Synthetic substances that are allowed include, for example, copper sulfate , elemental sulfur , and veterinary drugs. Genetically modified organisms , nanomaterials , human sewage sludge , plant growth regulators , hormones , and antibiotic use in livestock husbandry are prohibited.

Organic agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by transnational organizations as European Union and 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 in Organic farming can be beneficial on biodiversity and environmental protection at local level.

However, because organic farming has sometimes lower yields compared to intensive farming , additional agricultural land is needed elsewhere in the world, which means that natural and forest land has to be converted into agricultural land.

This can cause loss of biodiversity and negative climate effects that sometimes outweigh the local environmental gains achieved. This lower yields does not include dry lands. Agriculture was practiced for thousands of years without the use of artificial chemicals.

Artificial fertilizers were first developed during the midth century. These early fertilizers were cheap, powerful, and easy to transport in bulk. Similar advances occurred in chemical pesticides in the s, leading to the decade being referred to as the "pesticide era".

In the founder and pioneer of the organic movement Albert Howard and his wife Gabrielle Howard , [23] [24] [25] accomplished botanists , founded an Institute of Plant Industry to improve traditional farming methods in India.

Among other things, they brought improved implements and improved animal husbandry methods from their scientific training; then by incorporating aspects of Indian traditional methods, developed protocols for the rotation of crops, erosion prevention techniques, and the systematic use of composts and manures.

In Rudolf Steiner gave a series of eight lectures on agriculture with a focus on influences of the moon, planets, non-physical beings and elemental forces. In July , Ehrenfried Pfeiffer , the author of the standard work on biodynamic agriculture Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening , [35] came to the UK at the invitation of Walter James, 4th Baron Northbourne as a presenter at the Betteshanger Summer School and Conference on Biodynamic Farming at Northbourne's farm in Kent.

Howard attended the conference, where he met Pfeiffer. The Betteshanger conference has been described as the 'missing link' between biodynamic agriculture and other forms of organic farming.

In Howard published his An Agricultural Testament. In this book he adopted Northbourne's terminology of "organic farming". Rodale , who was keenly interested both in Howard's ideas and in biodynamics, [25] founded in the s both a working organic farm for trials and experimentation, The Rodale Institute , and Rodale, Inc.

in Emmaus, Pennsylvania to teach and advocate organic methods to the wider public. These became important influences on the spread of organic agriculture.

Further work was done by Lady Eve Balfour the Haughley Experiment in the United Kingdom, and many others across the world. The term "eco-agriculture" was coined in by Charles Walters , founder of Acres Magazine , to describe agriculture which does not use "man-made molecules of toxic rescue chemistry", effectively another name for organic agriculture.

Increasing environmental awareness in the general population in modern times has transformed the originally supply-driven organic movement to a demand-driven one. Premium prices and some government subsidies attracted farmers. In the developing world, many producers farm according to traditional methods that are comparable to organic farming, but not certified, and that may not include the latest scientific advancements in organic agriculture.

In other cases, farmers in the developing world have converted to modern organic methods for economic reasons. The use of "organic" popularized by Howard and Rodale refers more narrowly to the use of organic matter derived from plant compost and animal manures to improve the humus content of soils, grounded in the work of early soil scientists who developed what was then called "humus farming".

Since the early s the two camps have tended to merge. 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 the integrity, the independence and the benign dependence of an organism.

They based their work on Steiner's spiritually-oriented alternative agriculture which includes various esoteric concepts. 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 involved Organic farming methods combine scientific knowledge of ecology and some modern technology with traditional farming practices based on naturally occurring biological processes.

Organic farming methods are studied in the field of agroecology. While conventional agriculture uses synthetic pesticides and water-soluble synthetically purified fertilizers, organic farmers are restricted by regulations to using natural pesticides and fertilizers.

An example of a natural pesticide is pyrethrin , which is found naturally in the Chrysanthemum flower. The principal methods of organic farming include crop rotation , green manures and compost , biological pest control , and mechanical cultivation. These measures use the natural environment to enhance agricultural productivity: legumes are planted to fix nitrogen into the soil, natural insect predators are encouraged, crops are rotated to confuse pests and renew soil, and natural materials such as potassium bicarbonate [44] and mulches are used to control disease and weeds.

