Provided by the Organic Trade Association
The Global Environment
Organic farming helps prevent topsoil erosion, improves soil fertility, protects groundwater, and conserves energy.
There is evidence of drawbacks linked to current popular practices:
- Nearly 40 percent of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded, undermining both present and future production capacity, according to scientists at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Land degradation can have significant on- and off-site effects on income and environmental quality, and can take a number of forms, including soil nutrient depletion, agrochemical pollution, and soil erosion.
Sources: "Land Degradation in the Developing World: Issues and Policy Options for 2020," by Sara J. Scherr and Satya Yadav, in The Unfinished Agenda: Perspectives on Overcoming Hunger, Poverty and Environmental Degradation, International Food Policy Research Institute, 2001. Also, "Resources, Technology, and Public and Private Choices," by Keith Wiebe, in Who Will Be Fed in the 21st Century? Challenges for Science and Policy, International Food Policy Research Institute, 2001.
- In a study published in Science, scientists headed by University of Minnesota ecologist David Tilman concluded that continued expansion of the industrial farming model for the next few decades "has the potential to have massive, irreversible environmental impacts." Extrapolating past trends in land, irrigation and agrochemical use and assuming a human population that is wealthier and 50 percent larger than currently, scientists predicted that in 50 years, there would be a 2.4 to 2.7-fold increase in nitrogen- and phosphorus-driven eutrophication of terrestrial, fresh water and near-shore marine ecosystems, seriously degrading biodiversity and fishery yields. The study also concluded that humans and other organisms would be exposed to markedly elevated levels of pesticides.
Source: Science, April 13, 2001, cited in WorldWatch, September/October 2001, page 8.
- A global survey of groundwater pollution shows that a toxic brew of pesticides, nitrogen fertilizers, industrial chemicals, and heavy metals is fouling groundwater everywhere. "Groundwater contamination is an irreversible act that will deprive future generations of one of life's basic resources," according to Payal Sampat in a Worldwatch paper. Groundwater contamination is already widespread, from high levels of pesticides in wells in California's San Joaquin Valley to excessive nitrates in groundwater in four northern Chinese provinces. The paper notes that in China's Yunnan Province, farmers are trying to address the problem by eliminating the use of fungicides and planting more diverse varieties of the grain.
Source: "Deep Trouble: The Hidden Threat of Groundwater Pollution," by Payal Sampat, Worldwatch Paper 154, December 2000.
There is much evidence that organic can help counteract such detrimental effects:
- Reiterating the value of organic agriculture, a report from the July 2000 FAO Regional Conference for Europe pointed out that organic farming can help reduce ground and surface water contamination, and can safeguard drinking water supplies.
Source: "Food Safety and Quality as Affected by Organic Farming," 22nd FAO Regional Conference for Europe, Porto, Portugal, July 24-28, 2000, Agenda Item 10.1.
- Organically grown crops use less fossil energy than conventional crops, according to findings from a 21-year field trial initiated by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Switzerland. Begun in 1978 in Therwil, Switzerland, the DOK trial compares the consequences of organic, biodynamic, and conventional farming systems in a randomized plot trial.
Source: FiBL Dossier: Organic farming enhances soil fertility and biodiversity, August 2000.
- Organic methods are as efficient, economical and financially competitive as conventional methods, and better for the soil and the environment, according to a report documenting findings from The Rodale Institute's long-term Farming Systems TrialT comparing crops under conventional and organic management. A report looking at the first 15 years of the trial shows that after a transitional period of about four years, crops grown under organic systems yield as well as, and sometimes better than, those grown conventionally. In years of drought, organic systems can actually out-produce conventional systems. In addition, organic systems showed significant ability to absorb and retain carbon, raising the possibility that agricultural practices might play a role in reducing the impact of global warming.
Source: The Rodale Institute Farming Systems TrialT: The First 15 Years, by Cass Petersen, Laurie E. Drinkwater, and Peggy Wagoner, the Rodale Institute, 1999.
- In Germany, several water utilities now pay farmers to switch to organic operations because such conversion costs less than removing farm chemicals used in conventional agriculture from water supplies.
Source: "Deep Trouble: The Hidden Threat of Groundwater Pollution," by Payal Sampat, Worldwatch Paper 154, December 2000.
Organic Trade Association, July 2002
© The Organic Cotton Company Inc. 2005