Well, it’s basically a method of growing plants while maintaining soil productivity and controlling pests. It might include crop rotation, green manure, composting, exclusion or limitation of manufactured fertilizers and pesticides such as herbicides, insecticides, or fungicides as well as hormones, food additives, and genetically modified organisms. Organic applies when agriculture produces plants by using systems that sustain the health of the soil and people.
Those systems rely on eco processes, biodiversity, and cycles favorable to local conditions rather than inputs or additives that possibly cause adverse effects. Organic farming was the original type of agriculture that was practiced for thousands of years. However the industrial revolution introduced inorganic methods to increase yields. In many cases these methods caused serious side effects. It is well recognized that some modern pesticides cause serious medical damage by direct exposure to them as well as harm to the environment. The National Academy of Sciences feels this is a special danger to children. Also, when irrigation runoff reaches our streams, rivers, lakes, and ground water there are resultant algii blooms, eutrophication ( the movement of a body of water’s trophic state in the direction of increased plant biomass or blooms ) , and subsequent dead zones. Additionally nitrate and sulphate runoff from fertilizers are harmful to acquatic organisms ( shellfish, etc. ). Some studies have shown that organically fertilizing reduces nitrate leaching by a factor of 4 to 5 versus modern conventional fertilizing. Two measured areas of this problem are the large dead zones in The Gulf of Mexico caused by agricultual runoff ( a combination of modern fertilizers and livestock manure ) versus areas of The Danube River where increased organic farming has reduced areas of pollution by nitrates and sulphates.
Future blogs will expand this discussion into areas of soil and weed management, organism control, and genetic modifications. Granted there is not a 100% agreement on the cost to people and the environment of organic plant growth methods versus increasing production by use of modern inorganic fertilizers and pesticides. But it does seem that common sense and thought leave one with positive conclusions on the advantages of the organic farming side of the issue.
