Recent advances in organic agriculture: innovations, challenges, and opportunities

TL;DR

This paper reviews global progress in organic farming, comparing policies and practices in India, Europe, Malaysia, and the U.S., and highlights opportunities for improving sustainability and efficiency.

Contribution

The paper provides a comparative analysis of organic agriculture systems across four regions, emphasizing policy, certification, and technological interactions.

Findings

Policy-based models like the EU’s Green Deal have accelerated organic farming adoption.

U.S. organic systems show higher profitability despite lower yields due to market incentives.

AI and precision technologies can improve efficiency in organic pest and nutrient management.

Abstract

Organic agriculture has become a more sustainable option compared to conventional agriculture, emphasizing biodiversity, healthy soils, and restrained pesticide applications. The purpose of this review is to integrate advances in cross-regional organic agriculture, with a special focus on how policy contexts, certification schemes, and technological advancements interact to influence adoption and sustainability levels. It highlights the developments, challenges, and sustainable outcomes of organic agriculture systems in four major regions of the world, including India, Europe, Malaysia, and the United States. Comparative analysis indicates that policy-based models, such as the EU’s Green Deal, which aims to have 25% of agricultural land under organic farming by 2030, have accelerated the adoption of organic agriculture. In contrast, U.S. systems, although yielding 10–18% less, have 22–35% higher profitability due to market incentives and USDA programs. It also seeks to contrast regional models of organic farming, providing a brief overview of policy regimes, certification systems, technological innovations, and disease management strategies in organic farming. In India, indigenous practices and Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) provide support to smallholder farmers. Europe stands in stark contrast to the overarching policy interventions outlined in the Green Deal. The United States focuses on market-led growth in the organic agriculture sector. Concurrently, Malaysia integrates government incentives, urban agriculture, and private-public partnerships, especially for highland regions like the Cameron Highlands, to encourage organic vegetable production. Despite the economic and environmental advantages of organic agriculture, it is facing regulatory complexity, the cost of certification, and yield gaps. Emerging evidence on artificial intelligence and precision technologies suggests enhanced efficiency in nutrient and pest management in organic systems. Together, these findings underscore the promise of organic agriculture, provided that future research targets low-cost biocontrols, climate-resilient varieties, and AI-based precision tools.

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