Aug
22
2008
help bout organic farming ?
art_gal asked:
how beneficial is organic farming when we talk of increasing food stock
to counter widespread hunger and poverty in different regions of the world ?????
y do u think they r beneficial ?????
how beneficial is organic farming when we talk of increasing food stock
to counter widespread hunger and poverty in different regions of the world ?????
y do u think they r beneficial ?????
plsssssss explain in detail
Brian
By Joachin Murrieta, August 25, 2008 @ 2:54 pm
Fist, there is no widely accepted definition of “organic farming”. Usually though it refers to agriculture without the use of fertilizers or pesticides or herbicides. Organic farming under that definition is in general not nearly as productive as agriculture which uses all the things organic farming does not. Therefore it is probably necessary for at least part of the worlds agriculture to use fertilized and pesticides to increase yields and feed the world. Things would be much better off however it that was not necessary. A couple of things to remember, that much of the world’s soybean and corn crops are not used to feed people, but to feed livestock for meat production. If we switched to feeding cattle strictly on grass, we would have much more leeway to use organic farming for grain production.
By ohiorganic, August 27, 2008 @ 9:21 pm
Joachin is wrong that there is no formal definition of organic farming. in the USA the USDA has formal regs. In much of the rest of the world IFOAM does the certifying. organic ag is one of the more regulated agricultural enterprises on the planet.
organic ag can feed the world as long as people are allowed to go back to smaller farms that raised a much more diversified and local complement of food. Currently way too many people are being forced into doing commadoty agriculture which means they farm one or two different crops all for export. no longer do farms feed the people who do the farming or the local region and this is leading to the break up of families since now farms can no longer support a family which means many are leaving the farm and their villages to look for work in cities.
If farms go local/regional and grow only crops suited to the region (and the traditional diet) there are few problems with fertility or even drought (though without water, little can thrive agriculturally organic or other wise).
Know that most hunger in the world is caused by geopolitical problems and not the lack of food.