RAIN WATER HARVESTING IS ECOLOGICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY VIABLE

Shift to Organic through Trainings

‘I am proud became a organic farmer’, ‘Respect farm women’, ‘I succeed in getting sustainable yields’ , ‘I earned one and half lakh rupees from the sale herbal medicine’, My children are getting educated from income of sale of herbal medicine’. I won’t sale my land and I will convert in to organic farm’, I will start community seed bank for exchange of local seeds’, ‘I will shift my house in to land. These kinds of farmers’ voices were raised in Bhavasangama program. It is alumni meet of such farmers finished training in Samvada.

Back ground

Training will be held for youths from agricultural families, having 0-5 acres of agriculture land. It demonstrates how small holder agriculture can be a viable and sustainable option. Organic farming is combined with agro-based diversification. Agriculture is celebrating life not death, it needs celebration while production of foods. The present agricultural crisis and the situation of small and marginal farmers in the era of globalization, increasing capitalization of agriculture, chemical intensive/ bio-technology farming, implications of soil and water degradation and for farmers livelihoods. The concept and practice of sustainable agriculture and the practicalities of a transition to organic farming will be taught through a process of accompanying the participants through one cropping season.

Core content…

Skills and knowledge required to plan crop mixes, produce farmyard manure, liquid manures, manage kitchen gardens, herbal medicines, to introduce bio-pesticides, to produce and distribute indigenous seed varieties, maintain soil moisture and fertility, harvest and conserve rainwater and to engage with the market, will be the core content.

We conducted 24 days training program and it spread in six months. Struggle a lot in getting suitable candidate for the program. At the end we got good response from Karnataka farmers association. Finally we selected 25 people based on our selection criteria.

Outcome…

Regularly we visited farmers’ field. We met our students and also their family members during the visit. It was good interaction with bunch of family members. In way our visit is boosting their effort in the farm. Some are working hard to motivate others in the village, especially Ramesh Kasavanahalli, Kanthalaxmi, Surendra etc.

Sustainability quantification (SQ) level before training was 32.42% and now they achieved 57.14 %. That means they achieved 24.72 % sustainability due to intensive training. Farmers are achieved well in mulching strategy, Nutrient management and Seed sovereignty, but they still need to work on increasing live-stock number, crop protection strategies and soil & water management measures.

Surendra has started working on two crops namely Paddy and Finger millet. He took fifteen varieties of finger millet and two varieties of paddy for variety multiplication in his farm; finally he identified five and one good varieties in finger millet and paddy respectively. He stared rearing rabbit in his farm as one of the additional activity; already he had 10 pairs of rabbits in the farm. He also started doing vermi compost, Azola cultivation, Seed bank. Special thing of surendra is working with other farmers to convert whole village in to organic and his dream also.

Kanthalaxmi has started working in her one acre farm; she is mainly focusing on banana. She collected seven varieties of banana in and around her village. She wants to collect some more banana varieties. Agriculture University of Bangalore recognized her work and awarded “District level best farm women in Integrated Farming System category”. All India Radio broadcasted her experience in two times.

Girish is another farmer implementing organic elements his farm. He had little bit resistance from his father especially doing some innovative farming system in paddy and finger millet. We negotiate with his father and finally his father convinced to give small piece of land to experiment with SRI (System of Rice Intensification) system. SRI gives more yield compare with traditional system then his father is supporting Girish work.

Marketing Linkage…

We organized a unique program for better marketing strategy. HASIRU SANTHE is platform where organic consumers can meet and interact with those farmers who produce “SAFE” food for them. HASIRU SAN THE is planned because of following reason

1. To provide safe and healthy food

2. To promote eco friendly/non violent production practices

3. To avoid middlemen and provide better price to farmers

4. To build a culture of trust

5. To assert consumer’s right to know the producer of their food

6. To localize food production and distribution

HASIRU SANTHE is happening once in a month in Vyasa international school premise. Samvada’s five farmers’s are continuously participating and supplying organic products in the Hasiru Santhe. Our farmers had Sale diverse organic vegetables and foods. Products ranges from over 15 products including breakfast cereals, pickles, flours, herbal balms and ointments, nutritious millets, snacks, drinks, compost, free range eggs… all products are certified by the farmers through a rigorous peer certification process called PGS (Participatory Guarantee Scheme)

