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Organic farming

About: Organic farming is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 7254 publications have been published within this topic receiving 138030 citations. The topic is also known as: pertanian organik & organic farming.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper aims to review the main considerations and tradeoffs of GM crop varieties in developing countries and investigates whether GM crops can co-exist with organic farming.

173 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The organic farming concept developed in the period prior to 1940 and was pioneered by Sir Albert Howard (1873-1947). Howard, born and educated in England, directed agricultural research centers in India (1905-1931) before permanently returning to England.
Abstract: The organic farming concept developed in the period prior to 1940 and was pioneered by Sir Albert Howard (1873–1947). Howard, born and educated in England, directed agricultural research centers in India (1905–1931) before permanently returning to England. His years of agricultural research experiences and observations gradually evolved into a philosophy and concept of organic farming that he espoused in several books. Howard's thinking on soil fertility and the need to effectively recycle waste materials, including sewage sludge, onto farmland was reinforced by F.H. King's book, Farmers of Forty Centuries. Howard developed a system of composting that became widely adopted. Howard's concept of soil fertility centered on building soil humus with an emphasis on how soil life was connected to the health of crops, livestock, and mankind. Howard argued that crop and animal health was a birthright and that the correct method of dealing with a pathogen was not to destroy the pathogen but to see what could be learned from it or to ‘make use of it for tuning up agricultural practice’. The system of agriculture advocated by Howard was coined ‘organic’ by Walter Northbourne to refer to a system ‘having a complex but necessary interrelationship of parts, similar to that in living things’. Lady Eve Balfour compared organic and non-organic farming and helped to popularize organic farming with the publication of The Living Soil. Jerome Rodale, a publisher and an early convert to organic farming, was instrumental in the diffusion and popularization of organic concepts in the US. Both Howard and Rodale saw organic and non-organic agriculture as a conflict between two different visions of what agriculture should become as they engaged in a war of words with the agricultural establishment. A productive dialogue failed to occur between the organic community and traditional agricultural scientists for several decades. Organic agriculture gained significant recognition and attention in 1980, marked by the USDA publication Report and Recommendations on Organic Farming. The passage of the Federal Organic Foods Production Act in 1990 began the era of accommodation for organic farming in the USA, followed by another milestone with official labeling as USDA Certified Organic in 2002. Organic agriculture will likely continue to evolve in response to ongoing social, environmental, and philosophical concerns of the organic movement.

173 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed organic crop ideotypes that are adapted to organic farming systems, implying low(er) and organic inputs, a better root system and ability to interact with beneficial soil micro-organisms, ability to suppress weeds, contributing to soil, crop and seed health, good product quality, high yield level and high yield stability.
Abstract: Currently, organic farmers largely depend on varieties supplied by conventional plant breeders and developed for farming systems in which artificial fertilizers and agro-chemicals are widely used. The organic farming system differs fundamentally in soil fertility, weed, pest and disease management, and makes higher demands on product quality and yield stability than conventional farming. Organic farming systems aim at resilience and buffering capacity in the farm-ecosystem by stimulating internal self-regulation through functional agrobiodiversity in and above the soil, instead of external regulation through chemical protectants. For further optimization of organic product quality and yield stability new varieties are required that are adapted to organic farming systems. The desired variety traits include adaptation to organic soil fertility management, implying low(er) and organic inputs, a better root system and ability to interact with beneficial soil micro-organisms, ability to suppress weeds, contributing to soil, crop and seed health, good product quality, high yield level and high yield stability. In the short run, organic crop ideotypes per crop and per market segment can help to select the best varieties available among existing (conventional) ones. However, until now many of the desired traits have not received enough priority in conventional breeding programmes. Traits like adaptation to organic soil fertility management require selection under organic soil conditions for optimal results. The limited area of organic agriculture will be the bottleneck for economic interest in establishing specific breeding programmes for organic farming systems. The proposed organic crop ideotypes may benefit not only organic farming systems, but in the future also conventional systems that move away from high inputs of nutrients and chemical pesticides.

172 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Organic farming has become a well-defined and certified alternative to conventional farming in North America and Europe and is generally considered important, but it is not clear which practices will improve sustainability and maintain adequate productivity.
Abstract: There are several major concerns about current practices in high-input conventional agriculture. The most important concern in many agricultural areas is loss of topsoil (38). On average, about 20 metric tons of topsoil are lost per hectare per year in the United States (15,38). This can amount to more than half of the topsoil layer in 100 years of continuous corn production (15). Soil erosion also results in reductions in organic matter, water penetration and availability, and rooting depth (38,39). Another important concern for some areas in the United States and many areas in Europe ts the effect of nitrate and pesticides on the environment, specifically in ground and surface water. In addition, pesticide efficacy has often been diminished, for example as a result of insensitivity of the targeted organisms to organic pesticides or enhanced biodegradation of these pesticides. Finally, the general public is very concerned about human health and safety and pesticide residues on food, whether this is justified or not. All these concerns have raised questions about the sustainability of conventional agriculture (8,32,36). Although the development of alternative agricultural systems is generally considered important, it is not clear which practices will improve sustainability and maintain adequate productivity. Many alternative agricultural systems exist, but only organic farming (also called biological farming or ecofarming) has become a well-defined and certified alternative to conventional farming in North America and Europe. Organic farming is characterized by the absence of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and the use of organic amendments such as animal manures, green manures, and composts to maintain soil fertility (32). Usually crop rotations are longer and spatial diversity is greater under organic management than under conventional management. In addition, reduced tillage or no-till is practiced on

170 citations

Book
17 Oct 2002
TL;DR: This chapter discusses the development of synthetic insecticides, their use in agriculture, and their applications in integrated pest management (IPM).
Abstract: Preface Acknowledgements 1. A brief history of arthropod pest control 2. Botanical insecticides 3. Modern synthetic insecticides 4. Formulation, application and the direct and indirect side-effects of insecticides 5. Biological control agents 6. Microbial pest control 7. Pheromones and pest control 8. Insect growth regulators 9. Genetic manipulation of pest species 10. Host-plant resistance 11. Cultural techniques and organic farming 12. Integrated pest management (IPM) 13. Biotechnology and pest control Glossary Index.

170 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
2023342
2022687
2021376
2020388
2019362
2018390