Genetically modified seeds and animals are excluded. While organic is fundamentally different from conventional because of the use of carbon-based fertilizers compared with highly soluble synthetic based fertilizers and biological pest control instead of synthetic pesticides, organic farming and large-scale conventional farming are not entirely mutually exclusive.

Many of the methods developed for organic agriculture have been borrowed by more conventional agriculture. For example, Integrated Pest Management is a multifaceted strategy that uses various organic methods of pest control whenever possible, but in conventional farming could include synthetic pesticides only as a last resort.

The use of IPM lowers the possibility of pest developing resistance to pesticides that are applied to crops. Organic farming encourages crop diversity by promoting polyculture multiple crops in the same space. Planting a variety of vegetable crops supports a wider range of beneficial insects, soil microorganisms, and other factors that add up to overall farm health.

Crop diversity helps the environment to thrive and protects species from going extinct. Agroecology is a scientific discipline that uses ecological theory to study, design, manage, and evaluate agricultural systems that are productive and resource-conserving, and that are also culturally sensitive, socially just, and economically viable.

Incorporating crop diversity into organic farming practices can have several benefits. For instance, it can help to increase soil fertility by promoting the growth of beneficial soil microorganisms.

It can also help to reduce pest and disease pressure by creating a more diverse and resilient agroecosystem.

Organic farming relies more heavily on the natural breakdown of organic matter than the average conventional farm, using techniques like green manure and composting , to replace nutrients taken from the soil by previous crops.

This biological process, driven by microorganisms such as mycorrhiza and earthworms , releases nutrients available to plants throughout the growing season. Farmers use a variety of methods to improve soil fertility, including crop rotation, cover cropping, reduced tillage, and application of compost.

By reducing fuel-intensive tillage, less soil organic matter is lost to the atmosphere. This has an added benefit of carbon sequestration , which reduces greenhouse gases and helps reverse climate change.

Reducing tillage may also improve soil structure and reduce the potential for soil erosion. Plants need a large number of nutrients in various quantities to flourish. Supplying enough nitrogen and particularly synchronization, so that plants get enough nitrogen at the time when they need it most, is a challenge for organic farmers.

Intercropping , which is sometimes used for insect and disease control, can also increase soil nutrients, but the competition between the legume and the crop can be problematic and wider spacing between crop rows is required. Crop residues can be ploughed back into the soil, and different plants leave different amounts of nitrogen, potentially aiding synchronization.

In some cases pH may need to be amended. Natural pH amendments include lime and sulfur , but in the U. some compounds such as iron sulfate , aluminum sulfate , magnesium sulfate , and soluble boron products are allowed in organic farming.

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 grain legumes may fix limited nitrogen because they are harvested.

Horticultural farms that grow fruits and vegetables in protected conditions often rely even more on external inputs. Manure for organic farms' may become scarce if a sizable number of farms become organically managed. Organic weed management promotes weed suppression, rather than weed elimination, by enhancing crop competition and phytotoxic effects on weeds.

Organic standards require rotation of annual crops, [54] meaning that a single crop cannot be grown in the same location without a different, intervening crop. Organic crop rotations frequently include weed-suppressive cover crops and crops with dissimilar life cycles to discourage weeds associated with a particular crop.

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 rapid crop germination.

Mechanical and physical weed control practices used on organic farms can be broadly grouped as: [56]. Some naturally sourced chemicals are allowed for herbicidal use.

These include certain formulations of acetic acid concentrated vinegar , corn gluten meal , and essential oils. A 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 organic weed control toolbox. Weeds can be controlled by grazing. For example, geese have been used successfully to weed a range of organic crops including cotton, strawberries, tobacco, and corn, [58] reviving the practice of keeping cotton patch geese , common in the southern U.

before the s. Similarly, some rice farmers introduce ducks and fish to wet paddy fields to eat both weeds and insects. Organisms aside from weeds that cause problems on farms include arthropods e.

