scholarly journals The myth of organic agriculture

2009 ◽  
Vol 45 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 39-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Pacanoski
Keyword(s):  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Integrated Systems ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Safe Food

Although many people are convinced of the superiority of organic agriculture in any form, there are many negative aspects that follow this type of agricultural system. The productivity of organic cropping systems is considerably lower than that of conventional or integrated systems and leads to less land being available for non-agricultural uses such as wildlife habitats, has greater negative impacts on the environment, and reduced sustainability. The absence of synthetic fertilisers or pesticides does not necessarily lead to an ability to produce healthy and safe food in an environmentally sustainable manner.

scholarly journals Comparative Effects of Organic and Conventional Cropping Systems on Trace Elements Contents in Vegetable Brassicaceae: Risk Assessment

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 707
Author(s):  
Fernando Cámara-Martos ◽  
Jesús Sevillano-Morales ◽  
Luis Rubio-Pedraza ◽  
Jesús Bonilla-Herrera ◽  
Antonio de Haro-Bailón
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Metal Content ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Sinapis Alba ◽  
Soil Characteristics ◽  
Inorganic Elements ◽  
Inorganic Element ◽  
Dietary Reference Intakes ◽  
Brassicaceae Family

Genotypes selected from 3 plant species (Brassica rapa, Eruca vesicaria and Sinapis alba) belonging to the Brassicaceae family were chosen to compare the concentrations of 9 inorganic elements (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Mn, Pb and Zn) in these varieties, that were grown under both conventional and organic conditions during two agricultural seasons (2018/2019 and 2019/2020) on two different experimental farms (Farm I and Farm II). We found that, together with agriculture practices, the inorganic element concentrations in Brassicas depended on many other factors, including soil characteristics. However, there were no conclusive results indicating a lower heavy metal content or a higher nutritionally beneficial trace elements content in vegetables grown under organic agriculture. Finally, a probabilistic assessment (@Risk) derived from the consumption of 150–200 g of these vegetables showed that organic Brassicas fulfill in comparison with the conventional ones, similar Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) percentages for Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn. Regarding heavy metals (Cd, Ni and Pb), we only found slight differences (mainly in the case of Pb) in the Tolerable Intakes (TI) between both cropping systems.

scholarly journals Combined effects of landscape composition and pesticide use on herbivore and pollinator functions in smallholder farms

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Quentin Struelens ◽  
Diego Mina ◽  
Olivier Dangles
Keyword(s):  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Pesticide Use ◽  
Combined Effects ◽  
Pollinator Abundance ◽  
New Information ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Effect On Yield

Abstract Background Landscape composition has the potential to foster regulating ecosystem services such as pollination and biocontrol in temperate regions. However, most landscape studies do not take pesticide use into account even though it is the main control strategy worldwide and has negative impacts on beneficial insects. Moreover, few studies have explored these combined effects in smallholder cropping system with diverse landscapes and small cultivated fields. Methods We assessed the effect of semi-natural cover and pesticide use on pollinator and herbivore abundances and functions in 9 fields in the Ecuadorian Andes through participatory experiments with smallholder farmers. We performed a path analysis to quantify the effects of landscape and pesticide use on herbivory, pollination and ultimately yield. Results Pesticide use significantly reduced pollinator abundance but had no significant effect on pest abundance. Similarly, we found non-significant effects of landscape composition on either herbivory and pollination. The study also provides new information on understudied Andean lupine’s pests and pollinators, whose application for small farmers is discussed. Finally, we hypothesize that peculiarities of tropical smallholder cropping systems and landscapes could explain the non-significant landscape effects on insect-based processes, which calls for more research in places outside the well-studied temperate region. Conclusions Landscape composition did not show any significant effect on pest and pollinator while pesticide use decreased the abundance pollinators, but with no significant effect on yield. This study also provides information about Andean lupine reproduction and overcompensation mechanisms that could be of interest for local farmers and researchers of this understudied crop.

