Lecture Schedule

Organic Farming (2+1)

Lecture Outline

Lectures
Topic
Lecture 1

General Status and trends in population and food production, Agriculture growth, Fertilizer and Pesticide consumption and negative impacts of their excess application

Lecture 2
Relevance of organic farming (OF), Consequences of the use of High Yielding Varieties (HYV) and Indigenous Varieties. Impact of Green Revolution (GR) on Environment. Effects of Green Revolution.
Lecture 3 & 4
Concept of OF, Significance of OF for Indian farmers, Terminologies used in OF, Objectives of OF, Characteristics of OF, Often debated issues in OF, Area under OF and size of organic food market. Status of OF in India.
Lecture 5
Organic production requirements, Components of OF, Nutrient requirements in OF, Limiting nutrient losses, Organic manures: Farm Yard Manure (FYM), Enrichment of FYM.
Lecture 6
Compost, Methods of composting (Bangalore, Indore, Coimbatore, NADEP methods).
Lecture 7
Green manuring, Classification of green manures (GM), advantages of GM, Desirable characteristics of leguminous GM crops.
Lecture 8
Vermicompost and vermiculture, Importance, benefits, Methods of vermicomposting, Preparation and management of vermicompost unit.
Lecture 9
Recycling of organic residues, Classification of organic residues.
Lecture 10
Biofertilizers, Importance, classification and benefits of biofertilizers (Azospirillum, Azotobacter, Rhizibium, PSB, VAM etc.,)
Lecture 11
Soil improvements and soil amendments, Salinity, Alkalinity, Acidity, Types of amendments
Lecture 12
Weed management in organic farming, Different methods of weed management, Biological weed control, Use of bioherbicides (mycoherbicides) and Bioagents.
Lecture 13
Organic food quality, Quality attributes, Chemical food contaminants, Microbial food contaminants, Aims of organic production and processing.
Lecture 14 & 15
Quality control standards, Important organic standards (IFOAM basic standards, Codex alimentarius guidelines, EU regulations, NSOP), Common issues in the various standards.
Lecture 16
Lecture 17
Certification agencies, Accreditation processes and accreditation agencies, Important organic food products, Organic markets.



Last modified: Tuesday, 8 November 2011, 9:37 AM