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  • From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Organic farming a realistic alternative
  • Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:13:54 -0700


(and this is without the benefit of intensive beds, no-till, and season
extension techniques, which can double production and halve costs)

Science Matters by David Suzuki
Science Matters is published weekly in newspapers across Canada.

Organic farming a realistic alternative
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/about_us/dr_david_suzuki/article_archives/weekly0
6070201.asp
Jun 07, 2002

Strange how a movement that began with the best of intentions has managed
to generate so much animosity. I'm talking about organic farming. But while
a few people seem convinced it's a scam, the research continues to suggest
otherwise.

Organically grown food is certainly popular. People buy it for any number
of reasons - they say it tastes better, they're concerned about the effects
of pesticide residue on their families' health and they believe it is less
harmful to the environment. They're willing to pay a premium price for it
too.

Because the organic movement is relatively new, there has not been a wealth
of scientific data to confirm organic farmers' anecdotal observations that
this method produces good yields while maintaining healthier soils and
ecosystems. Such claims are too good to be true, according to some
proponents of industrial agriculture. A few years ago, the Nature of Things
did a program on organic farming. I thought it was a Mom and apple pie-type
show that everyone would love. To my amazement, we were inundated with
letters of outrage from university agriculture facilities and chemical
companies, arguing that conventional monocultures with copious inputs of
synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides were the only way we could
possibly feed our growing human population.

Today, some critics seem genuinely angry at the success of the organic
movement. They've written books and published articles in journals saying
that organic farmers are starry-eyed idealists who are trying to bring back
19th century farming practices which will reduce yields by four times and
thus, if widely adopted, will lead to mass starvation.

But organic farming isn't about turning back the clock, it's about moving
forward. It's about smart farming to help maintain healthy ecosystems.
Conventional farming produces high yields, but there are also enormous
costs - pollution of groundwater, rivers, lakes and coastal areas, and
reduced soil productivity through nutrient leaching. The use of pesticides
and herbicides also kills beneficial non-target species and poses a health
risk to farm workers and potentially to consumers. None of these "external"
costs are factored in to the price of conventionally grown crops.

Organic farming seeks to reduce these external costs and it seems to be
working. According to a landmark 21-year study recently published in the
journal Science, organic farming can produce good yields, save energy,
maintain biodiversity and keep soils healthy. The study took place on 1.5
hectares in Switzerland using four farming methods and several different
crops. Crop yields, on average, were 20 per cent lower using organic
methods, but they required 56 per cent less energy per unit of yield.
Organic plots also had 40 per cent greater colonization by fungi that help
plants absorb nutrients, three times as many earthworms and twice as many
pest-eating spiders.

Some crops fared better under organic systems than did others. Potatoes,
for example, produced 38 per cent lower yields, but winter wheat was just
10 per cent lower. The researchers sum up, "We conclude that organically
manured, legume-based crop rotations utilizing organic fertilizers from the
farm itself are a realistic alternative to conventional farming systems."

Other studies have also shown similar results. A comparison study completed
last year on apples, for example, found that organic crops can produce
yields similar to conventional crops, and they taste better. Another paper
published in the Journal of Applied Ecology last year found that using
organic methods to grow tomatoes can promote biodiversity while maintaining
productivity.

It is important to keep in mind that there is much that we don't know about
agriculture and there is likely no ultimate answer to our food production
needs. To feed our growing population we have to be open to all ideas, new
and old. And we mustn't let the entrenched interests of the commercial
agriculture and biotechnology industries dictate the future of our food
when less intensive and damaging alternatives are available.





  • [Livingontheland] Organic farming a realistic alternative, TradingPostPaul, 01/10/2007

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