How sustainable is organic farming?

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2012.01.020

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

Volume 150, 15 March 2012, Pages 121-122

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2012.01.020 Get rights and content

Abstract

Organic farming is supposed to be environmentally friendly due to abandonment of external inputs such as mineral fertilizers or pesticides. Albeit conversion to organic farming frequently comes along with a decline in crop yields, proponents of organic farming emphasize the sustainability of that system particularly because of improving organic matter-related soil quality. Based on recent research on mechanisms driving soil organic matter turnover, however, it rather appears that low-input agro ecosystems may convert to smaller efficiency in terms of substrate use by heterotrophs which may affect soil organic matter storage in the long run. A compilation of field data confirms an inferior use efficiency in some organic soils and thus questions the claim of an overall sustainable use of the soil resource in organic farming systems.

Highlights

► Organic farming is supposed to be beneficial to soil by organic matter build-up. ► But data presented here suggest that soil organic matter is not used more efficiently. ► Small efficiency and crop yield carry the risk of soil deprivation in organic farming.

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Cited by (69)

A site-specific prediction model for nitrogen leaching in conventional and organic farming
2024, Journal of Environmental Management
Food production has a profound eutrophication impact on waterbodies via nutrient leaching. To provide reliable life cycle assessments of the eutrophication potential of agricultural products, accurate nitrogen leaching models are needed. Although many dynamic nitrogen leaching models are in use, their suitability for farm-level assessments remains limited when their requirements for site specific data or numerous parameters are not met. In Finland, less data intensive leaching models for life cycle assessments have been developed using data from conventional farming, however, the suitability of these models for organic farming remains unknown. In this work, we developed new nitrogen leaching models that are applicable to both conventional and organic production. While this paper does not aim to argue in favor of organic or conventional farming it provides tools that can be used to inform decisions about management practices from the environmental perspective. We utilized up to 16 years of field measurements from two leaching fields in Finland. We developed prediction equations for nitrogen leaching for two soil types: sand soil and clay soil. According to our statistical analysis based on the data, the relevant factors for explaining nitrogen leaching included soil type, rainfall, whether the farming is done organically, and the availability of nitrogen for leaching. Computed nitrogen balance as such was found to be a poor proxy for nitrogen available for leaching, while nitrate nitrogen concentration measurement of the soil carried out in the fall was found to be a valuable predictor. Organic farming, with a crop rotation resembling that of conventional farming, resulted on average in 20% less nitrogen leached per hectare as compared to conventional farming with 95% C.I. [-34%, −3%]. The developed models are suitable for integration into a life cycle assessment framework, and especially the models utilizing nitrate nitrogen were shown to be applicable to a wide range of different crop types, making the model well-suited for plots with diverse crop rotations.
The role of heuristics for composing an environmentally friendly meal
2023, Journal of Cleaner Production
Our food choices have a large negative impact on the environment. To address this, it is necessary to understand consumers' environmentally friendly food selection behaviour. To this end, we investigated the role of heuristics (i.e. decision-making shortcuts) for a consumer's ability to compose an environmentally friendly meal. Participants (N = 169) were instructed to compose either a meal to their liking (control group) or an environmentally friendly meal (eco group) from a fake food lunch buffet while verbalising their thoughts (“Think Aloud” method). The groups' meals were compared concerning their environmental impact (LCA data), weight, calories, macronutrients, and food selection reasons. The eco group's meals were lower in environmental impact as compared to the control group. For this, they appear to have followed three approaches which one could interpret as heuristics. In comparison to the control group, the eco group chose (1) less meat and fish (in particular, steak), (2) more meat substitutes (in particular, falafel), and (3) foods that were regional, seasonal, and organic, instead of choosing foods based on perceived tastiness and visual appeal. A regression analysis showed that consumers' knowledge about the environmental friendliness of food significantly predicted the environmental impact of the meals. To further improve the environmental friendliness of their meals, the eco group could have selected less animal-based foods (including egg and dairy), and more plant-based foods (including novel meat substitute products) instead. Furthermore, they appear to overestimate the role of regionality, seasonality, and organic production method, as well as underestimate the role of food amount in the context of food environmental friendliness.
