Organic farming
Organic farming is a form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control. Organic farming uses fertilizers and pesticides but excludes or strictly limits the use of manufactured (synthetic) fertilizers, pesticides (which include herbicides, insecticides and fungicides), plant growth regulators such as hormones, livestock antibiotics, food additives, genetically modified organisms, sewage sludge and human nanomaterials.
Organic agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by many nations, based in large part on the standards set by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), an international umbrella organization for organic farming organizations established 1972. IFOAM defines the overarching goal of organic farming:
"Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all concerned ... '
- International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements
Since 1990, the market for organic products has grown from almost nothing statistically, reaching $ 55 billion in 2009, according to Organic Monitor (www.organicmonitor.com). This demand has resulted in a similar increase in organically managed farmland that has developed over the years 2001-2011 at a compound rate of 8.9% per year. In 2011, approximately 37 million hectares (91 million acres) worldwide were farming, which represents about 0.9 percent of the world's farmland total (2009).
History
Main article: History of organic farming
Organic farming (of many particular kinds) was the original type of agriculture, and has been practiced for thousands of years. forest gardening, food system entirely organic production dating from prehistory, is considered the oldest and strongest in the world agro-ecosystem. Artificial fertilizers had been created during the 18th century, first with superphosphate, and then ammonia-based fertilizers mass-produced using the Haber-Bosch process developed during World War I. These fertilizers former were cheap, powerful and easy to transport in bulk. Similar developments have occurred in chemical pesticides in the 1940s, leading to the decade being referred to as the "era of pesticides."
Modern organic movement is a revival movement in the sense that it seeks to restore balance that was lost when technology grew rapidly in the 19th and 20th centuries. The organic movement began in the mid-1920s in Central Europe through the work of Rudolf Steiner, whose lectures on agriculture were published in 1925. who created biodynamic agriculture, a first version of organic agriculture. The system was based on the philosophy of Steiner's anthroposophy, rather than on a solid understanding of science. :17-19 Organic agriculture was developed independently in the 1940s in England through the work of Albert Howard, who was inspired by his experiences with the traditional culture of India. Howard is widely regarded in the Anglo-Saxon world as the "father of organic farming".: 45 work was done by JI Rodale in the United States, Lady Eve Balfour in the United Kingdom, and many others through the world.
Modern organic farming has made up only a fraction of total agricultural output from its beginning until today. Increasing environmental awareness in the general population has transformed the movement originally focused on providing an application. Higher prices and government subsidies attracted farmers. In the developing world, many producers farm according to traditional methods which are comparable to organic farming but are not certified. In other cases, farmers in the developing world have converted for economic reasons.
organic farming systems
There are several systems of farming. Biodynamic agriculture is a holistic approach, with its own international body. The Nothing make agriculture method focuses on a minimum of mechanical cultivation and labor for cereal crops. Intensive French and biointensive, methods are well suited to organic principles. Other techniques are permaculture and no-till farming.
Although fundamentally different, large-scale agriculture and organic farming are not totally incompatible. For example, IPM is a multi-faceted strategy which may include synthetic pesticides as a last resort, both organic and conventional farms use IPM systems against pests.
Methods
"An organic farm, properly speaking, is not one that uses certain methods and substances and avoids others, it is a farm whose structure is formed in imitation of the structure of a natural system that has integrity, independence and dependence benign body "
- Wendell Berry, "The Gift of Good Land"
Organic farming methods combine scientific knowledge of ecology and modern technology with traditional farming practices based on natural biological processes. Organic farming methods are studied in the field of agro-ecology. While conventional farming uses synthetic pesticides and fertilizers water soluble purified synthetic, organic farmers are limited by regulating the use of pesticides and natural fertilizers. The main methods of organic farming include crop rotation, green manure and compost, biological pest control and mechanical cultivation. These measurements use the natural environment to improve agricultural productivity: legumes are planted to fix nitrogen in the soil, natural insect predators are encouraged, crop rotation to confuse pests and renew soil and natural materials such as bicarbonate potassium and mulches are used to control diseases and weeds. More resistant plants are generated by plant breeding rather than genetic engineering.
The diversity of cultures
Crop diversity is a hallmark of organic agriculture. Conventional farming focuses on the mass production of a crop to a place, a practice called monoculture. The science of agroecology has highlighted the benefits of polyculture (multiple crop in the same space), which is often used in organic agriculture. Planting a variety of vegetable crops supports a wide range of beneficial insects, soil microorganisms, and other factors that add to the overall health of the farm.