Practices include, but are not limited to:. Examples of predatory beneficial insects include minute 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. Parasitoid 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 for controlling other mites. Naturally derived insecticides allowed for use on organic farms include Bacillus thuringiensis a bacterial toxin , pyrethrum a chrysanthemum extract , spinosad a bacterial metabolite , neem a tree extract and rotenone a legume root extract.

Controversial natural pesticides include rotenone, copper , nicotine sulfate , and pyrethrums [61] [62] Rotenone and pyrethrum are particularly controversial because they work by attacking the nervous system, like most conventional insecticides.

Rotenone is extremely toxic to fish [63] and can induce symptoms resembling Parkinson's disease in mammals. Naturally derived fungicides allowed for use on organic farms include the bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus pumilus ; and the fungus Trichoderma harzianum.

These are mainly effective for diseases affecting roots. Compost tea contains a mix of beneficial microbes, which may attack or out-compete certain plant pathogens, [70] but variability among formulations and preparation methods may contribute to inconsistent results or even dangerous growth of toxic microbes in compost teas.

Some naturally derived 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.

Repeated application of copper sulfate or copper hydroxide as a fungicide may eventually result in copper accumulation to toxic levels in soil, [75] and admonitions to avoid excessive accumulations of copper in soil appear in various organic standards and elsewhere.

Environmental concerns for several kinds of biota arise at average rates of use of such substances for some crops. Raising livestock and poultry, for meat, dairy and eggs, is another traditional farming activity that complements growing. Organic farms attempt to provide animals with natural living conditions and feed.

Organic certification verifies that livestock are raised according to the USDA organic regulations throughout their lives. Organic livestock may be, and must be, treated with medicine when they are sick, but drugs cannot be used to promote growth, their feed must be organic, and they must be pastured.

Also, horses and cattle were once a basic farm feature that provided labour, for hauling and plowing, fertility, through 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, domesticated animals are a desirable part of the organic farming equation, especially for true sustainability, the ability of a farm to function as a self-renewing unit.

A key characteristic of organic farming is the exclusion of genetically engineered plants and animals. On 19 October , participants at IFOAM's 12th Scientific Conference issued the Mar del Plata Declaration , where more than delegates from over 60 countries voted unanimously to exclude the use of genetically modified organisms in organic food production 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 the optimal means to sustainable agriculture, particularly in the developing world.

Although GMOs are excluded from organic farming, there is concern that the pollen from genetically modified crops is increasingly penetrating organic and heirloom seed stocks , making it difficult, if not impossible, to keep these genomes from entering the organic food supply.

Differing regulations among countries limits the availability of GMOs to certain countries, as described in the article on regulation of the release of genetic modified organisms. Organic farmers use a number of traditional farm tools to do farming, and may make use of agricultural machinery in similar ways to conventional farming.

In the developing world, on small organic farms, tools are normally constrained to hand tools and diesel powered water pumps.

Standards regulate production methods and in some cases final output for organic agriculture. Standards may be voluntary or legislated. As early as the s private associations certified organic producers.

In the s, governments began to produce organic production guidelines. In the s, a trend toward legislated standards began, most notably with the EU-Eco-regulation developed for European Union , [84] which set standards for 12 countries, and a UK program.

The EU's program was followed by a Japanese program in , and in the U. created the National Organic Program NOP. In IFOAM created the Principles of Organic Agriculture , an international guideline for certification criteria.

Production materials used for the creation of USDA Organic certified foods require the approval of a NOP accredited certifier. EU-organic production-regulation on "organic" food labels define "organic" primarily in terms of whether "natural" or "artificial" substances were allowed as inputs in the food production process.

Using manure as a fertilizer risks contaminating food with animal gut bacteria, including pathogenic strains of E. coli that have caused fatal poisoning from eating organic food. If raw animal manure is used, days must pass before the crop is harvested if the final product comes into direct contact with the soil.

For products that do not directly contact soil, 90 days must pass prior to harvest. In the US, the Organic Food Production Act of OFPA as amended, specifies that a farm can not be certified as organic if the compost being used contains any synthetic ingredients.

