Book of Abstracts
11th IFOAM
Scientific Conference
11-15 August 1996
Copenhagen, Denmark
Abstract front
page
Subject index
Athor index
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Extra Papers
Economics of Organic Farming and Use of Biodegradable Refuse E3
Vaheesan, Saminathan1; Dharshi Kumaragamage2
1) Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2) Department of Soil
science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. |
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| Excessive use of agrochemicals and chemical
fertilizers create many environmental problems. To reduce such problems and also to averse
some components of the cost involved in farming efficient use of biodegradable wastes such
as market refuse, kitchen refuse and crop refuse could be an economically and
environmentally feasible solution. To find out the economics of organic farming under
marginal land cnditions and the potential for composting industry in relation to the
financial net benefit obtained by organic and chemical farmers a socio- economic survey
was carried out in two villages in Sri Lanka where abandoned tea lands (marginal lands)
are used for vegetable cultivation. It was also intended to make approximate
recommendation for the application of compost mainly made out of kitchen and crop refuse
by analyzing compost mixed marginal land top soil for main nutrients such as Nitrogen and
Phosphorus. Results show that under marginal land conditions, when the size of the
holdings are small (0.25 - 2 acres), the net benefit obtained by the organic farmers is
significantly higher than that of chemical farmers. This shows that the utilization of
marginal or degraded lands for organic vegetable cultivation using compost as a main
nutrient source is beneficial Results of the analysis of compost mixed top soil indicate
that the nutrient content and release are high at the rate applied (10g compost/150g of
soil). To reduce bulky application requirements direct application to the planting holes
would be a practically possible alternative. Gray, K. R. and Biddleston, A. J. (1980):
Agricultural use of composted town refuse. In: Inorganic Pollution and Agriculture, p.
279-305
Julius, D. A. (1981): Urban waste as an Economic good. In: Pacey, A. (Ed) Sanitation in
Developing countries. John Willey and Sons Ltd, Chichester, p. 195
Lampkin, N. (1990): Organic farming. In: Benefits of diversity. United Nations
Development Program (UNDP), Newyork, p. 87 |