Organic Farming enhances plant defenses against biotic and abiotic stressors- Dr. P. C. Patel

Organic farming enhances plant defenses against biotic and abiotic stressors by improving soil quality, which ultimately alters the bottom-up regulation of plant defenses. Plants deploy a variety of chemical and physical defenses to protect themselves against herbivores and pathogens. The defense system of plants against biotic and abiotic stressors is mediated by the activation of defense-related genes in response to stress. The signal transduction pathways that detect stress play a crucial role in the induction of stress tolerance in plants. The study found that organic farming can potentially increase plants’ resistance to herbivores, possibly facilitating reduced need for insecticide applications.
Organic farming systems create secondary metabolites that fight against abiotic stress
Organic farming systems produce secondary metabolites that can help plants combat abiotic stress. These secondary metabolites are not involved in plant growth, development, and reproduction, but play a significant role in ecosystem functioning. They also play a key role in plant communication and defense, particularly under different environmental stresses. The synthesis of secondary metabolites is stimulated by different abiotic stressors such as heavy metals, cold and high temperatures, light, salinity, and drought. These metabolites are very diverse and are majorly classified into terpenoids, phenolic compounds, nitrogen, and sulfur-containing secondary metabolites, separated based on biosynthetic pathways. To combat negative physiological changes caused by stress, plants produce secondary metabolites, which are by-products of primary metabolites. Secondary metabolites with great specificity in reducing the impacts of abiotic stressors include flavonoids, carotenoids, and isoprenoids.
Organic Farming Sharpens Plant Defenses in the Field
Plants deploy a variety of chemical and physical defenses to protect themselves against herbivores and pathogens. Organic farming seeks to enhance these responses by improving soil quality, ultimately altering bottom-up regulation of plant defenses. While laboratory studies suggest this approach is effective, it remains unclear whether organic agriculture encourages more active plant defenses under real-world conditions.
Organic Farming to Mitigate Abiotic Stresses under Climate Change Scenario
Climate change is a result of modern-day chemical agriculture, which is creating negative impacts on crop production. Global agriculture is now facing various problems arising due to abiotic stresses such as flood, drought, temperature extremes, light extremes, salinity, heavy metal stress, and nutrient toxicity/deficiency. These stresses not only hamper the growth and production but also reduce the quality of crops through morphological, physiological, and biochemical changes and the synthesis of ROS. Further, they negatively impact on entire environment, especially soil health. Deterioration of yield and quality often occurs due to a lack of essential inputs to plants under abiotic stresses.
ORGANIC FARMING AND CONVENTIONAL FARMING: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Organic farming improves soil composition; supporting biodiversity relies on ecosystem services. While delivering adequate crops. Synthetic chemicals and fertilizers are used in conventional farming to increase the output of a certain crop or set of crops, which are typically genetically modified. This process necessitates considerable chemical and energy input and degrades a landscape's ecology. A comparison of soil composition, geography, and rotation systems was made.

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