Can Organic Agriculture Feed the Smallholders? Experience from Rural Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-107
Author(s):  
M. A. Sarker ◽  
M. Hoque ◽  
A. H. Chowdhury ◽  
Z. Ferdous
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Household Food Security ◽  
Farm Income ◽  
Base Line ◽  
Project Staff ◽  
Household Food ◽  
Safe Food

This study empirically tests the benefit of the smallholders from organic farming in Bangladesh through their improved food security which is realised from their increased productivity and farm income. The respondent smallholders were picked up from two districts of Bangladesh namely Mymensingh and Bogra. The respondents (80) were the beneficiaries of the organic agriculture promotion project of Bangladesh Agricultural University. Three years data were collected by the project staff and were crosschecked with the base line. Findings of the study explored that before joining with the project extreme majority (93%) of the small farmers were involved in rice mono-culture and more than half (67%) of them were food deficit. The study also revealed that at the initial year of joining organic agriculture project their farm productivity was 10–12% lesser and it increased continually in the successive years. In some cases, it crossed the yield compared to conventional farming. The findings of the study showed that 100% of the farmers have followed crop diversification with high value vegetables and spices along with rice. Due to adoption of organic practices, the cost of production of the smallholders has declined from 27% to 36% and additionally they enjoy 10% to 15% premium prices which have enhanced their farm income significantly. The study shows that 62.5% of the smallholder farmers had attained household food security due to adoption of organic agriculture. Thus, adoption of organic agriculture effectively increased smallholders’ access to surplus safe food. However, the study also explored that farm size, extension media contact, access to assured market and access to institutional support are the most important factors in improving smallholders’ household food security through participation in organic agriculture programme. Thus, it can be concluded that organic agriculture can feed the smallholders in a better way.

A Comparative Analysis of the Organic Food Market in Turkey, EU, and US

2020 ◽  
pp. 454-483
Author(s):  
Bilge Ozturk Goktuna ◽  
Nazife Merve Hamzaoğlu
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Organic Food ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Organic Production ◽  
Conventional Agriculture ◽  
Food Market ◽  
Eu And Us ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Agriculture And Food

Conventional agriculture has long been criticized about its negative externalities on issues like public health, environment, biodiversity, and all ecological systems on the planet such as environmental pollution, soil erosion, reduction of animal welfare, and negative impacts of GMOs. As an alternative production system to address these problems, organic agriculture has been developed worldwide since the 1970s. In this chapter, an overview of organic agriculture and food market is given and a comparative analysis between organic agricultural markets in EU, US, and Turkey is made after an outlook on the world organic food market. It is seen that EU and US are forthcoming leaders in the organic food market, whilst Turkey remains behind many developed countries in terms of organic production, per capita consumption, and retail sales.

scholarly journals Auckland’s Urban Sprawl, Policy Ambiguities and the Peri-Urbanisation to Pukekohe

Urban Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Silva
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Urban Sprawl ◽  
Agricultural Activities ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
City Regions ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Over Time

Urban sprawl has been discussed extensively with regard to its negative impacts. On this basis, regulations have been put in place to control sprawling suburbanization, including the establishment of restricted areas for expansion defined by administrative urban boundaries. Overall, these measures have not been at all successful, considering that city-regions continue to expand inorganically, often reinforcing urban sprawl patterns. As clear evidence of the weaknesses of planning regimes of control, these unsuccessful attempts are partly explained by a series of policy ambiguities that contradict the meaning of planning as a prescriptive discipline. This ambiguity is justified by the need to frame flexible regulations that allow adaptation to unforeseen events over time. In this paper, using the case of Auckland, New Zealand, it is demonstrated that instead of planning flexibility, there is planning “ambiguity” accompanied by weak opposition from rural regimes, which deliberately contributes to urban sprawl. This is relevant considering that the inorganic encroachment of rural lands diminishes the huge environmental potential of the peri-urban space of Auckland, its ecosystem services, and agricultural activities—all elements that encourage the creation of more environmentally sustainable peripheral landscapes as a counterpoint to traditional sprawling suburbanization.

Soil acidification under some tropical agricultural systems. 1. Rates of acidification and contributing factors

Soil Research ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 163 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. W. Moody ◽  
R. L. Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Soil Acidification ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Agricultural Systems ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Table Grapes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Summer Crop ◽  
Winter Fallow

A paired site (developed v. undeveloped) approach was used to calculate acidification rates in several agricultural systems of tropical and subtropical Queensland. The systems considered were summer crop–winter fallow, grass or grass–legume pastures for hay production, tobacco, sugarcane, table grapes, and bananas. Mean acidification rates varied from -2·4 kmol H+ /ha · year for tobacco to 34·2 kmol H+ /ha · year for bananas. Acidification rates were higher than for comparable systems in temperate Australia. Subsurface acidification occurred under all systems, and was particularly severe under bananas despite the surface application of at least 2·5 t lime or dolomite/ha· year. As bananas can be considered to be a generic perennial horticultural system, subsurface acidification may be a widespread problem in such systems despite surface applications of amendments. There was a wide range in acidification rates within a particular agricultural system, suggesting that management practices can be manipulated to reduce acidification. As the N cycle terms were the major contributors to the acidification under cropping systems, N fertiliser management is likely to be the most critical acidification factor.

