Features
If You Ever Needed Proof
Discussions on organic farming and food often focus on permitted farm inputs, food quality, health benefits, animal welfare issues, prices and so on. For many consumers, health and food safety concerns are the main motives for organic food purchases while ethical concerns, specifically in relation to standards of animal welfare, also play a significant role. But there are many more reasons for us, the consumers, to support organic farmers, benefits that will stand us in good stead in the future. It's official - organic farming is good for soil fertility, biodiversity and our climate.
Long term experiment
More than 30 years ago an initiative by farmers, politicians, and scientists led to the foundation of the Swiss Research Institute of Organic Farming (FiBL). Together with the Swiss Federal Research Station for Agroecology and Agriculture this private foundation set out to establish a unique, long-term, scientific research experiment in 1978 - the internationally recognised "DOK trial" which aims at establishing the long-term impacts of organic, biodynamic and conventional farming practices. For over 28 years now, biodynamic (D), organic (O) and non-organic ("konventionell" K) production of arable crops such as wheat, potatoes, maize, and grass-clover leys have been compared at the same site in a practice-oriented trial design. Initially the aim was to clarify whether organic arable farming was feasible at all, given natural pressures from weeds and diseases, and whether it would produce sufficient yields. The results showed that good, high-quality yields could be achieved.
Understanding the soil
During the past ten years the focus has been on the issue of sustainable farming. A fertile soil is the basis of all agricultural production. A number of research teams therefore try to understand the ecological processes taking place in the soil, at the soil surface, and above the soil within the model system that is the DOK trial. Only as a consequence of the long-term nature of the trial has it been possible to observe the impact of the different production methods on the soil. The results have shown, for example, that the organically managed plots contain 25% more soil micro-organisms and show a higher long-term soil fertility than the non-organic plots. Organic fertilisation has been shown to have a positive effect on soil organic matter content and soil structure and helps to avoid soil acidification and erosion.
The organic plots also show higher species diversity. Organic management promotes the development of earthworms and above-ground arthropods (spiders, beetles, ants etc.). More abundant predator species help control harmful organisms (pests), while earthworms work hand in hand with fungi, bacteria and numerous other micro-organisms in the soil, speeding up nutrient recycling and improving soil structure.
Wide benefits
But the biodiversity benefits are not limited to the soil system. Numerous other comparative studies of organic and more intensive conventional systems have demonstrated the positive contribution of organic farming to the maintenance of the cultural landscape and to increased floristic and faunal diversity in agro-ecosystems. For example, research in Germany has shown that organically managed lands host up to 3.5 times more arable weed species and more than twice the number of ground beetles. "Why are arable weed species important?", you may ask. Well, they host and feed many insects which in turn feed, for example, bird species of open farmland. (And some of them, such as poppies, cornflowers and corncockles are exquisitely beautiful as well.) The species-richness and abundance of farmland birds was observed to be higher on organically managed lands than on comparable conventional holdings. Skylarks and yellowhammers in particular were found to benefit during the breeding season from organic farming.
Advisory service
Surveys in Germany have shown that organic farmers provide many 'conservation services' including the protection, maintenance, and restoration of hedgerows, copses, specimen trees, and traditional extensive orchards. Low-input grassland management helps to maintain species-rich meadows and pastures, and ecological woodland management, the creation of wetlands, wildflower strips in tillage fields, the installation of nesting boxes for swallows, owls, bats as well as perches for bird of prey are of benefit to numerous wildlife species. It was also found that many organic farmers are interested in doing more for nature conservation - but they lack the time, money, and man-power to do so. As a result, pilot projects are now underway in a number of German regional states which offer a one-on-one conservation advisory service for farmers: A conservation advisor provides theoretical and practical advice, helps to obtain funding, organises hedge planting and other events together with school groups and mediates between farmers and the authorities in case of problems.
But there is more. "The production techniques used in organic farming can make a certain contribution to climate protection", says FiBL soil scientist Andreas Fließbach, "as in organic farming the targeted use of fertilisers from on-farm production, such as farmyard manure or slurry, in combination with a constant vegetative soil cover and a varied crop rotation, contribute to humus formation." Refraining from the use of mineral nitrogen fertilisers and pesticides also entails a significant reduction in the use of non-renewable fossil energy sources and thus a reduction in the emission of climate-relevant trace gases.
So an organic apple a day does not only keep the doctor away, it also benefits biodiversity, our climate, and the long-term sustainable use of our soils, the basis of all farming.
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