The Environment Organic farms generally support higher levels of wildlife. Forty per cent more birds were found in a three-year UK study of 44 farms, twice as many butterflies and five times as many wild arable plants.
Further, no nitrate fertiliser is used on organic farms and there are limits on manure use; so nitrate pollution of water is low. Excess nitrate runoff causes algae growth that de-oxygenates water, killing fish and aquatic plants.
Employment The use of pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilisers, intensive animal rearing systems and the creation of bigger fields mean fewer workers. So, rural employment declines and poverty among farmers increases. Of the 1.2 billion people who earn less than one dollar a day, 800 million live in rural areas. In the US in 1950 half of the money spent on food found its way to the farmer. The figure today is just seven per cent. The difference goes to processors, chemical companies, machinery suppliers and agribusiness cartels. Research on 200 organic projects in the developing world showed that conventional yields could increase by 93 per cent - and more. Employment and soil fertility also increase.