Conclusion

For farmers to switch to organic methods they almost need an attitudinal shift, as it is more than a simple calculation of changing the input to get a better output? The whole process of organic farming seems to require change in both subtle and obvious ways. Organic farming blends the art and science of farming along with its philosophy. The farmer listens to nature, and natural synergies are exploited and methods are tailored to local conditions

Movement against Chemical usage in Agriculture

The World Health Organization and the UN Environment Programme estimate that each year, 3 million workers in agriculture in the developing world experience severe poisoning from pesticides, about 18,000 of whom die. According to one study, as many as 25 million workers in developing countries may suffer mild pesticide poisoning yearly. There have been many studies of farmers intended to determine health effects of ocupational pesticide exposure. Associations between non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, prostate cancer, multiple myeloma, and soft tissues sarcoma have been reported in studies, with less associations found for other cancersProblems of inorganic fertilizer - Trace mineral depletion

Many inorganic fertilizers do not replace trace mineral elements in the soil which become gradually depleted by crops. This depletion has been linked to studies which have shown a marked fall (up to 75%) in the quantities of such minerals present in fruit and vegetables.

However, a recent review of 55 scientific studies concluded "there is no evidence of a difference in nutrient quality between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs" Conversely, a major long-term study funded by the European Union found that organically-produced milk and produce were significantly higher in antioxidants (such as carotenoids and alpha-linoleic acids) than their conventionally grown counterparts.

In Western Australia deficiencies of zinc, copper, manganese, iron and molybdenum were identified as limiting the growth of broad-acre crops and pastures in the 1940s and 1950s . Soils in Western Australia are very old, highly weathered and deficient in many of the major nutrients and trace elements. Since this time these trace elements are routinely added to inorganic fertilizers used in agriculture in this state

Effects of fertilizer use

1. Eutrophication

The nitrogen-rich compounds found in fertilizer run-off is the primary cause of a serious depletion of oxygen in many parts of the ocean, especially in coastal zones; the resulting lack of dissolved oxygen is greatly reducing the ability of these areas to sustain oceanic fauna Visually, water may become cloudy and discolored (green, yellow, brown, or red).

About half of all the lakes in the United States are now eutrophic, while the number of oceanic dead zones near inhabited coastlines are increasing. As of 2006, the application of nitrogen fertilizer is being increasingly controlled in Britain and the United States If eutrophication can be reversed, it may take decades before the accumulated nitrates in groundwater can be broken down by natural processes.

High application rates of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers in order to maximize crop yields combined with the high solubilities of these fertilizers leads to increased runoff into surface water as well as leaching into groundwater. The use of ammonium nitrate in inorganic fertilizers is particularly damaging, as plants absorb ammonium ions preferentially over nitrate ions, while excess nitrate ions which are not absorbed dissolve (by rain or irrigation) into runoff or groundwater.

2. Blue Baby Syndrome

Nitrate levels above 10 mg/L (10 ppm) in groundwater can cause 'blue baby syndrome' (acquired methemoglobinemia), leading to hypoxia (which can lead to coma and death if not treated)

3. Soil acidification

Nitrogen-containing inorganic and organic fertilizers can cause soil acidification when added. This may lead to decreases in nutrient availability which may be offset by liming.

4. Persistent organic pollutants

Toxic persistent organic pollutants ("POPs"), such as Dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) have been detected in agricultural fertilizers and soil amendments

