Sustainable agriculture seeks to promote technically sound, economically viable, environmentally non-degrading and socially acceptable use of country’s natural resources – land, water and genetic endowment - to promote sustainable development of agriculture. Rational utilization and conservation of country’s abundant water resources will be promoted. Conjunctive use of surface and ground water will receive the highest priority. Special attention will be focused on water quality and the problem of receding ground-water levels in certain areas as a result of over-exploitation of underground aquifers. Proper on-farm management of water resources for the optimum use of irrigation potential will be promoted.

The history and traditional knowledge of agriculture, particularly of tribal communities, relating to organic farming and preservation and processing of food for nutritional and medicinal purposes is one of the oldest in the world. The major thrust of organic agriculture is on pooling, distilling and evaluating traditional wisdom and harnessing it for sustainable growth.

In India, especially in low-input traditional systems, properly managed organic agriculture systems could increase agricultural productivity and restore the natural resources base. The main aim of India’s policy regarding organic agriculture is income generation through the promotion of certified organic food. Non-market objectives of organic producers have not, as yet, been supported by government policies, barring a few exceptions.

For many, especially policy-makers, organic agriculture is a set of strict rules and complicated practices that allow marketing of certified food products. Although traditional farming that applies soil-building practices without synthetic inputs qualifies as "organic", it is not usually considered as such when discussing the present status, potential for development, and related policy support for organic agriculture. Traditional systems that are organic by default, or those that do neither use synthetic agriculture inputs nor soil-building practices, are not considered "organic".

In developing countries, policies for organic agriculture seek to earn foreign exchange for other development needs through exports. In fact, declining government budgets have forced many developing nations to re-structure their agriculture sector. Agricultural institutes and extension agencies have to provide more market-oriented services. Liberalization and privatization policies have paved the way for a greater role for entrepreneurs and producers’ organizations. These trends act as a catalyst for private initiatives in the field of organic agriculture. When a critical mass of practitioners is gathered for organic agriculture, government formulates policies to support the marketing of certified organic products. The incentive of such policies is therefore economic, whether for tapping lucrative markets, securing a place in world trade and/or counter-balancing withdrawal of government support to agricultural inputs or other services.

While the environmental and economic benefits are generally perceived in both developed and developing countries, there are reservations in terms of the ability of organic agriculture to respond to other societal needs in terms of providing food security.

Organic agriculture policies have developed a bottom-up approach, emerging from societal pressures. It has so far been concerned with creating favourable structures (such as providing legal definitions, payment to producers and market development) for certified organic products. The type of agricultural development (and supportive policies) is increasingly dependent on the market-economy. Market demand for organic agriculture products pulls agriculture production policies towards a more sustainable direction and links demand with supply.

However, a large number of small-scale subsistence farmers in India produce simply for consumption, do not participate in the market and are left behind due to globalization. The major challenge is to establish organic agricultural policies that combine income generation and improved domestic food production. The latter involves raising productivity of poorly endowed areas by maximizing the use of local resources. Such policies would better respond to self-reliance, local food needs and health of resource-poor farmers.

In India, the interest in organic agriculture is growing because it requires less financial inputs and places more reliance on the available natural and human resources. Studies undertook to date seem to indicate that organic agriculture offers a comparative advantage in areas with less rainfall and relatively low natural soil fertility levels. In fact, agricultural labour realizes a good return, which is very important where paid labour is almost non- existent.

Organic agriculture does not need costly investments in irrigation, energy and external inputs but rather substantial investments in capacity building through research and training. Pro-poor organic agricultural policies have the potential to improve local food security, especially in marginal areas.

In ecologically sound agriculture, the ways of controlling a pest outbreak are very limited. As natural pesticides are less effective than chemical ones, ecological pest management is based on the understanding of life cycles of pests and prevention of the build-up of excessive pest populations.

Pests could be strongly attracted by certain plants. When these are sown in the field, insects are bound to gather upon them and thus be easily controlled. In our traditional farming system, such structures and practices have evolved that enhance biological pest control, although farmers may not be conscious of this fact.

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