Organic Farming More Efficient, Swiss Study Finds

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Subject:  Organic Farming More Efficient, Swiss Study Finds
Date:     Fri, 31 May 2002 09:23:31 -0400
From:      Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

cc:    Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov

Organic Farming More Efficient, Swiss Study Finds

Thu May 30, 2:04 PM ET By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Organic farming may produce lower yields, but in the long run it is more efficient and is much easier on the environment, Swiss researchers reported on Thursday.

Organic farms have more fertile soil and a higher biodiversity, both of which have been shown to increase efficiency, the researchers report in Friday's issue of the journal Science. Paul Mader of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture in Frick, Switzerland and colleagues at the Swiss Federal Research Station for Agroecology and Agriculture in Zurich spent 21 years comparing conventional farming to organic farming, which uses no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. "Mean yields are 20 percent lower, that's true, depending on the crop," Mader said in a telephone interview. For instance, organic wheat yields are 10 percent lower, while there is a 40 percent reduction for potatoes.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020530/sc_nm/environment_organic_dc_1

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