CBSUA’s Organic Agriculture Development Program

Ensuring sustainable development is a challenge especially in the agriculture sector since the

demand for high production output to meet the growing demands of ever increasing population have

created among farmers the culture of production oriented practices. These practices were even more

encouraged by the Green Revolution era which brings forth the creation of HYV’s and other high N-

requiring varieties. The desire to produce more leads to the idea that the use of inorganic fertilizers

and reliance to chemicals, in controlling pest and diseases, were the right formula to high yield. Farmers

who adhere to this were not frustrated at first. The combination of HYV’s and high fertilizer inputs really

gave high profit. However, bountiful harvest faltered all along no matter neither how good varieties

were used nor how much inorganic fertilizers are being applied. The soil tends to stop responding and

health risk among food consumers increased to some extent. The blame was on the food they eat and

the farmer’s practices that produce it. They were late to realize that their farm practices they used

have done some irreparable damage to the environment and contributed to health risks among

consumers.

Consumerism and profiteering were successful in promoting reliance to synthetic and industry-

based fertilizers by farmers. Competitions among chemical industries lead to the production of more

effective insecticides and other chemical products needed by the farmers. These chemical products are

very strong with active ingredients more lethal to the enemy of the farmers, pest, but with the capacity

to embed plant tissues and remain non-biodegradable. in the atmosphere contributing much to our

environment’s poor state.