Dr. G.C. Yadav
Id.No H-12328/21 Professor
M.Sc (Horti.) Vegetable Science Dept. Of Vegetable Science

Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology 

Kumarganj, Ayodhya
 CONTENTS

1. DEFINITIONS OF ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION

2. OBJECTIVES OF ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION
3. PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION
4. NEED OF ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION
5. STATUS OF INDIA IN ORGANIC AREA AND PRODUCTION
6. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION
7. ADVANTAGES OF ORGANIC FARMING
8. ISSUES IN ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION
9. RESPONSE OF VEGETABLES TO ORGANIC FARMING
10.REFERENCES
 DEFINITIONS OF ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION

Organic vegetable production is a farming method that involves raising vegetable

crops by using organic waste such as animal wastes, plant wastes, crop wastes,
farm wastes, and biological materials to keep the soil alive.

The primary goal of organic vegetable production is to optimize health and

productivity of the interdependent communities of plant, soil, people and
animals.
 Lampkin (1990): Organic Farming is a production system which avoids or largely excludes the use
of synthetically compounded fertilizers, growth regulators and live stock feed additives.

 US Department of Agriculture: A system that is designed and mailed to produce agricultural

products by the use of methods, and substances that maintain the integrity of organic agricultural
products until they reach the consumer.

 According to Codex Alimentarius (Food code) Commission (CAC): Organic agriculture is a

holistic food production management system, which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health,
including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity.

 Funtilana (1990): Organic Farming is giving back to the nature what is taken from it.
OBJECTIVES OF ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION
PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION

• Sustain and enhance the • It should be based

health of soil, plant, animal, on living ecological
human and planet as one and systems and cycles,
indivisible. work with them,
emulate them and
help sustain them
Principle
Principle
of
of health
ecology

Principle Principle
of of care
fairness
• Ensure fairness with regard to • Protect the health
the common environment and and well-being of
life opportunities current and future
generations and the
environment.
 NEED OF ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION

 To reduce production cost of the chemical farming such as investments in pesticides,

fertilizers, herbicides etc.
 To reduce environmental pollution.
 To increase land productivity.
 To reduce the contamination that causes health hazards.
 To fetche more income through international exports.
 To restore soil characters.
 STATUS OF INDIA IN ORGANIC AREA AND PRODUCTION

 India's rank 5th in terms of World's Organic Agricultural land and 1st in terms of total
number of producers as per 2021 data (Source: FIBL & IFOAM Year Book, 2020).

 As on 31st March 2022 total area under organic certification process (registered under
National Programme for Organic Production) is 91,19,865.91 ha (2021-22). This
includes 47,26,714.74 ha cultivable area and another 43,93,151.17 ha for wild harvest
collection.

 The total volume of export during 2021-22 was 4,60,320.40 MT. The organic food export
realization was around INR 5,249.32 Crore (771.96 million USD) and among them fresh
fruits & vegetables contributed about 1,580.125 MT with a value of INR 3,344.255 lakh
(4.918 million USD ).
 During Year 2021-22, fresh fruits & vegetables Organic Production was 85,548.005 MT and
Conversion Period Production of 7,895.839 MT.

 Organic products are exported to USA, European Union, Canada, Great Britain, Switzerland,
Turkey, Australia, Ecuador, Korea Republic, Vietnam, Japan, etc.

 During 2016, Sikkim has achieved a remarkable distinction of converting its entire cultivable
land (more than 75000 ha) under organic certification.

 Among all the states, Madhya Pradesh has covered largest area under organic certification
followed by, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Sikkim,
Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

Source : APEDA Organic Agriculture Statistics ( 2021-22)

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION

1. Selection of Site
2. Conversion period
3. Choice of the Crops and Varieties
4. Soil Preparation
5. Planting
6. Irrigation
7. Crop Rotation
8. Weed Control
9. Nutrient Management
10. Pest management
11. Disease management
12. Contamination control
13. Processing
14. Labelling
15. Packaging
16. Documentation
17. Certification
 1. SELECTION OF SITE

 It includes suitable soil and climate, regular supply of good quality irrigation water,
availability of labour, transportation and marketing facility.

 The site should be free from pests and diseases of the crops.

 For example, in the areas where there is excess rainfall and large monocultures of similar
crops are grown, growing organic vegetables can cause infestation of insect-pests and
disease.
 2. CONVERSION PERIOD

 When a farmer switches over to the system of organic farming from the conventional
system of farming, it is known as conversion.

