Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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and have more potential predators if it were in an organic tomato crop. The
abundance of bugs was more associated with specific on-farm tasks and
landscapes (fallow fields, surrounding habitat, and transplant date) than
with whether the place was organic. This refutes the commonly purported
view of organic farming - that pests destroy much of the crop. That is
simply not true. Now imagine what we could accomplish if we had millions
of research dollars to study cutting-edge organic farming techniques.
A comparative study of organic, conventional, and integrated (combina-
tion of organic and conventional) apple orchard systems was conducted in
Washington state between 1994 and 1999 (Reganold et al. 2001). Yields were
similar among all three, and there were similar low levels of fruit damage,
pests, and diseases. With organic and integrated methods, soil quality was
higher in terms of accommodating water availability and supporting fruit
quality and productivity, and environmental impact was lower in terms of
chemicals used and their associated impact ratings. Organic apples tasted
sweetest, were most energy efficient, and had the highest profitability.
Another comprehensive study of apple production was conducted be-
tween 1989 and 1991 in California (Swezey et al. 1998). Here a conventional
orchard was compared with an organic orchard during its three-year tran-
sition. The organic system had higher apple tonnage (due to hand thinning
versus chemical thinning) and higher number and weight of fruit per tree
(but smaller average fruit size). Price premiums were approximately 35 per-
cent for certified organic apples, so even with higher material and labor
inputs, the organic system earned greater net return per hectare. There was
no difference in pest damage between the two orchard methods, although
the organic trees relied on pheromone-based mating disruption while the
conventional acres used synthetic sprays. The presence of weeds was greater
on the organic fields, but this did not decrease yields. Earthworm biomass
and abundance increased by the third year, as the organic methods be-
gan to improve soil quality. Overall, the organic apple production system
was successful in its three years of transition and would likely remain suc-
cessful as the farmers became more experienced with the specific methods
and biological interactions involved.Why continue with conventional apple
production if organic apple farms produce better fruit and earnmore profit?
In addition to comparative crop studies, research has also beendone com-
paring conventional and organic dairy production. A comparative study of
the economics of milk production was recently conducted in California
(Butler 2002). This research indicated that the cost of production, figured
per cow, was 20 percent higher for organic dairy farms. Although there is
a price premium, this did not offset the cost discrepancies, so net income
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