A General Review of Organic Agriculture

Organic agriculture is a form of agriculture that relies on special ecological regulations and management practices with the goal of sustainability of production and not necessarily maximizing it. In this kind of agriculture, the health of individuals, producers and consumers communities are considered as one and indivisible quality of life. Following principles of health (organic agriculture should sustain and enhance the health of soil, plant, animal, human and planet), ecology (organic agriculture should be based on living ecological systems and cycles, work with them, emulate them and help sustain them), fairness (organic agriculture should build on relationships that ensure fairness with regard to the common environment and life opportunities), care (organic agriculture should be managed in a precautionary and responsible manner to protect the health and well-being of current and future generations and the environment) should be considered. Protection of biodiversity is the basis of this form of agriculture and food chains from production to distribution, marketing, processing and consumption, all are controlled and more attention is paid to quality than quantity. Organic agriculture is based on conservation and maintenance of agricultural resources. In this review article, all aspects of organic agriculture in different branches of agricultural science particularly horticultural science and their limitations are discussed and suggestions are made for developing organic agriculture in Iran.