Feeding the world with organic farming

BY JULIE SEAMER
MONDAY, 19 JANUARY 2009

Can organics produce enough in crop terms to sustain the world's food needs? While there is wide-spread and growing agreement that from an environmental and social viewpoint ecological agricultural practises are desirable, it is still feared that organics only produce low yields.

A global study conducted in 2007 examined the average yield ratio of different food categories for the developed and the developing world. It was found that organic systems produce 92% of the yield produced by conventional agriculture within developed countries. Moreover organic systems in developing countries produce 80% more than conventional farms ¹.

Researchers also modelled the global food supply that could be grown organically on the current agricultural land base. Using the average yield models, they discovered that organic methods could produce enough food on a global per capita basis to sustain the current human population, and possibly a growing population, without needing more farmland for production ².

It is often argued that there are insufficient quantities of organically acceptable fertlisers. However the data suggests that leguminous cover crops could fix enough nitrogen to replace the amount of synthetic fertiliser currently in use. This means organics could potentially provide enough food globally, but without the negative environmental impacts of conventional agricultural practises.

In fact, worldwide, there are many examples of increased yields following the application of ecological (organic) agricultural practises. These include:

a review of 286 projects in 57 countries whereby agricultural productivity increased by an average of 79% when farmers adopted a "resource-conserving" or ecological agriculture ^3.
in Kenya (Africa) more than 1000 farmers in low soil fertility increased maize yields by 71% and bean yields by 158% as compared to traditional agriculture, by incorporating soil fertility management, crop diversification and improved crop management ^4.
in Latin America, 45,000 families in Honduras and Guatemala increased crop yields using green manures, cover crops, contour grass strips, in-row tillage, rock bunds and animal manures. While in the high mountain regions, Peru, Bolivia and Ecudaor are some of the most difficult areas in the world for crop growing however despite this, farmers increased potato yields by three-fold particularly by using green manures to enrich the soil. Furthermore, use of green manures and crop covers increased maize yields in Brazil by 20-150%
in Asia, yield increases of 175% were reported from Nepalese farms by adopting agro-ecological practises. In Pakistan, yields of mango and citrus fruits increased by 150-200% after adopting organic agriculture techniques.
it is clear that organic practises and ecological agriculture is productive and holds potential in meeting food security needs. These sustainable approaches allow farmers from both developed and developing nations to improve local food production with low-cost, readily available technologies and inputs minus environmental damage.

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