Key benefits of organic agriculture

Agricultural carbon sequestration has the potential to substantially mitigate global warming impacts. According to Tim LaSalle, CEO of the Rodale Institute, organic agriculture, if practiced on the planet’s 3.5 billion tillable acres, could sequester nearly 40 per cent of current CO2 emissions. “We call this approach regenerative organic agriculture to signify its focus on renewing resources through complementary biological systems which feed and improve the soil as well as avoiding harmful synthetic inputs.”

Regenerative organic farming, focused on enhancing long-term biological interactions, turns soil into a carbon reservoir, while conventional farming with large chemical inputs has the opposite effect of releasing carbon into the atmosphere. In addition, organic management also changes the structure of the soil, improving its ability to store water and deliver nutrients to plants over time as soil carbon levels continue to increase. Rodale research shows that no-till organic farming can reduce the energy input into farming by about 70 per cent. Further, organic food offers health advantages and has become a lifestyle choice in many societies.
New research from the Soil Association reveals that if all UK farmland was converted to organic farming, at least 3.2 million tonnes of carbon would be taken up by the soil each year. A widespread adoption of organic farming practices in the UK would offset 23 per cent of UK agricultural emissions through soil carbon sequestration alone.

Reference: www.soilassociation.org/Whyorganic/Climatefriendlyfoodandfarming/tabid/215/Default.aspx

Organic farming depends on encouraging a diverse ecosystem to maintain soil fertility and to keep pests under control naturally. Thus, it creates and maintains diverse and species-rich cultural landscapes and contributes to environmental protection. It does this by encouraging nature’s own predators by maintaining hedgerows and creating open, ‘wild’ spaces at the side of fields, and rotating crops planted each season to keep soil fertile and avoid the need for chemicals.
The variety of species which live on organic arable fields is two- to threefold in comparison to conventional agricultural land. Many endangered species return to organic green or arable areas. The more diverse crop rotation and the renouncement of chemicals and pesticides have resulted in higher diversity of flora and fauna. An analysis of 25 cases has shown that in all cases the diversity of wild herbs is up to five times higher in organic fields. A scientific literature review by English Nature and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), published in 2004, found that there are more birds, butterflies, beetles, bats and wild flowers on organic farms than on non-organic farms.

In general, research evidence supports the hypothesis that organically grown crops fare significantly better in terms of food safety, nutritional content and nutritional value from those produced by non-organic farming. Whereas nearly all pesticides are prohibited in organic farming and residues are rarely found, a high incidence of pesticide residues occurs in non-organic foods, and there is growing concern about the ‘cocktail effect’ of multiple residues on human health. Further, conventional food is suspected to pose a risk to human health from antibiotic resistance developing in micro-organisms, partly because of the misuse and overuse of antibiotics in livestock rearing. Organic standards prohibit additives and ingredients which have been linked to allergic reactions, headaches, asthma, growth retardation, hyperactivity in children, heart disease and osteoporosis. Non-organic fertilisation practices result in higher levels of potentially harmful nitrate in vegetables. Studies have shown lower levels in organically produced crops. On average, vitamins, minerals and secondary plant metabolite contents are higher in organically grown crops. Trials have shown significant improvements in the growth, reproductive health and recovery from illness of animals fed on organically produced feed. A small body of observational and clinical evidence supports the hypothesis that consumption of organically produced food is beneficial to human health. There is currently insufficient published evidence on genetically modified organisms to reach any definitive conclusions regarding their safety.

Reference: Soil Association, ‘Organic farming, food quality and human health. A review of the evidence’.

Healthy soil is the foundation of the food system. It produces healthy crops that in turn nourish people. Maintaining healthy soil requires care and effort from farmers. By definition, farming disturbs the natural soil processes including that of nutrient cycling - the release and uptake of nutrients. A study by the Swiss, Austrian and German agricultural institute FIBL compares the consequences of bio-dynamic, bio-organic and conventional farming systems in a randomized plot trial. The field trial was started in 1978. In the beginning the main goals were agronomic: yield and product quality.  It found crop yields to be 20% lower in the organic systems, although input of fertilizer and energy was reduced by 34 to 53% and pesticide input by 97%. Enhanced soil fertility and higher biodiversity found in organic plots appear to render these systems less dependent on external inputs.

Worldwide, 32.2m hectares were certified according to organic standards in 2007, which was 1.5m hectares more than the previous year. These are the latest statistics from the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FIBL) report “The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2009”. The drivers behind the increase in organic farming are a combination of increased demand and policy support. The global market for organic products reached an estimated $46bn in 2007 with most products being consumed in North America and Europe. In Europe the organically managed land area grew to almost 7.8m hectares (1.9 per cent of agricultural land) in 2007. Demand for certain product categories – notably vegetables, salad crops, fruits and in some cases dairy products – was higher than supply, resulting in considerable amounts of products being imported.  However, the FIBL report acknowledges that it is very difficult to predict trends for 2008 and beyond, as consumer habits may change in response to the financial crisis.