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Organic agriculture in the twenty-first century

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Organic agriculture has a history of being contentious and is considered by some as an inefficient approach to food production. Yet organic foods and beverages are a rapidly growing market segment in the global food industry. Here, we examine the performance of organic farming in light of four key sustainability metrics: productivity, environmental impact, economic viability and social wellbeing. Organic farming systems produce lower yields compared with conventional agriculture. However, they are more profitable and environmentally friendly, and deliver equally or more nutritious foods that contain less (or no) pesticide residues, compared with conventional farming. Moreover, initial evidence indicates that organic agricultural systems deliver greater ecosystem services and social benefits. Although organic agriculture has an untapped role to play when it comes to the establishment of sustainable farming systems, no single approach will safely feed the planet. Rather, a blend of organic and other innovative farming systems is needed. Significant barriers exist to adopting these systems, however, and a diversity of policy instruments will be required to facilitate their development and implementation.
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© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved
Progressing organics
To be sustainable, any farm must meet four goals: productivity, environ-
mental soundness, financial viability and social responsibility. Organic agri-
culture balances multiple sustainability benefits but can it contribute more
to safely feeding the world?
See Nature Plants 1, 15221 (2016).
Image: J. Richardson
Design: S. Witham
c
2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.
NATURE PLANTS | VOL 2 | FEBRUARY 2016 | www.nature.com/natureplants 1
Organic agriculture has a history of being contentious.
Emblematic of this, and representing the prevailing attitudes
of many farmers and scientists in the 1970s and 1980s, are
the unsympathetic words uttered in 1971by then US Secretary of
Agriculture Earl Butz: “Before we go back to organic agriculture in
this country, somebody must decide which 50 million Americans
we are going to let starve or go hungry”1. At the turn of the twenty-
rst century, sceptics considered organic agriculture to be ideologi-
cally driven and inecient2,3. ey argued that organic agriculture
relies on more land to produce the same amount of food as con-
ventional agriculture and that adopting organic agriculture on too
large a scale could potentially threaten the world’s forests, wetlands
and grasslands2,3. ey also asserted that organic agriculture has too
many shortcomings and poor solutions to agricultural problems2,4.
Organic agriculture is still considered by some critics as being an
inecient approach to food security5,6 and a farming system that
will become less relevant in the future6.
Yet the number of organic farms, the extent of organically farmed
land, the amount of research funding devoted to organic farming and
the market size for organic foods have steadily increased7. Sales of
organic foods and beverages are rapidly growing, increasing almost
vefold between 1999and 2013to US$72 billion (ref.7; Fig.1); this
2013 gure is projected to double by 2018. Moreover, recent interna-
tional reports recognize organic agriculture as an innovative farm-
ing system that balances multiple sustainability goals and will be of
increasing importance in global food and ecosystem security8–10.
Here, we review the performance of organic farming systems
in the context of sustainability metrics and global challenges, and
examine some of the barriers to the adoption of organic farming
systems and the policies needed to overcome them.
Organic practices and certification
Organic agriculture, sometimes called biological or ecological
agriculture, combines traditional conservation-minded farming
methods with modern farming technologies. It emphasizes rotating
crops, managing pests naturally, diversifying crops and livestock,
and improving the soil with compost additions and animal and
green manures (Fig.2). Organic farmers use modern equipment,
improved crop varieties, soil and water conservation practices, and
Organic agriculture in the twenty-first century
John P. Reganold* and Jonathan M. Wachter
Organic agriculture has a history of being contentious and is considered by some as an inecient approach to food production.
Yet organic foods and beverages are a rapidly growing market segment in the global food industry. Here, we examine the per-
formance of organic farming in light of four key sustainability metrics: productivity, environmental impact, economic viability
and social wellbeing. Organic farming systems produce lower yields compared with conventional agriculture. However, they are
more profitable and environmentally friendly, and deliver equally or more nutritious foods that contain less (or no) pesticide
residues, compared with conventional farming. Moreover, initial evidence indicates that organic agricultural systems deliver
greater ecosystem services and social benefits. Although organic agriculture has an untapped role to play when it comes to the
establishment of sustainable farming systems, no single approach will safely feed the planet. Rather, a blend of organic and
other innovative farming systems is needed. Significant barriers exist to adopting these systems, however, and a diversity of
policy instruments will be required to facilitate their development and implementation.
the latest innovations in feeding and handling livestock. Organic
farming systems range from strict closed-cycle systems that go
beyond organic certication guidelines by limiting external inputs
as much as possible to more standard systems that simply follow
organic certication guidelines.
Rudolf Steiner’s 1924 course on biodynamic agriculture sparked
the evolution of organic agriculture in Europe1. Organic agricul-
ture was established in its own right in the 1930s and 1940s, being
developed in Britain by Lady Eve Balfour and Sir Albert Howard,
in Switzerland by Hans Mueller, in the United States by J. I. Rodale
and in Japan by Masanobu Fukuoka1. By the 1970s, organic foods
had grown in popularity, prompting the rst organic certication
standards to be draed in Europe and the United States, and com-
mencing an ongoing evolution of certiers that now includes 283
organic certication bodies worldwide operating in 170 countries7.
is proliferation of certiers reects both a complex history of
sometimes competing independent standards and the demand for
access to certiers around the world.
Many farms in both developed and less-developed countries
implement organic practices but are not certied organic. However,
growers are increasingly turning to certied organic farming sys-
tems as a way to provide verication of production methods,
decrease reliance on non-renewable resources, capture high-value
markets and premium prices, and boost farm income. Although
requirements vary slightly between certifying agencies, they pro-
mote soil quality, crop rotations, animal and plant diversity, bio-
logical processes, and animal welfare, while generally prohibiting
irradiation, sewage sludge, genetic engineering, the prophylactic
use of antibiotics, and virtually all synthetic pesticides and fertiliz-
ers. Standards continue to evolve with changing technologies and
socioecological conditions; some requirements are based on scien-
tic evidence, whereas others are driven by ideology.
