BERKELEY, CA – A new study by UC Berkeley researchers suggests that organic farming crop yields are higher than previously thought.
“In terms of comparing productivity among the two techniques, this paper sets the record straight on the comparison between organic and conventional agriculture,” said the study’s senior author, Claire Kremen, Professor of Environmental Science, Policy and Management and Co-Director of the Berkeley Food Institute. “With global food needs predicted to greatly increase in the next 50 years, it’s critical to look more closely at organic farming, because aside from the environmental impacts of industrial agriculture, the ability of synthetic fertilizers to increase crop yields has been declining.”
The findings, which were obtained through a meta-analysis of 115 different studies with a dataset three times larger than any previously published work, are set to be published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. They reveal that organic yields are only 19.2% lower than those obtained from conventional farming methods, a number which may even be overstated given many previous studies were biased towards conventional methods, according to the researchers.
This yield gap can be further shrunk through the use of certain agricultural techniques, such as multi-cropping and crop rotation, according to the study. Doing so can reduce the organic-to-conventional yield gap to only 9% or 8% respectively. Furthermore it was found that certain crops, including beans, peas and lentils experienced no significant difference in yield between conventional and organic methods.
“Our study suggests that through appropriate investment in agroecological research to improve organic management and in breeding cultivars for organic farming systems, the yield gap could be reduced or even eliminated for some crops or regions,” said the study’s lead author, Lauren Ponisio, a graduate student in environmental science, policy and management. “This is especially true if we mimic nature by creating ecologically diverse farms that harness important ecological interactions like the nitrogen-fixing benefits of intercropping or cover-cropping with legumes.”
“It’s important to remember that our current agricultural system produces far more food than is needed to provide for everyone on the planet,” Kremen added. “Eradicating world hunger requires increasing the access to food, not simply the production. Also, increasing the proportion of agriculture that uses sustainable, organic methods of farming is not a choice, it’s a necessity. We simply can’t continue to produce food far into the future without taking care of our soils, water and biodiversity.”
Though conventional farming methods still outpace their organic counterparts, this research seems to shed some light on previous assumptions. It’ll be interesting to see where this study may lead.
