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Ekologiczne lepsze

Green apples upset cart

Organic apples can be cheaper, tastier and better for the environment.
19 April 2001
TOM CLARKE

A study of apple farming published today finds that organic orchards can be more profitable, produce tastier fruit at similar yields compared to conventional farming, and be better for the environment at the same time1.

John Reganold and colleagues at Washington State University in Pullman farmed three experimental plots of Golden Delicious apples (Malus x domestica) using organic, conventional and 'integrated' growing methods.

Although the organic system took longer to reach profitability, it ranked first in terms of environmental sustainability, profitability and energy efficiency by the end of the six-year study. Integrated farming, which reduces the use of chemicals by combining organic and conventional production methods, came second, conventional farming last.

What's more, untrained tasters rated the organic apples the sweetest.

"This is one of the first well-replicated rigorous experiments that's looked at all of the benefits and costs involved in an alternative framing practice," says David Tilman, who works on sustainable development at the University of Minnesota in St Paul.

"We kept track of everything that went in," says Reganold. By recording inputs of compost, chemicals and even the amount of fuel used by farming machinery, Reganold's team produced an 'environmental impact assessment' for each growing method.

Critics say organic farming is based more on ideology than on environmental or economic merit2. They also worry that because organic farming is often more energy intensive and produces lower yields than conventional methods it may place an even higher burden on the environment.

Although Reganold's study finds that this is certainly not the case for growing Golden Delicious in Washington, it does not necessarily imply that organic farming is more environmentally and economically sound for other types of agriculture in other regions, he admits.

Dennis Avery, director of the Center for Global Food Issues in Churchville, Virginia argues that this is a persistent problem with research hailing the benefits of organic systems.

"The real issue of sustainability doesn't have a lot to do with intensive fruit and vegetable production," says Avery. He argues that it is the large-scale production of staple crops like wheat, corn, rice and wood that have the greatest impact on whether or not agriculture is environmentally and economically sustainable and that organic methods cannot produce sufficient yields in these crop systems to compete with conventional methods. "Organic field crops are 50 to 60 percent less productive per acre," says Avery.

But organic farming experts argue that if there was as much research into 'alternative' farming practices as there is into conventional ones, the muddy boot could be on the other foot when it comes to the sustainability of organic farming.

"The research input that goes into organic farming is so small that I just get irritated at people who are trying to make comparisons between the two systems when there isn't a level playing field," says Martin Wolfe, an organic farming researcher at Wakelyns Agroforestry in Suffolk, UK.

Alternative farming practices could lose their unscientific "muck and luck" image if there were more thorough studies into organic methods such as Reganold's, says Wolfe. "As more of a scientific spotlight plays on what is occurring, in most cases it will emerge that organic farming is coming up with the goods."


References

Reganold, J. P., Glover, J. D., Andrews, P. K., Hinman, H. R. Sustainability of three apple production systems. Nature 410, 926 - 930 (2001).

Trewavas, A. Urban myths of organic farming. Nature 410, 409 - 410 (2001).

Drinkwater, L. E., Wagoner, P. & Sarrantonio, M. Legume-based cropping systems have reduced carbon and nitrogen losses. Nature 396, 262 - 265 (1998).