Old School Farming
“With wrong farming techniques, we will turn fertile land into desert, so we should restore back to Organic Farming and save the soil”
Introduction
As we are living in the 21st Century, we may discover a need that technology advances are required in the world and we are not much concerned with the depletion of the soil.
It might seem unreasonable, but degenerating back the traditional methods and farming methods which have boosted flora and fauna numbers by more than approximately 300% at a farm.
Old school farming can be seen as a primitive style of farming that indulges the intensive use of indigenous knowledge, usage of traditional tools, organic fertilizers, and other cultural beliefs of the farmers.
Old School Farming
Sustainability of the environment and food production is among the most noteworthy challenges of the twenty-first century. Green Revolution, however, accomplished the targets of high nourishment efficiency. It began in India in the 1960s, with the introduction of modern techniques like HYV seeds, usage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides definitely insurmountable increase food production, but at the toll of natural debasements such as water contamination, soil defilement, climate change, and biodiversity misfortune. Feeding the developing populace and supporting the quality of the environment are the two major challenges of Indian farming and agriculture. Conventional agrarian techniques have been a necessary portion of food production in India for ages. These practices have the potential to relieve the antagonistic impacts of climate change with spatial diversity.
There are three angles of old school farming in India:
- Cultivation
- Using methods that are biological in nature for pest management
- The sustainable practice of crop protection
Using old school techniques like mixed cropping, double cropping, crop rotation, agroforestry are the prominent practices in agriculture in India. They play a vital role in achieving the sustainability of agriculture by boosting the quality of nutrition and highlighting the potential of old school practices in protecting and sustaining our environment.
Pros of Old School Farming
It is important to keenly look into the benefits of old school farming and examining the same.
- Labor is manual rather than machines assisted.
- The use of fuel is reduced.
- It requires less monetary input.
- Less skill and knowledge are required.
- The quality of the product is high and better.
- The crop yield is healthier and pure.
Cons of Old School Farming
- The decomposition takes a lot of time in old school methods of agriculture.
- By using old methods, it takes a lot of time to harvest.
- As soil is used in old school agriculture, decomposition eats up most of the time.
Conclusion
Over the years, as we are practicing agriculture, we have been focusing more on yield rather than on soil. The focus is only on commerce and not on the environment. The concentration is on the business and not on sustainability. These one-sides practices have led to a lot of chaos in our agricultural practices. These yield as having increased and managed to feed our population, we have stopped realizing the depleting rapid rate of topsoil in India. In a way, we have just become “consumers practicing without a thought”.
It is high time to revive our efforts for conserving the farming legacy as in the present scenario, organic farming has also become popular. In a means to encourage these practices, the government also plays a crucial role in driving our agrarian economy. By providing subsidies for sustainable practices can encourage old school farming techniques. It is unfair to expect similar yields as with chemical farming when we are rampantly using chemical fertilizers and pesticides on our soil. The government should look into the matter and help in coping with the farmers with the losses that are incurred with the conversion from chemical to organic farming with old school techniques. Hence, it is important to foster back to old school methods to revive our topsoil, as without it we will not be able to produce any more food.