Organic Farming

Presently, the term organic has become a very familiar and global term along with the increasing of people awareness of the importance of health.

What is Organic Farming? Organic Farming is commonly understood as an agriculture which uses natural fertilizer without any chemical pesticide. This is not a complete explanation. The broader meaning of organic revolves around the meaning of ”Organ or Organism”, and being organic is about servicing life in a natural way and not forcing anything into the natural system.

When implemented in personal daily life, organic attitude is as an attitude that is in balance with the nature, not damaging, not polluting, and in constant arbitrary with factors that can cause disturbance of the nature. Smoking, drinking alcohol, stay up all night long, too much work, uncontrolled emotion are examples of inorganic attitudes.

How 'organic' is implemented in agriculture? Organic agriculture is an agriculture that balances the entire elements of nature. It maintains life forms in the farm or field of agriculture, keeping them in balance between one another, dependent on each other and sustain each other. Killing caterpillar or any intruding insect by chemical is an inorganic action. Why? because it harms and eliminates other organism that is actually useful, like decomposing bacteria, caterpillar eater, even human being itself.

Wise organic action is creating a balance by giving more opportunity to another element which is considered eating or driving out the disturbing insects and caterpillars. The use of natural pesticide is mostly to drive out the disturbance factors which disturb the area of organic farming.

The concept of ”sustaining each other” when it is thought about in depth contains a meaning that the application of farming by using the whole available elements in nature without depending on another side. Organic farming should keep down the cost, because the farmers themselves provide necessary elements such as seedlings and fertilizer from their existing environment. The trend of organic today is captured by fertilizer plants and pharmacy industry who are now creating natural fertilizer and natural pesticide in consumer market packaging. This is of course an understandable course, however this is not fully in line with the true meaning of organic agriculture. Purchasing fertilizer and pesticide with organic label will in the end continue farmers dependence to industrial parties.

Article by Hendaru Djumantoro,