Chapters authored
A Holistic Approach of Organic Farming in Improving the Productivity and Quality of Horticultural Crops
Horticultural crops take into account fruits, vegetables, medicinal, aromatic, and ornamental plants. These crops play a vital role in dietary nutritional components and sources of medicines and aroma along with extensive aesthetic values for human beings. Horticulture is also becoming essential to meet the demand for fruits, vegetables, and other horticultural products for the fast-growing global population. With the rise of population, industrialization, and globalization, the arable soil resource is abated rapidly. Again, as a result of green revolution in the post-independence age, the “resource degrading” chemical or inorganic agriculture has given way to “resource protective” biological or organic farming as a means of preserving agricultural production against the demands placed on the earth’s limited natural resources in the many developing nations. Organic farming is a holistic approach that promotes environmentally, socially, and economically sound production of food. During the last two decades, there has also been a significant sensitization of the global community toward environmental preservation and assuring food quality. This chapter aims to provide an updated knowledge of organic agriculture and its potential uses for enhancing productivity and quality of horticultural crops, saving the soil from chemical contamination and environmental preservation to ensure safe food for human beings.
Part of the book: Organic Fertilizers