As most certication standards originated in temperate devel-
oped countries, they are not always applicable in other regions, espe-
cially in less-developed countries. High demand for organic foods
in Europe and North America has resulted in the import of organic
foods from large farms in less-developed countries7. Although pre-
mium prices for exported foods may be benecial to farmers, the
inaccessibility of many of these foods to local consumers raises
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA.
*e-mail: reganold@wsu.edu
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questions about food security and social equity. Participatory guar-
antee systems, which rely on local stakeholder verication, have
emerged as a more locally focused alternative to traditional certi-
cation7, and could lead to the development of more locally relevant
visions for the production and consumption of organic foods.
Sustainability of organic agriculture
About 38% of Earth’s land cover is occupied by agriculture11.
Although agriculture provides growing supplies of food and other
products, it is a major contributor to greenhouse gases, biodiversity
loss, agrochemical pollution and soil degradation12–14. Most of these
environmental consequences come from arable land, which com-
prises around 12% of the land cover11. e challenge of feeding a
growing population expected to reach 9to 10 billion people by 2050
while protecting the environment is daunting. Adopting truly sus-
tainable farming systems on a wide scale is our best opportunity for
meeting this grand challenge and ensuring future food and ecosys-
tem security. Concerns about the unsustainability of conventional
agriculture have promoted interest in other farming systems, such
as organic, integrated and conservation agriculture8–10.
According to a US National Academy of Sciences report10, any
farm, be it organic or conventional, can only be deemed sustain-
able if it produces adequate amounts of high-quality food, enhances
the natural-resource base and environment, is nancially viable,
and contributes to the wellbeing of farmers and their communi-
ties. With the rise of organic farming in the past two decades, hun-
dreds of research studies comparing dierent aspects of organic and
conventional farming systems have been published. is section
focuses on assessing such comparison studies across these four sus-
tainability areas.
Production. Production includes crop and animal yield and their
quality. Numerous individual studies have compared yield dier-
ences between organic and conventional systems. ese data have
been synthesized in several meta-analyses or reviews; accord-
ing to these studies, yield averages are 8to 25% lower in organic
systems15–19. However, with certain crops, growing conditions and
management practices, organic systems come closer to matching
conventional systems in terms of yields. According to one such
synthesis study, the best yielding organically grown crops or crop
groups are rice, soybeans, corn and grass-clover, which yield 6 to
11% less than conventional systems; the lowest yielding are fruits
and wheat, which yield 28and 27% less, respectively17. Another
meta-analysis found fruits, soybeans and oil seed to be the highest
yielding organic crops, and wheat and vegetables the lowest, yield-
ing 37and 33% less than conventional systems respectively18. In
cases where organic crop rotations depend on green manure crops,
food production over the whole rotation may be lower than one-to-
one crop yield comparisons suggest17.
Although meta-analysis is a great tool that can describe broad
patterns not immediately visible in primary eld research19,20, it
must also be treated with caution, because no single farming sys-
tem or practice works best everywhere. Still, these studies15–19 give
strength to the argument that adoption of organic agriculture
under agroecological conditions where it performs best may close
the yield gap between organic and conventional systems. Under
severe drought conditions, which are expected to increase with
climate change in many areas, organically managed farms have
frequently been shown to produce higher yields than their conven-
tional counterparts21,22, due to the higher water-holding capacity of
organically farmed soils23. In addition, improvements in manage-
ment techniques and crop varieties for organic systems may also
close this yield gap. For example, direct selection of wheat cultivars
in organic systems has resulted in improved yields in organic sys-
tems when compared with indirect selection of wheat cultivars in
conventional systems24.
Whereas organic systems yield less food, organic foods have
signicantly less to no synthetic pesticide residues compared with
conventionally produced foods25–28. Studies have also found that
children who eat conventionally produced foods have signicantly
higher levels of organophosphate pesticide metabolites in their
urine than children who eat organically produced foods29,30. In 2012,
the American Academy of Pediatrics reported that an organic diet
reduces children’s exposure to pesticides, and provided resources
for parents seeking guidance on which foods tend to have the high-
est pesticide residues31. Although these data show that organic foods
Sales of organic food (US$billion)
Organic land area (ha × 10
6
)
Sales, Europe
Sales, other
Sales, North America
Global sales, no breakdown
Organic land area
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1997
1998
2000
1999
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Year
Figure 1 | Annual global market for organic foods and land area of organic
production. Increasing sales of organic food in nominal billions of US
dollars (bars), broken down by contributions from North America (red),
Europe (green) and the rest of the world (orange), and increasing total
global land area under organic production in millions of hectares (blue
line)7,96–98. European and North American contributions were not available
for the years 1998 through 2000, shown in grey.
Biologically
active soil
Diverse
crop and
livestock
rotation
Balanced
nutrient
supply
Disease
management
Physical methods
Species, variety
and breed
selection
Supplementary
lime, organic
fertilizers and
compost
Hedges,
margins
and other
habitat areas
Biological
controls
Food, fibre and fuel for
human and livestock use
and consumption
Crop and
animal
health Weed
management
Biological
controls
Pest
management
Temporal and
spatial patterns
Diverse
species
balance
Figure 2 | Organic management practices. The complex interactions
among structural factors and tactical management strategies on a
diversified organic farm producing food, fibre and fuel for human and
livestock use and consumption. Structural factors, represented by
circles, are the foundation of organic management, with diverse crop and
livestock rotations at the centre. Tactical management decisions are used
to supplement the structural factors and include the use of: biological
controls; supplementary lime, organic fertilizers and compost; hedges,
margins and other habitat areas; species, variety and breed selection;
temporal and spatial patterns; and physical weed management. Figure
adapted from ref.99, © 2001 Elsevier.
