organic farming

A field of cabbages on a farm. These cabbages are being grown organically, without recourse to synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or other agrochemicals. Consumers are increasingly demanding organically-grown produce, despite the fact it is often relatively expensive.

Farming without the use of synthetic fertilizers (such as nitrates and phosphates) or pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides) or other agrochemicals (such as hormones, growth stimulants, or fruit regulators). Food produced by genetic engineering cannot be described as organic.

In place of artificial fertilizers, compost, manure, seaweed, or other substances derived from living things are used (hence the name ‘organic’). Growing a crop of a nitrogen-fixing plant such as lucerne, then ploughing it back into the soil, also fertilizes the ground. Some organic farmers use naturally-occurring chemicals such as nicotine or pyrethrum to kill pests, but control by non-chemical methods is preferred. Those methods include removal by hand, intercropping (planting with companion plants which deter pests), mechanical barriers to infestation, crop rotation, better cultivation methods, and biological control. Weeds can be controlled by hoeing, mulching (covering with manure, straw, or black plastic), or burning off. Organic farming methods produce food with minimal pesticide residues and greatly reduce pollution of the environment. They are more labour-intensive, and therefore more expensive, but use less fossil fuel. Soil structure is greatly improved by organic methods, and recent studies show that a conventional farm can lose four times as much soil through erosion as an organic farm, although the loss may not be immediately obvious.

Following the 1996 scare over BSE (‘mad cow disease’), a considerable case for the restructuring of UK agriculture along organic lines was made, following proof by existing organic farms that production can be viable. In 1995, around 70% of organic produce in the UK was imported, indicating that demand exceeded supply.

By 1996, many European Union (EU) countries were converting to a greener type of agriculture at a faster rate. In Austria, 11.5% of agricultural land was being organically farmed, and between 1990 and 1996, land under organic production was doubling every year. In Germany, it was rising by more than 50% and in Italy by 140% a year; in the UK, the rate was 11%. Despite this, in 1997 only 0.3% of UK farmland was under organic cultivation, compared with 1.2% for the EU as a whole.

At the start of 2000, 2% of all agricultural land in the UK was organically managed.

In 2003, surveys predicted that 10% of European food production would be organic by 2010.

In the USA, there were 12,200 certified organic farmers in 2003, representing 0.5% of the total farming population in the USA.

Organic farming is well established in Japan; about 10% of Japan's farming villages had, by 1996, gone over to organic production.

In 1999, the world organic farming market was worth US$15 billion and demand for organic food was rising by an average 30% a year in many countries.