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Social and Cultural Capital of Organic Farming: Emerging Issues

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Responsible Consumption and Production

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

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Definition

Organic farming is an agricultural system that uses ecologically based pest controls and biological fertilizers derived largely from animal and plant wastes and nitrogen-fixing cover crops (Encyclopedia Britannica 2020). The pioneers of the early organic movement were driven by a desire to reverse the perpetual problems of agriculture such as erosion, soil depletion, decline of crop varieties, low quality food, livestock feed, and rural poverty (Kuepper 2010). However, modern organic farming was developed as a response to the environmental harm caused by the use of chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers in conventional agriculture (Encyclopedia Britannica 2020).

The concept of organic farming was pioneered by Sir Albert Howard and developed in the period prior to 1940. Albert Howard’s years of agricultural research experiences and observation gradually evolved into a philosophy and concept of organic farming (Heckman 2005). In 1943, Howard published a book “An...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Sikkim Central University, Gangtok, India

    Anjuli Gurung

  2. Department of Peace and Conflict Studies and Management, Sikkim Central University, Gangtok, India

    Navin Rai

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  1. Anjuli Gurung
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  2. Navin Rai
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. European School of Sustainability, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Center for Neuroscience & Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  3. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  4. Istinye University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Pinar Gökcin Özuyar

  5. International Centre for Thriving, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

Section Editor information

  1. University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil

    Luciana Londero Brandli

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Gurung, A., Rai, N. (2021). Social and Cultural Capital of Organic Farming: Emerging Issues. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P.G., Wall, T. (eds) Responsible Consumption and Production. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71062-4_123-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71062-4_123-1

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