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NATURE PLANTS | VOL 2 | FEBRUARY 2016 | www.nature.com/natureplants 3
may present some clear advantages when it comes to synthetic pes-
ticide residues, the human health impacts of pesticide exposure
from food are not clear26, and organically certied pesticides need
to be better identied and taken into account28.
At least 15 reviews or meta-analyses26,27,32–44 of the scientic
literature comparing the nutrition of organic and conventional
foods have been published in the past 15years. Twelve of these
studies27,32–34,36–39,41–44 found some evidence of organic food being
more nutritious (for instance, having higher concentrations of
vitaminC, total antioxidants and total omega-3 fatty acids, and
higher omega-3to -6 ratios). Whether or not these are nutritionally
meaningful dierences continues to be debated26,43. e other three
studies26,35,40 concluded that there were no consistent nutritional dif-
ferences between organic and conventional foods. However, one of
the three studies found that conventional chicken and pork had a
33% higher risk for contamination with antibiotic-resistant bacteria
compared with organic alternatives26.
Environment. Reviews and meta-analyses generally support the
perception that organic farming systems are more environmentally
friendly than conventional farming systems45–58. For example, such
aggregate studies have found that organic farming systems con-
sistently have greater soil carbon levels, better soil quality and less
soil erosion compared with conventional systems45–51. In addition,
organic farms generally have more plant diversity, greater faunal
diversity (insects, soil fauna and microbes, birds) and oen more
habitat and landscape diversity46–55. Most functional groups, such as
herbivores, pollinators, predators and producers (plants), are more
diverse in organic farming systems51–53. Moreover, in a study cov-
ering eight western and eastern European countries, insecticides
and fungicides had consistently negative eects on biodiversity,
with insecticides also reducing the biological control potential in
farming systems56.
As organic agriculture uses virtually no synthetic pesticides,
there is little to no risk of synthetic pesticide pollution of ground
and surface waters46. With respect to nitrate and phosphorous leach-
ing and greenhouse gas emissions, organic farming systems score
better than conventional farming when expressed per unit produc-
tion area46,49,51,57,58; however, given the lower land-use eciency of
organic farming in developed countries, this positive eect is less
pronounced and in some cases reversed when expressed per unit
product49,57,58. In a meta-analysis of environmental quality param-
eters, organic farms were found to have lower nitrate leaching,
nitrous oxide emissions and ammonia emissions per unit of eld
area, but higher leaching and emissions per unit product48. Severe
degradation of freshwater and marine ecosystems around the world
is linked to excessive use of nitrogen and phosphorous fertiliz-
ers12,59, leading to eutrophication of freshwater and the production
of hypoxic zones in coastal waters. Lower nutrient pollution from
organic compared with conventional systems can be illustrated by
dierences in their nitrogen cycling and losses (Fig.3).
Organic systems are usually more energy ecient than their
conventional counterparts46–48,51,54,58. For example, in Germany, Italy,
Sweden and Switzerland, organic farms were found to use signi-
cantly less energy on a per-hectare basis than their conventional
counterparts, and 70% of organic farms and 30% of conventional
farms had signicantly lower energy consumption per unit of out-
put45. e generally lower energy use46–48,54 and higher soil organic
matter45–49 of organic systems make them ideal blueprints for devel-
oping methods to limit fossil fuel emissions and build soil carbon
stores, important tools in addressing climate change.
Economics. Whether organic agriculture can continue to expand
globally will primarily be determined by its nancial performance
compared with conventional agriculture17,60. e main factors that
determine the protability of organic agriculture include crop yields,
labour and total costs, price premiums for organic products, the
potential for reduced income during the organic transition period
(usually three years), and potential cost savings from the reduced
reliance on non-renewable resources and purchased inputs61.
To the best of our knowledge, only one meta-analysis has ana-
lysed the nancial performance of organic and conventional agri-
culture20. e analysis combines ndings from 40years of studies
covering 55 crops grown on ve continents. When actual price
premiums (higher prices awarded to organic foods) were included,
organic agriculture proved signicantly more protable (22to 35%
greater net present values) and had higher benet/cost ratios (20to
24%) than conventional agriculture. When organic premiums
were taken away, net present values (27to 23%) — net returns
accounting for the time value of money and benet/cost ratios
(8to 7%) of organic agriculture were signicantly lower than
conventional agriculture20.
Mineralization
N export
in harvest
N export
in harvest
Crop N
uptake
Erosion N loss
Immobilization
Atmospheric
N deposition
Atmospheric
N deposition
Volatile N loss
during senescence
Volatile N loss
during senescence
N leaching
Crop residue N return
N loss through
denitrification
N loss through
denitrification
Fertilizer N
addition
Fertilizer N
addition
Biological
N fixation
Biological
N fixation
a
Mineralization
Crop N
uptake
Erosion N loss
Immobilization
N leaching
Crop residue N return
N runoN runo
b
N added in
manure and
amendments
N added in
manure and
amendments
Gaseous
N loss
Gaseous
N loss
N fixed
by lightning
N fixed
by lightning
Soil
organic N Crop N
Soil
mineral N Crop N
Soil
organic N
Soil
mineral N
Figure 3 | Hypothetical nitrogen stocks and flows of two contrasting cropping systems. a,b, Cropping systems relying mainly on mineral nitrogen inputs
(a) have relatively higher nitrogen losses to air and water than cropping systems with emphasis on biological N fixation, manure and other organic matter
amendments, cover crops and perennial crops, and low reliance on mineral N fertilizer, such as organic and integrated systems (b). The width of the
arrows is relative to the size of the nitrogen flux; boxes representing nitrogen stocks are not scaled to the pool size. Figure adapted from ref.100, © 2015
The National Academies100. Arrows represent nitrogen inputs (green), losses (orange) and transformations (blue).
