Access

Commentary

Nature 410, 409-410 (22 March 2001) |

Open Innovation Challenges

naturejobs

More science jobs
Post a job for free

Urban myths of organic farming

Anthony Trewavas1

  1. Anthony Trewavas is at the Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JH, UK.

Top

Organic agriculture began as an ideology, but can it meet today's needs?

There is a widespread belief that low-yielding organic agricultural systems are more friendly to the environment and more sustainable than high-yielding farming systems. The current aims of organic systems — maintenance of soil fertility, avoidance of pollution, use of crop rotation, animal-welfare concerns and wider environmental aspects — would be hard to quarrel with.