“It’s important to
remember that our current agricultural system produces far more food than is
needed to provide for everyone on the planet. Eradicating world hunger requires
increasing the access to food, not simply the production.” Claire Kremen,
professor of environmental science, policy and management and co-director of
the Berkeley Food Institute, explained.
She added “Also, increasing the proportion of
agriculture that uses sustainable, organic methods of farming is not a choice,
it’s a necessity. We simply can’t continue to produce food far into the future
without taking care of our soils, water and biodiversity.”
A systematic overview of 115 studies comparing organic and
conventional farming finds that the crop yields of organic agriculture are
higher than previously thought. The study, conducted by UC Berkeley
researchers, also found that certain practices could further shrink the
productivity gap between organic crops and conventional farming.
“In terms of
comparing productivity among the two techniques, this paper sets the record
straight on the comparison between organic and conventional agriculture,” said
the study’s senior author, Kremen. The researchers suggest that organic farming
can be a very competitive alternative to industrial agriculture when it comes
to food production.
They found that organic yields are about 19.2% lower than
conventional ones, a smaller difference than in previous estimates but pointed
out that the available studies comparing farming methods were often biased in
favor of conventional agriculture, so this estimate of the yield gap is likely
overestimated. They also found that taking into account methods that optimize
the productivity of organic agriculture could minimize the yield gap. They
specifically highlighted two agricultural practices, multi-cropping (growing
several crops together on the same field) and crop rotation, that would
substantially reduce the organic-to-conventional yield gap to 9 percent and 8
percent, respectively. The yields also depended upon the type of crop grown,
the researchers found. There were no significant differences in organic and
conventional yields for leguminous crops, such as beans, peas and lentils, for
instance.
“Our study suggests that through appropriate investment in
agroecological research to improve organic management and in breeding cultivars
for organic farming systems, the yield gap could be reduced or even eliminated
for some crops or regions,” said another of the study’s authors, Lauren
Ponisio, a graduate student in environmental science, policy and management.
“This is especially true if we mimic nature by creating ecologically diverse
farms that harness important ecological interactions like the nitrogen-fixing
benefits of intercropping or cover-cropping with legumes.
2 comments:
Back again, it seems a pro - organic article reminds of Green policy, how about pro - industrial farming ! :-) ! .... ! :-) :-) :-) !
James, the blog post was reporting on the latest evidence based science that organic farming methods are not as presently as productive as industrial farming techniques but quite possibly could be.
I think we are all aware that industrial farming requires the input of substantial fertilisers and the use of pesticides and surely if the same yields can be accomplished without resorting to that use of extra occasionally hazardous and declining resources (ie phosphorus) in some cases then a socialist society would begin to switch its agricultural methods.
It would certainly be foolhardy to abandon present methods based upon the Green Revolution until we can guarantee continued adequate food supplies.
The fact that the Green Party also advocates organics is neither here or there because while capitalism exists and as long as they have no intention of abolishing capitalism, alternatives that don't produce immediate profit returns simply won't be adopted in any large scale but remain a niche product. If you are Green then doing away with the capitalist mode of production is the only possible way of achieving ecologically sound farming and manufacturing.
One reason the blog is focused on the environment is that where many are observing the contradictions of capitalist production, that peoples needs are not being satisfied although it is technically possible to do so. There are many people politically active endeavouring to change society to something they think is better. Unfortunately, we disagree with some on that objective and also disagree with others on the political manner which they advocate to change the system. But we won't be able to influence their direction by ignoring it, or undermining them when they offer valid protests. As with trade union action, we encourage resistance to protect and defend what we hold, as schools of struggle to instill confidence and organisation so we are capable of attacking capitalism and also to create means and methods which will transform and supplant capitalist structures. As a title of Kropotkin's book suggests, it is not just the factory and work-shop but also in the fields where the class struggle exists.
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