 The time between the start of organic management and certification is called conversion
period.

 It is necessary to maintain organic and non-organic fields separately if the entire field is
not converted into organic at a time.

 The conversion period is decided based on the past use of the land and ecological
situation.

 Generally, the conversion period is two years for annual crops and three years for
perennial crops.
 3. CHOICE OF THE CROPS AND VARIETIES

 The selected varieties should be popular among vegetable growers for high yielding, pest
resistance, disease resistance and superior seedling vigour and the seed or seedlings of these
varieties should be certified.
 The planting materials used must be certified organic, resistance to various stresses and
climate resilient.
 If certified planting materials are not available then care should be taken that it should be
chemically untreated one.
 The use of genetically engineered pollens, seeds and transgenic plants are restricted.
 The most needed criteria to select the varieties are based on the market demand.
 Insect and disease resistance variety of different crops
S.No Crop Pest/Disease Varieties
1. Brinjal Bacterial wilt Arka Keshav, Arka Nidhi, Annamalai,
Pusa Purple Cluster
Phomopsis rot Pusa Bhairav
Shoot & fruit borer Pusa Purple Round (PPR), Punjab
Neelam
2. Chilli Aphids Pant C-1, Pusa Jwala
Bacterial wilt Pant C-1, Punjab lal
CMV, LCV, TMV Pusa Jwala, Pant Sadabahar, Punjab lal
3. Cabbage Aphids Red Drum Head
Black rot Pusa Mukta
4. Cauliflower Black rot Pusa Subhra
Stem Borer EMS-3, KW-5, KW-8
8. Okra Jassids Punjab Padmini
YVMV Arka Anamika, Arka Abhay, Hissar
Unnat, Azad Kranti, Punjab-8
9. Tomato Bacterial wilt Arka Alok, Arka Ananya, Arka
Vardhan, Arka Rakshak, Arka Samart
Early & Late blight Arka Samart, Arka Shreshta, TRB-1,
TRB-2
 4. SOIL PREPARATION

 Most vegetable crops require well drained loam or clay loam soil with a pH range of 6.0 to
7.5.
 Soil must be friable, porous with good water holding capacity.
 For weed control soil solarization is preferred.
 The soil should also be tested for pesticides residues and fertilizers and contamination with
heavy metal. If the soil has an unacceptable level and yield may be excluded from organic
certification or special crops such as root vegetables may be excluded from growing.
 5. PLANTING

 Species and varieties cultivated should be adapted to soil and climatic condition and
resistant to pests and diseases.
 Seeds/planting materials should be procured from organic source.

 Use of genetically engineered seeds or planting materials such as tissue culture, pollen
culture, transgenic plants is not allowed.

 Organic vegetable production mainly relies on the clean cultivation where old crops
residues have been turned into the soil. This is done to avoid the allelopathic effect of the
previous crop residues.
 6. IRRIGATION

 Irrigation water also be tested for chemical contamination, particularly if the source

comes from a well, irrigation channel or river.

 The successful vegetable cultivars are determined by water application at the correct time

and at correct growth stage.

 Drip and sprinkler method of irrigation are most commonly used in vegetables.
 7. CROP ROTATION

 Growing of legumes as the main or companion or inter crops with vegetable crops enhances
the organic soil load.
 Changing multiple crops and crop rotation ensures the better utilization of the resources.
 The legume crops like peas, beans, cluster bean, cowpea etc are to be included in crop rotation
for improving soil fertility through atmospheric fixing of nitrogen and increase the yield up to
30-35%.
 The inoculation of the legume crops with some specific rhizobium strain could further
improves nitrogen fixing ability.
 Quantity of nitrogen fixed by vegetable crops (Palaniappan and Annaduari, 1999)

Crop Nitrogen Fixed (kg/ha)

Cluster bean 37-196

Cowpea 80-85

Pea 52-57

Fenugreek 44
 8. WEED CONTROL

 The major constraint in the organic vegetable production is the weed control as herbicide
spray is not used.
 Weed management is expensive, time consuming and also cause severe yield losses when
they aren’t controlled.
 By the use of mulches.
 By use of clean equipments for organically managed areas.
 The use of synthetic herbicides, synthetic growth regulators and synthetic dyes are
prohibited
 The weeds in organic vegetable production can be controlled by both physical and chemical
method as given below:
 ORGANIC WEED
MANAGENMENT

