What Are The Main Advantages Of Organic Farming?
Organic farming is an agricultural production management system based on the achievement of improvements in the health of agroecosystems, which includes biological cycles, biodiversity and soil biological activity. One of its leading singularities is that it focuses on the good use of agricultural management practices, locally adapting the techniques to the conditions of each region.
Organic farming has numerous advantages because it does not use synthetic fertilizers or pesticides and reject the use of genetically modified seeds and breeds, additives, preservatives, or irradiation techniques. These practices are replaced by others that preserve and increase soil fertility not in the short term but also in the long term. At the same time, they do not renounce the prevention of diseases and pests.
Below we show the advantages that organic farming offers, both in terms of sustainability and profitability and benefits. In addition, we will discover the basis of this type of cultivation that takes advantage of the natural resources present on earth.
6 Benefits Of Organic Farming
Organic farming food attracts the attention of an increasing number of consumers because it is perceived as an ethical and healthy choice. However, its benefits do not stop there, as organic farming practices have many benefits for environmental sustainability.
- Organic Agriculture Contributes To Soil Health
The basis for obtaining healthy food is getting to a healthy soil condition. Natural farming practices, which do not use pesticides or chemicals, promote the prosperity of healthy soils.
Compared to chemically treated soil, compost-rich organic soil may not only harbour 10 times the number of beneficial bacteria, but they will also offer much greater diversity. Organic farming uses organic matter as the basis for fertilization. This has two direct consequences. On the one hand, improvement in the circulation of the water and the growth of the roots favours the development of crops and plants. On the other hand, the increase in chemical fertility presented by the soil.
- Less Exposure To Pesticides And Chemicals
Regular farming prevents resistance to diseases presented by plants, weeds and insects, which feed on bacteria, fungi and plants, due to the use of pesticides. Furthermore, chemicals can contaminate soils, water supplies and the air, sometimes for many years. Ecological agriculture prevents erosion avoiding harmful environmental problems, and relies on CROP rotation and cover crops.
There are control and certification bodies that endorse the products authorized for it to guarantee those suitable products for organic farming. Some of the most important are INTERCO, ECOCERT or CERES.
- It Favours The Conservation Of Water And That Its Quality Is Maintained
Organic farming requires less irrigation and therefore contributes to conserving water. Farmers using this practice develop a soil modification appropriately, for example, using mulch, which also helps conserve water.
- Contributes To The Health And Well-Being Of Animals
Organic farming helps preserve more areas of natural habitat. It encourages birds and other natural predators to live happily on farmland, which helps in natural pest control. Complementary to organic farming practices are organic or organic farms, with clean grazing and free of chemicals, which makes the animals more resistant to diseases.
- Combat The Effects Of Global Warming
A well-applied organic farming system helps reduce the effects of global warming and lessen climate change. It reduces the emission of three types of gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Organic farming has one of its main characteristics in crop rotation, which has been proven to help prevent nitrogen losses to the atmosphere and increase root biomass.
On the other hand, if organic farming finds a positive response from consumers, it makes it unnecessary to produce food by assuming high energy efforts or transferring it from distant countries.
- Organic Farming Promotes Biodiversity
The biodiversity that occurs in a plantation gives the measure of its crops' stability and profitability. Ecological agriculture encourages this biodiversity to be high, which increases the resistance of the fields to diseases, pests and the action of adverse weather conditions.