Is organic agriculture capable of competing with industrial?
The organic approach to crop cultivation. Influence of rising food production with conventional or intensive methods on the environment. Soil degradation, water contamination, global warming and malnutrition is result of industrial agriculture methods.
| Рубрика | Экология и охрана природы |
| Вид | реферат |
| Язык | английский |
| Дата добавления | 25.03.2015 |
| Размер файла | 556,8 K |
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Content
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Environmental impacts
- Food safety and nutritional value
- Economic performance
- Conclusion
- Reflective component
- Reference list
Abstract
Along with famine and malnutrition problems there are significant environmental issues which are partly caused by industrial agriculture (IA). IA is the most wide-spread agricultural system even though it is known that IA negatively affects the environment. That is why new environmentally friendly and productive crop growth approaches have to be introduced. One of the possible solutions is organic agriculture (OA). In this paper, OA and IA will be compared using the criteria of effects on the environment, safety and nutritional value, and economic performance to show that OA should be encouraged to replace IA in the future. It will be proven that OA is less harmful for biodiversity and safe for soil quality. Also, despite lower productivity and higher labour consumption, OA can be as profitable as IA because for farmers of high demand and price on organic products along with less energy use.
Introduction
The world population is expected to reach approximately 9 billion by 2050 (Cohen 2003). This growth will cause increasing demand for food and, therefore, pressure on agriculture. However, rising food production with conventional or intensive methods will negatively affect the environment and society since it is known that industrial agriculture methods lead to soil degradation, water contamination, global warming and possibly malnutrition. Therefore, new approaches should be introduced in order to avoid these negative effects.organic agriculture is supposed to be the solution for the problem. As the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines it: "Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony" (USDA 1995 quoted in Gold 2007). At the same time, the organic approach is claimed for being less productive than the industrial approach as it uses alternative methods for weed management, pest control, and soil fertilizing that are considered less effective than chemicals. In this paper industrial agriculture (IA) and organic agriculture (OA) crop growth methods will be compared. In particular, the effects on the environment, human diet and also economic performance will be evaluated to show that the organic approach to agriculture should be encouraged to replace industrial agriculture in future.
Environmental impacts
There are several methods in industrial agriculture providing nutrients to soil and removing weeds and pests, however some of them contribute to soil degradation, water resources exhaustion, greenhouse gas emission and biodiversity reduction. Particularly, soil may be damaged in different ways. For instance, when plants and trees that were protecting land from wind and flood are removed, field becomes more vulnerable for erosion (Blum 2008; Hester and Harrison 2012). Degradation also occurs because of tillage and heavy vehicle wheels that destruct soil structure and, thus decrease its water storage capacity and increase likelihood of flood. Moreover, if the amount of pesticides, artificial fertilizers, and herbicides containing heavy metals or acids is high, they accumulate on the ground and create toxic substances that lead to soil destruction (ibid). Soil also loses its nutritional value because of constant cultivation of the same crop, also known as monoculture, which is one of the main features of IA. It is known that soil quality is the main factor of agricultural efficiency that is why continuous degradation will result in yield amount and quality decrease.
Figure 1. Ecosystem Processes box. Source: Diaz et al. 2006, 1301.
In addition to soil erosion, IA also affects negatively biodiversity. As research conducted by H. L. Tuomisto et al. shows, biodiversity loss coefficient of conventional farming is 2.4 times higher than of OA (2012). Also, as Hole et al. claims, biodiversity around conventional farms is lower than in areas near organic farms. It is mainly connected to monoculture cultivation since dominance of one sort of plant leads to a dramatic increase of pests feeding with it (2005). That suppresses or even eliminates subsistence for other species and forces farmers to use chemicals that harm not only pests but other useful insects too. Moreover, there is some evidence showing that fertilizers used in IA are likely to be one of the reasons of honey bee colony collapse in recent years (Lu et al. 2014). It is known that everything in the nature is interconnected and loss of one species will significantly affect the whole system including human, may cause difficulties with providing basic necessities for life, and to a decrease in food security as can be seen Figure 1. Thus, the long-term effects of agriculture on the environment, even without consideration of water contamination and greenhouse gas emission, will likely cause serious problems in the near future, if new approaches are not introduced or adopted to conventional farms.
In comparison to IA, organic agriculture practitioners minimize off-farm inputs such as fuel, fertilizers and water, and instead rely more on local natural resources and human labour. It also means that artificial fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides are not used in OA (USDA 1980; Grace Communications foundation n. d.). That is different methods for weed management, soil conservation and pest control are introduced in OA such as: crop rotation, encouraging beneficial predatory insects, mowing, mechanical weed management, green manure and others (Kristiansen, Jessop and Sindel 2010). These methods help to avoid negative effects on the environment and minimize inputs (ibid). As study conducted by Stopes, Millington and Woodward has proven, green manure use positively affects amount of yields and overall soil quality. Also, Peters et al. claims that 3-year crop rotation is effective against crop diseases and soil exhaustion (2003). Thereby, though OA requires increased labour use, it applies successfully scientific and traditional knowledge to reduce negative effects on the environment that are observed on the IA farms.
