tilling the fields on conventional farms.
The takeaway
In short, we cannot determine yet whether
organic agriculture could feed the world
and reduce the environmental footprint of
agriculture while providing decent jobs and
giving consumers affordable, nutritious food.
It’s a lot to ask of one industry, and there are
still just too many unanswered questions.
Some of these questions relate to agriculture,
such as whether organic farms can eventually
close the yield gap with conventional farms
and whether there are enough organic
fertilisers to produce all the world’s food
organically.
But some questions are also about humanity’s
collective future. Can people in the rich
world learn to change our diet and reduce
food waste to avoid having to increase food
production as the global population grows?
And are enough people willing to work in
agriculture to meet the needs of labour-
intensive organic farms?
A more useful question is whether we should
continue to eat organic food and expand
investment in organic farming. Here the
answer is a definitive yes.
Organic agriculture shows significant promises
in many areas. We would be foolish not to
consider it an important tool in developing
more sustainable global agriculture.
Only 1% of agricultural land is organically
farmed worldwide. If organic land continues
to expand at the same rate that it has over the
past decade, it will take another century for all
agriculture to be organic.
But organic farming’s influence goes far
beyond that 1% acreage. Over the past
50 years, organic farms have provided
conventional agriculture with examples of new
ways to farm and acted as a testing ground for
a different set of management practices, from
diversifying crop rotations and composting
to using cover crops and conservation tillage.
Conventional agriculture has neglected these
sustainable practices for too long.
So yes, you should identify and support
those organic farms that are doing a great
job of producing environmentally friendly,
economically viable, and socially just food.
Conscientious consumers can also push to
improve organic farming where it is not doing
so well – for example on yields and worker
rights.
As scientists, we must close some of the critical
knowledge gaps about this farming system to
better understand its achievements and help
address its challenges.
But in the meantime, everyone can learn from
successful organic farms and help improve
the other 99% of agriculture that’s feeding the
world today.
Acknowledgement:
Verena Seufert, Postdoctoral fellow, Liu
Institute for Global Issues, University of
British Columbia and Navin Ramankutty,
Professor, University of British Columbia:
Organic farming matters - just not in the
way you think, March 10, 2017 published in
https://theconversation.
com/organic-farming-matters-just-not-in-
the-way-you-think-74124 Republished under
We still don’t know whether organic farms offer better labour conditions. http://www.usa.gov/
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