Organic Farming: Beyond Sustainable Agriculture

The world population is continuously rising, and that means the demand for food is also increasing proportionately. What is the way forward for humankind? Can we afford to continue with conventional farming even though they harm our health as well as the environment, or is it organic farming that needs our attention? Let us see, can organic farming meet the food requirements and become the right alternative to conventional farming?

Conventional Farming VS Organic Farming?

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The major difference between the two is that conventional farming involves the usage of synthetic or chemical fertilizers to strengthen the soil and increase the yield of the land and pesticides to take care of the pests. Organic farming, on the other hand, uses natural fertilizers and techniques like crop rotation, hand weeding, and mulching to control the pests and end up producing food that is healthy to eat. Now that we have understood the difference between conventional and organic, let us look at their impact on our lives.

Going by the USDA 2007 report, Organic farming is not just the avoidance of conventional techniques that involve chemical inputs, nor is it the substitution of natural inputs for chemical ones. During organic production, farmers use techniques that were first used thousands of years ago, such as the use of composted animal manures and crop rotation, and green manure crops, in ways that are economically sustainable in our world. In organic farming, attention is given to the overall system health, and the interaction of management practices is the primary concern. Organic producers use a number of strategies to develop biological diversity and maintain the fertility of the soil.

Impact Of Conventional Farming

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Health Issues

Pesticides are used in conventional farming to prevent the crops from bacteria, insects, and fungus. Even though they help in preserving the crops, they do more harm than good. 

In conventional farming, chemical fertilizers and fertilizers that contain carcinogenic and toxic elements such as cadmium harm human health in two ways - to the one who works in the field (farmer) and to the consumers.

In the process of mixing and spraying these chemicals on the field manually, there is every chance that there can be an act of ignorance or inappropriate dressing, which can lead to exposure of farmers to the particulates/ aerosol created by spraying these chemicals in the field. If these chemicals enter even in minute amounts every time, over some time, farmers' health will irrecoverably deteriorate. 

Also, the pesticides used in conventional farming somehow find their way into the products produced, such as fruits, vegetables, etc. during the process of their growth in the form of residues. That may not affect on an immediate basis, but when consumed daily, these residues pileup in different organs of the consumer, may it be animals or humans.

These chemicals, as stated earlier, are carcinogenic and also hold the potential to cause neural problems in children, which then causes several acute as well as chronic diseases.

The acute health effects include rashes, diarrhea, dizziness, stinging eyes, allergies, and nausea. Chronic health effects include cancer, birth defects, reproductive harm, neurological problems, Alzheimer's, and endocrine issues. And the worst part is, studies suggest that even washing and peeling does not remove all the pesticides from fruits and vegetables.

Soil Degradation

Conventional farming involves growing the same crop for years, and this causes the depletion of micronutrients present in the soil. Once the micronutrients are lost, the farmers then need to use more and more chemicals to maintain the crop production.

This might help for generating a good amount of crops in the short run but over a period of time, the soil loses the ability to hold water. And the chemicals accumulate in the soil and the agricultural land becomes barren leaving the land unfit for further crop production.

Using fertilizers also dissolves the soil crumbs. Soil crumbs are a result of the decomposed natural substances which include dead leaves, and clay. They are rich in minerals and are required for soil drainage. They also help to improve air circulation in the soil. The soil crumbs are destroyed by the fertilizers, which then result in a soil with reduced drainage and air circulation.

Contamination Of Water

Water contamination is another serious threat that humans are now facing. Fertilizers and Pesticides used in conventional farming contaminate the groundwater as well as surface water. During rainfall, the excessive water can’t always be contained within the soil. In such situations, chemical fertilizers and pesticides are easily transported, which then contaminates the groundwater as well as the freshwater by entering into the water stream of ponds, lakes, and rivers, and eventually end up in the ocean.

Several other impacts include greenhouse gas emissions, decreased diversity, and pesticide-resistant insects. And since organic farming doesn’t cause any of these negative impacts on the environment, we can say that it truly is an alternative to conventional farming. Therefore, let us now look at some of the benefits of organic farming.

Benefits of Organic Farming

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Free From Harmful chemicals

Organic farming uses natural fertilizers such as manure and compost which doesn’t have a negative impact on the soil and improves the overall quality of the soil which in turn provides healthy crops.

Weeds and pests are controlled by natural methods such as hand weeding, crop rotation, tilling, mulching, and using naturally derived pesticides.

Health Benefits

Health is one of the biggest reasons why people should opt for organic food. Less chemical usage automatically means more healthy food. Organic foods are known to have more beneficial nutrients, such as antioxidants, as compared to conventional foods. A 2016 European study shows that the levels of omega-3 and certain other nutrients were up to 50% higher in organic dairy products and meat than in conventional versions.

Good For Environment

Practices in organic farming require the usage of natural fertilizers and pesticides, which help to reduce pollution, reduce soil degradation, increase soil fertility, and conserve water. Farming without synthetic pesticides is also good for the birds, animals as well as humans living close to the farm.

We earlier saw that conventional farming has negative effects on our environment. Therefore, we can now firmly say that organic farming is much better than conventional farming.

GMO Free

Organically grown food is free from Genetically Modified Organisms(GMOs). GMOs are the plants whose genetic makeup has been altered due to unnatural ways, making them resistant to pesticides.

The Road Ahead        

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It is clear that conventional farming, in the long term, will cause more harm than good. Therefore, organic farming is not just an alternative to conventional farming. It is the need of the hour. Also, the demand for organic food is on a significant rise. Few decades ago, very few could have imagined the dramatic growth in the demand for organic food. But, we are still heavily dependent on conventional farming for our food. The problem is that conventional farming is continuously decreasing the agricultural lands, which means we will have even less land area for future generations. Therefore, we need to shift to organic farming as soon as possible.

Can organic farming feed the world?

According to the research of Rodale Institute, saying that there is a drastic difference in yields of conventional and organic is untrue. They found out that organic farming performs 40% better in adverse weather conditions like drought. Here the problem is with demand and accessibility.

As a consumer, we can create demand and help ourselves in this cause in terms of good health for ourselves and for generations to come by choosing organic food over conventional food. Also, as more and more people go for organic food, prices would significantly go down.

As a producer, we can try adopting the organic farming techniques and make the organic produce available to consumers in different forums with the help of technology. And this move would ensure better health for a producer too, as now they wouldn’t be coming in direct contact with the chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Changing to organic farming also has long term benefits as it will prevent the agricultural land from getting barren over the years, hence saving our next generations from dying out of hunger.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism

https://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/organic-productionorganic-food-information-access-tools

https://rodaleinstitute.org/blog/can-organic-feed-the-world/

https://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/archive/2016/02/organicandnon-organicmilkandmeat/

https://justplaincooking.ca/ways-conventional-farming-is-killing-us/