A NEW white paper published by Organic Farmers & Growers (OF&G) reveals how potato growers making the shift to greater organic land use will impact on the Government’s environmental objectives.
‘Growing organic – a multifunctional component of English land use policy’ provides projections based on ‘what if’ scenarios for land use and crop types. One table indicates a total area of organic horticulture (including potatoes) of 38,114ha, demonstrating that if there was 10% organic land area in England, there would be around 8,000ha of organic potatoes.
The total horticulture crop output from this 10% English organic land area would be 666,316 tonnes and a conservative estimate of organic potato yields at 60% of conventional is highlighted.
The overall reduction in pesticide active ingredients from 10% English organic land would be 295,061 kg a.i. and the following savings in pesticides from organic potatoes are estimated:
• 70% reduction in fungicides, including copper
• 50% reduction in sulphur
• 100% reduction in herbicides
• 90% reduction in insecticides
OF&G’s chief executive Roger Kerr (photographed) said: “It’s the same as removing 8,840 full lorry loads of fertiliser every year. If you parked the lorries bumper to bumper, they’d stretch from central London to Rugby.”
By removing artificial inputs, the OF&G white paper also highlights biodiversity improvements. In organic systems, arable plant species were found to be up to 95% higher, field margin plant species up to 21% higher, farmland bird species increased by 35%, pollinators are up by 23% and earthworm species increased by 78%.
“Organic farming at its heart seeks to work with and enhance natural processes and ecosystems. Our report evidences organic farming’s contribution to delivering necessary climate and biodiversity restoration goals while still producing nutritious food,” says Mr Kerr.
OF&G believes the white paper demonstrates how supporting organic, as part of an integrated land use framework, is a crucial step towards a viable, productive, low carbon economy.
“Continuing to feed people in the face of climate and biodiversity collapse is a complex problem and complex problems require versatile and multifaceted solutions like organic,” he adds.
“Underwritten by clearly defined and auditable legal standards, organic is proven to provide significant improvements in public goods delivery and natural capital gains. We recognise there’s no single ‘right’ way to produce food. To answer the critical challenges we face effectively, we must combine different approaches to ensure we reflect the land’s topology, and climate, alongside the management experience of farmers.
“This is why we’re calling for greater Government support for organic farming as it provides one simple, obvious and easily quantifiable route to take in addressing the multiple environmental challenges we currently face.
“Organic farming is a standard and practice that already operates within planetary boundaries. It’s not a dream. There’s clear scientific evidence gathered over many years of its positive impacts and so it represents a clear direction of travel towards a low carbon, and nature and people positive food production system,” Roger said.
The ‘Growing organic – a multifunctional component of English land use policy’ white paper is available here.