Soil Management
Organic agriculture is based largely on the natural decomposition of organic materials, using techniques such as green manure and compost to replace nutrients taken from the soil by previous crops. This biological process, thanks to micro-organisms such as mycorrhizae, enables the production of natural nutrients in the soil throughout the growing season, and has been designated as feeding the soil to feed the plant. Organic farming uses a variety of methods to improve soil fertility, including crop rotation, cover crops, reduced tillage, and application of compost. Reducing tillage, soil is not inverted and exposed to air, less carbon is released into the atmosphere resulting in more soil organic carbon. This has an added benefit of sequestration that can reduce gas emissions and help reverse climate change.
Plants need nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, as well as micronutrients and symbiotic relationships with fungi and other organisms to flourish, but getting enough nitrogen, and particularly synchronization so that plants get enough nitrogen at the right time (when plants need it most), is a challenge for organic farmers. crop rotation and green manure ("cover crops") help to provide nitrogen through legumes (more precisely, the Fabaceae family) which fix nitrogen from the atmosphere through symbiosis with Rhizobium bacteria. interlayer, which is sometimes used to fight against insects and diseases, can also increase soil nutrients, but the competition between legumes and crop can be problematic and wider spacing between crop rows is required. Crop residues can be plowed into the soil and different plants leave different amounts of nitrogen, potentially helping synchronization. Organic farmers also use animal manure, certain processed fertilizers such as seed meal and various mineral powders such as rock phosphate and greensand, a naturally occurring form of potash which provides potassium. Together these methods help to control erosion. In some cases, the pH may need to be changed. Natural pH changes include lime and sulfur, but in the U.S. some compounds such as iron sulfate, aluminum sulfate, magnesium sulfate, and soluble boron products are allowed in organic agriculture.
Mixed farms with both livestock and crops can operate as ley farms, whereby the land gathers fertility through growing nitrogen-fixing forage grasses such as white clover or alfalfa and grows cash crops or cereals when fertility is established. Farms without livestock ("stockless") may find it more difficult to maintain soil fertility, and may rely more on external inputs such as imported manure as well as grain legumes and green manures, although legumes grain can fix nitrogen limited, as they are harvested. Horticultural farms growing fruits and vegetables which operate in protected conditions are often even greater use of external inputs.
Biological research on soil and soil organisms has proven beneficial to organic agriculture. Varieties of bacteria and fungi break down chemicals, plant matter and animal waste into productive soil nutrients. In turn, they produce health benefits yields and more productive soil for future crops. Fields with less or no manure display significantly lower yields, due to the soil microbial community decreased, providing a healthier, more arable soil system.
Weed management
Against biological weed management promotes weed suppression, rather than weed elimination, by competing with the cultivation and improvement phytotoxic effects on weeds. Organic farmers integrate tactics cultural, biological, mechanical, physical and chemical properties to manage weeds without synthetic herbicides.
Organic standards require rotation of annual crops, meaning that a single crop can not be grown in the same place without another intermediate culture. Organic crop rotations frequently include weed suppressive cover crops and crops unequal life cycles to discourage weeds associated with a particular culture. Research is ongoing to develop methods to promote organic growth of naturally occurring microorganisms that inhibit the growth or germination of common weed.
Other cultural practices used to enhance crop competitiveness and reduce weed pressure include selection of competitive crop varieties, high-density planting, tight row spacing, and late planting into warm soil to encourage cultures rapid germination.
Mechanical and physical weed control practices used on organic farms can be grouped as follows:
Tillage - Focusing soil between crops to incorporate crop residues and soil, remove existing weeds and prepare a seedbed for planting; turning ground soil after planting to kill weeds;
Mowing and cutting - Removing top growth of weeds;
Flame weeding and thermal weeding - Using heat to kill weeds, and
Mulching - Blocking weed emergence with organic materials, plastic films, or landscape fabric.
Some critics, citing work published in 1997 by David Pimentel of Cornell University, who described an epidemic around the world against the erosion of topsoil, have raised worries that tillage helps epidemic erosion. FAO and other organizations have advocated a "no-till" approach of conventional and organic farming, and underscores in particular that crop rotation techniques used in organic farming are excellent no-till approaches. A 2005 study by Pimentel and colleagues confirmed that "Crop rotation and cover crops (green manure) typical farming reduce soil erosion, pest problems, and the use pesticides. "Some chemicals of natural origin are allowed for herbicidal use. These include certain formulations of acetic acid (concentrated vinegar), corn gluten meal, and essential oils. few selective bioherbicides based on fungal pathogens have also been developed. At this time, however, organic herbicides and bioherbicides play a minor role in the toolbox for biological weed control.
Weeds can be controlled by grazing. For example, geese have been used successfully to eliminate a wide range of organic crops including cotton, strawberries, tobacco and corn, reviving the practice of keeping geese patch cotton, common in the south of the United States until the 1950s. Similarly, some rice farmers introduce ducks and fish to wet paddy fields to eat two weeds and insects.
