Organic farming is typically described as farming without pesticides. There is more to it, however. More accurately, it is a method of farming which partners with nature rather than altering or controlling natural processes by using dangerous chemicals which include pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. Furthermore, organic farming improves soil quality, conserves and maintains water quality, encourages biodiversity, minimizes environmental and health hazards to farm workers, and restores and maintains a sustainable biosystem all of which take careful and knowledgable planning.
With the thousands upon thousands of chemicals now polluting the worlds food, air, and water, it is becoming increasingly imperative that other ways are found which will sustain us. Chemicals are far from the answer, but organic farming is an important step towards sustainability. Take soil, for instance. Soil is the foundation of the food chain and the primary focus of organic farming. Each tiny section of soil contains thousands of microorganisms which help to retain water and provide nutrients to plants. Organic farmers encourage soil fertility through proper tillage and crop rotation. By building healthy soil, plants are better able to resist disease and insects.
Agricultural practices that rely on chemicals end up with soil so lacking in nutrients that it requires ever increasing amounts of fertilizers each growing season. By using them, the need for organic matter is reduced and the soil is no longer able to retain moisture. To compensate, the farmer then has to install expensive irrigation equipment, which starts a serious chain reaction. This practice increases water consumption, ultimately causing runoffs which take the soil and its chemicals right back into other ground water supplies.
Adding conventional farming practices to deforestation, we see the results we have today all over the world – severe floodings. In the US alone, the Soil Conservation Service estimates over 3 billion tons of topsoil are eroded from crop lands each year and 25 billion tons globally. This overloading of sediment in streams and rivers is a major factor in the decline of fish population. One-third of all fish species just in the US are threatened or endangered. The EPA has found 98 different pesticides in the groundwater of 40 states,which are contaminating the drinking water of over 100 million people. The agency also identified agriculture as the number one polluter.
We are just beginning to understand the damaging impact that conventional agricultural practices have on the environment and that a more sustainable way must take place. Organic agriculture represents the necessary balance that must occur for a healthy ecosystem to exist. A healthy rural community should consist of such things as wildlife, birds, and beneficial insects that control pests, rotation of forage crops, and the retension of fence rows, wetlands and other natural areas. The elimination of polluting chemicals and nitrogen leaching, coupled with soil-building efforts, protects and conserves water resources from nitrogen contamination and sediment loading. Organic agriculture also requires less water because the humus in its living soil retains moisture.
In a 23-year study conducted by the Rodale Institute, it was found that organic soils helped lessen the effects of global warming through a process called carbon sequestration. Organic soils capture atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is responsible for 80% of global warming, and convert it into useful carbon that helps to stimulate plant growth. According to the study, converting 10,000 medium-sized farms to organic production would be the same as taking 1,174,400 cars off the road in terms of capturing carbon dioxide in the soil.
