Principles of organic farming

• Maintaining a living soil
• Making available the essential nutrients
• Organic mulching for soil conservation
• Attaining a suitable high yield

Components of organic farming

• Enrichment of soil with organic matter
• Cropping systems
• Bio fertilizers
• Weed management

Importance of organic horticulture

• Organic manure improves the structure of soil by combining its fine particles into granular from, thereby helping better root respiration and growth
• It improves the water holding capacity of soils, which is particularly necessary in rainfed tracts that reduces the cost of irrigation
• It acts as buffer for the plants grown in considerably acidic or alkaline soils, thus providing a better growing condition
• Some organic materials have the property of acting as pesticide (neem cake) It provides both macro and micro nutrients to the plants in right quantity and proportion for a prolong period
• Organic manure also supplies some growth promoting substances to plants necessary for healthy growth and improved physiological functioning of plants
• It provides a good living and working conditions to the micro organism present in the root zone, and thus improves the rate of their multiplication and growth, thereby striking a balance between the harmful and helpful organisms (a condition that keeps down the incidence of soil born diseases)
• Use of different plant extracts (garlic, chilli, turmeric, tulsi etc) in proportion can prevent, reduce or check the pests and diseases incidences • Pest management