Controlling other organisms
See also: Biological control and integrated pest management
Side organizations weeds that cause problems on organic farms include arthropods (eg, insects, mites), nematodes, fungi and bacteria. Organic practices include, but are not limited to:
encourage beneficial predatory insects to fight against pests serving them nursery and / or an alternative habitat, usually in the form of windbreaks, hedgerows, or beetle bank;
encourage beneficial microorganisms;
crop rotation in different places from one year to interrupt pest reproduction cycles;
plantation cropping and plant pests control that discourage or divert pests;
using row covers to protect crops during periods of migration of pests;
using biological pesticides and herbicides
using no-till farming and no-till farming techniques such as planting false
using sanitation to remove pest habitat;
Use insect traps to monitor and control insect populations.
The use of physical barriers, such as floating covers
Examples of beneficial insects include predators pirate bugs, big-eyed bugs, and to a lesser extent ladybugs (which tend to fly away), all of which eat a wide range of pests. Lacewings are also effective, but tend to fly away. Praying mantis tend to move more slowly and eat less heavily. wasps tend to be effective for their selected prey, but like all small insects can be less effective outdoors because the wind controls their movement. Predatory mites are effective against mites others. :66-90
Naturally derived insecticides allowed for use on organic farms use include Bacillus thuringiensis (a bacterial toxin), pyrethrum (chrysanthemum extract), spinosad (a bacterial metabolite), neem (a tree extract) and rotenone (a legume root extract). Less than 10% of organic farmers use these pesticides regularly, a survey showed that only 5.3% of vegetable growers in California use rotenone while 1.7% use pyrethrum. 26 These pesticides are not always safer or more environmentally friendly than synthetic pesticides and may cause damage. : 92 The main criterion for organic pesticides is that they are natural, and some natural substances have been controversial. Controversial natural pesticides include rotenone, copper, nicotine sulfate, pyrethrum and rotenone and pyrethrum's are particularly controversial because they work by attacking the nervous system, like most conventional insecticides. Rotenone is extremely toxic to fish and can induce symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease in mammals. Although pyrethrum (natural pyrethrins) is more effective against insects when used with piperonyl butoxide (which retards the degradation of pyrethrins), organic standards do not generally allow the use of the latter substance.
Naturally occurring fungicides allowed for use on organic farms include the bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus pumilus, and Trichoderma harzianum. It is especially effective for diseases affecting roots. Compost tea contains a mix of beneficial microbes, which may attack or override some plant pathogens, but variability among formulations and preparation methods may contribute to the growth of inconsistent results or even dangerous toxic microbes in compost teas.
Some naturally occurring pesticides are not allowed for use on organic farms. These include nicotine sulfate, arsenic and strychnine.
Synthetic pesticides allowed for use on organic farms include insecticidal soaps and horticultural oils for insect management, and Bordeaux mixture, copper hydroxide and sodium bicarbonate for managing fungi. Copper sulphate and Bordeaux mixture (copper sulphate with lime), approved for organic use in various countries can be more environmentally problematic than some synthetic fungicides in organic agriculture dissallowed Similar concerns apply to copper hydroxide. Repeated application of copper sulfate or copper hydroxide as fungicide may eventually lead to the accumulation of toxic levels of copper in the soil, and warnings to avoid excessive accumulation of copper in the soil appear in various organic standards and elsewhere. Environmental concerns on several types of living organisms arise at an average rate of use of these substances for certain crops. In the European Union, where the replacement of copper fungicides in organic agriculture is a priority policy research is the search for alternatives to organic production.
Breeding
The livestock and poultry, meat, dairy products and eggs, is another tradition, agricultural activity that complements growing. Organic farms attempt to provide animals with "natural" living conditions and nutrition. While the USDA does not require animal welfare requirements to be met for a product to be labeled as organic, it is a departure from the older practice of organic agriculture. Ample, free-access outside for grazing and exercise, is a characteristic feature, and crowding is avoided. RSS is also an organic farming and medicines, including antibiotics, are not commonly used (and are prohibited under organic regulatory regimes). Animal health and food quality are thus pursued in a holistic "fresh air, exercise and a good diet" approach.
In addition, horses and cattle used as a characteristic agricultural base which provided labor for transport and tillage, fertility, recycling of manure and fuel, in the form of food for farmers and other animals. While today, small growing operations often do not include livestock, pets are part of the equation desirability of farming, especially for true sustainability, the ability to run a farm as a unit of self-renewal.
Genetic modification
Main articles: Genetically modified crops, genetically modified food and genetically modified food controversy
A key characteristic of organic farming is the rejection of genetically modified plants and animals. On 19 October 1998, participants in the IFOAM Scientific Conference issued on 12 Mar del Plata Declaration, where more than 600 delegates from over 60 countries voted unanimously to exclude the use of genetically modified organisms in the production food and agriculture.
