Which Farming Method Will Prevail, Conventional or Organic?
People all over the world are extremely concerned about our environment especially as how it relates as to what we put into our bodies and also how it affects our earth. Many are turning to organic, holistic, natural, back to the earth, and homesteading, which are all disciplines of agriculture that are growing in popularity each day.
Large food producers over the years have done an excellent job of providing substantial amounts of nutritious food for a growing world population, but is this scenario of farming sustainable? Organic farmers and conventional farmers are looking for common answers to this question.
Organic farming can be defined as not allowing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators, and livestock feed additives. Organic farmers rely on tried and true methods such as crop rotation, crop residue recycling, animal manure and mechanical cultivation to maintain the soil and to control weeds, insects and other pests.
Enhancing and maintaining soil health and productivity is the mainstay of organic farming. Many natural methods are employed including crop rotation, green manure, cover cropping, application of compost and mulching, Organic farmers also use certain fertilizers such as seed meal and mineral powders such as rock phosphate and greensand which are naturally occurring forms of potash.
Organic farming began as a reaction against the industrialization of agriculture in the early 20th century. Scientific research produced hybrid seeds, fields grew in size and cropping became specialized to make efficient use of machinery, irrigation, fertilization and the use of pesticides. Cheap fertilizer was available in the form of nitrates produced as explosives and converted to fertilizer as a source of nitrogen.
As a means to insuring a successful crop, the usage of genetically modified organisms (GMO), human growth hormones (HGH), sewage sludge and antibiotics in the production of our food supply gained a foothold and can now be considered a threat to our health.
Conventional farming allows farmers to precisely apply only the necessary fertilizers to the soil in order to minimize waste pollutants. Organic farmers do not have that option because they have to depend on natural fertilizers such as manure which contains fixed amounts of various elements which can not be adjusted. The most common problem is over application of these organic fertilizers because of their relative lack of potency. These over applications can very easily lead to pollution of the water supply.
Can agribusiness change to large scale organic farming and still be able to make a profit without raising the consumer's cost to unacceptable levels?
The current food distribution system favors high volume production with large farming corporate operations and cannot be easily altered. What we know as organic farming may change very dramatically in the coming years but it will take a growing consumer market encourage conventional farmers to convert to organic agricultural production methods. I believe this will happen. - 17269
Large food producers over the years have done an excellent job of providing substantial amounts of nutritious food for a growing world population, but is this scenario of farming sustainable? Organic farmers and conventional farmers are looking for common answers to this question.
Organic farming can be defined as not allowing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators, and livestock feed additives. Organic farmers rely on tried and true methods such as crop rotation, crop residue recycling, animal manure and mechanical cultivation to maintain the soil and to control weeds, insects and other pests.
Enhancing and maintaining soil health and productivity is the mainstay of organic farming. Many natural methods are employed including crop rotation, green manure, cover cropping, application of compost and mulching, Organic farmers also use certain fertilizers such as seed meal and mineral powders such as rock phosphate and greensand which are naturally occurring forms of potash.
Organic farming began as a reaction against the industrialization of agriculture in the early 20th century. Scientific research produced hybrid seeds, fields grew in size and cropping became specialized to make efficient use of machinery, irrigation, fertilization and the use of pesticides. Cheap fertilizer was available in the form of nitrates produced as explosives and converted to fertilizer as a source of nitrogen.
As a means to insuring a successful crop, the usage of genetically modified organisms (GMO), human growth hormones (HGH), sewage sludge and antibiotics in the production of our food supply gained a foothold and can now be considered a threat to our health.
Conventional farming allows farmers to precisely apply only the necessary fertilizers to the soil in order to minimize waste pollutants. Organic farmers do not have that option because they have to depend on natural fertilizers such as manure which contains fixed amounts of various elements which can not be adjusted. The most common problem is over application of these organic fertilizers because of their relative lack of potency. These over applications can very easily lead to pollution of the water supply.
Can agribusiness change to large scale organic farming and still be able to make a profit without raising the consumer's cost to unacceptable levels?
The current food distribution system favors high volume production with large farming corporate operations and cannot be easily altered. What we know as organic farming may change very dramatically in the coming years but it will take a growing consumer market encourage conventional farmers to convert to organic agricultural production methods. I believe this will happen. - 17269
About the Author:
Dick Murray is a retired urbanite who has kept his passion for gardening alive with the creation of helpful web sites such as vegetable growing More and more families are beginning to grow their own fruits and vegetables due to their increased concern regarding the quality, price and safety their familiesfood supplies.
posted by X - Men at
5:35 AM
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