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Environmental Impacts of Organic Farming

Birkhofer, Klaus LU ; Smith, Henrik G. LU and Rundlöf, Maj LU orcid (2016) p.1-7
Abstract
Organic agriculture is a production system that aims at sustaining healthy soils, ecosystems and people by prohibiting the application of synthetic pesticides and fertilisers in crop production and by emphasising animal welfare in livestock breeding. This article shows that organic agriculture is characterised by higher soil quality and reduced nutrient or pesticide leaching compared to nonorganic agriculture, but that positive effects on biological control services or emission of greenhouse gases are less evident. Yield gaps between organic and nonorganic agriculture are on average 20%, but vary between crops and regions. Given the environmental risks that are associated with intensive, nonorganic agriculture, farming practices should be... (More)
Organic agriculture is a production system that aims at sustaining healthy soils, ecosystems and people by prohibiting the application of synthetic pesticides and fertilisers in crop production and by emphasising animal welfare in livestock breeding. This article shows that organic agriculture is characterised by higher soil quality and reduced nutrient or pesticide leaching compared to nonorganic agriculture, but that positive effects on biological control services or emission of greenhouse gases are less evident. Yield gaps between organic and nonorganic agriculture are on average 20%, but vary between crops and regions. Given the environmental risks that are associated with intensive, nonorganic agriculture, farming practices should be modified to decrease risks. Organic agriculture can be a more environmentally friendly alternative, but individual farming practices need improvement to meet the demands of a growing human population. Further growth of the organic farming sector will contribute to reduce the negative environmental impact of agriculture. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
eLS
pages
1 - 7
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
ISBN
9780470015902
DOI
10.1002/9780470015902.a0026341
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
de365f98-a718-46ff-a6dd-97148a3d8394
date added to LUP
2019-05-23 21:46:13
date last changed
2023-05-09 08:22:35
@inbook{de365f98-a718-46ff-a6dd-97148a3d8394,
  abstract     = {{Organic agriculture is a production system that aims at sustaining healthy soils, ecosystems and people by prohibiting the application of synthetic pesticides and fertilisers in crop production and by emphasising animal welfare in livestock breeding. This article shows that organic agriculture is characterised by higher soil quality and reduced nutrient or pesticide leaching compared to nonorganic agriculture, but that positive effects on biological control services or emission of greenhouse gases are less evident. Yield gaps between organic and nonorganic agriculture are on average 20%, but vary between crops and regions. Given the environmental risks that are associated with intensive, nonorganic agriculture, farming practices should be modified to decrease risks. Organic agriculture can be a more environmentally friendly alternative, but individual farming practices need improvement to meet the demands of a growing human population. Further growth of the organic farming sector will contribute to reduce the negative environmental impact of agriculture.}},
  author       = {{Birkhofer, Klaus and Smith, Henrik G. and Rundlöf, Maj}},
  booktitle    = {{eLS}},
  isbn         = {{9780470015902}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1--7}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  title        = {{Environmental Impacts of Organic Farming}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470015902.a0026341}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/9780470015902.a0026341}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}