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Although price premiums were 29to 32%, breakeven premi-
ums necessary for organic prots to match conventional prots
were only 5to 7%, even with organic yields being 10to 18% lower.
e size of organic premiums awarded, and the dierence between
organic premiums and breakeven premiums, were consistent dur-
ing the 40-year study period. e fact that organic premiums were
signicantly higher than breakeven premiums suggests that organic
agriculture can continue to expand even if premiums decline. e
study also found that total costs were not signicantly dierent, but
labour costs were signicantly (7to 13%) higher with organic farm-
ing practices20. Although one of the successes of conventional agri-
culture has been its ability to produce more with less labour, some
have found the extra labour of organic agriculture to be benecial
in providing rural employment and development opportunities62,63.
Few economic studies have accounted for negative externalities
(such as environmental costs) or positive externalities (such as eco-
system services), with associated monetary values, in organic and
conventional comparison studies. Putting a price on the negative
externalities caused by farming, such as soil erosion or nitrate leach-
ing into groundwater, would make organic agriculture even more
protable, given that its environmental impact is less than that of
conventional agriculture45–58. Indeed, it has been estimated that a
switch to organic production would lower the external costs of agri-
cultural production in the United Kingdom by 75%, from £1,514
million yr–1 to £385 million yr–1 (ref.64).
A number of studies (for example, refs65,66) have compared
ecosystem services in organic and conventional farming systems.
A few of these studies have accounted for the monetary value of
ecosystem services; these studies generally show that conventional
practices decrease the ability of farms to provide some economically
signicant ecosystem services relative to organic practices67–69. For
example, in a study comparing 14 organic arable elds with 15 con-
ventional ones in New Zealand70, the total economic value of three
ecosystem services (biological pest control, soil formation and the
mineralization of plant nutrients) in the organic elds was signi-
cantly greater at US$232ha1yr1 compared with the conventional
elds at US$146ha1yr1. Factoring in such dierences in economic
comparison studies would probably make up for price premiums
awarded to organic products. Price premiums and European sub-
sidies for organic farms are oen justied on the grounds that they
compensate farmers for providing ecosystem services or avoiding
damage to the environment.
Wellbeing. How well organic, conventional and other farming
systems are performing in areas such as social equity (for instance,
issues of gender, race, ethnicity and class) and quality of life for farm
families and communities remains unclear due to limited research.
Available data indicate that both organic and conventional farming
systems need to make signicant progress to meet social sustain-
ability goals10. However, organic farming has been shown to have
some sociocultural strengths, such as positive shis in community
economic development, increased social interactions between farm-
ers and consumers71,72, and greater employment of farm workers and
cooperation among farmers62,63.
Although organic farming oen requires additional manual
work on the farm, it reduces the exposure of farm workers to pesti-
cides and other chemicals. Such exposure can be particularly prob-
lematic in less-developed countries, where illnesses and death have
resulted from occupational and accidental exposure (due in part
to the fact that it is impractical and expensive for workers to use
safety equipment)73,74.
Organic certication programmes have adopted social wellbe-
ing goals. Guidelines of the International Federation of Organic
Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) stipulate that organic farmers
should be able to support themselves and other workers with fair
incomes, while maintaining safe and dignied working conditions75.
Furthermore, organically certied animals must be raised humanely
under conditions that allow for the expression of their natural behav-
iours and needs75. For example, European Union, US and Japanese
rules on organic production require livestock to have access to open
air or grazing whenever possible, and that sick animals be treated as
needed, even with the use of antibiotics if required76–78.
Organic farming can improve food security by diversifying
on-farm crop and livestock operations, which diversies income
sources and improves variety in diets79. Organic farming necessi-
tates diverse crop and livestock rotations, encourages the integration
Conventional
Biodiversity
Profitability
Total costs
Ecosystem
services
Employment
of workers
Minimize
pesticide
residues
Nutritional
quality
Yield
Minimize
energy
use
Minimize
water
pollution
Organic
Reduce
worker
exposure to
pesticides
Soil quality
Biodiversity
Profitability
Total costs
Ecosystem
services
Employment
of workers
Minimize
pesticide
residues
Nutritional
quality
Yield
Minimize
energy
use
Minimize
water
pollution
Reduce
worker
exposure to
pesticides
Soil quality
Figure 4 | Assessment of organic farming relative to conventional farming in the four major areas of sustainability. Lengths of the 12 flower petals
are qualitatively based on the studies discussed in this Review15–23,25–29,32–56,58,6274 and indicate the level of performance of specific sustainability metrics
relative to the four circles representing 25, 50, 75 and 100%. Orange petals represent areas of production; blue petals represent areas of environmental
sustainability; red petals represent areas of economic sustainability; green petals represent areas of wellbeing. The lengths of the petals illustrate that
organic farming systems better balance the four areas of sustainability.
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of multiple farm enterprises and encourages the use of leguminous
crops for biological nitrogen xation. By growing a higher diversity
of more nutrient-rich (such as vegetables) and more protein-rich
(such as legumes and meats) foods, whether for export or subsist-
ence, a farmer has access to at least a portion of these foods. For
example, following 840 small organic and non-organic farms in the
Philippines, researchers found the increase in vegetable and protein
consumption from 2000to 2007to be two to three times greater for
the more diversied organic farmers than conventional farmers80.
Balancing sustainability metrics. Some argue that signicantly
scaling-up organic land area may increase nitrogen and other nutri-
ent limitations on yields17, and question whether the greater land
area required by organic agriculture to maintain yields counteracts
its environmental gains2,3. Probably the biggest criticism of organic
agriculture is its lower yields compared with conventional agricul-
ture4,5, a particularly salient challenge given the task of feeding a
growing world population without further agricultural expansion13.
