[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: Long Definition "Sustainable Agriculture"this is very long sorry



At 07:50 PM 8/14/96 GMT, Joseph St.Lawrence wrote:
>tco4@aol.com (TCO4) wrote:
>
>>Can anyone give me a quick and useful definition of "sustainable
>>agriculture" and a short discussion of the goals and an example of what is
>>done.  Thanks
>
This may help quoted from  "25 April 1996: Invitation, Press Conference,
Thursday 2 May 13:00-14:30, Ministerial Conference Room F, Slotsholmsgade
12, Copenhagen
Global Focus on Ecology
International Conference on Organic Agriculture in Copenhagen precedes the
FAO World Food Summit Global focus on ecology


INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ORGANIC AGRICULTURE PRECEDES THE FAO WORLD FOOD
SUMMIT 

A proposal to the FAO World Food Summit 



FAO called on to give serious consideration to the organic alternative

"The FAO must give serious consideration to the organic alternative by
placing organic agriculture on the agenda of the World Food Summit, in Rome
in November", says Hervé la Prairie, President of the International
Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). "Organic agriculture
has matured sufficiently to be taken seriously by world leaders as an
agricultural type capable of solving agriculture's environmental problems
without risk of compromising food supply." Hervé la Prairie was speaking at
a press conference (2 May) to present the International Conference on
Organic Agriculture (11th IFOAM Scientific Conference) and the First Organic
World Exhibition scheduled for Copenhagen 11-15 and 10-13 August
respectively. "The FAO's World Food Summit could benefit greatly from the
evidence and research to be presented at the organic conference", says Hervé
la Prairie. The Copenhagen conference will bring together 1000 scientists
and practitioners from around the world to debate global developments in
ecology and organic production. It will address a number of new, main themes
relating to overall social, environmental and economic consequences of
restructuring agriculture along organic lines, in a period of increased
global focus on ecology. The Director General of the FAO, Jacques Diouf, has
been invited to deliver the closing address to the conference. 

Hervé la Prairie accused the FAO of "optimism" when it states that the
number of undernourished people in the world will decline from the present
800 million to 650 million over the next 15 years. "This view is based on
the assumption that production per capita will continue its steady rise in
the future", said la Prairie. The World Watch Institute and the Consultancy
Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) share a more pessimistic
outlook forecasting a deficiency in cereals by 2025 of 700 million tonnes. 

"Agricultural land area on the planet is declining due to soil erosion, loss
of soil humus, salination, waterlogging in irrigated areas and the depletion
of groundwater resources", he said, "and even if the new Green Revolution
and the genetic engineering concept it is based on succeeds in fabricating
varieties that are even higher yielding than the old "high yielding
varieties" they will share the old need for input of water, fertilizers and
pesticides." 



Environmental accountability and sustainability

The methods used in organic farming are in accordance with biological
principles, i.e. diversity, and have been employed by farmers for centuries.
The methods used in conventional farming on the other hand are contrary to
fundamental biological principles and as such can never be sustainable. The
use of pesticides is threatening biological diversity by poisoning insects,
birds and other organisms while at the same time posing a health threat to
humans. Soil erosion is also a serious environmental problem in many areas.
"These problems are nonexistent in organic farming", says la Prairie. 

"The only pesticides used are natural products and by using compost and the
system of "mulching" instead of artificial fertilizer, top soil is
maintained and the humus content in the soil improved. This is one of the
reasons why organic agriculture is sustainable in the very literal sense of
the word", says Hervé la Prairie. 

The term 'sustainable' was first used at IFOAM's first international
conference in 1977, held under the slogan "Towards Sustainable Agriculture".
The upcoming International Conference on Organic Agriculture (11th IFOAM
Scientific Conference) in Copenhagen 11-15 August will reflect the changes
currently being experienced in organic agriculture where the experimental
period is giving way to an era of political and economic realism,
highlighting organic production as a viable solution to world hunger. 



Organic agriculture as an alternative

"Conventional agriculture is a proven polluter. Environmental problems seen
in industrial countries will force the change to organic methods within a
short span of time. To mention just one example. The costs of purifying
drinking water are far higher than the economic gains of using conventional
farming methods", says Hervé la Prairie. 

The general view in industrial countries where conventional, intensive
farming is prevalent is that large-scale conversion to organic farming would
aggravate world hunger. Organic methods are less intensive and therefore
yields in industrial countries are somewhat lower than those of conventional
agriculture. "But it would be erroneous to globalise this view," says Hervé
la Prairie. "In the developing countries land is farmed at a very low level
of intensity and even if available, small farmers cannot afford the
fertilizers and pesticides necessary for conventional agriculture.
Conversion to organic methods, using recycled household waste as compost and
employing other little "tricks" of organic agriculture, would increase
yields dramatically. In many parts of the world organic methods are simply
the only way of eradicating hunger and ensuring food for all." 

unquote Thats rings of sustainability too me.
another press release :•May 1996: Press information
Agriculture of the future will be organic.
The environmental problems facing the agricultural industry cannot be solved
by pesticide free zones in periphery areas or by improved spraying
equipment. May 1996
Press information 



AGRICULTURE OF THE FUTURE WILL BE ORGANIC 

The environmental problems facing the agricultural industry cannot be solved
by pesticide free zones in periphery areas or by improved spraying
equipment. If environmental degradation is to be avoided pollution must be
stopped. In the industrial world the transition to organic farming can solve
the problem of surpluses and most of agriculture's environmental problems.
In the developing countries new research indicates the organic farming
methods can help peasant farmers produce considerably more food. Organic
agriculture has matured sufficiently to be taken seriously by world leaders
as an agricultural type capable of solving agriculture's environmental
problems without the risk of compromising food supply. 