Although opposition to the use of any transgenic technologies in organic farming is strong, agricultural researchers Luis Herrera-Estrella and Ariel Alvarez-Morales continue to advocate integration of transgenic technologies into organic farming as a means to achieve sustainable agriculture, particularly in developing countries, as does the author and researcher Pamela Ronald, who sees this kind of biotechnology as being compatible with the organic principles.
Although GMOs are excluded from organic farming, there is concern that the pollen from genetically modified crops is increasingly penetrating organic seed stocks and heritage, making it difficult, if not impossible, to keep these genomes enter the biological food chain. Different regulations across countries limit the availability GMOs in certain countries, as described in the article on the regulation of the release of genetic resources genetically modified organisms.
Risks genetic modification could pose to the environment are very competitive. See genetically modified foods controversy article.
Standards
Main article: Organic certification
Standards regulate production methods and in some cases, the final production of organic agriculture. Standards may be voluntary or by law. By the 1970s private associations certified organic producers. In the 1980s, governments began to produce guidelines for organic production. In the 1990s, a trend toward legislated standards began, including the 1991 EU-Eco-regulation developed for European Union, which set standards for 12 countries, and a British program in 1993. The European program was followed by a Japanese program in 2001 and 2002 the United States created the National Organic Program (NOP). In 2007 over 60 countries regulate organic farming (IFOAM 2007:11). In 2005 IFOAM created the Principles of Organic Agriculture, an international guideline for certification criteria. In general, groups accredit certification bodies rather than individual farms.
Materials used in organic farming and foods are tested independently by the Institute of organic matter.
Composting
Under USDA organic standards, manure must be subjected to proper thermophilic composting and allowed to reach a sterilizing temperature. If raw manure is used, 120 days must pass before the crop is harvested if the final product is in direct contact with the ground. For products that are not in direct contact with soil, 90 days must elapse before harvest.
Economy
The economics of organic farming, a subfield of agricultural economics, encompasses the entire process and effects of organic farming in terms of human society, including social costs, opportunity costs , unintended consequences, information asymmetries and economies of scale. Although the scope of economics is broad, agricultural economics tends to focus on maximizing yields and efficiency at the farm level. The economy takes a anthropocentric approach to the value of nature: biodiversity, for example, is considered beneficial only to the extent that it is valued by people and increases profits. Some entities such as the European Union subsidize organic farming, in large part because these countries want to take into account the externalities of reduced water consumption, reduced water contamination, reduced soil erosion, the reducing carbon emissions, increased biodiversity, and assorted other benefits that result from organic agriculture.
Traditional organic farming is labor and knowledge-intensive whereas conventional farming is capital intensive, requiring more energy and manufactured inputs.
Organic farmers in California have cited marketing as their greatest obstacle.
The geographical distribution of producer
Markets for organic products are strongest in North America and Europe, which in 2001 are estimated to have $ 6 and $ 8 billion respectively of the market $ 20 billion worldwide. : 6 From 2007 Australasia has 39% of the total organic farmland, including Australia's 1.18 million hectares (2.9 million acres), but 97 percent of this land is sprawling course (2007:35 ). U.S. sales are 20x more. [38]: 7 farms in Europe 23 percent of global organic farmland (6.9 million hectares), followed by Latin America with 19 percent (5.8 million hectares). Asia has 9.5 percent in North America has 7.2 percent. Africa has 3 percent.
Besides Australia, the countries with the most organic farmland are Argentina (3.1 million hectares), China (2.3 million hectares), and the United States (1.6 million hectares). Much farmland in Argentina is organic pasture, such as Australia (2007:42). Spain, Germany, Brazil (the world's largest agricultural exporter), Uruguay, and the UK follow the United States in the amount of organic land (2007:26).
In the European Union (EU25) 3.9% of the total utilized agricultural area was used for organic production in 2005. Countries with the highest proportion of organic land are Austria (11%) and Italy (8.4), followed by the Czech Republic and Greece (7.2%). The lowest figures were shown for Malta (0.1%), Poland (0.6%) and Ireland (0.8%). In 2009, the proportion of organic land in the EU increased by 4.7%. Countries with the highest proportion of agricultural land were Liechtenstein (26.9%), Austria (18.5%) and Sweden (12.6%). 16% of all farmers in organic production in Austria in 2010. For the same year, the proportion of organic land increased by 20%:. In 2005, 168 000 ha of land in Poland was under organic management. In 2010, 100,000 ha of land were under organic management in Romania, which represents 1% of the utilized agricultural area. 70% -80% of the local organic production, amounting to 100 million euros in 2010, is exported. The market for organic products has increased by 50 million in 2010.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, agricultural inputs that were purchased from Eastern bloc countries were no longer available in Cuba, and many Cuban farms converted to organic farming need . As a result, farming is a common practice in Cuba, while it remains an alternative practice in most other countries. Although some products called organic in Cuba would not satisfy certification requirements in other countries (crops may be genetically modified, for example), Cuba exports organic citrus and citrus juices to the markets of the EU meet European standards in organic matter. Cuba's forced conversion to organic methods may position the country as a global provider of biological products.