The OFPA singles out commercially blended fertilizers [composts] disallowing the use of any fertilizer [compost] that contains prohibited materials.

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.

Labour input, carbon and methane emissions , energy use, eutrophication, acidification, soil quality, effect on biodiversity, and overall land use vary considerably between individual farms and between crops, making general comparisons between the economics of organic and conventional agriculture difficult.

In the European Union "organic farmers receive more subsidies under agri-environment and animal welfare subsidies than conventional growers".

US sales are 20x as much. Asia has 9. Besides Australia, [95] the countries with the most organic farmland are Argentina 3. Much of Argentina's organic farmland is pasture, like that of Australia Spain, Germany, Brazil the world's largest agricultural exporter , Uruguay, and England follow the United States in the amount of organic land In the European Union EU25 3.

The lowest figures were shown for Malta 0. The countries with the highest share of agricultural land were Liechtenstein As of organic exports were part of the government's economic development strategy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in , agricultural inputs that had previously been purchased from Eastern bloc countries were no longer available in Cuba, and many Cuban farms converted to organic methods out of necessity.

Organic agricultural land increased almost fourfold in 15 years, from 11 million hectares 27 million acres in to In , organic farming produced over 1 million metric tons , long tons; 1,, short tons of bananas, over thousand metric tons , long tons; , short tons of soybean, and just under thousand metric tons , long tons; , short tons of coffee.

Studies comparing yields have had mixed results. A meta-analysis found that productivity is typically lower for organic farming than conventional farming, but that the size of the difference depends on context and in some cases may be very small.

Across global regions, Asia and Central Europe were found to have relatively higher yields and Northern Europe relatively lower than the average. A study published in compared conventional cropping, organic animal-based cropping, and organic legume-based cropping on a test farm at the Rodale Institute over 22 years.

There was little difference in energy input between the different treatments for producing soybeans.

In the organic systems, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides were generally not used". As of the Rodale study was ongoing [] and a thirty-year anniversary report was published by Rodale in In spite of the considerably lower pesticide input the quality of organic products was hardly discernible from conventional analytically and even came off better in food preference trials and picture creating methods.

In the United States, organic farming has been shown to be 2. The profitability of organic agriculture can be attributed to a number of factors. First, organic farmers do not rely on synthetic fertilizer and pesticide inputs, which can be costly. In addition, organic foods currently enjoy a price premium over conventionally produced foods, meaning that organic farmers can often get more for their yield.

The price premium for organic food is an important factor in the economic viability of organic farming. These percentages are based on wholesale fruit and vegetable prices, available through the United States Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. For many producers, direct sales at farmers' markets are most profitable because the farmer receives the entire markup, however this is also the most time and labour-intensive approach.

There have been signs of organic price premiums narrowing in recent years, which lowers the economic incentive for farmers to convert to or maintain organic production methods. For markets and supermarkets organic food is profitable as well, and is generally sold at significantly higher prices than non-organic food.

Compared to conventional agriculture, the energy efficiency of organic farming depends upon crop type and farm size. Two studies — both comparing organically- versus conventionally-farmed apples — declare contradicting results, one saying organic farming is more energy efficient, the other saying conventionally is more efficient.

It has generally been found that the labor input per unit of yield was higher for organic systems compared with conventional production. Most sales are concentrated in developed nations. One theory for this change was that consumers were substituting "local" produce for "organic" produce.

The USDA requires that distributors, manufacturers, and processors of organic products be certified by an accredited state or private agency.

This lowers the risk for the handler as well as the farmer. organic food sales occur through farmers' markets, foodservices , and other marketing channels.

The number of farms that utilize direct-to-consumer sales was , in in comparison to , in Some organic farms also sell products direct to retailer, direct to restaurant and direct to institution. In comparison, only 0. While not all products sold at farmer's markets are certified organic, this direct-to-consumer avenue has become increasingly popular in local food distribution and has grown substantially since In , there were 8, farmer's markets in comparison to 3, in and 1, in , most of which are found in populated areas such as the Northeast, Midwest, and West Coast.

