The potential for organic farming in the drylands of India

Soil and climate conditions in India's drylands make them particularly well suited to organic agriculture. These marginal lands, with their marginal soils, tend not to respond well to intensive farming practices. They are actually better suited to low-input farming systems that make ample use of biodiversity (Sharma 1998). In turn, organic farming, with its central focus on maintaining and improving soil health, its avoidance of pollutants, and its reliance on local inputs and labor, can materially advance the economic and ecological health both of the drylands and of the people who live there.