Sustainability of Organic Farming: A Review via Three Pillar Approach

Abstract

Organic farming (OF) whose primary feature is the avoidance of chemical inputs, offers multiple economic, environmental, and social benefits, and is one obvious facet of efforts to make the agri business more sustainable. The concept of sustainable organic farming was first introduced in the mid-90s. Major studies on sustainable organic farming indicate that it encompasses three pillars: a) economic, b) environmental, and c) social. OF has been studied in the existing literature from the perspectives of these pillars, but these perspectives have not yet been sufficiently combined. In response, this paper summarizes the current state of the literature on OF in the context of sustainability pillars, to do so the study conducts a review, based on academic articles, which are thematically selected, analyzed and categorized according to sustainability pillars (economic, environment and social) vis-à-vis OF. These research and literary sources linking OF with sustainability pillars are analyzed and discussed based on current developments.  First, this study develops a comprehensive view of organic farming in terms of sustainability. It further elucidates the research findings related to each pillar. This paper also brings out how the function of organic farming contributes to long-term sustainability by enhancing environmental conservation, economic viability, and farmer welfare and product quality. The findings indicate that i) OF is gaining popularity as a research area in relation to sustainability pillars ii) there is a paucity of published research that combines all the three pillars in the context of organic farming  and iii) the social aspect of organic farming is very less addressed.