Limitations to organic livestock production: Turkey as a case study for developing countries
The increasing world population, in the mid-20th century, increased the demand of plant and animal products, leading to intensive and monoculture agriculture systems in conventional agriculture. The abundant and low-cost production from per unit and/or animal head were seen as primary objectives in these systems, and ecologic balance and health criteria in product quality were taken as secondary objectives (Şayan and Polat, 2002). Some of the intensive practices started showing harmful side-effects, such as acute and chronic toxicities, cancer, allergic reactions, nervous system destruction, retardation of learning, memory loss and mutations (Aksoy et al, 2005). Organic livestock production has emerged as an alternative to the intensive systems and their problems, also in developing economies, such as Turkey. In every country, supplying safe milk, meat and egg as animal protein sources, that are necessary for a balanced nutrition, is an integrated part of the food security and safety policies (Duru and Şahin, 2004). Providing nutrient requirements of the society from plant and animal source foods and food safety are not major issues in developed. In developing economies, such as Turkey, food security and also safety problems are related with insufficient nutrient requirements of the society from animal protein sources like meat, milk and eggs.