Organic production is more labour-intensive than conventional production. The UNEP Green Economy Report suggests that "[a]n increase in investment in green agriculture is projected to lead to growth in employment of about 60 per cent compared with current levels" and that "green agriculture investments could create 47 million additional jobs compared with BAU2 over the next 40 years".

Much of the growth in women labour participation in agriculture is outside the "male dominated field of conventional agriculture".

In the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization FAO said that organic agriculture often leads to higher prices and hence a better income for farmers, so it should be promoted. However, FAO stressed that organic farming could not feed the current human population, much less the larger future population.

Both data and models showed that organic farming was far from sufficient. Therefore, chemical fertilizers were needed to avoid hunger.

Also NEPAD , a development organization of African governments, announced that feeding Africans and preventing malnutrition requires fertilizers and enhanced seeds. Organic agriculture can contribute to ecological sustainability, especially in poorer countries. 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. As of , the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements hosted more than free manuals and 75 training opportunities online.

In the United Nations Environmental 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 than most conventional production systems, and that it is more likely to be sustainable in the long-term" [] and that "yields had more than doubled where organic, or near-organic practices had been used" and that soil fertility and drought resistance improved.

The value of organic agriculture OA in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals MDG , particularly in poverty reduction efforts in the face of climate change, is shown by its contribution to both income and non-income aspects of the MDGs.

These benefits are expected to continue in the post-MDG era. A series of case studies conducted in selected areas in Asian countries by the Asian Development Bank Institute ADBI and published as a book compilation by ADB in Manila document these contributions to both income and non-income aspects of the MDGs.

These include poverty alleviation by way of higher incomes, improved farmers' health owing to less chemical exposure, integration of sustainable principles into rural development policies, improvement of access to safe water and sanitation, and expansion of global partnership for development as small farmers are integrated in value chains.

A related ADBI study also sheds on the costs of OA programs and set them in the context of the costs of attaining the MDGs. The results show considerable variation across the case studies, suggesting that there is no clear structure to the costs of adopting OA.

Costs depend on the efficiency of the OA adoption programs. The lowest cost programs were more than ten times less expensive than the highest cost ones. However, further analysis of the gains resulting from OA adoption reveals that the costs per person taken out of poverty was much lower than the estimates of the World Bank, [] based on income growth in general or based on the detailed costs of meeting some of the more quantifiable MDGs e.

Agriculture imposes negative externalities upon society through public land and other public resource use, biodiversity loss, erosion , pesticides , nutrient pollution , subsidized water usage, subsidy payments and assorted other problems.

Positive externalities include self-reliance, entrepreneurship, respect for nature, and air quality. Overall land use is generally higher for organic methods, but organic methods generally use less energy in production. Measurements of biodiversity are highly variable between studies, farms, and organism groups.

A review found that the positive effects of organic farming on abundance were prominent at the plot and field scales, but not for farms in matched landscapes. Other studies that have attempted to examine and compare conventional and organic systems of farming and have found that organic techniques reduce levels of biodiversity less than conventional systems do, and use less energy and produce less waste when calculated per unit area, although not when calculated per unit of output.

However, the leaching rates per unit of output were similar or slightly higher. It has been proposed that organic agriculture can reduce the level of some negative externalities from conventional agriculture. Whether the benefits are private, or public depends upon the division of property rights.

According to a meta analysis published in , compared to conventional agriculture, biological agriculture has a higher land requirement per yield unit, a higher eutrophication potential, a higher acidification potential and a lower energy requirement, but is associated with similarly high greenhouse gas emissions.

A to investigation by the Cranfield University for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the UK found that it is difficult to compare the Global warming potential , acidification and eutrophication emissions but "Organic production often results in increased burdens, from factors such as N leaching and N 2 O emissions", even though primary energy use was less for most organic products.

N 2 O is always the largest global warming potential contributor except in tomatoes. However, "organic tomatoes always incur more burdens except pesticide use ". As of it seems that organic agriculture can help in mitigating climate change but only if used in certain ways.