The organic idea comprises two key concepts: living soil and biodiversity.
When it is understood how soil should be treated to become a "living" entity
the need of easily absorbable artificial fertilizers disappears and when it
is grasped how to achieve biodiversity in farming the need of hazardous
chemicals in agricultural production also disappears. 



The basis of organic agriculture: Living soil

Describing soil as "living" is probably foreign to most people. However, top
soil swarms with living organisms from the common earthworm to bacteria and
microscopic fungi. Top soil is an ecosystem much like a forest. It is the
earth's ecosystem that literally speaking forms the basis of organic
agriculture. If the ecosystem is left intact with broad biodiversity it has
the possibility of carrying out the mission designed for it by nature,
namely, to supply plant life with necessary nourishment. 

Pollution simplifies the ecosystems of rivers and streams: organism variety
is diminished and the water's self-purifying ability is reduced. Soil's
ecosystem is polluted in like fashion, for instance, by artificial
fertilizing and the use of pesticides and, as in the case of streams and
rivers, its ecosystem is simplified. Organisms disappear, thus reducing the
soil's ability to nourish plant life without artificial help. 

The most obvious difference between conventional and organic agriculture is
that the former uses artificial fertilizers and its organic counterpart uses
various types of organic nutrients derived from animal or vegetable matter,
for example, farmyard manure and compost. The organic method therefore
appreciates top soil as a living ecosystem: organic fertilizer nourishes the
earth's organisms in a manner that artificial fertilizer, by its very
nature, can never accomplish. 



Healthy plants

If the central role played by living soil in organic farming is appreciated
accusations that organic farmers spread artificial fertilizers or spray
their land with pesticides at dead of night can only be acknowledged as
ridiculous. If this were the case they would destroy their living soil and
be on the way back to conventional production, where increasing amounts of
artificial fertilizers and pesticides are needed. Living soil and
biodiversity are essential to the health of plants. It is well documented,
for instance, that plants cultivated on compost fertilized soil are less
exposed to fungal infections than plants cultivated on artificially
fertilized land. 

Diversity also plays a role in helping to maintain plants in a healthy
condition. To mention just one example. A wise organic farmer tolerates a
few weeds in his corn field. He is aware that weeds attract useful insects.
Hover flies, for instance, whose larvae feed on the aphids found on cereals.
Diversifying crop type and variety in the same field are further examples of
methods to secure biodiversity in organic fields. 

If due regard is taken of the soil's ecosystem and biodiversity it is
possible to cultivate healthy plants - or to put it another way, plants that
do not require "protection " from the chemical industry. 



Famine or environmental catastrophy?

There is no doubt that conventional agriculture gives greater yields than
its organic counterpart. However, higher yields come at a price in the form
of environmental problems. Owing to over production conventional agriculture
is forced at times to take land out of production. Conversion to organic
agriculture then would solve two problems simultaneously: less intensive
farming methods giving lesser yields and minimal pollution. Experience has
shown that organic agricultural yields by and large correspond to 1960
levels. In other words a yield level that in no way threatens food supplies
in industrial countries. 

In the developing world, however, problems are quite different. In many
regions agricultural production is insufficient to feed the local
population. There are many reasons for this: dumping of agricultural
surpluses from industrial countries leads to unprofitable local production
and the production of cash crops, such as bananas and coffee, deprives local
food production of arable land, just to name two of the most important
examples. 

In the villages where food for the local population is produced methods are
often so primitive that yields are quite low. It is irrelevant here whether
or not yields can be increased with the use of artificial fertilizers and
pesticides because local farmers cannot afford either. If on the other hand
organic methods are introduced production intensifies. An increase in yields
of 200-300 per cent has often been experienced. 

Two examples of how agricultural production can be intensified with the sole
use of local resources: the population can be trained how to recycle their
household waste to compost and use it as fertilizer. This makes use of local
resources that would otherwise go to waste and the same time help to achieve
greater yields. If a farmer cultivates coffee for export by organic methods
he can cultivate various types of vegetables between his coffee bushes. This
increases biodiversity while at the same time producing food. This method is
impossible if coffee is grown with the use of chemicals as spraying makes
vegetables unfit for human consumption
http://www.rain.org/~sals/my.html
a homepage for organic farmers
sals@rain.org