WHY GO INTO ORGANIC FARMING

Organic agriculture is a very interesting aspect of agriculture because in recent times, through properly defined standards and measures which serve as a means of assuring consumers that products of organic quality are better in value, health wise, economically and otherwise. Organic agriculture in a layman terminology would simply imply agricultural processes that are carried out from inception to the consumption of proceeds therefrom without the use of synthetic inputs in the said process. This actually shows in part the basic idea or foundation for organic farming; organic agriculture lately transcends this point and now includes agricultural practices carried out in compliance with unanimously set world standards (controlled by organic certification bodies around the world).

Organic agriculture and products promises higher income to adherents (farmers and processors of organic products) by ensuring that they command higher values in the local and foreign markets relative to their conventional counterparts. Anyone developing products of organic standard stands to gain more, this will ultimately improve the standard of living of the people especially farmers who usually receive income that is not commensurate to their labour and it also gives agriculture a facelift as farmers can now earn as much and even more than those engaged in the much-mentioned white collar jobs. In the western world, farmers are commonly seen in the higher class of the society. In Africa, particularly Nigeria, much value has not been placed on products of organic quality, but in various quarters at the state and federal levels, efforts are ongoing to set up a globally recognized body in the country that will be saddled with certification of organic products in keeping with organic standards. At the moment, only a few farms in the country are certified by foreign bodies as producers of organic products with examples in Cross River and Calabar. The market for organic products is just at its bloom, and if you go into organic agriculture, you can rest assured that you will not regret it.