Understanding what organic farming is, is very essential in realizing its immense benefits. Organic Farming is a type of farming defined by the use of fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting.
Organic Farming has proven to be very effective since its modern origination in the early 20th century. Throughout our history, as humans, our farming methods have pretty been organic until the early 1900s when there was a shift to synthetic nitrogen fertilizer and pesticides. It’s been proven many times that organic farming as compared to modern agriculture has far more benefits to the environment. Let’s pinpoint a few.
Firstly, it reduces exposure to harmful chemicals. Time and again, researchers have found trace chemicals in some of the farm outputs we enjoy daily. Well, that’s what we come across at the end of the whole farming process, imagine how much of these chemicals get into the soil. In order to maximize the crop output from a limited piece of land, farmers tend to rely heavily on pesticides. These pesticides artificially help to make the crops resistant to diseases and, hence boost farm output. However, as a side effect, this method eventually leads to contamination of the soil over the long term.Also, the synthetic chemicals often used to supplement processes such as crop rotation cause soil erosion, further negatively impacting the environment. In fact, in recent times, studies show that organic farming can eliminate about 500 million pounds of pesticides and chemicals from entering the environment annually.
Secondly, organic farming is more energy-efficient and profitable. By avoiding synthetic fertilizers, organic contributes to a greater cause of energy conservation. This is because manufacturing synthetic fertilizers consumes a significant amount of energy. From this angle, it can be deduced that organic farming conserves more energy. On average, it’s safe to say that the energy usage is lower by at least 30-50% in organic farming systems. Also, organic farming can be more profitable than conventional farming due to the premium prices some organic products are sold at.
Moreover, organic farming helps combat the effects of Global Warming. These days, global warming talks have been a huge concern for everyone. Every sector of all economies is trying to reduce its carbon footprints. In the agricultural sector, Organic farming as a sustainable practice also contributes to curtailing the phenomenon of global warming. According to the Organic Farming Research Foundation, organic farming practices help build healthy soils. Healthier soils can capture and store more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This is termed carbon sequestration, it helps combat climate change directly. They also release fewer greenhouse gases.
In conclusion, organic farming is more energy-efficient, helps the fight against climate change, it’s healthier for the soil, and until any new mind-blowing discoveries on farming without huge side effects on the soil, it’s definitely the way to go.