Productivity, light interception and radiation use efficiency of organic and conventional arable cropping systems
2022, European Journal of Agronomy
How the productivity of crops in organic arable farming may be sustainably increased remains a key issue. We combined measurements of crop yield, total aboveground biomass (AGB) and light interception over a 4-year crop rotation cycle from 2015 to 2018 in a long-term experiment in Denmark with arable organic and conventional cropping systems. These cropping systems comprise one conventional (CGL) and two organic (OGL and OGC) crop rotations, where CGL and OGL had three spring cereal and one grain legume crop (faba bean) in the rotation, and the faba bean was in OGC replaced with grass-clover. All crop rotations were grown with and without the use of cover crops, and the organic systems were grown with and without the manure application. The light interception was calculated from measurements of spectral reflectance, and this allowed the AGB to be decomposed into accumulated intercepted PAR (AIPAR) and radiation use efficiency (RUE).
The conventional cropping system (CGL) had significantly greater AGB, AIPAR and RUE compared with the corresponding organic, grain legume-based system (OGL). AIPAR of the organic grass-clover-based cropping system (OGC) was greater than CGL, although the contrary conclusion was found in AGB and RUE. Across crops, RUE was greatest for cereals and smallest for faba bean and grass-clover. AIPAR was consistently greatest for grass-clover, and both grass-clover and faba bean had smaller variability in AIPAR between years and treatments than the cereal crops. Cover crops significantly increased AGB and AIPAR in the organic cropping systems but not in CGL. RUE was not significantly affected by the inclusion of cover crops. The use of manure in the organic systems increased AGB, AIPAR and RUE. The results show that AIPAR can be higher in organic cropping systems compared with conventional cropping systems, but this is not translated into a greater yield of cereal crops. There is, therefore, a need for novel approaches to management and the use of biomass in organic cropping systems for increasing yields for feed and food, and which sustains soil fertility.
Environmental sustainability of a pork and bean stew
2021, Science of the Total Environment
Citation Excerpt :
There seems to be general agreement on the fact that meat (beef, pork, poultry) and dairy products (cheese, milk, butter) generate more environmental damage than most plant-based products (Poore and Nemecek, 2018; van der Goot et al., 2016). Some studies report that organic farming (absence of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides) and the consumption of proximity and seasonal products reduces the environmental footprint of a typical diet (Boone et al., 2019; Krishnan et al., 2020; Leifeld, 2012). However, other studies conclude that intensive agriculture and farming may reduce emissions per functional unit (FU), due to increased yields and improved energy, water, and material efficiencies attained in the production, storage, and distribution stages (Aghasafari et al., 2020; Poore and Nemecek, 2018; Sala et al., 2017).
The aim of this investigation is to quantify the environmental footprint of an industrially produced bean and pork stew produced using a combination of local/imported and fresh/ processed ingredients. The study describes 16 midpoint categories and an aggregated score, calculated following the EC Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology. The carbon footprint of 1 kg of stew amounts to 2.23 kg CO₂ eq., with the production of ingredients (upstream phase) dominating most impact categories (e.g., 68.0% of carbon footprint and 73.5% of the single score), due primarily to the emission intensity of animal products. Although the white beans account for 43.7 wt%, its carbon emissions represent only 18.4% of those generated by the ingredients. However, white beans have a high contribution on other impact categories such as toxicity, acidification, and eutrophication, which are associated with the use of agrochemicals. Despite being imported from Argentina to Spain, transport has a limited contribution to most impact categories (e.g., 18.1% climate change and 12.9% the single score). Despite showing a very high carbon intensity, the contribution of spices to the environmental footprint of the stew is very limited due to the very small amounts consumed. The industrial cooking stage (core phase) contributes to 17.3% of the stew's carbon footprint and 10.6% of the aggregated score, due to emissions derived primarily from the use of natural gas and electricity. Distribution is the activity contributing the most to the consumption stage. The tinplate employed to fabricate the metal cans is responsible for most of the impact associated with the packaging of the stew. However, substituting tinplate with aluminium is not recommended due primarily to the lower environmental savings associated with the recycling of the latter.