Growth
In 2001, the estimated market value of certified organic products was estimated at $ 20 billion. In 2002, it was $ 23 billion in 2007 and more than $ 46 billion.In recent years both Europe (2007: 7.8 million hectares, European Union: 7.2 million hectares) and North America (2007: 2.2 million hectares) have experienced strong organic growth in agricultural soils. In the EU it grew by 21% during the period 2005 to 2008. However, this growth has occurred under different conditions. While the European Union has opted agricultural subsidies to organic farmers due to perceived environmental benefits, the United States has not, continuing to subsidize some but not all traditional commercial crops, such as corn and sugar . Because of this difference in policy from 2008 of 4.1% percent of European Union farmland was organically managed per cent at 0, 6 in the United States The most recent edition of the IFOAM World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2009 lists the countries which had the most hectares in 2007. The country where the most organic land is Australia with more than 12 million hectares, followed by Argentina, Brazil and the United States. In total, 32.2 million hectares were under organic management in 2007. In 1999, 11 million hectares of organically managed land are reported.As organic farming becomes a major force in commercial agriculture, it is likely to gain increasing impact on national agricultural policies and confront some of the scaling challenges faced by conventional agriculture.
Productivity and profitability
Studies comparing yields have had mixed results.
A study published in 1990 has "205 ... comparisons yields from organic and conventional farming systems ..... data from 26 cultures and two products of animal origin, as the ratio of the yields conventional organic were normally distributed with a mean of 0.91, a standard deviation of 0.24 and a modal value between 0.8 and 0.9. More than half of the comparisons milk and bean yields showed a ratio greater than 1.0, ie higher yields from organic and conventional systems. There was no evidence that biological systems have an effect on the performance of the interannual variability yields or climate induced or caused by the effects of transition or conversion. "This study also discussed the procedural difficulties in comparing the productivity of organic production systems with others. or 95-100%, A U.S. study published in 2001 analyzed 150 growing seasons of data on cereals and soybean and concluded that organic yields were 95-100% of conventional yields.
A study spanning two decades has been published in 2002 and found a 20% yield smaller farms using organic fertilizers 50%, and 97% of pesticide less, and energy input is 34% to 53% lower.
A 2003 study found that during the years of drought, organic farms may yield 20-40% higher than conventional farms.
A study published in 2005 compared with conventional crops, organic animal cropping, and organic legume-based cropping on a battery of test to the Rodale Institute more than 22 years. The study found that "the yields of corn and soybean were similar animal organic legume organic and conventional farming systems." It also noted that "a lot less fossil energy has been expended to produce corn in organic farming in Rodale Institute and legumes biological systems in the conventional production system. There was little difference between energy intake between treatments for soybean production. In biological systems, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are not generally used. "From 2013 the study was underway Rodale [89] and a 30 years anniversary report was published by Rodale in 2012.
A 2007 study compiling research from 293 different comparisons into a single study to assess the overall efficiency of the two agricultural systems has concluded that "organic methods could produce enough food on a global per capita to feed the current human population and potentially even larger population, without increasing the agricultural land. "The researchers also found that while in developed countries, organic systems produce on average 92% of the output produced by conventional agriculture, organic systems produce 80% more than conventional farms in developing countries because the materials needed for organic farming are more accessible than synthetic farming materials to farmers in poor countries. study was strongly challenged by another study published in 2008, which stated, and was entitled "The organic agriculture can not feed the world "and said that the 2007 came with" a significant overestimation of the productivity of osteoarthritis "" because the data are misinterpreted and therefore calculations are wrong.
Another study published in 1999 by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency found that, area-for-area, organic farms of potatoes, sugar beet and seed grass produce as little as half the production of conventional agriculture. Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, responds to this by pointing out that the average yield of world agriculture is substantially lower than modern sustainable farming yields. Bringing average world yields to modern organic levels could increase the world's food supply by 50%.
Proponents claim that the organic soil has succeeded better quality and better water retention. This may help increase yields for organic farming in drought years. Organic farming may be the soil organic matter better than conventional no-till farming, which suggests benefits of long-term performance of organic agriculture. A study of 18 organic methods on nutrient-depleted soil, concluded that conventional methods were superior for soil fertility and yield nutrient depleted soils in cold climates, arguing that most of the benefits from organic farming are derived from imported materials which could not be considered "independent.
Organic farms withstand severe weather conditions better than conventional farms, sometimes giving 70-90% more than conventional farms during droughts. 10 organic farms are more profitable in the drier states of the United States, probably because of their higher yield drought. Organic farms survive hurricane damage much better, retaining topsoil from 20 to 40% smaller economic losses at very high levels than their neighbors.
