Essay On Organic Agriculture

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Recommended: Climate Change and its Impact on Agriculture

Introduction Agriculture is significant to the lives of humans since it sustains our existence. People need food to survive and agriculture has been doing a great job at feeding them. Long ago, humans were hunters and gatherers. Their diets were limited to the food produced naturally in their surroundings. Agriculture is modern technology that allows humans the ability to increases the food available for humans. The increase of food has allowed the population to grow. With advancements in technology, agriculture has been able to feed more people. A concern that arises from population growth is if organic agriculture has the ability to sustain so many lives. Not only is agriculture pressured to feed more people, but it must do so under climate change. Organic agriculture, more sustainable than conventional agriculture, has the potential to match the food security demand of a growing population with a global change in diet; however climate change poses a problem for organic agriculture's ability to sustain a growing population. Background Organic agriculture is a form of agriculture that aims to reduce harm to the environment by using natural methods of maintaining crops, instead of synthetic chemicals such as synthetic nitrogen fertilizer (United States Department of Agriculture, 2014). The alternatives to the chemicals include the use of cover crops, manures, and crop rotation (Badgley C. et al. 2006). Conventional agriculture is another type of agriculture that uses ecologically harmful chemicals. Conventional agriculture commonly uses genetically modified crops while organic produce is not genetically modified (United States Department of Agriculture, 2014). Climate change and Population Growth are factors in agricultu... ... middle of paper ... ...hnologies include strategies that compromise the integrity of organic agriculture, like biotechnology. Organic agriculture would not likely sustain a growing population while under stress from climate change. Conclusion Organic agriculture would be capable of maintaining a growing population if climate change was not an issue. Changes to the human diet and the use of legumes in fertilization would improve organic agriculture’s capacity to feed the growing food population. Organic agriculture is more sustainable and can effectively feed a growing population for years to come. The problem that lies in the way of organic agriculture's success is man’s desire for more food and greenhouse gas emissions as a result of people. To sustain more people it is not so much that agriculture must be changed to a growing population, but it is people who must adapt.

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