9311: Organic farming - stewardship for food security, food quality, environment and nature conservation

Schnug, Ewald; Haneklaus, Silvia; Rahmann, Gerold; Paulsen, Hans-Marten and Walker, Robin (2006) Organic farming - stewardship for food security, food quality, environment and nature conservation. Paper presented at COR 2006, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK, 18-20 September 2006; Published in Atkinson, Chris and Younie, David, Eds. What will organic farming deliver?, page pp. 57-62. Aspects of Applied Biology 79. AAB Office, Warwick, UK.

Summary

Conventional agriculture is associated with problems such as pesticide residues in soils and plants, contamination of meat with antibiotics and hormones, and eutrophication of water bodies. An alternative for consumers is the consumption of products from organic farming. Organic management is possible on arable farms, although livestock is often a crucial part of the system as manure and slurry can contribute significantly to maintaining closed nutrient cycles. Independent of the management system, it is not possible to exclude nutrient losses to the environment on agricultural fields, but acceptable loads need to be defined. Organic farming can contribute to environmental protection and nature conservation in many ways, for instance by improving soil porosity which yields higher infiltration rates and thus contributes significantly towards mitigating flooding peaks. It is the objective of this contribution to provide a holistic appraisal of what organic farming is going to deliver.

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