A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW ON- CLIMATE RESILIENCE PRACTICES IN ORGANIC FRUIT CULTURE: EMPHASIS ON SOIL HEALTH, PEST MANAGEMENT, AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION

ABSTRACT Climate variability increasingly disrupts fruit production through heat stress, erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts, and shifting pest dynamics. Perennial fruit crops, with their long growth cycles, are especially sensitive to these fluctuations. Organic fruit culture offers a climate-resilient alternative by enhancing soil organic matter, improving nutrient cycling, and strengthening rhizosphere microbial communities—factors critical for maintaining productivity under climatic stress. Organic amendments such as compost, green manures, mulches, cover crops, and biofertilizers markedly improve soil structure, water-holding capacity, and carbon stocks, thereby increasing the adaptive capacity of orchards. Ecological pest regulation—using biological control agents, botanicals, habitat diversification, and mechanical measures—reduces pest pressure while preserving ecosystem integrity and minimizing reliance on synthetic inputs. Moreover, organic orchards serve as long-term carbon sinks due to perennial biomass accumulation, reduced soil disturbance, and continuous organic residue recycling. While challenges—such as yield reductions during transition, higher labour demands, and certification hurdles—remain, organic fruit systems are a promising climate-adaptive pathway. Their resilience can be further strengthened through carbon-positive practices, climate-resilient varieties, precision monitoring, and supportive policy frameworks.