5. Heavy metal accumulation

The concentration of up to 100 mg/kg of cadmium in phosphate minerals (for example, minerals from Nauru and the Christmas islands increases the contamination of soil with cadmium, for example in New Zealand. Uranium is another example of a contaminant often found in phosphate fertilizers (at levels from 7 to 100 pCi/g) Eventually these heavy metals can build up to unacceptable levels and build up in vegetable produce. Average annual intake of uranium by adults is estimated to be about 0.5 mg (500 μg) from ingestion of food and water and 0.6 μg from breathing air. Steel industry wastes, recycled into fertilizers for their high levels of zinc (essential to plant growth), wastes can include the following toxic metals: lead arsenic, cadmium chromium, and nickel. The most common toxic elements in this type of fertilizer are mercury, lead, and arsenic. Concerns have been raised concerning fish meal mercury content by at least one source in Spain Also, highly-radioactive Polonium-210 contained in phosphate fertilizers is absorbed by the roots of plants and stored in its tissues; tobacco derived from plants fertilized by rock phosphates contains Polonium-210 which emits alpha radiation estimated to cause about 11,700 lung cancer deaths each year worldwide. For these reasons, it is recommended that nutrient budgeting, through careful observation and monitoring of crops, take place to mitigate the effects of excess fertilizer application.

Benefits of organic fertilizer

In addition to increasing yield and fertilizing plants directly, organic fertilizers can improve the biodiversity (soil life) and long-term productivity of soil, and may prove a large depository for excess carbon dioxide

Organic nutrients increase the abundance of soil organisms by providing organic matter and micronutrients for organisms such as fungal mycorrhiza, (which aid plants in absorbing nutrients), and can drastically reduce external inputs of pesticides, energy and fertilizer, at the cost of decreased yield

Alternatives for chemicals...

1. Vermiwash

Take 10 lit of mudpot or plastic container for preparation of vermiwash. Arrange a tap for it at the bottom. Then place 10 cm gravel or broken bricks at the bottom. Spread coconut husk upto 4 cm. on this. Place partially decomposed agricultural waste material and dung and moisten the material with water. After wetting the material for 2 days, release ………….earthworms. in 2 weeks the wastes get transformed into black compost. At this stage pour 3 litres of water. After 24 hrs 2 lit vermiwash can be collected through the tap. Continue this method for one week, remove the compost from the container and it can be used as manure. Again refill the container as explained above and prepare vermiwash.

2. Chilli-Garlic solution

1. Grind the chillies after removing the petioles and add 10lts of water to it. Keep this solution throughout the night.

2. Grind the 1/2 kg garlic and add 250 ml kerosene keep it for a night

3. Next day morning filter the chilli solution through a thin cloth

4. Do the same for garlic solution

5. Mix chilli solution, garlic solution and surf powder thoroughly and make a mixture

6. Add 100 lts of water to the above solution. This can be applied for

one acre

3. 5% Neem seed kernel extract

• 5 Kgs of Neem seeds dried under shade with good quality can be Powdered

• This powder canbe packed in cloth and keep in 10lts of water for 10-12 hrs

• Extract the decoction by pressing the cloth pack for 10-15mints

• Filter this solution through a thin cloth

• Add 100grs of surf to the filtered solution

• Add 100lts of water to the solution and spray it in 1acre during evening time

4. Dry chilli –Garlic solution

Take 1 kg dry chillies & soak in 10ltrs of water throughout the night. Grind 1/2 kg garlic and keep it in 250 ml of kerosine over night. Filter the dry chillies mixer

Filter the garlic solution through a thin cloth. Add chilli

solution and garlic solution and 75 gms detergent to make a mixture After 4 hrs this solution is ready to spray in one acre

5. Vermicompost

Cover the bottom of the cement ring with a layer of tiles or coconut husk or polythene sheet, Spread 15–20 cm layer of organic waste material on the polythene sheet. Sprinkle rock Phosphate powder if available (it helps in improving nutritional quality of compost) on the waste material and then sprinkle cow dung slurry. Fill the ring completely in layers as described. Paste the top of the ring with soil or cow dung. Allow the material to decompose for 15 to 20 days. When the heat evolved during the decomposition of the materials has subsided (15–20 days after heaping), release selected earthworms (one Kg) through the cracks developed. Cover the ring with wire mesh or gunny bag to prevent birds from picking the earthworms. Sprinkle water every three days to maintain adequate moisture and body temperature of the earthworms. The vermicompost is ready in about 2 months if agricultural waste is used and about 4 weeks if sericulture waste is used as substrate. The processed vermicompost is black, light in weight and free from bad odor. When the compost is ready, do not water for 2–3 days to make compost easy for sifting. Pile the compost in small heaps and leave under ambient conditions for a couple of hours when all the worms move down the heap in the bed. Separate upper portion of the manure and sieve the lower portion to separate the earthworms from the manure. The culture in the bed contains different stages of the earthworm’s life cycle, namely, cocoons, juveniles and adults. Transfer this culture to fresh half decomposed feed material. The excess as well as big earthworms can be used for feeding fish or poultry. Pack the compost in bags and store the bags in a cool place. Prepare another pile about 20 days before removing the compost.