Conversely, some contend that the environmental advantages of
organic agriculture far outweigh the lower yields, and that increasing
research and breeding resources for organic systems would reduce
the yield gap16,17,24,81. Others suggest that multifunctional farming
systems, such as organic, coupled with more plant-based diets and
reduced food waste, are necessary elements of a more sustainable
food system16,54,65. Sometimes excluded from these arguments is the
fact that we already produce adequate kilocalories of food to more
than feed the world but do not provide adequate access to all indi-
viduals82. Globally, 1.9 billion adults are overweight and of these 600
million are obese83, while 793 million people are undernourished
and more than 28% of children under the age of veare stunted due
to malnourishment82,84.
Debates aside, although yield is an important sustainability
metric, the issue is more complicated than kilograms of food per
hectare. Mainstream conventional farming systems have provided
growing supplies of food and other products but oen at the expense
of the other three sustainability goals. Environmental degradation,
public health problems, loss of crop variety and genetic biodiversity,
and severe impacts on ecosystem services have not only accompa-
nied conventional farming systems but have oen extended well
beyond their eld boundaries. Such negative externalities are not
accounted for.
e performance of organic farming systems in the context of
sustainability metrics indicates that they better balance multiple
sustainability goals than their conventional counterparts (Fig.4).
Based on present evidence, we argue that although organic farm-
ing systems produce lower yields compared with conventional agri-
culture, they are more protable and environmentally friendly, and
deliver equal or more nutritious foods with less to no pesticide resi-
dues. In addition, initial evidence indicates that organic agriculture
is better at enhancing the delivery of ecosystem services, other than
yield, as well as some social sustainability benets. Importantly, the
body of research studies has been heavily biased towards developed
countries, whereas studies in the less-developed world, especially in
tropical and subtropical climates, need to be greatly increased.
With only 1% of global agricultural land in organic production7,
and with its multiple sustainability benets, organic agriculture can
contribute a larger share in feeding the world. Yet, signicant barri-
ers to farmers adopting organic practices remain in both developed
and less-developed countries.
Barriers and policies
Obstacles to farmers adopting organic agriculture include power-
ful vested interests and existing policies, a lack of information and
knowledge, weak infrastructure and other economic challenges,
and misperceptions and cultural biases (Fig.5). Global and national
agribusiness corporations, agrochemical industries, commodity
groups and food companies have a strong vested interest in the
conventional agroindustrial model, command ever-greater market
power in the food system and have heavily inuenced public policy
to favour this model10,85. e consolidation of industries, the con-
centration of market power, and many past and current agricultural
policies have led to decreased agricultural diversity10 and have dis-
incentivized agricultural innovation81.
Considerably less public and private funding has been put
towards research and development for organic systems than towards
conventional systems worldwide; this has resulted in a lack of crop
and livestock breeding for organic farming conditions and a dearth
of knowledge and information resources supporting organic farm-
ers17,19. Historically, public funding for research on organic systems
has been higher in Europe than in the United States7. Moreover,
research on organic agriculture in less-developed countries rep-
resents only a small fraction of the overall scientic literature on
the topic17,19,52.
Some farmers face infrastructure and economic barriers, which
include certication costs and access to markets, loans and insur-
ance. Many areas, especially rural regions and less-developed coun-
tries, lack access to additional labour, markets for organic foods,
infrastructure for storage and distribution, or appropriate certi-
cation requirements86,87. Finally, strong cultural biases against the
connotations of organic agriculture, and conventional mindsets
held by some individuals and organizations, limit the spread of
organic practices86,87.
With these obstacles in mind, governments should focus on
creating an enabling environment for the development and adop-
tion of not just organic but also other innovative and more sustain-
able farming systems88. ese eorts must be targeted at improving
agricultural performance in all four areas of sustainability and
will require a diversity of knowledge-based, legal and nancial
policy instruments89.
Knowledge-based policy instruments are needed to create an
enabling environment for agricultural innovation, education and
outreach. Specically, policy instruments must: ensure farmer
and scientist engagement in research and development decision-
making; improve farmer knowledge and capacity through eective
extension and outreach infrastructure, such as the use of farmer
eld schools and communication technologies; and enhance wom-
ens educational and leadership opportunities90.
Legal instruments must play a stronger role in ensuring open and
competitive markets, limiting commercial inuence in government
and increasing transparency in the food production system. In addi-
tion, they are needed to reduce food waste, to improve the security
of land tenure for farmers, and to develop national targets for trade
policies that promote food and ecosystem security.
Financial instruments are needed to give monetary value to the
externalities that arise from agricultural practices and to empower
farmers through access to capital, infrastructure and competitive
markets88. In developed countries, direct and indirect crop subsidies
and biofuel incentives should be replaced by targeted agro-environ-
mental incentives, such as payments for biodiversity protection
and soil conservation. Some policy organizations have found that
raising the costs of fossil fuels, irrigation water and other limited
resources strongly encourages more ecient farming systems91. In
less-developed countries, targeted input subsidies and investment in
rural infrastructure are key nancial instruments. For example, sub-
sidizing organic nutrient inputs alongside mineral fertilizer inputs
for the poorest farmers can be an eective strategy for increasing
yields and building soils92.
Beyond organic
More than 40years aer Earl Butz’s comment, we are in a new era
of agriculture, as reected in the words of current US Secretary
of Agriculture Tom Vilsack: “Organic agriculture is one of the
REVIEW ARTICLE
NATURE PLANTS DOI: 10.1038/NPLANTS.2015.221
© 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved
6 NATURE PLANTS | VOL 2 | FEBRUARY 2016 | www.nature.com/natureplants
fastest growing segments of American agriculture and helps farmers
receive a higher price for their product as they strive to meet grow-
ing consumer demand93. Moreover, organic agriculture has been
able to provide jobs, be protable, benet the soil and environment,
and support social interactions between farmers and consumers.
