Commercial Crop Yields Reveal Strengths and Weaknesses for Organic Agriculture in the United States

Ecosystem Services at the Farm Level-Overview, Synergies, Trade-Offs, and Stakeholder Analysis

The current geological epoch is characterized by anthropogenic activity that greatly impacts on natural ecosystems and their integrity. The complex networks of ecosystem services (ESs) are often ignored because the provision of natural resources, such as food and industrial crops, is mistakenly viewed as an independent process separate from ecosystems and ignoring the impacts on ecosystems. Recently, research has intensified on how to evaluate and manage ES to minimize environmental impacts, but it remains unclear how to balance anthropogenic activity and ecosystem integrity. This paper reviews the main ESs at farm level including provisioning, regulating, habitat, and cultural services. For these ESs, synergies are outlined and evaluated along with the respective practices (e.g., cover- and intercropping) and ES suppliers (e.g., pollinators and biocontrol agents). Further, several farm-level ES trade-offs are discussed along with a proposal for their evaluation. Finally, a framework for stakeholder approaches specific to farm-level ES is put forward, along with an outlook on how existing precision agriculture technologies can be adapted for improved assessment of ES bundles. This is believed to provide a useful framework for both decision makers and stakeholders to facilitate the development of more sustainable and resilient farming systems.

Aligning Policy Design With Science to Achieve Food Security: The Contribution of Genome Editing to Sustainable Agriculture

The need to meet the food demands of the world's growing population is the main challenge to global agricultural policy and economy. Issues in food security require innovative solutions. Modern biotechnology has a significant potential to contribute to food security, wealth, and sustainable development. Genetic engineering offers tools to improve nutrition, increase yield, and enhance crop resilience. New techniques of genome editing provide ample means to overcome limitations inherent in conventional plant breeding, but their industrial applicability depends on regulatory environment, decision making, and public perception. An alignment of goals between science and policy can help realise the potential of modern biotechnology to contribute to food security, wealth, and sustainable development.

Organic dry pea (Pisum sativum L.) biofortification for better human health

A primary criticism of organic agriculture is its lower yield and nutritional quality compared to conventional systems. Nutritionally, dry pea (Pisum sativum L.) is a rich source of low digestible carbohydrates, protein, and micronutrients. This study aimed to evaluate dry pea cultivars and advanced breeding lines using on-farm field selections to inform the development of biofortified organic cultivars with increased yield and nutritional quality. A total of 44 dry pea entries were grown in two USDA-certified organic on-farm locations in South Carolina (SC), United States of America (USA) for two years. Seed yield and protein for dry pea ranged from 61 to 3833 kg ha-1 and 12.6 to 34.2 g/100 g, respectively, with low heritability estimates. Total prebiotic carbohydrate concentration ranged from 14.7 to 26.6 g/100 g. A 100-g serving of organic dry pea provides 73.5 to 133% of the recommended daily allowance (%RDA) of prebiotic carbohydrates. Heritability estimates for individual prebiotic carbohydrates ranged from 0.27 to 0.82. Organic dry peas are rich in minerals [iron (Fe): 1.9-26.2 mg/100 g; zinc (Zn): 1.1-7.5 mg/100 g] and have low to moderate concentrations of phytic acid (PA:18.8-516 mg/100 g). The significant cultivar, location, and year effects were evident for grain yield, thousand seed weight (1000-seed weight), and protein, but results for other nutritional traits varied with genotype, environment, and interactions. "AAC Carver," "Jetset," and "Mystique" were the best-adapted cultivars with high yield, and "CDC Striker," "Fiddle," and "Hampton" had the highest protein concentration. These cultivars are the best performing cultivars that should be incorporated into organic dry pea breeding programs to develop cultivars suitable for organic production. In conclusion, organic dry pea has potential as a winter cash crop in southern climates. Still, it will require selecting diverse genetic material and location sourcing to develop improved cultivars with a higher yield, disease resistance, and nutritional quality.

The greenhouse gas impacts of converting food production in England and Wales to organic methods

Agriculture is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and must feature in efforts to reduce emissions. Organic farming might contribute to this through decreased use of farm inputs and increased soil carbon sequestration, but it might also exacerbate emissions through greater food production elsewhere to make up for lower organic yields. To date there has been no rigorous assessment of this potential at national scales. Here we assess the consequences for net GHG emissions of a 100% shift to organic food production in England and Wales using life-cycle assessment. We predict major shortfalls in production of most agricultural products against a conventional baseline. Direct GHG emissions are reduced with organic farming, but when increased overseas land use to compensate for shortfalls in domestic supply are factored in, net emissions are greater. Enhanced soil carbon sequestration could offset only a small part of the higher overseas emissions.

The greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential of organic methods is poorly understood. Here, the authors assess the GHG impact of a 100% shift to organic food production in England and Wales and find that direct GHG emissions are reduced with organic farming, but when increased land use abroad to allow for production shortfalls is factored in, GHG emissions are elevated well-above the baseline.

Reframing the Debate Surrounding the Yield Gap between Organic and Conventional Farming

In this article, we review the literature regarding the yield gap between organic and conventional agriculture and then reflect on the corresponding debate on whether or not organic farming can feed the world. We analyze the current framework and highlight the need to reframe the yield gap debate away from “Can organic feed the world?” towards the more pragmatic question, “How can organic agriculture contribute to feeding the world?”. Furthermore, we challenge the benchmarks that are used in present yield comparison studies, as they are based on fundamentally distinct paradigms of the respective farming methods, and then come up with a novel model to better understand the nature of yield gaps and the benchmarks that they are premised on. We thus conclude that, by establishing appropriate benchmarks, re-prioritizing research needs, and focusing on transforming natural resources rather than inputs, organic systems can raise their yields and play an ever-greater role in global sustainable agriculture and food production in the future.

Culturable endophytic fungal communities associated with plants in organic and conventional farming systems and their effects on plant growth

As compared to organic farming system, conventional farming system relies on higher inputs of synthetic agrochemicals, which may reduce the abundance, diversity, and beneficial effects of plant endophytic fungal communities. This study compares the diversity and abundance of culturable endophytic fungal communities associated with four plant species –corn, tomato, pepper, and watermelon grown in separate organic and conventional fields. In all, 740 fungal isolates were identified, of which 550 were from the organic fields and 190 from the conventional ones. These fungal isolates were grouped into eight orders and 22 species, with the two most abundant species being Trichoderma sp. and Pichia guilliermondi. The fungal species diversity and abundance were both significantly higher in the organic than in the conventional fields. All the isolated endophytic fungi improved tomato plants’ shoot growth and biomass significantly, as compared with the water control. Six fungal isolates also exhibited activity that enhanced tomato fruit yields. These results suggest that these endophytic fungi might be a considerable boost to sustainable agricultural production, while also reducing the agricultural application of chemicals and thus benefiting the environment and human health.

Many shades of gray-The context-dependent performance of organic agriculture

Organic agriculture is often proposed as a more sustainable alternative to current conventional agriculture. We assess the current understanding of the costs and benefits of organic agriculture across multiple production, environmental, producer, and consumer dimensions. Organic agriculture shows many potential benefits (including higher biodiversity and improved soil and water quality per unit area, enhanced profitability, and higher nutritional value) as well as many potential costs including lower yields and higher consumer prices. However, numerous important dimensions have high uncertainty, particularly the environmental performance when controlling for lower organic yields, but also yield stability, soil erosion, water use, and labor conditions. We identify conditions that influence the relative performance of organic systems, highlighting areas for increased research and policy support.

Correction: Commercial Crop Yields Reveal Strengths and Weaknesses for Organic Agriculture in the United States

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161673.].