Can Organic Farming Feed the World?

1. Yield

switching to organic farming would have different effects according to where in the world you live and how you currently farm. Studies show that the less industrialised world stands to benefit the most. In southern Brazil, maize and wheat yields doubled on farms that changed to green manures and nitrogen fixing leguminous vegetables instead of chemical fertilisers. In Mexico, coffee-growers who chose to move to fully organic production methods saw increases of 50 per cent in the weight of beans they harvested. In fact, in an analysis of more than 286 organic conversions in 57 countries, the average yield increase was found to be an impressive 64 per cent.

The situation is more complex in the industrialised world, where farms are large, intensive facilities, and opinions are divided on how organic yields would compare. Research by the University of Essex in 1999 found that, although yields on US farms that converted to organic initially dropped by between 10 and 15 per cent, they soon recovered, and the farms became more productive than their all-chemical counterparts. In the UK, however, a study by the Elm Farm Research Centre predicted that a national transition to all-organic farming would see cereal, rapeseed and sugar beet yields fall by between 30 and 60 per cent. Even the Soil Association admits that, on average in the UK

So can we hope to feed ourselves organically in the British Isles and Northern Europe? An analysis by former Ecologist editor Simon Fairlie in The Land journal suggests that we can, but only if we are prepared to rethink our diet and farming practices. In Fairlie's scenario, each of the UK's 60 million citizens could have organic cereals, potatoes, sugar, vegetables and fruit, fish, pork, chicken and beef, as well as wool and flax for clothes and biomass crops for heating. To achieve this we'd each have to cut down to around 230g of beef (1/2lb), compared to an average of 630g (11/2lb) today, 252g of pork/bacon, 210g of chicken and just under 4kg (9lb) of dairy produce each week - considerably more than the country enjoyed in 1945. We would probably need to supplement our diet with homegrown vegetables, save our food scraps as livestock feed and reform the sewage system to use our waste as an organic fertilizer

2. Energy

Currently, we use around 10 calories of fossil energy to produce one calorie of food energy. In a fuel-scarce future, which experts think could arrive as early as 2012, such numbers simply won't stack up. Studies by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs over the past three years have shown that, on average, organically grown crops use 25 per cent less energy than their chemical cousins. Certain crops achieve even better reductions, including organic leeks (58 per cent less energy) and broccoli (49 per cent less energy).

When these savings are combined with stringent energy conservation and local distribution and consumption (such as organic box schemes), energy-use dwindles to a fraction of that needed for an intensive, centralised food system. A study by the University of Surrey shows that food from Tolhurst Organic Produce, a smallholding in Berkshire, which supplies 400 households with vegetable boxes, uses 90 per cent less energy than if non-organic produce had been delivered and bought in a supermarket.

Far from being simply 'energy-lite', however, organic farms have the potential to become self-sufficient in energy - or even to become energy exporters. The 'Dream Farm' model, first proposed by Mauritius-born agroscientist George Chan, sees farms feeding manure and waste from livestock and crops into biodigesters, which convert it into a methane-rich gas to be used for creating heat and electricity. The residue from these biodigesters is a crumbly, nutrient-rich fertiliser, which can be spread on soil to increase crop yields or further digested by algae and used as a fish or animal feed.

3. Greenhouse gas emissions and climate change

Despite organic farming's low-energy methods, it is not in reducing demand for power that the techniques stand to make the biggest savings in greenhouse gas emissions. The production of ammonium nitrate fertiliser, which is indispensable to conventional farming, produces vast quantities of nitrous oxide - a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential some 320 times greater than that of CO2. In fact, the production of one tonne of ammonium nitrate creates 6.7 tonnes of greenhouse gases (CO2e), and was responsible for around 10 per cent of all industrial greenhouse gas emissions in Europe in 2003.

