Environmental Aspects Of Organic Farming - Organic Agriculture Towards Sustainability - page 261

Environmental Aspects Of Organic Farming
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/58298

farming, particularly in less developed countries, the environmental effect consisting in the
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is lower when converted to unit of production instead
of unit area and in extreme cases, it can even be negative. However, for both methods of
calculation for most crops, the greenhouse gas emissions production within organic farming
remains lower [38].

Greenhouse gas emissions are expressed in relation to their effect on climate changes by an
equivalent of CO 2 e (CO 2 e=1x CO 2 +23x CH 4 +298x N 2 O). Within various subphases of agricul‐
tural production cycle, the emission load of conventional and organic farming differs. For
example in the agrotechnical phase with most cultivated crops, the higher emission load per
one kilogram of production occurs within the organic farming system. However, it is usually
more than satisfactorily compensated by the absence of synthetic fertilizers (especially
nitrogen) which are, in terms of emission production, the most loading element. The way of
fertilization is directly related to field emissions which are lower in organic farming and there
are some savings also due to the absence of pesticide use. To sum up, organic farming produces
lower GHG emissions within cultivation of most crops and in some cases, there are very
fundamental differences (e.g. Conventional production of rye under condition of central
Europe produces almost twice the emissions CO 2 e in relation to organic farming).

This can be documented by the study within which the creation of greenhouse gases within
the cultivation of crops in conventional and organic farming system under conditions of central
Europe was compared. Within the study, the total GHG emissions expressed as CO 2 e were
observed. This sum was divided into subgroups-agricultural engineering, fertilizers, pesti‐
cides, seeds and field emissions. The conventional farming system differs from the organic one
in the total CO 2 e emissions production as well as in the production within subgroups. Overall
results are shown in Figure 1 that summarizes the production of greenhouse gases converted
to one kilogram of production and compares the conventional system with the organic farming
system.

GHG emissions within cultivation of particular crops vary depending on many factors, while
the most CO 2 e is released within fertilization and field emissions and also a share of agricul‐
tural operation in not negligible. With all surveyed crops except onion, where 0.083 CO 2 e/kg
of onion in conventional and 0.100 kg CO 2 e/kg of onion in organic farming is produced, higher
CO 2 e emissions were found within the conventional farming system. Within cultivation of
wheat, 0.460 kg CO 2 e/kg of grains within conventional and 0.423 kg CO 2 e/kg of grains within
organic farming is released. With rye, it is 0.537 kg CO 2 e/kg of grains within conventional and
0.298 kg CO 2 e/kg of grains within organic farming, with potatoes 0.145 kg CO 2 e/kg of potatoes
within conventional and 0.125 kg CO 2 e/kg of potatoes within organic farming, with carrot 0.099
kg CO 2 e/kg of carrot within conventional and 0.041 kg CO 2 e/kg of carrot within organic
farming, with tomatoes 0.087 kg CO 2 e/kg of tomatoes within conventional and 0.067 kg CO 2 e/
kg of tomatoes within organic farming and with cabbage 0.078 kg CO 2 e/kg of cabbage within
conventional and 0.033 kg CO 2 e/kg of cabbage within organic farming. It is obvious, that the
organic farming system is, in terms of emission, less demanding and therefore more environ‐
mentally friendly than conventional farming, where emissions production is increased
especially by the use of synthetic fertilizers.