Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
In europe, numerous farms have started to convert to organic farming since 1960s, and
development of organic agriculture has been supported by goverment subsidies. In many other
countries, organic agriculture was adopted because of the growing demand for organic
products in Europe, North America and Japan [54].
Technological advances during Second World War accelerated post-war innovation in all
aspects of agriculture, resulting in large advances in mechanization, fertilization, and pesti‐
cides. In 1944, an international campaign called the Green Revolution was launched in Mexico
which encouraged the development of hybrid plants, chemical controls, large-scale irrigation,
and heavy mechanization in agriculture around the world. During the 1950s, sustainable
agriculture was a topic of scientific interest, but research tended to concentrate on developing
the new chemical approaches the one of the reasons for this, was the widespread belief that
high global population growth, would soon create worldwide food shortages unless human‐
kind rescue itself through agricultural technology. In 1962, Rachel Carson, a prominent
scientist and naturalist, published Silent Spring, chronicling the effects of DDT and other
pesticides on the environment [41]. In 1972, the International Federation of Organic Agricul‐
ture Movements (IFOAM) was founded and dedicated to spread principles and practices of
organic agriculture throughout the world. In the 1980s, around the world, farming and
consumer groups began seriously pressuring for government regulation of organic produc‐
tion. This led to legislation and certification standards being enacted through the 1990s and to
date. Since the early 1990s, the retail market for organic farming in developed economies has
been growing by about 20% annually due to increasing consumer demand.
In recent years, there has been growing trend in world trade for organic agricultural products
and EU countries rank in the first place in terms of organic agricultural trade. There has been
growing debate that using chemical inputs excessively following the green revolution in
agricultural production raised concerns on environment and human health. For this reason,
organic agriculture has developed rapidly and spread around the world [56] and organic
farming is considered an alternative production sysytem. In fact, demand for organic products
has increased tremendously in last a couple of decades.
IFOAM, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements established in 1972, a
non-profit organization, is a international umbrella organisation of organic agriculture
organisations, and has about 778 affiliates (members, associates, and supporters) in 117
countries [26]. The mission of this organization is to lead, unit and assist the organic movement
in its full diversity and its main goal is to enhance the worldwide adoption of ecologically,
socially and economically sound systems based on the principles of organic agriculture [25,
26]. As it seen, organic agriculture is not a temporary fashion since bio-dynamic farming was
introduced as early as in 1924. There are also other farms of organic farming with a long-
standing tradition such as organic-biological or environmentally adapted farming. Organic
farming is managed in harmony with nature and the agricultural holding is mainly perceived
as on organism comprising humans, flora, fauna and soil [3]. However, organic agriculture, a
new model for farming development, has set the goals such as minimization of environmental
pollution and sustainability of farming systems [56].