Researchers at Oxford University analysed 71 peer-reviewed studies and observed that organic products are sometimes worse for the environment. They also sought to find specific solutions to specific circumstances. A review article in the Annual Review of Resource Economics found that organic agriculture is more polluting per unit of output and that widespread upscaling of organic agriculture would cause additional loss of natural habitats.

Proponents of organic farming have claimed that organic agriculture emphasizes closed nutrient cycles, biodiversity, and effective soil management providing the capacity to mitigate and even reverse the effects of climate change [] and that organic agriculture can decrease fossil fuel emissions.

By converting to organic farms in developed countries where most arable land is accounted for, [] increased deforestation would decrease overall carbon sequestration. According to a meta-analysis of 71 studies, nitrogen leaching, nitrous oxide emissions, ammonia emissions, eutrophication potential and acidification potential were higher for organic products.

Specifically, the emission per area of land is lower, but per amount of food produced is higher. 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. Professor Wolfgang Branscheid says that organic animal production is not good for the environment, because organic chicken requires twice as much land as "conventional" chicken and organic pork a quarter more.

SRI methods for rice production, without external inputs, have produced record yields on some farms, [] [] but not others. In organic farming the use of synthetic pesticides and certain natural compounds that are produced using chemical synthesis are prohibited.

The organic labels restrictions are not only based on the nature of the compound, but also on the method of production. A non-exhaustive list of organic approved pesticides with their median lethal doses :. While there may be some differences in the amounts of nutrients and anti-nutrients when organically produced food and conventionally-produced food are compared, the variable nature of food production and handling makes it difficult to generalize results, and there is insufficient evidence to make claims that organic food is safer or healthier than conventional food.

Supporters claim that organically managed soil has a higher quality [] and higher water retention. Organic farming can build up soil organic matter better than conventional no-till farming, which suggests long-term yield benefits from organic farming. 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 is being replaced. However, a study by the USDA's Agricultural Research Service has found that manure applications in tilled organic farming are better at building up the soil than no-till.

Gunsmoke Farms, a square kilometres 53 square miles organic farming project in South Dakota , suffered from massive soil erosion as result of tiling after it switched to organic farming.

The conservation of natural resources and biodiversity is a core principle of organic production. Advantages to certified organic operations that implement these types of production practices include: 1 decreased dependence on outside fertility inputs; 2 reduced pest-management costs; 3 more reliable sources of clean water; and 4 better pollination.

Nearly all non-crop, naturally occurring [] species observed in comparative farm land practice studies show a preference for organic farming both by abundance and diversity.

Lack of herbicides and pesticides improve biodiversity fitness and population density. Organic farming contributes to human capital by promoting biodiversity.

The presence of various species in organic farms helps to reduce human input, such as fertilizers, and pesticides, which enhances sustainability. The USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service AMS published a Federal Register notice on 15 January , announcing the National Organic Program NOP final guidance on Natural Resources and Biodiversity Conservation for Certified Organic Operations.

Given the broad scope of natural resources which includes soil, water, wetland, woodland and wildlife, the guidance provides examples of practices that support the underlying conservation principles and demonstrate compliance with USDA organic regulations § 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.

agri-environment schemes ; 2 Many comparative studies encounter methodological problems, limiting their ability to draw quantitative conclusions; 3 Our knowledge of the impacts of organic farming in pastoral and upland agriculture is limited; 4 There remains a pressing need for longitudinal, system-level studies in order to address these issues and to fill in the gaps in our knowledge of the impacts of organic farming, before a full appraisal of its potential role in biodiversity conservation in agroecosystems can be made.

Organic agriculture is often considered to be more socially just and economically sustainable for farmworkers than conventional agriculture. However, there is little social science research or consensus as to whether or not organic agriculture provides better working conditions than conventional agriculture.

Although illnesses from inputs pose less of a risk [ dubious — discuss ] , hired workers still fall victim to debilitating musculoskeletal disorders associated with agricultural work. The USDA certification requirements outline growing practices and ecological standards but do nothing to codify labour practices.

