Source: FiBL, Germany, www.fibl.org, Feb 2007
The lighter our farming systems
tread on the Earth, the less severely climate change will develop. Organic
farming has a leading role to play here, as a workshop at BioFach 2007 in
Germany has revealed. Urs Niggli of the Research Institute of Organic
Agriculture (FiBL) calls for increased support to be given to organic farming,
both in the tropics and subtropics and in the temperate zones of the northern
hemisphere. This is the way forward to ensuring that the farming and food
production sectors conserve and make efficient use of natural resources, work on
closed-loop principles and achieve enhanced self-sufficiency and independence
from fossil fuels.
Organic farming for greenhouse gas
reduction
Organic agriculture achieves high plant yields by making
efficient use of organic residues: To fertilize soils, it uses composted harvest
residues and animal manure. This saves 50 to 150 kg, depending upon the crop, in
synthetic nitrogen fertilizer per hectare which would otherwise need to be
produced using non-renewable fuels.
Studies have shown that conventional
arable farming operations in England consume some 17,000 litres of fossil fuels
embodied in fertilizers per 100 hectare of land each year. Worldwide, 90 million
tonnes of mineral oil or natural gas are processed to nitrogen fertilizer every
year. This generates 250 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
With their
low-impact methods, organic farmers boost soil fertility and the humus content
of soils. The result is that the greenhouse gas CO2 is returned to the biomass
of the soil. Long-term field trials conducted over many years in Switzerland
have shown that compared to other methods of farming (conventional, integrated
production) organic farming enriches 12 to 15 percent more carbon dioxide in the
soil, as FiBL soil researcher Andreas Fliessbach explains. This means that
organic farms return 575 to 700 kg CO2 to the soil per hectare and year more
than other farmers. Scientists in Austria and Germany have confirmed this
figure. Organic farming thus reduces CO2 emissions by eliminating synthetic
fertilizers, and at the same time reduces atmospheric concentrations of this gas
by storing it in the soil - a true win-win strategy.
A further valuable
outcome of the organic farming method is that soils with higher humus content
can adapt better to the adverse effects of climate change. Soils rich in humus
store more water and longer, which is particularly effective in ensuring higher
yields during lengthier dry periods in the summer. The improved water retention
potential of soils also protects against sudden and strong rainfall, as rivers
rise less rapidly and runoff erosion is slowed.
Newly
industrializing and developing countries particularly affected
Manuel
Amador of Corporación Educativa para el Desarollo Costarricense (CEDECO)
presents case studies showing how effectively organic farming in Costa Rica,
Cuba and Brazil is helping to reduce greenhouse gases.
Ana Meirelles of
the Centro Ecológico in Brazil reports on her practical work in the south of the
country: Organic smallholders are supported there through various strategies,
one being the development of local markets. This is helping to protect the
climate, while awareness-raising work at schools and in communication with
consumers is creating an understanding of the specific climate impacts of
people's buying behaviour.
Othmar Schwank of the Infras consultancy
explains that the impacts of climate change will affect farmers in the
developing world greatly. This makes effective adaptation strategies, such as
are used in organic farming, particularly important. To promote organic farming,
national agricultural policies are just as important as international trade
agreements.
Climate credits for organic farming
Jan
Verhagen of Wageningen University in the Netherlands is researching ways to
integrate farming within a post-Kyoto agreement at international level. An
effective climate policy regime would need to contain a credit-and-penalty
system designed to promote organic agriculture.
The Research Institute of
Organic Agriculture (FiBL) is working together with a range of partner
organizations in the developing world to set up a Global CO2 Project. Salvador
Garibay of FiBL explains how this project shall research the contribution of
organic farming to climate change mitigation, will generate a broader
understanding of these linkages and will seek to integrate organic farming
within the Clean Development Mechanism.
The workshop on "Climate Change
and Organic Farming" held on 17 February at BioFach 2007 in Nuremberg, Germany,
was made possible by financial support provided by the Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Humanist Institute for Cooperation
with Developing Countries (HIVOS, the Netherlands).
Further
information:
Contact person at FiBL: Urs Niggli and Andreas Fliessbach,
email:
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 July 2007 23:41 |
