Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
tillage offer the potential to synchronise nutrient supply with crop demand and multiple non-
nutrient effects, including weed suppression, soil aggregation, resistance to erosion, biological
pest management, and water infiltration and availability (see Special topic 1 ).
Successful examples of organic and non-chemical no-tillage systems have been demon-
strated. These have all been short-term systems located in areas with long warm seasons (see
Special topic 1 ). On the contrary, temperate organic no-till systems and permanent organic no-
till systems have specific challenges due to slower cover crop growth and breakdown, different
weed types and limited control options (see Special topics 1 and 4 ). Difficulties faced in organic
no-till systems include producing adequate cover crop growth to perform agroecological func-
tions properly, lack of reliable implements for effectively terminating the cover crop to prevent
regrowth, and managing cover crop residues prior to sowing or planting the cash crop to
maximise germination and establishment of the following cash crop (see Special topic 1 ). While
effective organic no-till systems are still in the developmental phase, other options for reducing
tillage are available, such as monitoring the soil organic matter budget to inform choices about
tillage operations (see Special topic 4 ), strip cropping with semi-permanent beds (see Special
topic 1 ) and using a ley phase in the crop rotation (see Special topic 4 ).
Information technology
Advances in information technology have created tools for recording, managing, analysing
and presenting data. Various computer models and decision support systems have been used
in an organic setting to explore nutrient and weed management (see Chapter 3 ), crop protec-
tion (see Chapter 4 ) and conversion impact (Halberg et al . 2005b, see also Chapter 10 ). Aspects
of precision agriculture such as remote sensing and geographical information systems can also
be adopted by organic farmers for a range of uses, such as land use planning (Gijsbers et al .
2001), improving tillage accuracy in weed management (Tillett et al . 2002, Rösch 2006) and
improving fertiliser use efficiency in soil management (Goulding 2000, see also Chapter 17 ).
The development and use of indicators to evaluate farm performance are also relevant to
organic agriculture. By monitoring farm performance, we can compare various management
options and evaluate indicators over time on a farm, or make comparisons across farming
systems (see Chapter 12 ). Numerous reports on the use of environmental and economic indi-
cators are available (Roberts and Swinton 1996, Hendriks et al . 1997, OECD 1999, Helander
and Delin 2004) and almost as many regarding the suitability and selection of indicators
(Youngs et al . 1991, Eckert et al . 2000, Pannell and Glenn 2000, Bouma 2002). Indicators are
used to measure a multitude of characteristics for different reasons and the users should be
matched with the appropriate indicator tools. For example, farmers are more likely to use indi-
cators that are easy to implement and interpret, are affordable, have a clear relationship to
farm management practices and provide guidance for improving land management (King et
al . 2000, Sulser et al . 2001, Ridley et al . 2003).
Summary
The organic movement has a range of strengths in various areas including agriculture and food
production, international relations, direct marketing and process auditing. Fuelled by strong
global consumer demand for ethically produced goods, the organic movement is expected to
continue growing and diversifying. However, important issues need to be addressed such as bal-
ancing organic principles with commercial pressures and maintaining f flexible (locally appro-
priate) standards and certification while also pursuing international harmonisation.
Most of the successes of the organic movement over the past decades have been achieved
through the vision and enterprise of individuals and local farming groups operating without
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