Fw: News: Study Finds Organic Farming More Fertile

["Ian Murray" <seamus2001@xxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ashwani Vasishth" <vasishth@xxxxxxx>
To: <ECOLOG-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, May 31, 2002 4:55 PM
Subject: News: Study Finds Organic Farming More Fertile


> http://www.sciam.com/news/053102/1.html
>
> AGRICULTURE
> Organic Farms More Fertile, Study Finds
> Image: Hättenschwiler (FAL)/© Science
>
> Organic farms are more efficient than their conventional cousins and
leave
> soils far healthier, researchers report today in the journal Science.
In a
> long-term study comparing productivity, environmental health,
biodiversity
> and energy consumption of organic cultivation to conventional methods,
> Paul Mäder of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in
Switzerland
> and his colleagues discovered that the organic approach used
significantly
> less energy to produce the same quantity of crop. Although organic
farms
> typically produce lower overall yields than common plots do, their
> ecological benefits are greater--a larger number of pest-eating
creatures
> and other advantageous organisms live in soil farmed organically, and
> decomposition occurs more efficiently on these lands, releasing much
> needed nutrients into the soil.
>
>  [...]
>
>  * * *
>
> http://www.sciam.com/news/041901/3.html
>
> ECOLOGY
> Analysis Finds Greater Profits from Organic Farming
>
> Doing the right thing can be profitable after all*at least when it
comes
> to growing apples. That's the conclusion of a new study in today's
issue
> of Nature, which compared the economics of organic apple farms and
> conventional ones. "The organic system was more energy efficient, it
was
> better for the environment, it had better soil quality, its yields
were as
> good as the other systems, it was more profitable, and its apples were
> slightly sweeter and firmer," says co-author John Reganold of
Washington
> State University.
>
>  [...]