checking in with the longest-running us experiment in organic-versus-conventional farming techniques, a recent study has concluded that organic approaches may be preferable for crops such as corn, soybeans, and many grains. While the review of the 22-year Rodale Institute Farming Systems Trial has found these crops offer more stable long-term yields that roughly equal those from conventional techniques, the organic processes also use 30 per cent less energy, less water, and no pesticides.
Published in Bioscience (Vol 55, No 7, July, 2005), the study was a collaboration among Cornell University, the University of Maryland, the us Department of Agriculture and the Rodale Institute. Researchers compared three farms: one conventional operation using fertiliser and pesticides, as well as two organic operations -- one using manure-based fertiliser and one using legume-based three-year (changed in 1991 to five-year) crop rotations.
The study found although yields on organic farms lagged by up to a third in the first four years, subsequent yields topped the conventional farm. This was true particularly for drought years, when the yield from rotation-based system was 22 per cent greater than that from conventional fields. Nitrogen levels in the organic systems' soils also went up to 15 per cent. Cornell researcher David Pimentel concludes organic farming approaches "conserve more water, induce less erosion, maintain soil quality and conserve more biological resources than conventional farming does."