THIS IS HOW ORGANIC FARMING HAS DEVELOPED.

Most people have heard of organic agriculture and have at least a partial idea of what it means. More and more people are buying at least some organic foods, and more and more farmers are growing them. Organic products are now available in most mainstream groceries. But despite the widespread familiarity with the word, few people fully understand and know how organic farming has developed.well someone may try and ask why need to know how organic farming has developed?because this helps to;

1. Ignite the initial passion that led to the establishment of the organic farming movement.
2. Study the diversities of the initial fathers of organic farming and come up with the different ideas and suggestions that they may have come up with.
3. To avoid the new heated debate of what organic agriculture should be,and learn how it has been practiced all along.
4. Know the best methods to be involved for organic farming and be reminded of the nutritional ability of organic farming.

A Farmer using an ox-drawn plough to cultivate his land.one of the oldest methods of land cultivation used in agriculture.

There is no precise beginning to organic agriculture. Some people say that all agriculture before the 20th century was organic, but in fact organic agriculture is much more than the absence of modern fertilizers and pesticides. In the first half of the 20th century several people began to question the movement towards intensification and mono-culture in agriculture and to look for holistic, ecological, systems approaches that would preserve the quality of the land.

Some of the best known of these figures are Sir Albert Howard in India and Britain , Rudolf Steiner in Germany , and I.J. Rodale in the US . Many people credit Sir Alfred Howard with being the founder of organic agriculture and look to his book , An Agricultural Testament , as laying the groundwork for the field.he also carefully detailed the essential organic practices, especially the addition of composted animal and plant materials to the soil.To Howard, industrialized agriculture’s increased yields and greater labor efficiency would inevitably lead to diminishing returns, particularly in the nutritional attributes of the crops and livestock it produced.
                                         
                               “The first duty of the agriculturalist must always be to understand that he is a part of Nature and cannot escape from his environment. He must therefore obey Nature's rules.”
                    -Albert Howard, The Soil and Health: A Study of Organic Agriculture-

However Howard’s accomplishments should not overlook the essential roles that Gabrielle Matthaei Howard and Louise Matthaei Howard played in their achievement.Gabrielle and Louise successively provided the intellectual and emotional companionship that shaped Sir Albert’s explorations and discoveries

some of the major activities that led to the rise of organic agriculture.
1924 : Some farmers are worried about the harmful effects of chemical fertilizers and asked the Austrian philosopher Rudoph Steiner for some advice. During a subsequent seminar he outlined some of the basic tenets of organic agriculture.
1946 : The Soil Association is created in United Kingdom by an organic agricultural movement. It was inspired by theories developed by Albert Howard, as described in his Agricultural Testament
1972 : The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM) is created in Versailles.
1991 : The European Union provides a legal framework for the organic agriculture designation.
2002 : The United States of America adopts the National Organic Program, providing a development framework for organic agriculture.

N/B  For a better understanding of organic concepts there is still much that can be learned from reading the foundational writings of Sir Albert Howard. The recent rapid growth of the organic movement has resulted in a loss of connection with the historical figures and roots of organic agriculture.Scientists conducting organic farming research, farmers considering organic transition and the general public may benefit from knowing more of this history.