Archive for Organic

Organic Cotton Cultivation and Production

Generally speaking, cotton that is grown without the use of insecticide, pesticide or chemical fertilizers is called organic cotton. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), pesticide poisoning is the reason for 20,000 thousand deaths in developing countries every year and a large number of these are from cotton farming. Organic cotton production involves the use of environment friendly methods. It is also economical, and socially sustainable (citation needed) and does not use agrochemicals and artificial fertilizers. What organic agriculture uses is crop rotation, the growing of different crops than cotton in alternative years. Organic agriculture uses natural enemies to suppress harmful insects instead of spraying the cotton with pesticides.

Production of organic cotton takes place in agricultural systems that are organic. In such organic systems establishes standards for the production of food and fiber are present. Organic agriculture does not allow the use of toxic and persistent chemical pesticides and fertilizers, as well as organisms that are genetically modified.

The building of systems that have biological diversity, replenishing and maintaning fertility of the soil, and the promotion a healthy environment are the main objectives of an organic agricultural system like organic cotton farming. It is more expensive to produce. Organic cotton production is more expensive than usual methods. Synthetic chemicals are not used, so pollution caused due to them is eliminated, but other issues, run-off in particular and additional use of fossil fuels may still be present.

In order to cultivate cotton there is a requirement of a long period of time with frost, lot of sunshine, and a moderate rainfall, usually from 600 to 1200 mm. Fairly heavy soils is also a requirement, although the soil does not need to be rich in nutrients. These conditions are generally present within the seasonally dry tropics and subtropics in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, but a large percentage of the cotton that we use today is grown in areas with less rainfall that obtain the water from irrigation.

For a given year, production of the crop usually starts soon after harvesting the preceding autumn. In the Northern hemisphere spring planting time varies from the beginning of February to the beginning of June. The South Plains in the USA is the largest contiguous cotton-growing region in the world. The rainfall is not sufficient and it is heavily dependent on irrigation water drawn from the Ogallala Aquifer.

Cotton requires a lot of water to grow, and as water resources shrink around the world, economies that depend on it face difficulties and conflict, and also potential environmental problems. For example, the cultivation of cotton has led to desertification in areas of Uzbekistan, a country which relies heavily on cotton export.

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Understanding Organic Agriculture

Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. Organic farmers prefer to use renewable resources and recycling to return what most conventional farmers would have wasted, back to the soil. Read the rest of this entry »

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Organic Pest Control for Organic Garden

Organic garden requires organic pest control. It is safer, cleaner and eco-friendly way to eliminate those nasty, green, crawly tiny monsters.

Sure, it would be easy to do that with the chemical version of a shotgun. But please, consider you and your kids having to eat the veggies. Chemical pesticides are only storing up problems for your future health and life. Read the rest of this entry »

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Importance of Organic Farming in Terms of Food Safety – Featured Article by Agriculture Guide

Food safety is defined as taking precautions and complying with necessary rules during production, processing, storage and delivering stage of food in order to provide healthy and precise food production.

Sufficient food supply or food safety has been a strategic issue in history of humankind. In view of rapidly increasing world population, environmental pollution has become a serious threat for human health as a result of the use of developing technology and of policies providing for the intensive input use for the supply of food necessities.

In addition to these developments, economic troubles and inadequate education in less developed and developing countries have increased the feeding problem of rapidly increasing population; made it hard to supply food; Read the rest of this entry »

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Organic Cotton Cultivation & Natural Pest Slaying Options

Eco-awareness and an increased demand for safer products continues to spread in the global marketplace, which could very well be why organic cotton is currently enjoying its well-deserved time in the limelight. Whether we slide underneath cozy organic cotton bed sheets, wrap ourselves in a downy-soft organic cotton bath towel or try on a simple organic t-shirt for size, the opportunities that today’s modern consumer has to purchase certified organic products has grown in leaps and bounds. They say that numbers don’t lie, a claim made even more concrete by the fact that global organic cotton sales in the retail market, which hovered at $1.9 billion back in the year 2007, climbed to $3.2 billion just one year later. As mainstream retailers such as Target, Wal-Mart and H&M hop on the organic cotton textile products bandwagon, global efforts to generate certified organic cotton crops will undoubtedly follow suit. Read the rest of this entry »

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I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream…For Beety Cheeks?!

Imagine being in a room jam-packed full of women and shouting out, “What is the one makeup staple that you simply can’t do without?” It wouldn’t be surprising if countless different responses were uttered because the preferences of awoman are about as unique as the blueprint of her face. Some might declare “mascara!” while others will insist that it’s a trade-off between lipstick or eyeliner…but then again, you’re likely to hear every conceivable variation in between. Who really knows what the very best, most essential product is – the answer is really in the mind of the beholder… Read the rest of this entry »

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A Mid Day Meal with Greenie-Appeal

This afternoon, I whipped up the greenest lunch in my culinary history to date. Seriously, it was squeaky green with an extra side of leaves. By happy coincidence, it involved no meat, the production of which takes an enormous toll Read the rest of this entry »

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Sprouting Recession-Friendly Greens

Sprouts, edible and highly nutritious though they may be, have been known to conjure up graphic and disturbing childhood memories for some. In the case of traditionally tender and edible bean shoots, I’ve been told that fertile Read the rest of this entry »

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Mmmm, Organics – Even Hamsters Give ‘em The Seal Of Approval!

As if you needed even more proof that organic products taste far superior to their conventionally produced counterparts, feast your eyes on this footage of Hammy the Hamster as she is offered side-by-side samples of six different popular human and rodent approved edibles: http://www.cooksden.com/hamster/. Barring random grooming breaks and at times general hamster indifference, this blog-tific study offers incontrovertible evidence that the furry test subject gravitated toward organic foods in all cases but those involving conventional walnuts. One can only hypothesize that a creature of her clearly refined tastes was inexplicably seduced by the heady and altogether intoxicating aroma of the heart-healthy protein morsel (despite its chemically-origins) and suffered a temporary, albeit consistently nutty lapse in judgment. Read the rest of this entry »

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Organic, Schmorganic – What Does It All Really Mean?

Human beings suffer from a devastatingly chronic malady that modern science has not yet figured out how to cure. This widespread illness infects virtually all of mankind, but particularly those who live in highly developed areas Read the rest of this entry »

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