Direct/
Indirect/ Cultural
Physical
methods
methods

Intercropping
Tillage
Crop rotation
Hand Weeding
Cover Crops
Mulching Prevention
Timing
Biological control
Planting Density
Solarization
Crop and Cultivar Selection
 9. NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT

 The nutrient management in the organic farming mainly depends upon the
nutrients that are been derived biologically.
The residues of plants after harvest should be incorporated into the soil as far
as possible.
 Use of synthetic/chemical fertilisers is not permitted.
 The mineral based materials like rock phosphate, gypsum, lime, etc. can be
applied in limited quantities when there is absolute necessity.
 Nutrient composition of various organic nutrient sources used in organic farming
S. No Sources N% P% K%
A. Organic Manures
1 FYM 0.5 0.2 0.5
2 Vermicompost 1.6 2.2 1.0
3 Pressmud 1.30 2.20 0.50
4 Poultry manure 3.03 2.63 1.50
5 Cattle dung & urine manure 0.60 0.15 0.45
B . Oilcakes
1 Castor cake 5.5 1.8 1.1
2 Neem cake 5.0 1.0 1.5
3 Mahua cake 2.5 1.8 1.8
C. Green Manures
1 Cowpea 0.70 0.15 0.60
2 Sunhemp 2.30 0.50 1.80
3 Dhaincha 3.50 0.60 1.20
 LIQUID MANURES:

 Liquid manures applied enrich the microbial activity in the soil. 3-4 liquid

manures application are required for most of the vegetable crops

 Liquid manures include vermiwash, jivamrutha, panchgavya, cow urine, biosel

etc. That forms a vital growth promoter when used as the foliar spray.
 a) PANCHAGAVYA PREPARATION

5 li t
1 kg

3
lit
5 l it

5 kg
 b) JIVAMRUT PREPARATION

2 kg 10 kg

1 kg

200L

10 lit
2 kg
 BIO-FERTILIZERS

 Bio-fertilizers are carrier based preparations, containing beneficial microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi
and algae in sufficient quantities, helping in plant growth and provide nutrition.

 The efficiency of bio-fertilizer will increases with the addition of phosphorus.

Nitrogen
fixers Phosphate

Non-Symbiotic, free Associative

Symbiotic Symbiosis Mobilizers Solubilizers
living
(Rhizobium) (Azosprillium (VAM, Ecto and (BGA, Pseudomonas,
(Azotobactor) Bacillus, Aspergillus)
) endo Mycorrhiza)
 10. PEST MANAGEMENT

As in organic farming management use of synthetic chemicals are prohibited, thus pest
management is done by:

(i) Cultural or agronomic methods

(ii) Biological methods
(iii) Mechanical methods
(iv) Botanical extract
I. Cultural methods

 Use of disease free seed or stock and resistant varieties are best preventive practice in
organic pest management.
 Maintenance of biodiversity
 Effective crop rotation,
 Multiple cropping,
 Habitat manipulation and
 Use of trap crops
 II. Mechanical methods

 Light traps,  Sticky traps  Pheromone traps

III. Biological alternative
 Use of pest predators and pathogen

 Inundative release of Trichogramma sp. @ 40,000 to 50,000 eggs per hectare, Chelonus
blackburni @15,000 to 20, 000 per hectare can effectively control pest problem in organic
farming .

IV. Use of biopesticides

 Trichoderma viride or T. harazianum or Pseudomonas fluorescence formulation @ 4gm/kg
seed either alone or in combination, manage most of the seed borne & soil borne diseases.
 There are other formulations viz. Beauvaria bassiana, Metarizium anisopliae, Numeria rileyi,
Verticillium sp, which are available in the market for pest control.
NATURAL OR BOTANICAL PESTICIDES
 USE OF NATURAL ENEMIES FOR PEST CONTROL

Lady Bird Beetle Larva of Lady Bird Beetle Trichogramma Egg Parasitoid
 11. DISEASE MANAGEMENT

 It includes combination of cultural practices, natural remedies, IPM practices, organic soil management
practice and limited use of permitted chemicals in organic vegetable production.

 Fungicides may be permitted that includes copper and sulphur compounds and biological fungicides
containing species of Bacillus, Trichoderma, Gliocladium, Pseudomonas, Streptomyces and other
beneficial microbes.

 Application of Trichoderma harzianum@ 10 g/lit for foliar spray or 10-12 kg/ha for basal dressing or
Trichoderma viride @10 g/kg seed is effective against wilt and rot diseases in vegetables production.
 The management of disease can be done by following ways.

