Organic Farming for Sustainable Agricultural Production. A Brief Theoretical Review and Preliminary Empirical Evidence

The basic premise of this paper is that modern agricultural production is not sustainable in view of the high cost of chemical inputs (notably fertilizers and pesticides) used and their detrimental effects on the environment. Some of these effects are briefly discussed in this paper. The possibility of adopting organic farming as a means of promoting sustainable agriculture has been the main objective of this investigation.The results of the experiment carried out at the Chepkoilel campus farm, Moi University, Kenya to demonstrate the differences between the yields and returns to organic manure and chemical fertilizers show that high yields are obtained from the use of organic manure. The high yields are also shown to be obtained in subsequent years after the application of the organic manure. This is cheaper than the application of chemical fertilizers. Maximum yields are obtained from a combination of organic manure and chemical fertilizers. Organic manure has the added advantage of providing more healthy vegetables for human consumption and ensuring optimum soil fertility for sustainable production.