Organic agriculture opportunities and challenges

Paul Kristiansen, University of New England, Australia, Acram Taji, University of New England, Australia and John Reganold, Washington State University, USA 

The tradition in agriculture has been to maximize production and minimize the cost of food with little regard to impacts on the environment and the services it provides to society. As the world enters an era in which global food production is likely to double, it is critical that agricultural practices be modified to minimize environmental impacts even though many such practices are likely to increase the costs of production. (Tilman 1999) 

Despite the generally positive outlook, the organic movement faces several hurdles as it 

More land was converted to cropland since 1945 than in the 18th and 19th centuries combined, and now about one-quarter (24%) of Earth s terrestrial surface has been transformed to cultivated systems. 

Moderate to severe soil degradation occurs on 52% of global agricultural lands. 

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FAO I FOAM and ISF (2004) Report of the First World Conference on Organic seed.- Challenges and opportunities for the organic agriculture and the seed industry.-FAO, Rome 5-7 July 2004. 

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