The Limits to Growth: Organic Agriculture and Resource Efficiency

It is important to look at the Limits to Growth at a broader scale rather than consider this policy at a local level. Even though most of the empirical data was based on European and American systems, it is important to acknowledge that the world is made up of interconnected systems (Ceccarelli, 2014). Some of the 21 st Century's issues concerning the Limits to Growth include the depletion of non-renewable resources, widespread malnutrition, a deteriorating environment, rapid population growth, and accelerating industrialization. Even though most of these issues have been present for more than a century, the past two decades have seen them deepen considerably. The Limit to Growth is a simulation of exponential population growth and an economy having finite supplies. It is a model that predicts the consequences of the interactions between human systems and the Earth’s system. The model considers the growth of various variables such as population, industrialization, pollution, food production, and resource depletion which is found to grow exponentially with the ability to increase the availability of these resources by utilizing technology is linear. This policy, therefore, shows the importance and the need to take care of the environment. It also indicates that to some extent economic development should not be at the expense of environmental sustainability. It is better to live in an underdeveloped economy than a socially and environmentally poor planet. Overall, this policy presents a way forward concerning the establishment of ecological and economic stability that is sustainable for many centuries to come. Organic agriculture is an efficient and cost-effective strategy to attain sustainability goals in agriculture policies. For organic farming to remain effective in a global context, there is a need for conventionally certifiable and strict regulations that necessitate proper understanding and ecosystem-based management responses from stakeholders all over the world. The resulting farm practices would contribute to a range of sustainability elements (Ceccarelli, 2014). As compared to the previous century, the 21st century has experienced an improvement in the application of organic farming as a holistic technique for sustainable food production. This development has also been accompanied by the introduction of organic standards and the expansion of the role of science in improving organic practices. This section discusses the contribution of organic agriculture to the current limits of sustainability. While intensive agriculture contributes significantly to the high amounts of greenhouse gases problem, farming that is essentially organic constitutes an effective solution. Improving and conserving soil organic matter is one of the main principles of organic farming. Humus management has been found to be vital in this setting because the accumulation of humus translates to a reduction of Carbon (IV) Oxide (CO2) in the soil. According to Ceccarelli (2014), well-researched organic agriculture systems can store on average 580 g per hectare annually additional carbon as compared to conventional methods. Also, humus accumulation can be regarded as one of the most appropriate strategies for adapting to harsh climatic changes since soils contain high amounts of organic matter and tend to absorb more water during relatively high rainfall periods. This results in reduced soil erosion and a persistent supply of water during the dry seasons. Regardless, there is a need for further study regarding the influence of organic farming systems on the climate in order to determine ways for more improvement in practice. Loss of biodiversity is one of the main challenges facing the world regarding sustainability. Given that more than 1 billion hectares of the world’s land surface are employed for crop production, agroecosystems are vital in handling this situation. Studies have revealed that conventional farming has significantly contributed to the drop in biodiversity. The excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, for instance, has led to a considerable decrease in plant biodiversity in many parts of the world. On the other hand, it has been found that such alternatives as organic farming promote both animal and plant biodiversity (Ceccarelli, 2014). Organic farming helps in pest control in crops as it increases habitat possibilities and avails resources necessary for natural predators of pests. Such a discussion of the relationship between organic agriculture and biodiversity demonstrates the importance of the former in reducing the compromise between production objectives and the conservation and rebuilding of biodiversity. Given the effect of current farming practices on natural resources is becoming increasingly vital, the problem facing most related policies is ensuring sustainable crop production in the future. The challenge, in this case, is to establish proper farming systems as well as practices regarding resource efficiency to minimize wastage. For instance, future energy problems are associated with adverse climatic changes and high energy costs. Organic farming has been found to be particularly efficient at employing limited resources. It is important to note that such an argument is not based on theory; rather, most of the studies proposing the adoption of organic agriculture as an approach to resource efficiency are based on empirical data (Ceccarelli, 2014). For example, a survey on the United States and most countries in Europe show that an organic crop rotation uses only about 40% of the nutrient input as compared to 60% in the case of a similar conventional and integrated rotation. Thus, it is clear that organic farming is more resource-efficient than conventional farming. 

Conclusions  

From the discussion, it is clear that organic agriculture is a more effective approach to sustainability as compared to conventional farming. First organic farming makes up an effective solution to the greenhouse gas challenge facing the world today despite the fact that this problem is caused in part by intensive agricultural activity. Second, organic agriculture is important in promoting and restoring plant and animal biodiversity, which is lost in the case of conventional farming methods, where there is an excessive application of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides. Finally, organic farming is relatively more efficient because it uses up a smaller quantity of resources per produce as compared to conventional farming methods. 

Reference  

Ceccarelli, S. (2014). GM crops, organic agriculture and breeding for sustainability. Sustainability , 6 (7), 4273-4286.