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.

Productivity and profitability of multistrata organic versus conventional coffee farms in Costa Rica

Abstract: In areas where traditional multistrata coffee systems have been transformed to systems with patchy or no shade at all, often dependent on high chemical inputs, ecological and socioeconomic degradation has become an increasing issue During the 1990s, rising environmental and health concerns have promoted the interest in organic production systems and their environmental services for natural resource conservation This study compared productivity, profitability, producer-defined constraints, and goals and research priorities between ten individually paired organic and conventional coffee farms in Costa Rica Although five of the organic farms matched or exceeded the production of their conventional counterparts, the three-year mean yield of the organic farms as a group was 22% lower than that of the conventional farms However, excluding organic certification costs, mean variable costs and net income (NI) were similar for both groups, mainly because organic price premiums received by the farmers compensated for lower yields If current organic certification costs are included, the price premiums paid to organic producers would have to increase to 38% in order to equal the NI from conventional coffee Conventional farmers indentified low and unstable prices as the main constraints to sustained production and stated further intensification of production as their main goal In contrast, the key issues for future development of the organic group centered on farm diversification, agroecological self-sufficiency, and agronomic practices that permit organic farm management

Comparing organic farming and land sparing: optimizing yield and butterfly populations at a landscape scale.

Abstract: Organic farming aims to be wildlife-friendly, but it may not benefit wildlife overall if much greater areas are needed to produce a given quantity of food. We measured the density and species richness of butterflies on organic farms, conventional farms and grassland nature reserves in 16 landscapes. Organic farms supported a higher density of butterflies than conventional farms, but a lower density than reserves. Using our data, we predict the optimal land-use strategy to maintain yield whilst maximizing butterfly abundance under different scenarios. Farming conventionally and sparing land as nature reserves is better for butterflies when the organic yield per hectare falls below 87% of conventional yield. However, if the spared land is simply extra field margins, organic farming is optimal whenever organic yields are over 35% of conventional yields. The optimal balance of land sparing and wildlife-friendly farming to maintain production and biodiversity will differ between landscapes.

Organic agriculture and the conventionalization hypothesis: A case study from West Germany

Abstract: The recent growth in organic farming has given rise to the so-called “conventionalization hypothesis,” the idea that organic farming is becoming a slightly modified model of conventional agriculture. Using survey data collected from 973 organic farmers in three German regions during the spring of 2004, some implications of the conventionalization hypothesis are tested. Early and late adopters of organic farming are compared concerning farm structure, environmental concern, attitudes to organic farming, and membership in organic-movement organizations. The results indicate that organic farming in the study regions indeed exhibits signs of incipient conventionalization. On average, newer farms are more specialized and slightly larger than established ones and there is a growing proportion of farmers who do not share pro-environmental attitudes. Additionally, a number, albeit small, of very large, highly specialized farms have adopted organic agriculture in the last years. However, the vast majority of organic farmers, new and old ones included, still show a strong pro-environmental orientation.

Accumulation of heavy metals in dietary vegetables and cultivated soil horizon in organic farming system in relation to atmospheric deposition in a seasonally dry tropical region of India.

Abstract: Increasing consciousness about future sustainable agriculture and hazard free food production has lead organic farming to be a globally emerging alternative farm practice. We investigated the accumulation of air-borne heavy metals in edible parts of vegetables and in cultivated soil horizon in organic farming system in a low rain fall tropical region of India. The factorial design of whole experiment consisted of six vegetable crops (tomato, egg plant, spinach, amaranthus, carrot and radish) × two treatments (organic farming in open field and organic farming in glasshouse (OFG)) × seven independent harvest of each crop. The results indicated that except for Pb, atmospheric deposition of heavy metals increased consistently on time scale. Concentrations of heavy metals in cultivated soil horizon and in edible parts of open field grown vegetables increased over time and were significantly higher than those recorded in OFG plots. Increased contents of heavy metals in open field altered soil porosity, bulk density, water holding capacity, microbial biomass carbon, substrate-induced respiration, alkaline phosphatase and fluorescein diacetate hydrolytic activities. Vegetable concentrations of heavy metal appeared in the order Zn > Pb > Cu > Ni > Cd and were maximum in leaves (spinach and amaranths) followed by fruits (tomato and egg plant) and minimum in roots (carrot and radish). Multiple regression analysis indicated that the major contribution of most heavy metals to vegetable leaves was from atmosphere. For roots however, soil appeared to be equally important. The study suggests that if the present trend of atmospheric deposition is continued, it will lead to a destabilizing effect on this sustainable agricultural practice and will increase the dietary intake of toxic metals.