Advantages And Disadvantages Of Organic Farming

Organic farming uses agricultural production systems dependent on green manure, compost, biological pest control, and crop rotation to provide crops, livestock, and poultry.

FREMONT, CA: Organic farming does not enable synthetic chemical fertilizers, antibiotics, herbicides, or pesticides. Thus, the objectives of organic farming are the agricultural production of fibers, grains, vegetables, flowers, fruits, foods, and animal products like milk, eggs, and meat.

Organic farming performs better regarding water and soil conservation, maintaining ecological balance, and utilizing renewable resources. Conversely, it also has its disadvantages.

Here are the advantages and disadvantages of organic farming.

Advantages of Organic Farming

1. High nutrition values

Organic food products comprise very high nutritional content since they do not contain modified ingredients compared to conventional agricultural food products. Also, they are given time to develop and are provided with the best natural conditions for growth.

The vitamin & mineral content of organic food products is often high as the soil life and health offer the most suitable mechanism for crops to access soil nutrients. Also, healthy foodstuff means healthy people and better nourishment for a better living for both people and animals.

2. Better taste

Apart from nutrition, organic foods' mineral and sugar structures are tasty because the crops are given more time to develop and mature. It is generally reported that the taste of organic vegetables and fruits is of higher quality than those that are conventionally grown. Utilizing natural and eco-friendly agricultural production techniques is the reason for the better taste of organic food products.

3. Improved human health

Organic produce provides the safest products for human consumption compared to other food products. Organic products are high in nutrition content, contain lower levels of chemicals, and do not have modified ingredients.

Thus, organic products can improve human health by ensuring that the risks of diseases like infertility, cancer, and immunodeficiency are minimized. Moreover, organic standards have set strict regulations to ensure that all labeled organic products are truly organic in production and processing. This ensures they are free from synthetic chemical components and genetically modified production technologies.

4. Environmental sustainability

Fulfilling tremendous environmental sustainability mileage is the dream of every nation worldwide. The use of organic farming can partly achieve this. Research discloses that organic farming can offer impressive mechanisms for advancing ecological harmony, biodiversity, and biological cycles, which are environmentally sustainable.

For instance, the main objectives of organic farming are soil management and conservation, promoting the nutrient cycle, ecological balance, and conserving biodiversity.

On this account, it is obvious that organic farming has the best interest of preserving the natural environment. Moreover, since most organic farming production methods are energy efficient compared to traditional farming, it saves energy. Using natural methods in place of chemicals also saves the world's water sources and lands from contamination and pollution.

5. Organic products are poison-free

Organic farming does not employ any kind of hazardous chemicals to keep away pests and diseases. All the practices are natural and therefore do not harm the consumer. Aspects such as biomagnification are lessened via organic farming as chemical pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, and artificial growth hormones are prohibited on an organic farm. Thus, organic food products are free of contamination with health-harming chemical substances.

Disadvantages of Organic Farming

1. Diminished productivity in the long-term

The contemporary world agricultural production target is superior productivity. While organic farming promises enhanced and healthier produce, it is beneficial in the short term as massive inputs like machinery and chemicals are out of the picture. In contrast, over the long term, productivity advantages diminish. As the soil health and fertility decline over time in organic farming, so does the yields, and this takes place when the soil reaches the point where it can no more convert the present humus into soil fertility.

It takes time for the soil to revitalize and restored after a growing season in organic farming. Thus, when the soil is utilized over a longer time frame, then it cannot produce enough products that can support the survival needs of the world's population. As a result, productivity diminishes, and farmers resort to boosting it by adding chemical inputs.

2. Time-consuming

It demands commitment, patience, and an uphill struggle to grow crops organically. Organic farming needs much interaction between a farmer and his/her crops or livestock. Whether it is providing the crops are pest and disease free in an organic way, using natural ways to control weeds, or raising animals organically, the process is highly time-consuming.

The farmer has to spend most of the time, day after day, observing and catering to the requirements of his/her crops and animals with maximum care in the best natural way. This makes organic farming more labor intensive than conventional mechanical or chemical agriculture. Greater yields can be produced industrially as opposed to the sole practice of organic farming owing to its time-consuming nature.

3. Skills

More skills are necessary to farm organically compared to mechanical and chemical agriculture. This is highly associated with the fact that the definitive aspect of organic farming maintains the application of natural inputs and close observation of the production process. Organic farmers lack the convenience of utilizing mechanized or chemical techniques to fix every problem.

Instead, they must employ careful observation and a superior understanding of the production process to realize the most suitable natural farming system to correct the production problems other than attaining short-term solutions. In light, the bigger concern is the duration it takes to develop the appropriate skills to completely understand how to build a healthy farm ecosystem while at the same time seeking valuable and high productivity.

4. Organic products are exceedingly expensive.

Organic foods are the most pricey agricultural produces on the market. In supermarkets, for instance, organic vegetables and fruits cost as much as 20 to 40% more than their non-organic equivalent. The consumers pay the price, which is one of the major drawbacks of organically produced food products.

The exorbitant prices of organic products are connected with the idea that organic farmers do not produce as much out of their farms as conventional farmers. Perhaps this is one of the main causes that organic farming is not fully supported, as not so many people understand its great benefits.

5. Lacks the flexibility of employing GMO advantages

The traditional nature of organic farming is the total avoidance of genetic modification. Conventional farmers can take advantage of genetic modification, which is generally lacking in organic farming. Although this helps to bolster a healthy lifestyle, organic growers miss out on significant genetically engineered technologies that can help crops resist pests and diseases or tolerate weeds better.