The techniques used in organic agriculture to enhance soil fertility in turn encourage crops to develop deeper roots, which increase the amount of organic matter in the soil, locking up carbon underground and keeping it out of the atmosphere. The opposite happens in conventional farming: high quantities of artificially supplied nutrients encourage quick growth and shallow roots. A study published in 1995 in the journal Ecological Applications found that levels of carbon in the soils of organic farms in California were as much as 28 per cent higher as a result. And research by the Rodale Institute shows that if the US were to convert all its corn and soybean fields to organic methods, the amount of carbon that could be stored in the soil would equal 73 per cent of the country's Kyoto targets for CO2 reduction.

Organic farming might also go some way towards salvaging the reputation of the cow, demonised in 2007 as a major source of methane at both ends of its digestive tract. There's no doubt that this is a problem: estimates put global methane emissions from ruminant livestock at around 80 million tonnes a year, equivalent to around two billion tonnes of CO2, or close to the annual CO2 output of Russia and the UK combined. But by changing the pasturage on which animals graze to legumes such as clover or birdsfoot trefoil (often grown anyway by organic farmers to improve soil nitrogen content), scientists at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research believe that methane emissions could be cut dramatically. Because the leguminous foliage is more digestible, bacteria in the cow's gut are less able to turn the fodder into methane. Cows also seem naturally to prefer eating birdsfoot trefoil to ordinary grass.

4. Water use

Agriculture is officially the thirstiest industry on the planet, consuming a staggering 72 per cent of all global freshwater at a time when the UN says 80 per cent of our water supplies are being overexploited. This hasn't always been the case. Traditionally, agricultural crops were restricted to those areas best suited to their physiology, with drought-tolerant species grown in the tropics and water-demanding crops in temperate regions. Global trade throughout the second half of the last century led to a worldwide production of grains dominated by a handful of high-yielding cereal crops, notably wheat, maize and rice. These thirsty cereals - the 'big three' - now account for more than half of the world's plant-based calories and 85 per cent of total grain production.

Organic agriculture is different. Due to its emphasis on healthy soil structure, organic farming avoids many of the problems associated with compaction, erosion, salinisation and soil degradation, which are prevalent in intensive systems. Organic manures and green mulches are applied even before the crop is sown, leading to a process known as 'mineralisation' - literally the fixing of minerals in the soil. Mineralised organic matter, conspicuously absent from synthetic fertilisers, is one of the essential ingredients required physically and chemically to hold water on the land. Organic management also uses crop rotations, undersowing and mixed cropping to provide the soil with near-continuous cover. By contrast, conventional farm soils may be left uncovered for extended periods prior to sowing, and again following the harvest, leaving essential organic matter fully exposed to erosion by rain, wind and sunlight. In the US, a 25-year Rodale Institute experiment on climatic extremes found that, due to improved soil structure, organic systems consistently achieve higher yields during periods both of drought and flooding.

5. Localisation

The globalisation of our food supply, which gives us Peruvian apples in June and Spanish lettuces in February, has seen our food reduced to a commodity in an increasingly volatile global marketplace. Although year-round availability makes for good marketing in the eyes of the biggest retailers, the costs to the environment are immense. Friends of the Earth estimates that the average meal in the UK travels 1,000 miles from plot to plate. In 2005, Defra released a comprehensive report on food miles in the UK, which valued the direct environmental, social and economic costs of food transport in Britain at £9 billion each year. In addition, food transport accounted for more than 30 billion vehicle kilometres, 25 per cent of all HGV journeys and 19 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2002 alone.

The organic movement was born out of a commitment to provide local food for local people, and so it is logical that organic marketing encourages localisation through veg boxes, farm shops and stalls. Between 2005 and 2006, organic sales made through direct marketing outlets such as these increased by 53 per cent, from GBP95 to GBP146 million, more than double the sales growth experienced by the major supermarkets.

As we enter an age of unprecedented food insecurity, it is essential that our consumption reflects not only what is desirable, but also what is ultimately sustainable. While the 'organic' label itself may inevitably be hijacked, 'organic and local' represents a solution with which the global players can simply never compete.