A. Cultural methods
B. Physical methods
C. Botanical methods

A. Cultural methods:
 Good agricultural practices (GAP)
 Adjusting the date of planting
 Weed management
 Crop rotation

B. Physical methods:
 Soil solarisation
 Hot water treatment of seed
 Steam treatment of seed
C Botanical Methods

 Spraying of neem oil, cow urine, panchgavya, and fermented butter milk are some of the most
predominant methods of controlling diseases by the organic farmers in India.
 Butter milk sprays have been popular against blights, mildew, mosaic viruses and other fungal and viral
diseases.
 Application of soft soap solutions and neem oil against viral vectors like aphids and other sucking insects
is also effective.
 Cow dung ferments like ‘Amrit-Paani’ are widely used by organic farmers for enhancing crop growth and
disease management of fungi.
 12. CONTAMINATION CONTROL

 If neighbouring fields are non-organic, a buffer zone should be maintained. The height of buffer crop
shall be twice the height of organic crop and the width of the buffer shall be 25-50 feet.

 If the farm is under conversion, equipments used for conventional areas shall be well cleaned before
using for organic areas.

 Use of poly-chloride based products like PVC pipe is prohibited.

 13. PROCESSING

 Processing technologies like solar drying, freeze drying, hot air

chambers are permitted.

 Irradiation of agricultural produce is not permitted.

 No synthetic additives/dyes are to be added during processing.

 14. LABELLING

 The label should convey clear accurate information about the organic status of the product.
(i.e. conversion in progress or organic).
 The details like name of the product, quantity of the product, name and address of the
producer, name of certification agency, certification lot number etc. are to be given in the
label.
 Lot number is helpful in tracing back the product particularly the field no. in which it is
grown in case of contamination. For e.g.:
Crop: OC (organic chillies)
Country: I (India)
Field No.: 05
Date of harvest: 32 (1 st Feb)
Year: 1999
Lot number OC I 0532 1999.
 15. PACKAGING

 For packing, recycling and reusable materials like clean jute bags, shall be used.

 Use of bio-degradable materials.

 Unnecessary packaging material should be avoided.

 Organic and non-organic products shall not be stored and transported together except when
labelled.
 16. DOCUMENTATION

Documentation of farm activities is must for acquiring certification especially when both
conventional and organic crops are raised.
The following documents/records are to be maintained:
1) Field map
2) Field history sheet
3) Activity register
4) Input record
5) Output record
6) Harvest record
7) Storage record
8) Sales record
9) Pest control records
10) Equipments cleaning records
11) Labelling records
 17. CERTIFICATION

 Certification of organic farms is required to satisfy the consumers that the produce is totally
organic.
 It necessary for prevention from fraud products and also assure product quality.
 Organic producers identify suppliers of approved products for use in certified operations for
certification.
 Many certification bodies operate organic standards that meet the minimum requirements of
the national government.
 Organic certification is essential for increasing worldwide demand of organic vegetable
produce.
 PROCEDURE TO GET CERTIFICATE OF ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCE

 Application form is given by the applicant with details in the prescribed format to the
certification agency.
 Screening of application by certification agency.
 Cost estimate including certification fees, laboratory fees, inspection fees, reporting cost and
travel cost etc. is sent for acceptance.
 Acceptance of cost by the organic vegetable producer.
 Signing of agreement between organic vegetable producer with certification agency.
 Certification agency calls for cropping/production/cultivation/processing scheme and
provides a copy of the standards for the producer to follow.
 Certification agency asks the organic vegetable producer to release 50 percent of the
certification cost in advance.
 Organic vegetable producer pays the 50 percent fees.
 Inspection is carried out at one or more than one times.
 Inspection report submitted to the certification agency committee.
 Certification agency asks for final payment and organic vegetable producer pays the final
payment.
 Certification agency gives certificate to organic vegetable producer.
 Organic vegetable producer releases the stock for sale with Certification Mark (India
Organic Logo).
 List of Accredited Certifying and Inspection Agencies in India

Association for Promotion of Organic Agriculture (APOF)-Bangalore, Karnataka

Indian Society For Certification of Organic Production (ISCOP) - Cochin, Kerala
Indian Organic Certification Agency (INDOCERT) -Cochin, Kerala
National Organic Certification Association (NOCA)- Pune
National centre of Organic Farming (NOCF)-Ghaziabad, U.P
National Organic Farming Research Institute- Sikkim, India
International Resources for Fair Trade ( IRFD)- Mumbai
International Fedration of Organic Agriculture Movements- Bonn, Germany
 ADVANTAGES OF ORGANIC FARMING

 Reduces the production cost by about 25-30% .

