Facts and Myths of Feeding the World with Organic Farming Methods - Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems - page 92

First wheat
in rotation
Best NPK
FYM+96 kg N

10
9
8
7
6

Fungicides

Continuous
wheat
PK+144 kg N
FYM

Herbicides

Liming

5
4
3
2
1
0
1840

Fallowing

Nil

1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Flanders Apollo

Red rostock ed club Sq. master Red

standard

Sq. master Cappell D. Brimstone Hereward

FIGURE 4.1 Mean yields of wheat grain on Broadbalk plots from 1852 to 1999 treated
with NPK fertilizers, farmyard manure (FYM), FYM+N, or no fertilizers showing the
effects of changing cultivars and management practices. (From Rothamsted Research.
Guide to the classical and other long-term experiments, datasets and sample archive. Lawes
Agricultural Trust Co. Ltd., 2006. Available at http://www.rothamsted.bbsrc.ac.uk/resources/
LongTermExperiments.pdf , accessed March 1, 2012.)

the application of human and animal wastes to the land. For example, according to
Yang (2006), Han Feizi (280-233 BCE) stated that human excreta must be applied
to restore and improve soil fertility. King (1911) stated that “one of the most remark-
able agricultural practices adopted by any civilized people is the centuries-long and
well-nigh universal conservation and utilization of all human waste in China, Korea
and Japan, turning it to marvelous account in the maintenance of soil fertility and
in the production of food.” However, these traditional agricultural practices could
not produce enough food to meet the demand of a fast-growing population started
around 1800. Today, the world population is 7 billion and expected to reach 9.2 bil-
lion by 2050. Therefore, as will be discussed later, the production of adequate food
and fiber without the use of chemical fertilizers does not appear feasible. Miao et al.
(2010) concluded that well-managed combination of chemical and organic fertilizers
can overcome the disadvantages of applying a single source of fertilizers and sus-
tainably achieve higher crop yields, improve soil fertility, alleviate soil acidification
problems, and increase nutrient-use efficiency compared with only using chemical
fertilizers (Figure 4.1). Of course, the combined use of organic wastes and chemical
fertilizers is not an approved practice for organic farming.

4.2.2 S afety of o rganic c roPS c omPared to c roPS
P roduced with c hemical f ertilizerS
Many people feel that safety is greater with organic than with conventional foods,
primarily because of the precautionary principle followed in the formulation of