Although organic agriculture has an untapped potential role in
global food and ecosystem security, no one farming system alone
will safely feed the planet. Rather, a blend of organic and other inno-
vative farming systems, including agroforestry, integrated farming,
conservation agriculture, mixed crop and livestock, and still undis-
covered systems, will be needed for future global food and ecosys-
tem security. For example, integrated farming systems that blend
mostly organic with some conventional practices have been shown
to be more sustainable than conventional farming systems94,95 and
are likely to play a central role. Achieving global food and ecosys-
tem security requires more than just achieving sustainable farming
systems worldwide. We need to reduce food waste, improve food
distribution and access, stabilize the human population, eliminate
the conversion of food into fuel, and change consumption patterns
towards a more plant-based diet.
Equal adherence to all four sustainability goals of production,
environment, economics and social wellbeing does not limit but
encourages farmers and researchers to innovate. e challenge fac-
ing policymakers is to create an enabling environment for scaling-up
organic and other innovative farming systems to move towards truly
sustainable production systems. is is no small task, but the con-
sequences for food and ecosystem security could not be bigger. To
make this happen will require mobilizing the full arsenal of eective
policies, scientic and socioeconomic advances, farmer ingenuity
and public engagement.
Received 7 September 2015; accepted 17 December 2015;
published online 3 February 2016
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Wellbeing
Sustainable
agriculture
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Figure 5 | Policy instruments for overcoming barriers to farmers adopting more sustainable farming systems. For any farm to be sustainable, it must
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Acknowledgements
J.M.W. is supported by NSF-IGERT (0903714) and USDA-NIFA (230470).
Author contributions
J.P.R. and J.M.W. contributed equally to the concept, outline and writing of the
manuscript, including generating the gures.
Additional information
Reprints and permissions information is available at www.nature.com/reprints.
Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to J.P.R.
Competing interests
e authors declare no competing nancial interests.
REVIEW ARTICLE NATURE PLANTS DOI: 10.1038/NPLANTS.2015.221
© 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved
... The data for this study were carefully collected from a range of social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, reviews and forums [22][23][24]. The extensive dataset consisted of 600,000 social media responses, with an equal distribution of 40,000 responses for each period: Pre-COVID, during COVID and Post-COVID. ...
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... These findings align with previous research indicating that consumer interest in organic foods Pre-COVID was driven by health and environmental concerns [24][25][26]. However, skepticism regarding costs and availability was also prevalent [24][25] (refer Fig 6). ...
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The aim of this study was to determine the economic value of the environmental impact of electricity used in agricultural production in organic and conventional farms in Poland in relation to cropped area and production value. This study investigated the use of electricity from the grid and that generated using photovoltaic panels. Farm models were constructed based on FADN data. Environmental damage was evaluated by applying the Environmental Prices method with the use of the SimaPro 9.3 program. Results were expressed in prices of 2022. The environmental impact of electricity used in organic farms investigated in this study amounted to 2267 euro/ha and 31.14 euro/1000 euro of production value, while in conventional farms, it was 32.33 euro/ha and 19.27 euro/1000 euro of production value when only energy from the grid was used. In turn, the use of energy generated by photovoltaic panels made it possible to considerably reduce environmental pressure. In the case of organic farms, the recorded indexes were 1.68 euro/ha and 2.31 euro/1000 euro of production value, whereas, in conventional farms, it was 2.72 euro/ha and 1.62 euro/1000 euro of production value. These results indicate that the use of electricity for production in organic farms generates less environmental damage than in the case of conventional farms per unit area, whereas, for the respective figures in relation to production value, an opposite relationship was found.
... Organic farms were also found to have lesser nitrate leaching and emissions from nitrous oxide and ammonia per unit of field area. However, they have higher leaching and emissions per unit product based on a meta-analysis of environmental quality parameters (Reganold & Wachter, 2016). Since organic systems generally require far less energy and have higher soil organic matter, they make ideal blueprints to develop methods to limit fossil fuel emissions and build soil carbon stores. ...
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Various efforts of different organizations to promote organic agriculture (OA) were being implemented even before the enactment of Organic Agriculture Act of 2010 in the Philippines. This paper used case studies to document and analyze best practices in OA promotion using a multidimensional approach. The case studies include: a) Provincial Initiative: Organic Village Model in Victorias City, Negros Occidental; b) Municipal Level Experience: Tublay, Benguet’s Program in Promoting and Implementing Organic Agriculture; and c) Private Sector Initiative: The Sta. Josefa Integrated Organic Farmers Association’s (SJIOFA) Experience in Implementing an Organic Agriculture Program. The case studies showcased a combination of strategies that worked well to their advantage and appropriate to their present situation. In summary, the factors which facilitated the promotion and advocacy on OA include strong support from the local government, strong linkages with national and international organizations who collaborate for OA, presence of organized farmers’ group advocating for OA, and presence of relevant infrastructure support like the Learning Center and technology demonstration farms or organic trading posts. Using the multi-dimensional approach, it was shown that OA can be promoted and adopted by means of responding to the interrelated needs of different factors by each stakeholder in the community. Assessing the determinants of OA adoption and ensuring inclusive participation of multi-stakeholders through holistic systems approach are useful for unified planning, implementation, and evaluation of sustainable OA programs in the country.
... In recent years, ecological agriculture and the use of ecological agricultural products have gained prominence as sustainable solutions to mitigate these effects. Organic inputs enhance soil sustainability, improve crop quality, conserve biodiversity, and address critical environmental challenges such as erosion, desertification, and climate change [1]. ...
