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Why farm naturally?
Agriculture, in contrast to other industries, has the potential to be self-sustaining. Soil and water, if managed well, can be perpetually self-renewing into the far future. High production agriculture is supported by subsidised energy in fertilisers, machinery, irrigation, chemicals and transportation. 'Production' in this context is high only if applied to harvested output only.Productivity of small scale diversified producers can be greater than conventional agriculture. 'Productivity' in this context means the ratio of return from input, with the total cost of the system included in the calculation.
Small adjustments to the system are being made continually by all farmers. Conservation farming, tree planting, integrated pest control, catchment management and other developments are all positive contributions to a sustainable agriculture. But to really extent the sustainability of the system, organic farmers advocate the importance of the complex inter-relationships in nature. They begin with the concept of a whole system and design their systems consciously, using the greatest possible diversity and complementary features of the parts.
Will it work
Farming is not easy and organic farming is not easier than other farming, and may be more demanding during the conversion period. Many farmers have made organic farming pay and have improved their lifestyle at the same time. Some have improved their returns from farming. In some areas or industries, converting to organic farming is harder, and some areas lend themselves readily.The US National Academy of Sciences published a major report on "Alternative Agriculture" in September 1989. It said "Well-managed alternative farms use less synthetic chemical fertilisers, pesticides and antibiotics without necessarily decreasing, and, in some cases, increasing per-acre crop yields and the productivity of livestock systems....Wider adoption of proven alternative systems would result in ever greater economic gains for the nation."