However, critics of organic farming believe that the additional land needed to grow organic food could potentially destroy the rainforests and wipe out many ecosystems.
Profitability
Lower costs of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, as well as higher prices paid by consumers for organic produce, contribute to increased profits. Organic farms have always been considered as or more profitable than conventional farms. Without the price premium, profitability is mixed. 11. Organic production was more profitable in Wisconsin, given price premiums. To markets and supermarkets organic food is beneficial as well, and is generally well sold at prices significantly higher than non-organic food However, when the buyer compares the prices and buy consciously, organic foods are not always more expensive for the buyer than non-organic food. For example, in 2000, Philippe Renard made his restaurant to go to use 85% of organic food, without increasing the cost to customers. In the documentary "Architects for Change", he also said that since 2000, the cost of organic products is down even more, and now he is no longer a problem for organic products reached a price compared to products from non-organic agriculture.
Energy Efficiency
A study of the sustainability of apple production systems showed that in a comparison of traditional agriculture to organic methods of agriculture, the biological system in this case is more energy efficient. Further study the comparative effectiveness of agriculture products such as cereals, fodder crops and livestock. Although the study did not investigate specific additional requirements of arable land or numbers of farm laborers to produce total yields for organic farming compared to conventional farming, leaving open the question of capacity overall farming to meet current and future agricultural concluded that organic farming has a higher yield per unit of energy of several crops and livestock. However, conventional farming had higher total returns. In contrast, another study noted that organic wheat and corn production was more energy efficient than conventional methods while organic apple and potato production was less energy efficient than the methods conventional.
A study with apple orchards in Washington State found that organic orchards deemed energy of at least 7% more efficient.
Sales and marketing
Most sales are concentrated in developed countries. These products are what economists call credence goods in that they rely on uncertain certification. Interest in organic products dropped between 2006 and 2008, 42% of Americans polled do not trust organic products. 69% of Americans say they sometimes buy organic products, down from 73% in 2005. One theory is that consumers were "local" products "organic" produce.
Distributors
United States, 75% of organic farms are smaller than 2.5 hectares. In California 2% of the farms account for over half of sales. : 4 small farms join together in cooperatives such as Organic Valley, Inc. to market their products more effectively.
Most small cooperative distributors have merged or were acquired by large multinationals such as General Mills, Heinz, ConAgra, Kellogg, and others. In 1982, there were 28 consumer cooperative distributors, but as of 2007 only 3 remained. This consolidation has raised concerns among consumers and journalists of potential fraud and degradation in standards. Most sell their organic products through subsidiaries, under other labels.
Organic foods can also be a niche in developing countries. It would provide more money and a better opportunity to compete internationally with the huge distributors. Prices for organic products are much more stable than conventional foods, and small farms can still compete and have similar prices to much larger farms that usually take all the profits.
Farmers Markets
Higher prices are important for the profitability of small organic farmers. Farmers who sell directly to consumers at farmers' markets have continued to achieve these higher returns. United States, the number of farmers' markets tripled from 1,755 in 1994 to 5,274 in 2009.
Impact on employment
In a survey of 1,144 organic farms in Ireland and the United Kingdom, researchers found that organic farms employed more workers than conventional products. This difference persisted when factors such as the size of each farm (organic farms are generally larger) are taken into account. The researchers concluded that there would be agricultural jobs over 19% in the UK and 6% more in Ireland, if 20% of all farms became organic.
Capacity building in developing countries
Organic agriculture can contribute to ecologically sustainable, socio-economic development, especially in poor countries. The application of organic principles enables employment of local resources (eg local seed varieties, fertilizers, etc.) and therefore cost-effectiveness. Local and international markets for organic products show tremendous growth prospects and offer creative producers and exporters excellent opportunities to improve their income and living conditions.
Organic agriculture is knowledge intensive. Globally, capacity building efforts are underway, including localized training material, to limited effect. In 2007, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements hosted more than 170 free manuals and 75 training opportunities online.
In 2008, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) stated that "organic agriculture can be more conducive to food security in Africa production systems the most classic, and it is more likely to be sustainable in the long term "and that" yields had more than doubled where organic practices or quasi-organic was used "and that fertility soils and drought better.
Externalities
Agriculture imposes negative externalities (uncompensated costs) upon society through land and other resources, biodiversity loss, erosion, pesticides, runoff of nutrients, water consumption, payments grant and an assortment of other problems. Positive externalities are autonomy, entrepreneurship, respect for nature and the quality of the air. Organic methods reduce some of these costs. In 2000 uncompensated costs for 1996 reached 2,343,000 pounds or 208 pounds per hectare. A study of practices in the United States published in 2005 concluded that agricultural land cost the economy approximately 5 to 16 billion dollars (30 million $ 96 per hectare), while livestock production costs 714 000 000 dollars. Both studies recommended reducing externalities. The 2000 review included reported pesticide poisonings but did not include speculative chronic effects of pesticides, and the 2004 review relied on a 1992 estimate of the total impact of pesticides.
