Organic Farming Can Contribute To Global Nutrition, Study

Organic farming can make an important contribution to world nutrition, according to a new study, which said that a global shift to organics can contribute to a sustainable food system when combined with other measures

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Nov, 2017 ) :Organic farming can make an important contribution to world nutrition, according to a new study, which said that a global shift to organics can contribute to a sustainable food system when combined with other measures.

This includes a one-third reduction in animal products in human consumption, less concentrated feed and less food waste, said the new study published in Nature Communications. Such a food system has a very positive impact on key environmental issues such as over-fertilization and pesticide use - and does not increase land use despite biological management.

Organic farming, with its gentler approach to the environment and resources, is often suggested as a solution to current challenges. On the other hand, critics emphasize that this conversion would lead to much higher land consumption and therefore is not a viable alternative, explains Karlheinz Erb, of Institute for Social Ecology of the Alpen-Adria-Universit't Klagenfurt (AAU) Austria, who participated in the study.

The results show that in combination with the lack of concentrated feed, a corresponding reduction in the consumption of animal products and the reduction of food waste, organic farming can play an important role in a sustainable food system.

In this way, the world population could be maintained at more than nine billion by 2050, land consumption would not increase and the negative effects of today's intensive food system such as high nitrogen surpluses or high levels of pesticides would be greatly reduced, Karlheinz Erb said.