Topic > Comparison between organic farming and conventional farming

Whenever you go to a grocery store, they always advertise organic fruits and vegetables. As you may already know as a consumer, the difference between organic and non-organic is only that farmers and other produce suppliers do not use harmful herbicides. But what is the science behind growing these crops? There is a lot of talk about organic and conventional agriculture because it is considered that globally there is a shift towards the more organic side. There are many different systems and practices used in each method to bring you fresh food every week. Even if organic farming is used to provide food to the world's population without harming the environment, ultimately how well does it fare against the opposition? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayOrganic farming is farming without the use of chemicals. There are many different approaches that use the organic farming technique. One might be to “lay crop residues on the soil surface, accumulating nutrients for a longer period of time” (Gilbert, 2012). The use of this technique will help to provide the nutrients that are missing from the crops. However, organic farming affects different crop yields. A yield in agriculture is “the amount of crop harvested per acre of land.” Yield is important because “farmers' incomes are based on the amount of food they produce…if a farmer's crop yield is high, he (or she) is earning more.” In the article, Gilbert cites Seufert's analysis which said: “organic farming has a role to play because in some circumstances it works well” (Seufert 2012). In several types of fruit, such as strawberries, the yield is lower only 3% compared to conventional cultivation. As for oilseed crops, soybeans, they have a lower yield of 11%. would create the opportunity to produce commensurate returns. One way could be “land management practices, such as planting them in rotation with nitrogen-fixing legume crops” (Seufert, 2012). difficulty making money from their crops. Conventional agriculture is used when “farmers apply chemical fertilizers to fields while crops are still growing… providing key nutrients” (Gilbert, 2012). Conventional agriculture is mainly used on cereals such as wheat. When farmers used organic farming on these types of crops, the attempt was unsuccessful. In the article, Gilbert states: “Organic farming has particularly poor results for vegetables and some grain crops such as wheat” (Gilbert, 2012). This really affects consumers because grains like wheat make up an immense amount of the population's consumption. The reason for this problem is that grains and vegetables need sufficient amounts of nitrogen to grow, causing nitrogen deposits in organic farming. Both consumers and farmers are affected by the use of these different agricultural techniques. Not only do farmers not get the money they need from these crops. The low return rate adds to this defeat. Farmers need to factor in percentage returns on how much money they will earn. This will eventually cause a cascade effect. If farmers are no longer able to take care of their farms because they can't make money..