Independent certification initiatives such as the Agricultural Justice Project, Domestic Fair Trade Working Group, and the Food Alliance have attempted to implement farmworker interests but because these initiatives require voluntary participation of organic farms, their standards cannot be widely enforced.

Many actors of the organic industry believe that enforcing labour standards would be unnecessary, [] unacceptable, [] or unviable due to the constraints of the market. The EU-organic production-regulation is a part of the European Union regulation that sets rules about the production of organic agricultural and livestock products and how to label them.

In the EU, organic farming and organic food are more commonly known as ecological or biological. The regulation is derived from the guidelines of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements IFOAM , which is an association of about member organizations in countries.

As in the rest of the world, the organic market in Europe continues to grow and more land is farmed organically each year. Denmark has a long ongoing support for converting conventional farming into organic farming, which has been taught in academic classes in universities since The state began substitutes and has promoted a special national label for products that qualify as organic since Denmark is thus the first country in the world to substitute organic farming, promoting the concept and organizing the distribution of organic products.

This financial support has in recent years been cut due to organic farming increasing in profitability, and some goods surpassing the profitability of conventional farming in domestic markets. In general, the financial situation of organic farmers in Denmark boomed between and , while in serious nationwide long-lasting droughts stagnated the economic results of organic farmers; however, the average farmer still achieved a net positive result that year.

The first Danish private development organisation, SamsØkologisk, was established in , by veteran organic farmers from the existing organisation Økologisk Samsø.

The development organisation has intentions to buy and invest in farmland and then lend the land to young and aspiring farmers seeking to get into farming, especially organic farming.

This organisation reports economical active members as of , but does not publish the amount of acquired land or active lenders. However, the organic farming concept in Denmark is often not limited to organic farming as the definition is globally.

Instead, the majority of organic farming is instead "ecological farming". The development of this concept has been parallel with the general organic farming movement, and is most often used interchangeable with organic farming. Thus, there is a much stronger focus on the environmental and especially the ecological impact of ecological farming than organic farming.

For these reasons, international organic products do not fulfill the requirements of ecological farming and thus do not receive the domestic label for ecological products, rather they receive the standard European Union organic label.

The Chinese government, especially the local government, has provided various supports for the development of organic agriculture since the s. Organic farming has been recognized by local governments for its potential in promoting sustainable rural development.

The government also establishes demonstration organic gardens, provides training for organic food companies to pass certifications, subsidizes organic certification fees, pest repellent lamps, organic fertilizer and so on.

The government has also been playing an active role in marketing organic products through organizing organic food expos and branding supports.

The South Indian state Andhra Pradesh is also promoting organic farming, especially Zero Budget Natural Farming ZBNF which is a form of regenerative agriculture. The Dominican Republic has successfully converted a large amount of its banana crop to organic.

The most noticeable change in Korea's agriculture occurred throughout the s and s. More specifically, the " Green Revolution " [] program where South Korea experienced reforestations and agricultural revolution.

Due to a food shortage during Park Chung Hee 's presidency, the government encouraged rice varieties suited for organic farming. In modern society, organic farming and food policies have changed, more specifically since the s.

As expected, the guidelines focus on basic dietary recommendations for consumption of nutrients and Korean-style diets. In Thailand, the Institute for Sustainable Agricultural Communities ISAC was established in to promote organic farming among other sustainable agricultural practices.

The national target via the National Plan for Organic Farming is to attain, by , 1. Much progress has been made: [] [] []. The United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development USDARD was created in as a subsection of the USDA that implements programs to stimulate growth in rural communities.

in when compared to Employment on organic farms offers potentially large numbers of jobs for people, and this may better manage the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Moreover, sustainable forestry, fishing, and mining, and other conservation-oriented activities provide larger numbers of jobs than more fossil fuel and mechanized work.

As was the case with most countries, Sri Lanka made the transition away from organic farming upon the arrival of the Green Revolution, whereupon it started depending more on chemical fertilizers.

This became a highly popularized method when the nation started offering subsidies on the import of artificial fertilizers to increase rice paddy production, and to incentivize farmers to switch from growing traditional varieties into using high yielding varieties HYVs.