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This research was carried out to investigate the effectiveness of using organic fertilizers in improving the organic seed production process and increasing the seed quality needed in organic agriculture production. The experiment was established with organic fertilizers (farmyard manure—FYM, leonardite—L, vermicompost—VC) and the eggplant plant ’Pala-49’ variety and conducted for two years. As a result of the study, vegetative growth height varied between 52.65 and 68.06 cm, plant diameter width ranged from 51.85 to 61.20 cm, fruit height ranged from 14.67 to 21.90 cm, and fruit diameter varied between 4.73 and 6.73 cm. These differences were observed among farmyard manure (FYM), leonardite (L), and vermicompost (VC) organic fertilizer applications. In general, it was determined that the first year gave better results. In terms of parameters, the best result in all parameters was obtained from farmyard manure (FYM) organic fertilizer application. In addition, the nutrient element contents of the seed samples were found to be statistically significant. Organic applications significantly increased the nutrient element content of the seed samples according to the control. The nitrogen content varied between 0.242% and 0.271%, and the phosphorus content ranged between 0.274% and 0.456%. The highest K content was determined in farmyard manure (FYM) application in both years (0.272% and 0.309%). In contrast, Fe, Zn, and Mn contents were 35.1 mg kg−1, 63.7 mg kg−1, and 200.7 mg kg−1 in vermicompost (VC) application in the second year, respectively. The effect of the treatments on soil available nutrient content was also found to be significant. The amount of soil available for plant nutrients was higher in the second year.
... It also protects beneficial organisms such as pollinators and soil microbes, which are often harmed by synthetic chemicals. Moreover, organic farming reduces pollution from nutrient runoff and lowers the carbon footprint associated with chemical production, fostering a more sustainable agricultural system (Gomiero et al., 2011;Reganold & Wachter, 2016). The implementation of scientific methods for handling discarded packaging, bottles, and containers of fertilizers and plant protection chemicals is essential for fostering farmers' attitudes toward environmental protection. ...
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This study explores the attitudes of farmers in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, toward environmental protection, focusing on sustainable agricultural practices. The region, known for its agricultural productivity, faces significant environmental challenges, including climate change, saltwater intrusion, and land subsidence, which threaten the livelihoods of millions. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a 30-item questionnaire across seven subscales: Adjust Planting Schedule, Adjust Planting Techniques, Diversify Crops and Varieties, Manage Water Usage, Manage Land Usage, Manage Energy Usage, and Manage Waste. The sample consisted of 250 farmers, with 52% female and 48% male participants, most of whom were between the ages of 51–60 and had 11–20 years of farming experience. The results indicate that farmers occasionally implement practices aimed at environmental protection, with a total mean score of occasionally implemented across all subscales, suggesting moderate adoption of sustainable methods. Notably, techniques such as adjusting planting schedules and improving agricultural product preservation were more frequently implemented, while energy and water management practices scored lower. Statistical analyses, including Cronbach's Alpha for reliability, demonstrated good internal consistency across the subscales. The findings highlight the potential for improving environmental sustainability in the Mekong Delta through increased education and policy support. While farmers show willingness to adopt environmentally friendly techniques, the frequency of implementation remains moderate. This underscores the importance of further efforts to promote environmental protection practices, particularly as the region faces escalating environmental risks. The study concludes that fostering stronger attitudes toward environmental conservation among farmers is essential for ensuring the long-term sustainability of agriculture in the Mekong Delta.
... Pertanian organik berkontribusi terhadap keberlanjutan ekonomi dengan menawarkan keuntungan yang lebih tinggi dibandingkan pertanian konvensional. Meskipun hasil panen lebih rendah, namun keuntungan finansial pertanian organik lebih tinggi karena harga premium yang diterima (Reganold & Wachter, 2016). Dimensi ekonomi yang menjadi penilaian meliputi keuntungan usaha tani, penghasilan petani terhadap UMR, transfer keuntungan dari usaha tani, penentuan harga jual, aksestabilitas pasar, tingkat kemiskinan petani, stabilitas pasokan, biaya produksi dan tenaga kerja, tingkat produksi dan sumber modal. ...
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Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui tingkat keberlanjutan sistem pertanian padi organik. Lokasi penelitian ini akan dilakukan di Kecamatan Wasuponda Kabupaten Luwu Timur dengan waktu selama 3 (tiga) bulan, mulai bulan September sampai bulan Nopember Tahun 2023. Populasi petani organik di Kecamatan Wasuponda berjumlah 21 orang. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa dimensi ekologi termasuk dalam kategori sangat berlanjut, sedangkan dimensi ekonomi dan sosial budaya termasuk dalam kategori cukup berlanjut. Tantangan dalam pengembangan pertanian padi organik di Kecamatan Wasuponda adalah tingkat kemiskinan dan pengetahuan petani padi organik. Strategi yang dapat diterapkan dengan peningkatan kapasitas petani dan juga penyediaan sarana prasarana pertanian organik.
... However, even within the organic sector, there is substantial variation in the externalities these products generate. While organic food contributes to climate change mitigation by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, eliminating the use of synthetic pesticides, and lowering potential health risks (Muller et al., 2017;van Der Werf et al., 2020), they might also support the adaptation of agro-ecosystems to environmental extremes, such as drought and temperature fluctuations, through practices that enhance resilience (Reganold and Wachter, 2016). These adaptive benefits, while socially valuable, are often overlooked by consumers due to significant information asymmetry. ...
... With the appropriate use of organic amendments organic farming has been shown to encourage soil health while promoting agroecosystem sustainability, in contrast to conventional farming, which depends heavily on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides (Reganold and Wachter, 2016). Indoria et al. (2018) Effect of organic amendments on soil health: There are several indicators that depict the effect of agricultural inputs on soil health which includes physical properties like soil structure, bulk density, porosity, aggregate stability, and water-holding capacity, chemical properties viz., nutrients (micronutrients and macronutrients), pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon and cation exchange capacity, and biological properties like microbial population (bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes), enzymatic activities (2018) etc. Organic amendments are known to affect the physical properties of soil significantly. ...