Determination of soil C:N suitability zones for organic farming using an unsupervised classification in eastern Croatia
2021, Ecological Indicators
Citation Excerpt :
The dynamics of the mineralization process also influence soil organic matter, being conditioned by soil temperature and moisture (Sierra et al., 2015). Soil organic matter relies on limited nutrient cycling within a farm, so it may be negatively affected long-term (Leifeld, 2012). The yield gap between organic and conventional farming depends on the efficiency of soil nutrient intake and stability in soil organic matter (Schrama et al., 2018).
Soil carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C:N) represents an indicator of soil quality and fertility, having a major impact on agricultural land management for organic farming. Determination of soil C:N suitability zones is a necessary procedure in the process, enabling effective land management. A total of 72 soil samples at two soil layers at 0–10 cm and 20–30 cm were used in the study, evenly distributed in the Osijek-Baranja County in eastern Croatia. Ordinary kriging (OK) and Lognormal kriging (LK) using linear, Gaussian and spherical mathematical models, alongside Inverse distance weighted (IDW) were evaluated for the spatial prediction of soil C:N. Inner accuracy representing retention of input sample values in the interpolation results and outer accuracy representing a prediction accuracy at unknown locations were used to determine optimal interpolation parameters. K-means unsupervised classification algorithm was used for the objective determination of soil C:N suitability zones in five classes specified by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). IDW resulted in the highest inner accuracy, while OK with the Gaussian model produced the highest outer accuracy with the average R² = 0.7908 and NRMSE = 0.0544. Contrary to the previous research, higher mean soil C:N results in a lower soil layer of 20–30 cm with 13.41, compared to 12.03 at 0–10 cm soil layer. The highest soil C:N suitability was determined in only 4.8% of the study area, with the suitability index of 18.44. Meanwhile, the two largest classes were marginally suitable and currently unsuitable class, covering 35.5% and 27.7% of the study area, respectively. These results indicated a necessity for the adjustment of agricultural land management practices to enable sustainable organic farming.
Conservation agricultural practices under organic farming
2021, Advances in Organic Farming: Agronomic Soil Management Practices
Conservation agriculture (CA) is a resource-saving strategy encompassing three broad principles viz., minimum soil disturbance, diversified crop rotation and adequate soil cover through residue retention. Nowadays organic farmers are encouraged to adopt conservation practices to ensure soil quality and sustainability along with food security. In this chapter, we aimed to disseminate comprehensive knowledge regarding recent findings, advantages, drawbacks and opportunities of introduction of conservation practices in organic farming (OF). The possible potential benefits of adopting CA in OF are less soil erosion and degradation due to improved soil structure, rise in soil carbon stock, augmented biomass and diversity of macro- as well as micro-organisms, and reduced loss of nutrients through run-off and/or leaching. As CA and OF relies on principles of contrasting strategies of practices, introduction of CA in OF also poses challenges like difficulties in weed control, soil compaction, restricted nutrient availability due to slow mineralization rate and restricted choice of crops. Apart from these, some other constraints such as unavailability of suitable equipment, low incentives and funding from Governments and lack of organic market development strategies are also hindering the spontaneous adoption of CA by the organic farmers. Thus, practicing conservation techniques in OF strongly requires modification of traditional management practices into well optimized practices with some degree of flexibility depending upon pedo-climatic conditions, equipment availability and targeted objectives of farmers.

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News & viewsHow sustainable is organic farming?

Abstract

Highlights

Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment

Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment

Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment

Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment

Carbon cycling in cultivated land and its global significance

Global Change Biology

Microbial nitrogen limitation increases decomposition

Ecology

Assessment on organic farming benchmark trials in Denmark

Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section B: Soil and Plant Science

The World of Organic Agriculture 2011. Statistics and Emerging Trends

Mineralization and microbial assimilation of C-14-labeled straw in soils of organic and conventional agricultural systems

Soil Biology & Biochemistry

News & views
How sustainable is organic farming?