Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 1.4
Agricultural policy mechanisms relevant to organic agriculture (after Part 3 of
OECD 2003)
Providing regulatory frameworks, including review processes
Direct subsidies for conversion and on-going production or performance targets
Market facilitation (domestic and international)
Funding research, extension and educational activities
Regional development initiatives
Penalties for environmentally harmful inputs, e.g. polluting, chemical contamination
Removal of disincentives, e.g. weak labelling requirements
used for several years to encourage growers to convert to organic agriculture. Although
improvements in the relative competitiveness of organic agriculture have been found and are
expected to continue, it is unclear if direct payments have been the most efficient tool for
improving environmental performance of farmers (OECD 2003).
More recent government policies have actively assisted and promoted organic agriculture
as a means of addressing the problems of agriculture. In the UK, the Department for Environ-
ment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) developed the 'action plan' to ensure stable and strate-
gic growth for organic food production (DEFRA 2002).
Organic agriculture is now widely recognised by the public and governments as a valid
alternative to conventional agriculture and is a source of ideas and approaches that conven-
tional agriculture can adopt to make it more sustainable. However, the process of reaching this
position has resulted in organic agriculture taking on some of the practices of conventional
agriculture that are at odds with organic principles. A groundswell has started that is attempt-
ing to focus the organic movement on addressing these concerns; however, many of these off-
farm issues, for example, food miles, may be much harder to change than what has been
achieved on the farm.
The principles of organic agriculture
Deelopment of the principles
To understand the motivations of organic farmers, the practices they use and what they want
to achieve, it is important to understand the guiding principles of organic agriculture. These
principles encompass the fundamental goals and caveats that are considered important for
producing high quality food, fibre and other goods in an environmentally sustainable way.
The principles of organic agriculture have changed with the evolution of the movement.
Modern organic agriculture's alignment with the wider environmental movement has resulted
in principles that have a stronger environmental focus than those from the first half of the
20th century. In addition, it is only within the last 30 years that the principles have been
codified and explicitly stated. For much of organic agriculture's history, the principles were
unwritten as they were inherent in the philosophy and practice of the farmers:
1 The concept of the farm as a living organism, tending towards a closed system in respect to
nutrient flows but responsive and adapted to its own environment.
2 The concept of soil fertility through a 'living soil' which has the capacity to influence and
transmit health through the food chain to plants, animals and [humans]; and that this can
be enhanced over time.