Food safety and nutritional value
Even though organic products are less damaging for the environment, the main reason for concern for many individuals is whether or not IA products have lower nutritional value and if they are harmful or not? IA includes GM crops cultivated with use of pesticides and that is one of the main reasons for consumers to give preference to organically grown food. Although a Pew Research Center (2015) poll has revealed that more than half of the adult population believe that GM food is generally unsafe, almost 90% of scientists believe that these crops are largely safe. At the same time, there is no strong position among scientists about negative effects of crops grown with pesticides; and respectively, more than two thirds of U. S. adults think that they are harmful (ibid). The reason for this are pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables that, according to Diane Bourn and John Prescott (2002), were found in 61% of different foods grown in New Zealand. Despite public concern, there is no strong evidence for negative consequences of pesticide residues on human health (Glass-O'Shea 2011) however, scientists assume emergence of negative consequences after a long period of time (Bourn and Prescott 2002; Magkos, Arvatini and Zampelas 2006). Moreover, studies on nutritional value of organically and conventionally grown plants have not found any significant or constantly appearing differences between them (Woese et al. 1997). Nevertheless, it was discovered that animals prefer organic products rather than industrial products; and OA food seems to affect more positively some aspects of animals' health (ibid). So, contrary to public opinion, organic products have no proven advantage over conventional food in terms of safety and nutritional value however, there are some indirect evidence of OA food benefits for human based on animals' perceptions.
organic food industrial agriculture
Economic performance
Despite the environmental benefits of OA, it has not been introduced on a large scale because of its lower economic performance level in comparison to IA. Many specialists define this as the main obstacle and limitation for OA; and if all agricultural products were supplied by organic farms it would take up a significantly larger area and consequently affect negatively biodiversity (Connor 2007; Rigby and Caceres 2001; Government Office for Science 2011; Offermann and Nieberg 2000). Even though in general IA yield is lower, for some crops and regions organic farm yield is higher than conventional. For example, in case of research conducted by Tomek de Ponti, organic farms yield made in average 80% of IA yield; yet this ratio was highly dependent on type of crop and region of cultivation and varied from 40% to 120% (2012). Also, OA results in higher labour use on a farm. It is estimated to be 10-20% higher on organic farms in comparison to conventional (Offermann 2000). Nevertheless, along with outcomes and labour consumption, overall profit of organic farms should be taken into consideration since many people are ready to spend up to four times more money on product with an 'organic' label than on IA products (Lotter 2003). There are two main reasons for it: people believe that organic products are healthier and contribute to environment conservation (ibid). Therefore, organic approach may be as or even more profitable because of high demand and price and low inputs. Moreover, some countries provide organic farmers with financial support that helps to reduce products cost.
Figure 2. Total energy directly and indirectly consumed on U.S. farms in 2002. Source: Miranowski 2004.
Another economic aspect that has to be taken into account is the dependence on energy of both agricultural approaches. It is estimated that agriculture accounts for approximately 5% of global energy use (Pinstrup-Andersen quoted in Dalgaard, Halberg and Porter 2001). That means food production is strongly related to fossil fuels which make up 95% of all energy sources (Miller 2014) and implies that fluctuations in gas and oil prices directly affect agriculture. Moreover, it is predicted that oil production has reached its peak and will decline. Therefore, more energy efficient cultivation methods should be encouraged. Figure 2 shows the proportion of energy expenses in agriculture in U. S. in 2002. More than one third of all energy use is accounted for fertilizers and pesticides. That is the main reason for higher efficiency of OA in comparison to IA; and studies show that energy requirements for OA makes on the average 50% of IA energy use (Daglaard, Halberg and Porter 2001; Gomiero, Paoletti and Pimentel 2008; Gundogmus 2006; Sartori et al. 2005; Tuomisto et al. 2012). Reduction of energy consumption for OA was also achieved through the use of renewable energy sources (Alonso and Guzman 2010) which makes OA less dependent on fossil fuels. Thereby, in terms of energy use, OA is more efficient and has higher long-term potential in comparison to IA.
Conclusion
In conclusion, OA has considerable advantages over IA and has more long-term benefits. Firstly, OA does not affect the environment as significantly as IA does even without consideration of water contamination, fresh water resources exhaustion, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Nevertheless, although OA applies methods that are less harmful for the environment, it cannot fully replace IA with no drawbacks for humanity or the environment since OA would require far more farm area in order to feed ever growing population and, thus, would contribute to diminishing biodiversity. Secondly, organic products are considered by the majority of people healthier and more nutritious in comparison to products of conventional agriculture since there is no clear evidence that pesticide residues do not negatively affect human health. In terms of economic performance, organic agriculture practitioners have nearly the same income as industrial farmers, despite generally lower yield amount and higher labour use. The features of organic agriculture that make it as profitable as conventional are lower off-farm inputs, high demand, high prices along with potential governmental subsidies. Finally, organic farms are less dependent on oil and gas meaning they will become more sustainable in future if fossil fuels shortage will cause global energy crisis. Thus, the organic approach to crop cultivation should be encouraged and OA share in global food supply should be increased in order to conserve environment, prevent possible negative effects of pesticides on human health and achieve sustainability in agriculture.
Reflective component
There were several difficulties I faced while working on my research project. Choosing a title was one of the main obstacles. When I wrote my preparatory project paper I found out that there are a lot of sources on agriculture so I have decided to write on this topic, however narrowing it took almost a month. First, I was looking at special techniques such as monoculture, but there were not many sources about them, so I instead chose organic agriculture because I considered it the most interesting and plausible topic.
After I chose my title, I found that environmental impacts alone could take 2000 words to evaluate, so I had to write very concisely and focus on the soil degradation and biodiversity reduction only. Moreover, there are more counter-arguments on the OA usefulness. For example, as technology develop, IA may become less damaging and extremely effective approach in comparison to OA. I could not fit these into the essay because of word limit, that is why I have decided to focus on three criteria.
Overall, I have improved my writing skills: in particular I improved my punctuating, organizing ideas, using sources and planning my work. Also, I understood the importance of narrowing the topic as with more narrow topic I could evaluate more deeply the environmental impacts or food safety or economic performance of OA and IA.
Reference list
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