Organic Food
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Chemicals gradually kill off
the diversity of bacteria, earth-worms and insects that help to keep
the soil aerated, convert atmospheric nitrogen into soil nitrogen
and decompose dead plants into nutrients |
Many of you may have
heard about how pesticides and fertilizers have wrought havoc on
soil as well as people's health
People are finding
that eating cereals, fruits and vegetables grown with the help of
pesticides and fertilizers can lead to serious health problems that
include birth defects, paralysis and cancer, in the long run. Using
chemicals also reduces the fertility of the soil |
Chemicals gradually kill
off the diversity of bacteria, earth-worms and insects that help to keep
the soil aerated, convert atmospheric nitrogen into soil nitrogen and
decompose dead plants into nutrients.
For these reasons, more
and more people are turning to organic farming in which fertilizers and
pesticides are not used at all. Organic farmers grow crops of different
types together, a technique that discourages crop pests from reaching
damaging proportions through encouraging ladybirds, spiders and
earwigs. These predatory creatures effectively control crop pests.
Liquid extracts from plants such as neem, chrysanthemum and tobacco are
also used instead of pesticides.
One of the important
practices in organic farming is the use of biodegradable waste such as
cow dung, crop residues and kitchen waste into compost that is used as a
natural fertilizer. this process depends only upon natural processes of
bacterial decomposition to convert waste to riches.
TRY THIS IN YOUR GARDEN
Collect all the
biodegradable waste from your kitchen such as fruit peel, vegetable
peel, egg shells, tea leaves, bones and spoilt food on a daily basis by
keeping a container for this near your kitchen sink.
Every evening throw all
the waste into a small pit in the soil, which can be as small as two
feet deep, one foot wide and two feet wide. After throwing your kitchen
waste, deposit a little soil or dry leaves to deter flies. Once a week
stir the pit with a stick to allow some air in. In dry weather, keep
the pit moist by spraying water every few days. Once this pit gets
filled, dig another one close to it. It is likely that by the time the
second pit gets filled, the waste in the first pit would have converted
to compost. The compost should be ready in 2-3 months' time depending
upon the weather (heat and humidity).
Use this rich and dark
compost on your plants and watch how the flowers bloom!
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