Summary: Evaluating the
potential contribution of organic agriculture to
sustainability goals (FAO, 1998)
4.1 Difficulties in evaluating the feasibility of organic agriculture
IT IS DIFFICULT to assess the likelihood of success in organic agriculture.
Several concerns need to be born in mind when evaluating the feasibility
of organic agriculture in a given environment. These factors include:
- parameters reflecting greater "sustainability" do not necessarily
imply organic practices;
- in practice, it will often be difficult to differentiate between the
effect of different factors on a farming system, as the introduction of
organic management could be not the only change at the time (for example,
a number of years with very (un)favourable weather conditions);
- some parameters (such as yield) need to be averaged over a number of
years, as factors other than the management system influence variability
between years (for example, weather);
- benchmark figures, which indicate the conditions before a change occurs
in a system, are not always available. In such cases, they must be obtained
before organic management is adopted but this is not always possible (especially
when resources are scarce);
- many of the changes may be observable only in the long-term, such as
changes in yield or soil;
- because organic agriculture is such an under-researched area, conditions
which initially seem difficult may be easy to cope with after some experience
has been gained, and vice versa; and
- those who have no experience in thinking within the context of organic
agriculture are not likely to be able to judge possibilities in organic
agriculture accurately.
Success in organic agriculture also depends greatly on local conditions.
Organic agriculture is a production system which tries to create conditions
such that problems with soil fertility and pest management are prevented,
in order to optimize present and future output. One of the main characteristics
of organic agriculture is the use of local resources to achieve this aim
(including on-farm biological processes such as availability of pest predators
or soil fungi which make nutrients more accessible to the plant). In Box
1 of Definitions, several individual techniques are listed but these can obviously be combined
in many ways, with different weights on individual techniques. As potential
agricultural problems, and availability of resources to cope with those
problems, can differ greatly from location to location, the practicalities
of organic agriculture can also vary considerably. For example, in areas
with an abundance of organic material and labour, using compost as a way
to maintain soil fertility may be more logical than using green manure in
the rotation. This means that constraints can also differ greatly between
localities. Determinations of the suitability of organic agriculture must
include agro-ecological, economic, and social and institutional considerations,
as given below.
Agro-ecological considerations
- availability of natural resources: such as land, soil quality, vegetation,
access to material which can be used in compost and mulch, availability
of other materials such as rock dust;
- evaluation of other resources needed, such as machinery and tools;
- suitability of enterprises, that is, crops to be grown or livestock
to be raised, given the availability of natural and other resources;
- problems to be expected: which pests are common, what is the cause,
what can be done to avoid them within available resources? For example,
a primary pest may be avoided by planting at a time when the insect cannot
complete its life cycle, even though that results in a certain decrease
in yield due to non-optimal conditions in other aspects such as heat; a
secondary pest could stop after abandoning the use of pesticides and natural
predators return;
- total production of all enterprises, not only of the main enterprise;
yield difference in good and bad years (that is, yield variability).
Economic considerations
- labour requirements (quantity and timing of labour);
- total net return, that is, income (or use) from main crop and other
crops and livestock, minus the cost of the inputs used for the production;
- long-term productivity: the effect of present production on the soil
and implications for future yields;
- marketing possibilities: in times when consumers are willing to pay
a premium, improved marketing possibilities should be taken into account
when production decisions are made.
Suitability of a system (such as organic agriculture) depends on its profitability,
if that concept includes all aspects which affect the farmer's welfare.
For example, low return of a marketable crop as compared with another farming
system may mean very little if inputs are also low, or if the farmer can
harvest other products which can be grown simultaneously in the one system,
but not in the other (such as fish with irrigated rice when no pesticides
are used). In addition, relative incomes can change drastically with changing
input or output prices. A pest problem may be managed easily in one area
where a predator is present, and be a major problem in a different area
where no such solution is available (such as changing planting dates). One
opinion is that organic agriculture is only possible where the soil is high
in organic content, yet successful organic farms can be found on all kinds
of soils, including infertile soils. In other words, although it is likely
that some conditions are easier for organic farmers to handle than others,
at present it is not clear what exactly those conditions are which make
it inadvisable for farmers to adopt an organic management system.
Social and institutional constraints
Respondents to a survey amongst European researchers in organic agriculture
mentioned that constraints for the advancement of research in organic agriculture
were institutional rather than technical (Wynen (1997). In other words,
technical problems were seen as being surmountable. Gabriel (1994) came
to a similar conclusion during a workshop with researchers in sustainable
agriculture in the USA. The most important institutional considerations
include:
Belief systems. Possibly the single biggest constraint to the development
of organic agriculture is that most people in all kinds of areas, including
scientists, researchers, extension officers and politicians strongly believe
that organic agriculture is not a feasible option to improve food security.
For this reason, very few farmers can obtain information about this management
system, even when they inquire about it. If those who make policy decisions
on the allocation of resources, such as for research and extension, are
not aware of the possibilities of organic agriculture, no positive consideration
towards this farming system can be expected.
Land tenure. The land-tenure system is important in assuring farmers
that the future benefits of current farm improvements can be achieved. If
this is not so, long-term investments which improve sustainability will
not be made.
Vested interests. Organic agriculture differs greatly in input use
from conventional agricultural systems. Many of the inputs used in organic
agriculture are public goods (which can be used without impeding use by
others, such as knowledge about practices). Hence, there is little private
interest in promoting particular inputs which are used in organic agriculture.
Social obstacles. Survey respondents in developed countries often
mention the social isolation which organic farmers endure as a result of
their choice of management system. Farmers in Australia feel that they were
considered "odd" or "eccentric" and that they needed
a "thick skin" to be able to withstand the social pressure (Wynen
1992). This factor is also mentioned in literature in developing countries,
but it is difficult to know how important an obstacle this is in a change.
Other social obstacles can include the rights of other than the farmer to
use materials such as crop residuals or animal manure.
Private investment. The advancement of organic agriculture to date
has to a large extent been due to private investment. This has been in the
form of consumers' willingness to pay for organic commodities (price premiums)
and farmers' readiness to experiment and innovate, despite the risks involved
with such on-farm research.
References
Gabriel, C. (1994), 'Research in support of sustainable agriculture', 3 May 1997.
Wynen, E. (1992), 'Conversion to Organic Agriculture in Australia: Problems
and Possibilities in the Cereal-Livestock Industry', National Association
for Sustainable Agriculture, Australia, June.
Wynen, E. (1997), 'Research on Biological Farming Methods in Europe: Status,
Requirements and Perspectives'. In R.Krell (ed.), Biological Farming
Research in Europe, REU Technical series No. 54, Proceedings of an Expert
Roundtable held in Braunschweig, Germany, 28 June 1997, Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, Rome.