 Reduces water use, nutrient-contamination by pesticides and reduced soil erosion.
 Fertility is maintained for a long time.
 Organic products do not contain any sort of artificial flavours or preservatives.
 Original nutritional content of food is preserved.
 ISSUES IN ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION

Lack of the
Lack of market farmers’ adoption
Inputs are difficult
Reduction in facilities of the Laborious and time
to generate easily without getting
yield in the organic vegetable
in the farm consuming method.
initial few years produce financial help from
government.
 CASE STUDY
The study conducted on organic farming in vegetable crops at IIVR, Varanasi, revealed that the productivity of
vegetables crop in organic farming was less in initial years but the yields increased progressively under organic
farming equating the yields under conventional inorganic farming in 4-5 yea (Singh et al, 2016; Bhattacharya and
Chakroborty, 2005). Tomato and cabbage grown during winter season and okra and cowpea grown during summer
season, the comparable yield under organic cultivation to conventional system were achieved during fourth year.
However, in rainy season cowpea and pea during winter season, the comparable yield was recorded only in third
year of consecutive organic farming.
Cabbage Tomato Okra (S) Cowpea (S) Cowpea (K) pea
Conventional yield 41.00 37.5 9.26 8.00 10.26 7.3
(t/ha)
Organic farming

First year yield ( t/ha) 25.42 23.63 5.27 4.64 7.5 4.964

Second year 29.54 27.75 6.27 5.76 8.97 5.278

Third year 34.75 33 8.23 7.04 9.4 7.154
Fourth year 38.83 36.84 9.16 7.84
 Cucumber :
The experiment on organic cultivation of cucumber conducted during 2004 for two seasons revealed that the
maximum yield was produced with organic manure treatment consisting of cotton seed cake (25% N i.e. 0.64
t/ha) plus poultry manure (75% N i.e. 2.5 t/ha) plus vermicompost (0.500 t/ha) plus sulphate of potash (0.105
t/ha) plus neem cake @ 200 kg/ha plus Trichoderma viride @ 4 g/kg plus Azotobactor @ 200 g/ 10 kg plus neem
cake @ 200 g/10 kg plus PSB @ 200 g/10 kg plus NSKE 4% spray which was 23.4% higher during summer
season and 30.01% higher during kharif than control (Patil, 2008).

 Onion:
The study on organic cultivation of onion during rabi 2005 revealed that the higher yield was obtained in FYM 30
t/ha plus neem cake 1 t/ha plus Cotton seed cake 0.8 t/ha plus NSKE 4% sprays plus Trichoderma sprays 0.5%. In
another experiment the treatment FYM 20 t/ha plus 100% RDF plus biofertilizers plus chemical spray recorded
maximum yield. Among the organic treatments FYM 20 t/ha plus 75% nitrogen (vermicompost) plus 25% N
(cottonseed cake) plus neem cake plus biofertilizers gave good results (Patil, 2008). Among different substrates
vermicompost produced from coir dust emerged best for the yield of onion (Allium cepa) (Thanunathan, 1997).
 REFERENCES

 APEDA, National Programmee for Organic Production(NPOP). Present status in India. www.apeda.com/organic html

 IFOAM. Principles of Organic Agriculture Bonn: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, 2005.

 IFOAM. In IFOAM Basic Standards for Organic Production and Processing. IFOAM Publications, Tholey-Tholey,
Germany, 1998.

 Ilakiya T. , Parameswari E., Davamani V. and Yazhini G. Organic Vegetable Production (2020) Research Biotica ., 2(2):50-
54

 Kumar, A. , Kumar, P. , Yadav, G. (2022) Organic vegetable production in india: principles and practices. Department of
Horticulture, Department of Entomology, Department of Agricultural Extension and Communication, Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Meerut U.P.

 Kumari P, Maurya S, Meena M K and Meena Sakshi (2020) Disease management by organic farming. J. Pharmacogn.
Phytochem ., 9(1): 1907-1910

 Maity, K.T. and Tripathy, P. (2016) Organic farming of vegetables in india: problems and prospects. Department of
Vegetable Crops Faculty of Horticulture Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, pp1-23
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