It has been proposed that organic agriculture can reduce the level of some negative externalities from (conventional) agriculture. If the benefits are private or public depends on the distribution of property rights.
Several surveys and studies have attempted to examine and compare conventional and organic systems of agriculture and found that organic techniques, while not being safe, are less harmful than conventional products because they reduce the levels of biodiversity less than conventional systems and to use less energy and produce less waste when calculated per unit area.
A 2003 survey by the Ministry of Food and Rural Affairs of the environment in the UK found, similar to other reports, that organic farming "can produce positive effects on the environment," but some benefits were decreased or lost when comparisons are made on "the basis of production units rather than area.
The situation was dramatically illustrated in a comparison of a modern dairy farm in Wisconsin with New Zealand where animals raised intensively. Using total agricultural emissions per kg of milk produced as a parameter, the researchers showed that the production of methane from belching was higher in the farm in New Zealand, while the production of carbon dioxide was higher in Wisconsin farm. Output of nitrous oxide, a gas with a global warming potential estimated at 310 times that of carbon dioxide was also higher in the farm in New Zealand.
Methane from manure handling was similar in the two types of farms. The explanation of the finding on the different diets used in these farms are based on forage more thoroughly (and more fibrous) in New Zealand and contains less concentrated than in Wisconsin. Fibrous regimes promote greater acetate proportion in the intestine of ruminants, causing an increase in the production of methane which must be emitted by eructation. When cattle are subjected to a diet containing concentrates (such as corn and soybean meal), in addition to grass and forage model alters ruminal fermentation mainly acetate propionate. As a result of the production of methane is reduced. Capper et al. compared the environmental impact of U.S. milk production in 1944 and 2007. They calculated that the carbon "footprint" per billion kg of milk produced in 2007 was 37 per cent higher than the equivalent milk production in 1944.
Pesticides
Unlike conventional farms, organic farms most largely avoid synthetic pesticides Some pesticides damage the environment or direct exposure, human health. Children may be at greater risk than adults from direct exposure, as the toxicity of pesticides is frequently different in children and adults. The five main pesticides used in organic farming are Bt (a bacterial toxin), pyrethrum, rotenone, copper and sulfur. "Less than 10% of organic farmers use botanical insecticides on a regular basis, the use of sulfur 12%, and 7% use copper-based compounds." 26 Reduction and elimination of chemical pesticides is technically difficult.Organic pesticides often complement other pest control strategies. Ecological concerns primarily focus around pesticide use, as 16% of the world's pesticides are used in cotton production.Runoff is one of the most harmful effects of pesticide use. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service monitoring environmental effects of water contamination and concluded, "policies pesticides nation over the past twenty six years have succeeded in reducing the overall risk of environment, despite a slight increase in the area planted and weight of pesticides applied. Nevertheless, there are still areas of the country where there is no evidence of progress, and areas where risk levels for protection of drinking water, fish, algae and crustaceans remain high ".
Food quality and safety
Main article: Organic food
The weight of the available scientific evidence has not shown a consistent and significant difference between organic food and conventionally grown in terms of safety or nutritional value. In 2009, a review of all relevant research comparing organic to conventionally grown foods was conducted by the UK Food Standards Agency has concluded that:
No evidence of a difference in nutrient content between organically and other substances and conventionally produced crops and livestock products was detected for the majority of nutrients assessed in this study suggests that organically and conventionally produced crops and livestock products are broadly comparable in their nutrient content. .. There is no evidence that increased dietary intake, nutrients identified in this study to be present in larger amounts in organic farming than in conventionally produced and animal products would be beneficial for people who consume a normal diet varied, and it is therefore unlikely that these differences in nutrient content are relevant to the health of consumers.
A 2009 review of the potential effects on health conducted by the UK Food Standards Agency analyzed eleven articles, concluding, "because of the limited and highly variable data available, and concerns over the reliability of some reported results, it n ' is currently no evidence of a health benefit from consuming organic compared to conventional food products. It should be noted that this conclusion relates to the basis of currently available data on the nutrient content of food, which has limitations in the design and comparability of studies.
Individual studies have considered a variety of possible impacts, including pesticide residues. Pesticide residues present a second channel for health effects. Comments include, "Organic fruits and vegetables can be expected to contain fewer agrochemical residues than conventionally grown alternatives, and yet," the significance of this difference is questionable. "
Nitrate concentrations may be less, but the health impact of nitrates is debated. The lack of data has limited research on the health effects of natural plant pesticides and bacterial pathogens.
The higher cost of organic food (ranging from 45 to 200%) could inhibit consumption of 5 servings per day of fruits and vegetables, which can improve health and reduce cancer regardless of their source.