scholarly journals Could We Stop Killing?—Exploring a Post-Lethal Vegan or Vegetarian Agriculture

World ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-134
Author(s):  
Stefan Mann
Keyword(s):  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Grassland Management ◽  
Nutrient Supply ◽  
Causal Chain ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Conventional Agriculture

This paper explores both the necessities and the options for an agricultural system in which no animals are killed by reviewing existing literature. It first identifies a causal chain which can be labelled as vegan wave and which might generate a consensus that animals should not be killed for human consumption. By raising issues of nutrient supply, grassland management and beekeeping, the paper shows that vegan-organic agriculture, vegan-conventional agriculture and post-lethal vegetarian agriculture are three options for such a pathway. Yet, many technical and socioeconomic questions still need to be resolved.

scholarly journals Pertanian Organik sebagai Salah Satu Konsep Pertanian Berkelanjutan

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-132
Author(s):  
Yuriansyah Yuriansyah ◽  
Dulbari Dulbari ◽  
Hery Sutrisno ◽  
Arief Maksum
Keyword(s):  
Organic Farming ◽  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Study Program ◽  
Alternative Farming ◽  
Organic Farming System

Excessive use of inorganic chemicals results in adverse impacts on land and plants. In the midst of the community, there is anxiety about the high content of pesticide residues in agricultural products. There is a need to develop alternative farming systems that are able to produce quantities and quality of healthy products in a sustainable manner. One agricultural system that supports the concept is the organic farming system. The basic principles of organic farming are: (1) Keeping the ecosystem healthy, (2) Applying the principle of efficiency to the cultivation system, (3) Conducting production activities with the concept of sustainable agriculture, (4) Producing pesticide-free products, and (6) Maintaining environmental sustainability. Food Crop Production Study Program Lampung State Polytechnic makes Organic Agriculture as one of the leading competencies for its graduates. The establishment of the Organic Agriculture Business Unit on campus will increase student competencies, foster entrepreneurship, be a place for competency internships, and as an independent source of income.

scholarly journals Education as a factor of awareness development of organic product consumers

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 39-42
Author(s):  
Gordana Tomić ◽  
Maja Đuricaa ◽  
Nenad Đokić
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Agriculture ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Economic Efficiency ◽  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Organic Food ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Healthy Environment ◽  
Safe Food

Organic agriculture provides good quality products, the development of sustainable agriculture, environmental protection and economic efficiency. To develop a habit of consuming organic food, as is case with all habits, it is necessary to educate the younger population, so that they can become accustomed to the fact that organic food is a source of both human health and a healthy environment. Therefore, educational institutions should initiate actions in order to develop awareness of the importance of healthy and safe food (especially fresh fruits and vegetables) among youth. This action has already been carried out in some countries.

scholarly journals Raising animals without antibiotics: producer and veterinarian experiences and opinions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randall S. Singer ◽  
Leah J. Porter ◽  
Daniel U. Thomson ◽  
Mallory Gage ◽  
Amanda Beaudoin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Food Service ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Antibiotic Use ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Market Driven ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Safe Food

AbstractEnsuring the safety, health, and overall well-being of animals raised for food is both an ethical obligation and a critical component of providing safe food products. The use of antibiotics for maintaining animal health has come under scrutiny in recent years due to the rise of antibiotic resistance globally. Some U.S. producers, especially in the poultry industry, have responded by eliminating their antibiotic use. The number of animals raised without antibiotics (RWA) is growing in the U.S., but there are concerns that RWA practices might negatively impact animal health and welfare. Therefore, the objective of this study was to survey U.S. veterinarians and producers about their experiences and opinions regarding RWA production. Veterinarians, farmers, ranchers, producers, and other stakeholders involved in raising broilers, turkeys, swine, beef cattle or dairy cattle were surveyed. Of the 565 completed responses received, 442 self-reported as practicing veterinarians or producers. Just over half of respondents reported having past or current experience with RWA programs. The main indicated reasons for raising animals without antibiotics were market driven; switching to RWA production was less commonly made for health-related reasons, such as to reduce antibiotic resistance or to improve animal health and welfare. Although respondents felt that RWA production has negative impacts on animal health and welfare, they overwhelmingly (>70%) indicated that the customer (retailer/restaurant/food service) believes that animal and health welfare will be significantly improved. Veterinarians and producers indicated that RWA programs will increase production costs with questionable effect on meat, egg or dairy consumer demand. Many respondents felt that there are times when the RWA label takes priority over animal health and welfare. Respondents generally felt that there was a need for increased auditing/assessment of animal health and welfare in RWA systems.

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