Abstract
With the ever-growing population at one end and the deteriorating ecosystem at the other, people are questioning the efficiency of the two approaches to farming now more than ever. One approach is the organic cultivation while the other follows the conventional techniques. There seems to be a divide where a few people support one type of agriculture while the rest stand to the other side. In the midst of all of this debate and an unspoken war on which side has more valid arguments for implementation of their stance, the basic differences in between the two approaches end up a matter of low priority. In the midst of all of this arguing, the best of us choose to ignore what the true picture really looks like. Today, we try and remedy that shortcoming and present a verdict based exclusively on facts rather than opinions. Today, we settle the war between the genetically modified organisms and those kept after following the natural order.
Farming has been the reason why we have been able to get food on our dining tables day in, day out. It is also because we have made effective use of technology that today, we are able to feed all of the world’s population factoring in the rate at which it is growing. When we discuss farming, two methods come under debate, which are the conventional methods and the organic farming techniques.
Organic farming circles around the use of farming methods which aim at preserving the health of the soil and of the general environment and this is why this method employs resources which inflict the minimum possible harm to the worldwide ecosystem. Conventional farming on the other follows the complete opposite of all of these rules.
There are more than a few notable differences in between these two avenues of farming and right here, we are going to highlight a few of those differences. So where conventional methods of farming make use of synthetic chemicals in order to increase the yield and meet the growing demand for food, the organic approach, one we also call sustainable farming uses organic waste as a substitute to the chemical fertilizer.
In addition, where the conventional farming technique uses pesticides and insecticides for getting rid of the pests and insects, the organic farmer is going to seek the aid of birds and some insects which can destroy these weeds and the insects which cause harm to the crop.
Another difference which tips the scale in favor of conventional farming is the purpose or the ultimate aim of each type of farming method. Where convention farming is carried out with the aim of maximizing production in order to meet the growing demand, the sustainable approach to farming like the name suggests solely focuses on preserving the environment for future benefit. This is the reason why even though the organic approach of farming is seen by much as healthy; it still lacks efficiency to single-handedly cultivate for us the food that we require for consumption.
On the opposite end of the story, the conventional approach to farming burns through too many resources and leaves too much waste for the environment to deal with. Over and above that, there have also been some cases where the organic method has successfully presented us with a higher yield than we would have achieved with the conventional system. For instance, under the conditions of droughts, the sustainable farming methods tend to achieve higher production than does the conventional method. This can be attributed to the ability of the crop of retaining more water.
These are all reasons which indicate to us that the sustainable technique of agriculture also presents benefits over its competitor and thus, we can interchange the method of farming to adopt the one which sits well with the environmental conditions in which the crop is to be cultivated. This is the reason why it is critical for both of these approaches to go hand in hand as opposed to one replacing the other.
This approach of integration is also crucial because sustainability is the key to our survival in the long run and it is the reason why the methods of farming should incorporate the same sustainability for our benefit.
We are constantly aware of the importance of a scarce resource such as water in our lives and believe it or not, just about 70% of the total fresh water is being consumed for the purpose of agriculture and in order to conserve this supply which seems to be running out at a pace we can hardly keep up with, we have urgent need to find ways of farming which take in less of this important resource.
And then, there is also the question of the use of energy in each process of farming. There was a publication in the Washington Post recently which made a note of the amount of energy comparing both methods in terms of the total energy that each of the approaches uses. Unexpectedly, the results of the study concluded that the organic method of farming uses relatively less energy.
The Rhode Island Institute, a non-profit working on research regarding the conventional approach of farming found that cultivating about 2.5 acres of organic corn burns through 10,150 megajoules of energy while the same crop when conventional uses about 17,372 megajoules, which is 70 percent more than the organic approach. The explanation of this trend is that the manufacture and the transportation of fertilizers which are nitrogen based are what consume the most energy in the conventional farming technique.
After bringing these facts into the light, it becomes even harder to give a verdict in favor of any single approach. This is because while the sustainable farming methods may not give as much result as we might need, they do save energy and retain much more water. The use of this one method to cater for all of the global demand is an additional feat of impossibility. This is the reason why we cannot declare one clear winner.
Both of these approaches serve well in specific types of environmental conditions and what is left for us to figure out is the conditions which can produce the best yield using the organic farming. Both of these approaches have their pros and cons, and we can only establish success if we can learn to utilize to maximum potential, the benefits of each of the two approaches.
List of References
Pitts, J. (n.d.). Organic Farming vs. Conventional Farming. Retrieved September 06, 2016, from Health Guidance: http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/11320/1/Organic-Farming-vs-Conventional-Farming.html
Stony Brook University. (n.d.). Sustainable Vs. Conventional Agriculture. Retrieved September 06, 2016, from Stony Brook University: https://you.stonybrook.edu/environment/sustainable-vs-conventional-agriculture/
Yee, A. (2013, January 10). Organic vs. Conventional Farming: Which Method Uses Less Energy? Retrieved from The Daily Good: https://www.good.is/articles/organic-vs-conventional-farming-which-method-uses-less-energy
