It has been suggested that conversion to organic farming contributes to soil carbon sequestration, but until now a comprehensive quantitative assessment has been lacking. Therefore, datasets from 74 studies from pairwise comparisons of organic vs. nonorganic farming systems were subjected to metaanalysis to identify differences in soil organic carbon (SOC)....

One of the main problems identified, however, has been the limited information available to countries regarding best practices and issues to consider in the design of appropriate regulatory frameworks for organic agriculture. Often, beneficiaries of these technical assistance projects wished to know what legislative approaches other countries had taken, and...

This Conference Reader presents the conference program, speakers, panelists and rapporteurs, and includes brief summaries of the presentations. The speaker line-up embodies a wealth of experience and insight, sure to generate animated discussion among conference participants about challenges and opportunities to increase organic market access and thereby further develop organic...

Models of public-private and regional cooperation were considered as potential pathways for global solutions to the challenges. In the early 90’s, regional organic standards were limited to the European Union. Today, regional organic standards are being forged in the Pacific island countries and territories, East Africa, Central America and Dominican...

This volume is published at a critical juncture in the history of human impact on the biosphere – a history we can trace back some 10 000 years – to the era of the agricultural revolution. Now, in retrospect, we see a revolution that was indeed slow and by today’s...

As the world seeks solutions for facing the reality of changing climates, the importance of mitigating the effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions becomes increasingly significant, especially in the agriculture sector which both emits and sequesters GHGs. Agriculture causes approximately one-third of global GHGs when direct energy use, emissions from...