Some even resorted to organic farming or utilizing insecticide free fertilizers for their crops. Horgan and E. Kudavidanage, the researchers compared crop yields of farmers in Sri Lanka who employed distinct farming techniques including organic farmers who grew traditional varieties, and insecticide-free fertilizer users and pesticide users who grew modern varieties.

Regardless, many farmers continued to use insecticides to avoid the predicted dangers of pests to their crops, and the cheap sale of agrochemicals provided an easy approach to augment crop growth. Additionally, while organic farming has health benefits, it's a strenuous task which requires more man power.

Thus, most farmers relied on modern methods to run their household, especially after the economic stressors brought on by COVID However, while Sri Lanka was still facing the new challenges of the pandemic, in the presidential election campaign, the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa proposed a year, national transition to organic farming to declare Sri Lanka as the first nation to be known for its organic produce.

This included fears that the mandate would harm the yields of the country's major crops despite claims to the contrary , that the country would not be able to produce enough organic fertilizer domestically, and organic farming being more expensive and complex than conventional agriculture.

Of special concern was rice and tea , which are a staple food and major export respectively. Despite it being a record crop in the first half of , the tea crop began to decline in July of that year.

In November , the country partially lifted the ban on inorganic farming for certain key crops such as rubber and tea, and began to offer compensation and subsidies to farmers and rice producers in an attempt to cover losses.

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Main article: History of organic farming. See also: Biological pest control and Integrated Pest Management. Main articles: Genetically modified crops , Genetically modified food , and Genetically modified food controversies. Main article: Organic certification. Main article: Organic food. Main article: Soil conservation.

Main article: Organic farming and biodiversity. Soil is the primary requirement of cultivation. The soil depletes its quality as it loses its nutrients after the cultivation of crops.

Hence, soil management is crucial to recharge the soil with the necessary nutrients. The main objective of organic farming is to increase soil quality by using natural ways. That is why organic farming focuses on using bacteria present in animal waste that help to increase the nutrients level in the soil, making it fertile for more production.

Agricultural lands are a home for many organisms. Some of these organisms are helpful for crop production, whereas others are quite harmful to the crop as they disrupt crop production. Also, we need to control the growth and population of the harmful organisms to maintain the soil fertility and protection of the crops.

Hence, organic farmers can use mild having fewer chemicals or natural herbicides and pesticides to control pests biologically. The farmers can also sanitize the farm properly to control harmful organisms in the field.

Weeds or wild grass are unnecessary plants that grow along with the crops in agricultural fields. These weeds suck most of the nutrients available in the soil and thus affect crop production.

Organic farming methods aim to reduce the growth of weeds instead of eradicating it. Mulching , mowing or cutting are two techniques mainly we use for weed management in organic farming. In mulching, the farmers use plant residue or plastic films on the soil surface to block the growth of weeds.

On the other hand, mowing or cutting is a process that works on the removal of weeds to minimize its growth in the field. Thus, weed management techniques help to improve the growth of the crop. Organic farming induces domestic animals to use to increase the sustainability of agricultural land.

Methods of organic farming focus mainly on enhancing crop production and soil quality through natural ways. Hence, we should keep genetic modification away from the field of organic farming. However, it must be noted that the pollens in modified crops are also present in the seed stocks that have been used for organic farming.

As a result, it becomes very tough to keep organic farming completely away from genetic modification. The chemical we use in the form of fertilizers and pesticides eventually dissolve into water streams and also penetrate deep inside the soil.

All this leads to an increased level of pollution, whether it is soil pollution or water pollution. At this point, we must switch to some other farming process like organic farming to help the environment to heal naturally.

Today, it should be our priority to promote organic farming to decrease the use of chemical-based fertilizers and pesticides, etc. Moreover, organic farming is one of the best alternatives to strengthen soil quality without using any kind of harmful chemicals.

Your email address will not be published. Methods of Organic Farming — An Overview Organic farming is a method of producing crops through the natural process instead of using chemical-based pesticides and fertilizers.