Environmental impacts of organic agriculture: a Canadian perspective

Derek Lynch

Abstract
Canada, in 2009, will enact a regulatory regime to oversee certified organic agricultural productions systems, based on a management standard. The overreaching goal of that standard is to develop farm enterprises that are ‘‘sustainable and harmonious with the environment’’.

However, empirical evidence to shed light on claims of environmental benefits from organic agriculture is particularly scarce in Canada and North America generally, and has not been comprehensively summarized. This review examines the literature of Canadian and US studies which relate to environmental impacts of organic agriculture within the selected indicators of: (i) soil organic matter storage and soil quality/soil health; (ii) plant and wildlife biodiversity; (iii) energy use; (iv) nutrient loading and off-farm nutrient losses; and (v) climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.

The empirical evidence presented suggests organic farming system attributes regarding cropping, floral, and habitat diversity, nutrient intensity, soil management, energy and pesticide use, etc., are sufficiently distinct as to impart potentially important environmental benefits across the indicator categories examined.

However, on average, crop yields under organic management regimes continue to lag behind those obtained by conventional management systems. More research is needed to validate these results, for the benefit of producers, consumers and policy makers as they decide the relative importance and contribution of organic farming systems to the Canadian food marketplace and agrifood sector.

See OACC news articles relating to this study, focusing on environmental benefits of organic production, nutrient management, soil organic matter on organic farms, and wildlife on organic farms.

Editor's Note:
Congratulations to Derek Lynch, whose manuscript "Environmental impacts of organic agriculture: a Canadian perspective" won the 2009 Canadian Society for Horticultural Science Best Paper Award, selected from publications in the 2009 volume of the Canadian Journal of Plant Science.

Source
Canadian Journal of Plant Science (2009) 89: 621-628.


Author Location and Affiliation
Department of Plant and Animal Sciences, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, PO Box 550, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada B2N 5E3 (e-mail: dlynch@nsac.ca).

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Posted August 2009