Organic Nutrient Management and Sustainable Practices for Enhancing Fruit Crop Productivity in India

The Indian fruit industry is an important source of nutrition, rural employment, and export revenue. However, the agricultural practices being used today, such as synthetic fertilizers and artificial pesticides, are causing damage to our soil as well as polluting the environment, destroying biodiversity, and causing sustainability concerns. In this research project, we looked at the cost-benefit ratios of both organic and conventional fruit production systems in India by collecting data from 150 fruit producers located in various fruit-producing areas of India from 2022 to 2024. We used descriptive statistics, regression analyses, and cost-benefit analyses to analyze both the productivity, soil fertility, and sustainability indicators of the two systems. We found that the use of organic practices (i.e., animal manures, vermicomposting, biofertilizers, biopesticides, mulching, and crop diversification) resulted in an increase of 8-16% in fruit productivity, 61.54% in soil organic carbon, and 25.8% in water-use efficiency compared to using conventional methods. In addition, organic systems resulted in less reliance on chemicals, higher market prices for fruits, greater potential for exporting fruits, and more resiliency to climate change.