{"id":32629,"date":"2014-12-30T03:47:00","date_gmt":"2014-12-30T03:47:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-11-10T20:45:31","modified_gmt":"2020-11-10T20:45:31","slug":"7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/","title":{"rendered":"Organic farming techniques are closing gap on conventional yields"},"content":{"rendered":"
The unintended consequences of our agricultural food system \u2013 polluted air and water, dead zones in coastal seas, soil erosion \u2013 have profound\u00a0implications<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0human<\/a>\u00a0health<\/a>and the\u00a0environment<\/a>. So more sustainable agricultural practices are needed as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Some farmers have turned to less chemically-intensive techniques to reduce the negative impact of agriculture, such as organic farming, which has been\u00a0shown<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0outperform conventional farming<\/a>\u00a0by many standards of environmental sustainability. The question is whether we can meet these environmental standards and still meet the demand for food, which is predicted to rise substantially in the next 50 years.<\/p>\n

Comparing food systems
\n<\/strong>
\nIn our new\u00a0study<\/a>, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, we found that organic farming systems, when done right, come close to matching the productivity of conventional systems.<\/p>\n

Designing a single experiment that could possibly represent the huge variation in crops, weather and soil necessary to get a complete answer is impossible. Instead, we examined the many specific studies that have already been conducted and combined their results \u2013 a meta-analysis. We compiled studies from across the globe that compared organic and conventional yields over three decades, representing more than 1,000 comparisons of 52 crop species from 38 countries.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time researchers have attempted to\u00a0answer this question<\/a>, but previous studies have had conflicting results. Combining studies carried out by different scientists for different reasons is a big challenge. Depending on what data is included and how it is handled, answers can vary substantially. Many\u00a0previous studies<\/a>\u00a0found<\/a>\u00a0organic yields were 8-25% lower than conventional systems. Another\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0found that organic farming outperformed conventional in developing countries. In revisiting this question, we used the most extensive dataset to date and methods that try to account for the complexity of the data.<\/p>\n

We found that although organic crop yields are about 19% lower than conventional yields, certain management practises appear to significantly reduce this gap. In fact, planting multiple different crops at the same time (polyculture) and planting a sequence of crops (crop rotation) on an organic farm cut the difference in yield in half. Interestingly, both these practices are based on techniques that mimic natural systems, and have been practised for thousands of years. Our study strongly suggests that we can develop highly productive organic farming methods if we mimic nature by creating ecologically diverse farms that draw strength from natural interactions between species.
\n
\nOrganic farming could be the way forward<\/strong><\/p>\n

Crop rotation and polycultures are known to improve soil health and reduce pest pressure\u00a0link text<\/a>\u00a0Because these practices add diversity to the landscape they also support biodiversity, so they may improve yields while also protecting the environment.\n<\/div>\n

We also found that for some crops such as oats, tomatoes and apples there were no differences in yield between organic and industrial farming at all. The largest yield gaps were found in two cereal crops, wheat and barley. However, since the agricultural\u00a0Green Revolution<\/a>\u00a0in the mid-20th century, improving the yields of cereals grown using conventional, industrial agriculture has received a huge\u00a0link text<\/a>\u00a0amount of research and funding \u2013 far more than organic agriculture. Little wonder, then, that we see a large difference in yields.\n<\/div>\n
For example, some seeds are specifically bred to work well in the nutrient-rich, pest-free conditions found in conventional farms due to the heavy use of fertilisers<\/a> and pesticides, so they may underperform in organic farms. But if we invested in organic agricultural research and development we\u2019d no doubt see a large increase in the yield too.\n<\/div>\n
We also found evidence that the yield gap estimate we and others have calculated is likely an overestimate. We found evidence of bias in the studies we compiled, which favoured the reporting of higher conventional yields relative to organic. This can arise for several reasons: the studies can favour specific crops or practices so that the results are unrepresentative, or introduce bias during the selection of results to be published. It\u2019s impossible to know the origins of the bias, but it\u2019s necessary to acknowledge the effect it will have on yield estimates.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to remember that simply growing more food is not enough to address the twin crises of hunger and obesity. Current global food production already greatly exceeds what is needed to feed the world\u2019s population, yet social, political, and economic factors prevent many people from living well-fed, healthy lives. A focus solely on increased yields will not solve the problem of world hunger.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

To put the yield gap into context, the world\u2019s\u00a0food waste<\/a>\u00a0alone is 30-40% of food production per year. If food waste were cut by half, this would more than compensate for the difference in yield from converting to organic agriculture, as well as greatly reducing the environmental impact of agriculture.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Organic farming systems, when done right, can come close to matching the productivity of conventional systems<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1947,"featured_media":57743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[763],"tags":[],"hashtags":[],"country":[],"class_list":["post-32629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOrganic farming techniques are closing gap on conventional yields | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Organic farming systems, when done right, can come close to matching the productivity of conventional systems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Organic farming techniques are closing gap on conventional yields\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Organic farming systems, when done right, can come close to matching the productivity of conventional systems\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-30T03:47:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-10T20:45:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/organic_cattle_in_ohio.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lauren Ponisio\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lauren Ponisio\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c3b6f8208d3e80b7146f8bff3a5200ef\"},\"headline\":\"Organic farming techniques are closing gap on conventional yields\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-30T03:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-10T20:45:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/\"},\"wordCount\":806,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/organic_cattle_in_ohio.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Food\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/\",\"name\":\"Organic farming techniques are closing gap on conventional yields | Dialogue Earth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/organic_cattle_in_ohio.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-30T03:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-10T20:45:31+00:00\",\"description\":\"Organic farming systems, when done right, can come close to matching the productivity of conventional systems\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/organic_cattle_in_ohio.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/organic_cattle_in_ohio.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":425},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Organic farming techniques are closing gap on conventional yields\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c3b6f8208d3e80b7146f8bff3a5200ef\",\"name\":\"Lauren Ponisio\",\"description\":\"Lauren Ponisio is a Doctoral candidate in Conservation Biology at University of California, Berkeley.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/laurenponisio\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/laurenponisio\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Organic farming techniques are closing gap on conventional yields | Dialogue Earth","description":"Organic farming systems, when done right, can come close to matching the productivity of conventional systems","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Organic farming techniques are closing gap on conventional yields","og_description":"Organic farming systems, when done right, can come close to matching the productivity of conventional systems","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_published_time":"2014-12-30T03:47:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-11-10T20:45:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":425,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/organic_cattle_in_ohio.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lauren Ponisio","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/"},"author":{"name":"Lauren Ponisio","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c3b6f8208d3e80b7146f8bff3a5200ef"},"headline":"Organic farming techniques are closing gap on conventional yields","datePublished":"2014-12-30T03:47:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-10T20:45:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/"},"wordCount":806,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/organic_cattle_in_ohio.jpg","articleSection":["Food"],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/","name":"Organic farming techniques are closing gap on conventional yields | Dialogue Earth","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/organic_cattle_in_ohio.jpg","datePublished":"2014-12-30T03:47:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-10T20:45:31+00:00","description":"Organic farming systems, when done right, can come close to matching the productivity of conventional systems","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/organic_cattle_in_ohio.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/organic_cattle_in_ohio.jpg","width":640,"height":425},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/food\/7629-organic-farming-techniques-are-closing-gap-on-conventional-yields\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Organic farming techniques are closing gap on conventional yields"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c3b6f8208d3e80b7146f8bff3a5200ef","name":"Lauren Ponisio","description":"Lauren Ponisio is a Doctoral candidate in Conservation Biology at University of California, Berkeley.","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/laurenponisio\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/laurenponisio\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1947"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32629"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=32629"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=32629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}