6. Pesticides

It is a shocking testimony to the power of the agrochemical industry that in the 45 years since Rachel Carson published her pesticide warning Silent Spring, the number of commercially available synthetic pesticides has risen from 22 to more than 450.

According to the World Health Organization there are an estimated 20,000 accidental deaths worldwide each year from pesticide exposure and poisoning. More than 31 million kilograms of pesticide were applied to UK crops alone in 2005, 0.5 kilograms for every person in the country. A spiralling dependence on pesticides throughout recent decades has resulted in a catalogue of repercussions, including pest resistance, disease susceptibility, loss of natural biological controls and reduced nutrient-cycling.

Organic farmers, on the other hand, believe that a healthy plant grown in a healthy soil will ultimately be more resistant to pest damage. Organic systems encourage a variety of natural methods to enhance soil and plant health, in turn reducing incidences of pests, weeds and disease.

First and foremost, because organic plants grow comparatively slower than conventional varieties they have thicker cell walls, which provide a tougher natural barrier to pests. Rotations or 'break-crops', which are central to organic production, also provide a physical obstacle to pest and disease lifecycles by removing crops from a given plot for extended periods. Organic systems also rely heavily on a rich agro-ecosystem in which many agricultural pests can be controlled by their natural predators.

Inevitably, however, there are times when pestilence attacks are especially prolonged or virulent, and here permitted pesticides may be used. The use of organic pesticides is heavily regulated and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) requires specific criteria to be met before pesticide applications can be justified. There are in fact only four active ingredients permitted for use on organic crops: copper fungicides, restricted largely to potatoes and occasionally orchards; sulphur, used to control additional elements of fungal diseases; Retenone, a naturally occurring plant extract, and soft soap, derived from potassium soap and used to control aphids. Herbicides are entirely prohibited.

7. Ecosystem impact

Farmland accounts for 70 per cent of UK land mass, making it the single most influential enterprise affecting our wildlife. Incentives offered for intensification under the Common Agricultural Policy are largely responsible for negative ecosystem impacts over recent years. Since 1962, farmland bird numbers have declined by an average of 30 per cent. During the same period more than 192,000 kilometres of hedgerows have been removed, while 45 per cent of our ancient woodland has been converted to cropland.

By contrast, organic farms actively encourage biodiversity in order to maintain soil fertility and aid natural pest control. Mixed farming systems ensure that a diversity of food and nesting sites are available throughout the year, compared with conventional farms where autumn sow crops leave little winter vegetation available. Organic production systems are designed to respect the balance observed in our natural ecosystems. It is widely accepted that controlling or suppressing one element of wildlife, even if it is a pest, will have unpredictable impacts on the rest of the food chain. Instead, organic producers regard a healthy ecosystem as essential to a healthy farm, rather than a barrier to production.

In 2005, a report by English Nature and the RSPB on the impacts of organic farming on biodiversity reviewed more than 70 independent studies of flora, invertebrates, birds and mammals within organic and conventional farming systems. It concluded that biodiversity is enhanced at every level of the food chain under organic management practices, from soil micro-biota right through to farmland birds and the largest mammals.

8. Nutritional benefits

While an all-organic farming system might mean we'd have to make do with slightly less food than we're used to, research shows that we can rest assured it would be better for us. In 2001, a study in the Journal of Complementary Medicine found that organic crops contained higher levels of 21 essential nutrients than their conventionally grown counterparts, including iron, magnesium, phosphorus and vitamin C. The organic crops also contained lower levels of nitrates, which can be toxic to the body.

Other studies have found significantly higher levels of vitamins - as well as polyphenols and antioxidants - in organic fruit and veg, all of which are thought to play a role in cancer-prevention within the body. Scientists have also been able to work out why organic farming produces more nutritious food. Avoiding chemical fertiliser reduces nitrates levels in the food; betterquality soil increases the availability of trace minerals, and reduced levels of pesticides mean that the plants' own immune systems grow stronger, producing higher levels of antioxidants. Slower rates of growth also mean that organic food frequently contains higher levels of dry mass, meaning that fruit and vegetables are less pumped up with water and so contain more nutrients by weight than intensively grown crops do.

