The basic idea of organic agriculture is to provide food with optimum nutritional value and minimum dangerous ingredients, with only permitted substances used. It is an agricultural approach that advocates healthy products free from components that may harm humans and nature. They include but are not limited to industrial pesticides, insecticides, fertilizers, clones, GMOs, chemical medications, hormones, growth-boosters, etc. It is a farming system that enhances soil fertility by maximizing the efficient use of local resources, while foregoing the use of agrochemicals, genetically modified organisms and the many synthetic compounds used as food activities.
“Without biodiversity, there is no future for humanity” - Prof David Macdonald
Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth, in all its forms and all its interactions. If that sounds bewilderingly broad, that’s because it is. It is the most complex feature of our planet and it is the most vital. In ancient farming practices, farmers did not possess the technology or manpower to have a significant impact on the destruction of biodiversity even as mass-production agriculture was rising. The term biodiversity (biological diversity) refers to the variety of life on earth and all its levels, from genes to ecosystem, and can encompass the evolutionary, ecological and cultural processes that sustain life.
Benefits of Organic Farming to Biodiversity
The question is, Does organic farming benefit biodiversity in any way?
The answer is Yes.
Species found in most organic farms provide a means of agricultural sustainability by reducing the amount of human input. Farmers that produce with organic methods reduce risk of poor yields by promoting biodiversity. Modern organic farm practices such as the removal of pesticides and the inclusion of animal manure, crop rotation, and multicultural crops provide the chance for biodiversity to thrive. Biodiversity loss and the degradation of ecosystems have important implications for the environment and are costly for society as a whole. Organic farming practices have been promoted as reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture and do have a positive impact on the same. Organic agriculture can improve the biodiversity of plants and birds in all landscapes. It is one of the most successful agri-environmental schemes.
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