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The application of organic amendments in agriculture has become a vital approach to addressing key challenges in Indian agriculture, such as fragmented landholdings, inadequate irrigation, and declining soil fertility. These amendments, which are added to soil to enhance its physical, chemical, and biological properties, play a significant role in promoting sustainable farming. Organic amendments like compost, manure, and green manure serve as excellent sources of organic carbon and essential nutrients. They improve soil structure, enhance drainage, and facilitate nutrient cycling while mitigating soil alkalinity and fostering microbial activity, thereby supporting overall soil health. Research highlights the effectiveness of organic amendments in improving soil quality. Organic amendments also offer notable benefits for human health by reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers and minimizing toxic residues. They decrease the risks of heavy metal contamination and pesticide exposure. Adopting organic amendments supports the broader goals of sustainable agriculture by enhancing biodiversity, improving soil fertility, and reducing environmental and health risks. Nevertheless, further research is needed to refine these practices, optimize their application, and thoroughly evaluate their effects on human well-being and agricultural productivity. Organic amendments offer a promising solution to meet the growing food demands of an expanding population while maintaining ecological balance and ensuring food security.
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Widespread agricultural intensification has strongly affected the biodiversity of European farmlands. Organic farming is commonly proposed as a more biodiversity-friendly alternative to mitigate this impact. However, its effectiveness for the on-field conservation of various taxa simultaneously remains unclear, especially relative to the conservation potential of a semi-natural benchmark. Given the yield penalty associated with organic farming as compared to conventional farming, it is essential to accurately assess its biodiversity benefits to evaluate whether further transitions to organic farming can be justified. Here, we aimed to quantify the effects of organic and conventional apple orchard management, as well as the influence of the surrounding landscape, on local multi-taxon biodiversity. Therefore, we quantified community composition, species abundance, and species diversity across six taxa (plants, bees, hoverflies, true bugs, grasshoppers and springtails) in organic and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) orchards, and in semi-natural grasslands as a benchmark. Organic farming showed some benefits for biodiversity compared to IPM, but responses varied significantly among taxa, with stronger positive effects on plants than on arthropods, and on species abundance rather than on species diversity. Overall, semi-natural grasslands greatly outperformed both orchard management types in terms of biodiversity, though some responses were again taxon-dependent. Furthermore, the proximity and proportion of semi-natural habitat in the landscape enhanced both local multi-taxon and several taxon-specific biodiversity metrics. We conclude that, while organic farming in apple orchards may provide some benefits for local biodiversity, its effects are inconsistent across taxa, and the presence of semi-natural habitats seems more important for biodiversity conservation in the studied apple farming landscapes.
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This book contains the results of a study of farmer-led sustainable agriculture in the Philippines. Incorporating the experiences of 840 organic, partially organic and conventional farmers, the study is one of the largest ever undertaken on organic rice-based agricultural systems or on sustainable agriculture in Asia.
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Stemilt Growers bought part of the farm, but they took over management of the farm only at the end of the 2001 growing season, whereas our Nature paper covered previous growing seasons. Stemilt Growers created the Responsible Choice environmental-impact rating system used in our study but had nothing to do with our decision to use this rating system, did not suggest that we should examine environmental impact, and were not involved in our evaluation of the farming systems. A more detailed version of this statement is available online as Supplementary Information to this Addendum.
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This study examined the structural variables affecting the environmental effects of organic farming compared to those of conventional farming. A meta-analysis based on 107 studies and 360 observations published from 1977 to 2012 compared energy efficiency (EE) and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) for organic and conventional farming. The meta-analysis systematically analyzed the results of earlier comparative studies and used logistic regression to identify the structural variables that contributed to differences in the effects of organic and conventional farming on the environment. The statistical evidence identified characteristics that differentiated the environmental effects of organic and conventional farming, which is controversial. The results indicated that data sources, sample size and product type significantly affected EE, whereas product type, cropping pattern and measurement unit significantly affected the GHGE of organic farming compared to conventional farming. Superior effects of organic farming on the environment were more likely to appear for larger samples, primary data rather than secondary data, monocropping rather than multicropping, and crops other than fruits and vegetables. The environmental effects of organic farming were not affected by the study period, geographic location, farm size, cropping pattern, or measurement method. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
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Significance Some recognize organic agriculture as being important for future global food security, whereas others project it to become irrelevant. Although organic agriculture is rapidly growing, it currently occupies only 1% of global cropland. Whether organic agriculture can continue to expand will likely be determined by whether it is economically competitive with conventional agriculture. Accordingly, we analyzed the financial performance of organic and conventional agriculture from 40 y of studies covering 55 crops grown on five continents. We found that, in spite of lower yields, organic agriculture was significantly more profitable than conventional agriculture and has room to expand globally. Moreover, with its environmental benefits, organic agriculture can contribute a larger share in sustainably feeding the world.
Chapter
Organic farming relies on the integration of a diversity of farm components, the cycling of nutrients and other resources, and stewardship of soil and environment. This article discusses the global history of the organic movement and its international origins, the role of organic certification, global trends in sales and production of organic foods, the underlying principles and practices of organic farming, and current research on the production, economic, environmental, and social sustainability of organic farming. Organic farming is one of a number of innovative farming systems that can play a significant role in future global food and ecosystem security.
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This book provides an overview of the potential role of organic agriculture in a global perspective. Initially, the book provides a description of global trends in agriculture followed by discussions on sustainability, globalization and the relatively new concepts of 'ecological justice' and 'political ecology'. Different views on economy and trade are discussed with a focus on ecological economics. Then, the status and possibilities of organic agriculture in developing countries are discussed, including problems of nutrient cycles and soil depletion plus issues on veterinary medicine. Furthermore, organic farming is related to the world food supply. The possibilities of knowledge exchange in organic agriculture are also evaluated and how a large-scale conversion to organic agriculture would impact on food security. Finally, prospects and challenges of organic farming in a globalized world are discussed in a synthesis chapter. This book will be of interest to researchers in organic agriculture, agricultural economics and rural development as well as NGO workers and policy makers. The book has 12 chapters and a subject index.