Milk from organically fed cows has been found to contain higher levels of nutrients in six separate studies, including omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, and beta-carotene, all of which can help prevent cancer. One experiment discovered that levels of omega-3 in organic milk were on average 68 per cent higher than in non-organic alternatives. But as well as giving us more of what we do need, organic food can help to give us less of what we don't. In 2000, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that organically produced food had 'lower levels of pesticide and veterinary drug residues' than non-organic did. Although organic farmers are allowed to use antibiotics when absolutely necessary to treat disease, the routine use of the drugs in animal feed - common on intensive livestock farms - is forbidden. This means a shift to organic livestock farming could help tackle problems such as the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

9. Seed-saving

Seeds are not simply a source of food; they are living testimony to more than 10,000 years of agricultural domestication. Tragically, however, they are a resource that has suffered unprecedented neglect. The UN FAO estimates that 75 per cent of the genetic diversity of agricultural crops has been lost over the past 100 years.

Traditionally, farming communities have saved seeds year-on-year, both in order to save costs and to trade with their neighbours. As a result, seed varieties evolved in response to local climatic and seasonal conditions, leading to a wide variety of fruiting times, seed size, appearance and flavour. More importantly, this meant a constant updating process for the seed's genetic resistance to changing climatic conditions, new pests and diseases. By contrast, modern intensive agriculture depends on relatively few crops - only about 150 species are cultivated on any significant scale worldwide. This is the inheritance of the Green Revolution, which in the late 1950s perfected varieties Filial 1, or F1 seed technology, which produced hybrid seeds with specifically desirable genetic qualities. These new high-yield seeds were widely adopted, but because the genetic makeup of hybrid F1 seeds becomes diluted following the first harvest, the manufacturers ensured that farmers return for more seed year on year.

With its emphasis on diversity, organic farming is somewhat cushioned from exploitation on this scale, but even Syngenta, the world's third-largest biotech company, now offers organic seed lines. Although seedsaving is not a prerequisite for organic production, the holistic nature of organics lends itself well to conserving seed. In support of this, the Heritage Seed Library, in Warwickshire, is a collection of more than 800 open-pollinated organic varieties, which have been carefully preserved by gardeners across the country. Although their seeds are not yet commercially available, the Library is at the forefront of addressing the alarming erosion of our agricultural diversity.

Seed-saving and the development of local varieties must become a key component of organic farming, giving crops the potential to evolve in response to what could be rapidly changing climatic conditions. This will help agriculture keeps pace with climate change in the field, rather than in the laboratory.

10. Job creation

There is no doubt British farming is currently in crisis. With an average of 37 farmers leaving the land every day, there are now more prisoners behind bars in the UK than there are farmers in the fields. Although it has been slow, the decline in the rural labour force is a predictable consequence of the industrialisation of agriculture. A mere one per cent of the UK workforce is now employed in land-related enterprises, compared with 35 per cent at the turn of the last century.

The implications of this decline are serious. A skilled agricultural workforce will be essential in order to maintain food security in the coming transition towards a new model of post-fossil fuel farming. Many of these skills have already been eroded through mechanisation and a move towards more specialised and intensive production systems. Organic farming is an exception to these trends.. By its nature, organic production relies on labour-intensive management practices. Smaller, more diverse farming systems require a level of husbandry that is simply uneconomical at any other scale.

Organic crops and livestock also demand specialist knowledge and regular monitoring in the absence of agrochemical controls. According to a 2006 report by the University of Essex, organic farming in the UK provides 32 per cent more jobs per farm than comparable non-organic farms. Interestingly, the report also concluded that the higher employment observed could not be replicated in non-organic farming through initiatives such as local marketing. Instead, the majority (81 per cent) of total employment on organic farms was created by the organic production system itself. The report estimates that 93,000 new jobs would be created if all farming in the UK were to convert to organic.

Organic farming also accounts for more younger employees than any other sector in the industry. The average age of conventional UK farmers is now 56, yet organic farms increasingly attract a younger more enthusiastic workforce, people who view organics as the future of food production. It is for this next generation of farmers that Organic Futures, a campaign group set up by the Soil Association in 2007, is striving to provide a platform

Written by

Ed Hamer is a freelance journalist
Mark Anslow is the Ecologist's senior reporter