Soil conservation
Main article: Soil conservation
In Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, geomorphologist David Montgomery outlines a coming crisis from soil erosion. Agriculture relies on roughly one meter of topsoil, and that is being depleted ten times faster than it was replaced. no-till farming, which some pesticides depends, is one way to minimize erosion. However, a recent study by the Service of the USDA Agricultural Research has found that manure in organic farming are better cultivated to strengthen the ground zero tillage.
Climate change
Organic agriculture emphasizes closed nutrient cycles, biodiversity, and effective soil management providing the capacity to mitigate and even reverse the effects of climate change. Organic farming can reduce fossil fuel emissions and, like any well managed agricultural system, carbon sequestration in the soil. The elimination of synthetic nitrogen in organic systems decreases fossil fuel consumption by 33 percent and carbon sequestration takes CO 2 from the atmosphere by putting it in the soil as organic matter which is often lost in conventional soil management. Carbon sequestration occurs at especially high levels in organic no-till managed.
Agriculture has been undervalued and underestimated as a means to fight against global climate change. Data on soil carbon show that organic farming practices among the renewable most effective strategies to reduce CO 2 emissions.
nutrient leaching
Excess nutrients in lakes, rivers, and groundwater can cause algal blooms, eutrophication, and subsequent dead zones. In addition, nitrates are harmful to aquatic organisms by themselves. The main factor of this pollution is nitrate fertilizers whose use is expected to "double or almost triple by 2050." organic fertilizers fields "significantly [reduces] harmful nitrate leaching" over conventionally fertilized fields: "annual nitrate leaching was 4.4 to 5.6 times higher in conventional plots than organic plots".
The large dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is caused in large part by agricultural runoff: a combination of fertilizer and livestock manure. More than half of the nitrogen released into the Gulf comes from agriculture. This increases costs for fishermen, as they must move away from the coast to find fish.
Leaching into the Danube River was substantially lower among organic farms. Externalities arising could be neutralized by charging 1 euro per kg of released nitrogen.
Agricultural runoff and algae flowers are strongly linked in California.
Biodiversity
Main article: Organic agriculture and biodiversity
A wide range of organisms benefit from organic farming, but it is unclear whether organic methods confer greater benefits than conventional integrated agri-environmental programs. Almost all non-agricultural natural species observed in comparative farm land practice show a preference for organic farming both by abundance and diversity. On average, 30% more species inhabit organic farms. Birds, butterflies, soil microbes, beetles, earthworms, plants, spiders and mammals are particularly affected. Lack of herbicides and pesticides improve the status of biodiversity and population density. Many weed species attract beneficial insects that improve soil quality and forage on weeds. Matching floor of organizations often benefit because of increased bacteria populations due to natural fertilizer such as manure, while experiencing reduced intake of herbicides and pesticides. Increased biodiversity, especially against the beneficial soil microbes and mycorrhizae have been proposed to explain the high yields experienced by some organic plots, especially in light of the differences in a 21-year comparison of organic and control fields .
Biodiversity agricultur
e biological provides capital to humans. Species found in organic farms enhance sustainability by reducing human intervention (eg, fertilizers, pesticides).
Critical analysis
Norman Borlaug (father of the "Green Revolution" and a Nobel Prize winner), Professor A. Trewavas and other critics contested the notion that organic agricultural systems are more environmentally friendly and more sustainable than conventional systems. Borlaug asserts that organic farming practices can at most feed 4 billion people, having increased dramatically farmland and destroying ecosystems in the process. Borlaug and his co-authors advocate the use of organic matter, in addition to mineral fertilizers in the management of soil fertility, rather than advocate for organic agriculture in the developing world. The Danish Environmental Protection found that the elimination of all pesticides would result in an overall yield reduction of about 25%. Effects on the environment and human health have been made, but difficult to assess.
A study claims that organic farming can feed the world's population, a little more than 6 billion people. It indicates that organic farms have lower yields than their conventional counterparts in developed countries (92%) but higher than their counterparts in low developing countries (180%), attributing it to low adoption of fertilizer and pesticides in developing countries compared to intensive agriculture in developed countries. [169] However, concerns have been expressed about the selection of this characterization study and interpretation of data, and assumptions and analytical methods, casting doubt on some of his conclusions.
The Centers for Disease Control repudiated a claim by Dennis Avery of the Hudson Institute, the risk of E. coli infection was eight times higher when eating organic food. (. Avery had cited CDC as a source) Avery had included problems stemming from non-organic unpasteurized juice in his calculations. Epidemiologists traced the E. coli O104 2011: H4 outbreak - which has more than 3,900 cases and 52 deaths - an organic farm in Germany Bienenbüttel.
Urs Niggli, director of the FiBL Institute, argues that a global campaign against organic farming are mainly from Alex Avery book The truth about organic agriculture.