Organic Agriculture Can Feed the World
More and more weeds are showing resistance to the world’s most popular herbicide, which by the way is another Monsanto product. Is that good news? Probably, for some, yes.
The herbicide Roundup, used by farmers across the globe, has lately been showing its inefficacy in stopping weed growth.
This is a serious problem, says New Scientist. "Glyphosate is as important to world food production as penicillin is to human health,” according to Australian plant scientist Stephen Powles. The pesticide is mainly used for corn, soybeans and cotton.
This may not be good news for some, but the real good news is that organic agriculture can feed the world. This has been shown many times in the past few years. In some areas of developing countries, crop yields could doube or triple. A 2008 United Nations report argued that organic agriculture will increase poor people's access to the food market.
It’s a common misconception that organic agriculture produces lower yield compared to conventional agriculture. Here's what chef Dan Barber has to say about that:
“Let's talk about grain. Because if you're talking about feeding the world, it's really about grain. Now, if you're an organic corn farmer, by definition, you can't grow corn every year. You have to get nitrogen back in the soil. So you'll grow corn, and then you'll grow a legume, and so you'll fix the nitrogen and improve the soil structure. Now, if you're a conventional farmer, you're growing just corn and nothing else but corn. So you might look at this system and say the conventional farmer got more corn. But what that doesn't show is that the organic farmer also got soybeans, switchgrass, vetch, alfalfa ...”
So, let's not get gloomy when reading the news that a chemical herbicide doesn’t function properly anymore.
Copyright: arcticle: Marco Visscher, Ode Magazine
Original article from: http://www.odemagazine.com/blogs/readers_blog/15378/organic_agriculture_can_feed_the_world
Forward this news message:
More and more weeds are showing resistance to the world’s most popular herbicide, which by the way is another Monsanto product. Is that good news? Probably, for some, yes.
The herbicide Roundup, used by farmers across the globe, has lately been showing its inefficacy in stopping weed growth.
This is a serious problem, says New Scientist. "Glyphosate is as important to world food production as penicillin is to human health,” according to Australian plant scientist Stephen Powles. The pesticide is mainly used for corn, soybeans and cotton.
This may not be good news for some, but the real good news is that organic agriculture can feed the world. This has been shown many times in the past few years. In some areas of developing countries, crop yields could doube or triple. A 2008 United Nations report argued that organic agriculture will increase poor people's access to the food market.
It’s a common misconception that organic agriculture produces lower yield compared to conventional agriculture. Here's what chef Dan Barber has to say about that:
“Let's talk about grain. Because if you're talking about feeding the world, it's really about grain. Now, if you're an organic corn farmer, by definition, you can't grow corn every year. You have to get nitrogen back in the soil. So you'll grow corn, and then you'll grow a legume, and so you'll fix the nitrogen and improve the soil structure. Now, if you're a conventional farmer, you're growing just corn and nothing else but corn. So you might look at this system and say the conventional farmer got more corn. But what that doesn't show is that the organic farmer also got soybeans, switchgrass, vetch, alfalfa ...”
So, let's not get gloomy when reading the news that a chemical herbicide doesn’t function properly anymore.
Copyright: arcticle: Marco Visscher, Ode Magazine
Original article from: http://www.odemagazine.com/blogs/readers_blog/15378/organic_agriculture_can_feed_the_world
Forward this news message: