Organic Myth Part 2

The first myth of 6 Myths About Organic Food, the phrase “organic farming is only about half as productive as conventional farming, it requires far more land to produce the same amount of food,” is somewhat of a myth itself. Many of the studies comparing organic and conventional yields rely on the conventional varieties grown in organic systems.

Conventional crops have been bred to grow with the aid of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. When grown in an organic system the low yields shouldn’t be surprising since plants were not bred for those conditions. Why is this? Most conventional crops are bred with one major goal, increased yield. Other factors like competitive ability take away from energy the plan can put towards yield. If yield studies were conducted using crops specifically bred for organic systems, and amount of inputs (fertilizer, pesticides) the results might be different.