The impact of climate change on organic farming
Climate change will have less effect on organic farming than on conventional farming because organic farming reduces greenhouse gas emissions, thus helping to elliminate global warming and climate change.
Organic farmers can more easily combat climate change due to the very nature of organic farming. Organic farming works with the environment not against the environment. If climate change has changed the environment, organic farmers can adjust their organic operation to comply with the new weather conditions.
Organic farming is sustainable so organic farmers would plant according to the climate. If your climate has suddenly changed a few degrees, or there is more rain and flooding then before, or if it is hotter than before; organic farmers plant the plants that grow best according the new weather pattern. Some plants grow best in wet climates and others grow best in dry climates.
According to an article entitled, Organic Agriculture Key to Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, the author states that "sustainable, organic, ecological friendly agriculture, which is owned, controlled, and managed by small men and women farmers, and supported by government policies and programs, is a strategic agricultural measure to adapt and mitigate climate change, ensure food security, and reduce poverty among smallholder farmers."
The key here is adapt - organic farming can adapt to climate change, but at the same time that it adapts, it improves the environment by soaking up the carbon in the atmosphere, thus helping to avert global warming and climate change.
The International Federation of Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) states that organic agriculture "relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects."
According to IFOAM, organic agriculture
* helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
* "encourages "agro-forestry" and builds "plant biomass"
* keeps primary ecosystems intact
* minimizes energy consumption by 30-70 percent by not using synthetic fertilizers
IFOAM also states that organic farming "prevents nutrient and water loss through high organic matter content and soil covers" - "soils are more resilient to floods, droughts," and other types of "land degradation."
Rodale Institute states "organically managed soils can store (sequester) 1,000 pounds of carbon per acre, while non-organic systems can cause carbon loss."
The key in these statements is that organic farming stores carbon in its soil and biomass which reduces greenhouse gas emissions, the cause of global warming and climate change. Conventional farming since it destroys ecosystems and uses synthetic chemical fertilizesrs, does not have the right soil or biomass for storing carbon.
By choosing organic farming, farmers can help to reduce greenhouse emissions. By buying organic foods consumers can also help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to fight against global warming and climate change.
References:
www.ifoam.org/growing_organic/1_arguments_for_oa/env ironmental_benefits/climatechange.html
www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/index.html (The International Federation of Agricultural Movements)