Being an agricultural student in Nepal, I have come across lots of debate on the topic of organic agriculture. Most of the people in the developed countries don?t know what this debate is about. While Organic farming seems charmingly eco-friendly and there seems to be no problem regarding organic farming, there is also another part to be looked upon mostly with regard to developing countries like Nepal.

Major debate on Organic farming

I have been to a number of the conferences and workshops related to agriculture and environment and the major questions that have arisen are

1.      Is organic agriculture really suitable for developing country like Nepal (since organic agriculture produces lesser than the inorganic agriculture and the produce is relatively more expensive)?

2.      Should we see our health and the environment while many are dieing of hunger?

3.      Can we really afford organic agriculture in Nepal?

Well the questions lie side by side but what I believe is being greener and familiar to the mother earth has more benefits than harm.

The undergraduate curriculum in agriculture has added a new subject from this year in our college, IAAS, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal and the subject is Organic Agriculture. On the project work of this subject, our respected teacher, Mr. Khem Raj Dahal gave us an opportunity to research on organic farming of rice. Each plot has been assigned to two of us and the treatment on each plot is different some are vermicompost, some are controlled ( no use of any type of manure and fertilizers), some are organic compost and some are chemical fertilizers. We have planted rice and by the end of November we will get the rice grains. By this research we want to see the difference in organic and inorganic farming. I will surely share the result in coming posts.

Yes, surely, the access to the international market, safer food and health are the advantages of the organic agriculture but the debate that is going in Nepal can?t be overlooked. To everybody who reads my article, I would like to ask for opinions, ? Is organic agriculture feasible for developing countries like Nepal??