Organic Agriculture can feed the Wo
The Rodale Institute has released a 30-year report on its Food Systems Trial (FST), the longest running side-by-side scientific comparison of conventional and organic farming techniques in the world.
The study shows that organic practices, including using cover crops, organic manure, and crop rotations, produced yields equivalent to conventional farms. the results of the study include:
- Organic yields match conventional yields.
- Organic outperforms conventional in years of drought.
- Organic farming systems build rather than deplete soil organic matter, making it a more sustainable system.
- Organic farming uses 45% less energy and is more efficient.
- Conventional systems produce 40% more greenhouse gases.
- Organic farming systems are more profitable than conventional.
The FST found that the organically grown crops were much more profitable, earning $558 per acre per year, compared to conventional crops which were sold for $190 per acre per year. The high price of organic foods played a key role in the difference, but the Rodale Institute says that organic crops would be competitive even without elevated organic food prices, because of marginally lower input costs.
The report states that “we have shown that organic can feed the world. Now it is time to take on the matter of feeding the world well.”
To download the report from the Rodale Institute, click here.