On the eight misunderstandings of Organic Agriculture

Organic agriculture has a history of nearly 20 years in China, the production area of organic plants (including planting and collection) is about 2 million hectares, and organic products are gradually recognized by the public. However, due to some enterprises eager for quick success and quick benefit, low knowledge quality of organic producers, serious lag of organic agriculture research, lack of effective mechanism of government supervision and so on, there is a lack of integrity of domestic organic food in recent years, which affects the public trust in organic food and restricts the development of organic agriculture in our country. At present, there are still some misunderstandings about organic agriculture and organic food in China. This paper intends to discuss this in order to clarify the facts and be conducive to the healthy development of organic agriculture.

Misunderstanding one: organic agriculture is to return to tradition.

Some people think that organic agriculture, that is, traditional agriculture, is the return. In essence, this is a negative view. Organic agriculture, that is, natural agriculture, has a historical heritage. The natural farming method founded by MokichiOkada and MasanobuFukuoka in the 1930s and 1940s advocates "no farming, no pesticides, no chemical fertilizers, no weeding". The development of modern agriculture is inseparable from the support of science and technology. at present, some countries with good development of organic agriculture, such as Germany and Denmark, have adopted quite a lot of new technologies, so it is not feasible to return to tradition and get rid of modern technology.

Misunderstanding 2. Organic agriculture is unrealizable.

Some people think that farming is inseparable from pesticides and chemical fertilizers, so organic agriculture is almost impossible to achieve. Under the influence of this kind of thinking, a considerable number of people think that organic should be developed in those "remote areas", thus organic agriculture is further marginalized. In fact, organic agriculture represents an environment-friendly development model of agriculture, it should not be affected by regional orientation, organic agriculture can be carried out anywhere, and worldwide organic agricultural research and practice has proved that organic agriculture is completely achievable.

Three misunderstandings: organic agriculture equals low-yield agriculture

"Organic agriculture, that is, low-yield agriculture" has become a generally accepted view. A study of more than 200 projects in developing countries by the University of Essex in the UK found that organic production increased by an average of 64%. Our long-term positioning study of organic vegetables in Quzhou, Hebei Province showed that the yield of organic tomatoes was slightly higher than that of conventional tomatoes for 5 consecutive years. It can be inferred from these studies that organic does not mean low yield.

Misunderstanding 4. Organic food has high nutritional value.

An article published in 2001 in the Journal of Supplementary Medicine pointed out that 21 essential nutrients in organic crops are higher than those in conventional crops. Other studies have also shown that organic vegetables and fruits contain higher levels of vitamins, polyphenols and antioxidants. It is generally believed that organic food is "more nutritious" than conventional food, and that the absence of chemical fertilizers and pesticides means high nutrition. But scientific research has not proved this. After summarizing and comparing 55 related studies, British professor AlanDDangour found that there was no difference between organic food and conventional food in terms of nutritional quality.

Misconception 5. Organic food is environmentally friendly and safe.

Consumers generally believe that organic food must be environmentally friendly and safe. This point of view has a certain scientific nature. But in fact, safety and environmental protection are a relative concept. If organic agriculture invests a large amount of untreated farm manure, it will also bring potential heavy metal and microbial pollution. From the perspective of environmental protection, organic agriculture can help to improve soil, maintain moisture and maintain biodiversity, but there is little difference in greenhouse gas emissions between organic systems and conventional systems.

Myth 6 can organic agriculture leave the soil?

In recent years, some places in China are popularizing organic soilless cultivation technology, and the purpose of introducing soilless cultivation into organic agriculture is contrary to that of organic agriculture. Among the four principles of organic agriculture (health, ecology, equity and care) put forward by IFOAM, organic agriculture should maintain and promote the health of soil, plants, animals, human beings and the planet, and regard them as a whole and indivisible. One of the core of organic agriculture is to cultivate healthy soil. Generally speaking, organic soil is black in color, loose in structure, and the density of earthworms is higher than that of conventional soil, which is difficult to achieve in soilless culture.

Misunderstanding 7. Organic agriculture is the agriculture of the rich.

The high price of organic food is also a popular view. With the expansion of organic production scale and the improvement of logistics system, the price of organic food will return to a reasonable level in the future. At present, the price of organic food in most developed countries is about 120% to 200% of that of conventional food. It is obviously unreasonable that the price of organic food is several times or even ten times higher than the conventional price, and it is a kind of market distortion.

Misunderstanding 8. Organic agriculture is the future direction of agriculture.

After more than 20 years of development, the global organic agricultural acreage still accounts for only 2%-5% of the crop acreage, and organic agriculture will not become the mainstream direction of agriculture in most countries in the foreseeable next 20 years. But denying that organic agriculture is the dominant direction is not entirely scientific:

1) it is possible for organic agriculture to become the dominant agriculture in some areas.

2) Organic agriculture represents human society's reflection on the traditional green revolution and the active exploration of alternative agriculture in the future.

3) the technology and practice of organic agriculture reflect the third revolution of agriculture.

From now on, the development of organic agricultural technology and practice will inevitably provide strong technical and policy support for the transformation of agriculture.