ORGANIC FARMING MEANS FOOD SECURITY

MORE LAND BEING USED 
FOR ORGANIC FARMING

www.voanews.com - (Africa) More land around the world is being dedicated to organic farming. The Worldwatch Institute says since 1999 there’s been a more than three-fold increase to 37 million hectares. “Organic farming is farming without chemical inputs, like pesticides and fertilizers. Instead of using those inputs it uses a variety of natural techniques, like rotating crops and applying compost to fields – and growing crops that will return nutrients to the soil naturally instead of via chemicals,” said Worldwatch researcher Laura Reynolds, who co-authored a new report on the growth of organic agriculture. 
She said it has a range of public health and environmental benefits. “It delivers fewer pesticides and chemicals to what we eat and to the farmers growing the food. It also delivers a range of economic benefits to farmers growing organically because they found they can get a much higher price if their food is certified organic,” she said.

Last year, Stanford University researchers said that they did not find strong evidence that organic foods are more nutritious or carry fewer health risks than conventional alternatives. “I agree that it won’t change the nutritional content of certain foods, probably cereals,” Reynolds said. “That’s not the entire point of growing organically. If you look at chemicals and toxic elements in the food, there’s definitely a huge difference. So, if you’re getting all of your nutrients, but you’re also eating chemicals, then you sort of want to know the whole story. I found that that report looked at a very small element or organic food,” she explained. 
In order to be certified organic, farmers must keep strict records of how they grow their crops. There’s a lot of red tape or bureaucracy involved and it can be an expensive process. “As more farmers grow organic foods and competition increases, prices should fall,” Reynolds said.

The Worldwatch Institute report says that organic farming is an element of food security and sustainable food production will become more important in developing countries, “as the majority of population growth is concentrated in the world’s poorest countries.” The Oceania region has most of the certified organic agricultural land - more than 12 million hectares spread over Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island nations. Europe is next with 10 million hectares, followed by Latin America with 8.4 million. Asia has about 3 million hectares devoted to organic farming and Africa about 1 million. However, despite the increase in land dedicated to organic farming, the total represents just under one-percent of global agricultural land.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Organic food is grown in a natural way, without chemical fertilizers, without pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or any other poison. And, of course, with original, unaltered, unmodified seeds. Nature provides everything to produce healthy, nutritive fruits, vegetables and grains. ... Plants are perfect as they are. They fulfill a purpose in nature. So there is absolutely no need to do speculative experiments with gene-technique on the seeds, in order to modify the plants. ... The customer has the power to support the production of organic food, restrict the production of genetically engineered food and the use of chemical substances, simply by buying natural, organically grown foodstuff and not accepting altered food. And preferably buying directly from farmers or local stores. We have to educate and inform ourselves about how to support local communities.

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
"Organic Farming vs Exploitation"
http://conferencias-virtuales.blogspot.com.ar/
http://vrindachats.blogspot.com.ar/
http://asktheswami.blogspot.com.ar/2005/11/organic-farming-vs-exploitation.html

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/