Can organic farming achieve better yields than conventional farming? Under certain conditions, yes, as shown by a study commissioned by the Italian certification body CCPB and carried out by the research centre Areté srl, which analysed and compared the average yields of several crops in 11 non-European countries. The full results were presented in the webinar "Organic vs conventional yields: the case of non-EU countries", held on Thursday 8 April.
“The comparison between organic and conventional that emerges from the research disproves the cliché about the inferiority of organic farming yields. Intensive organic farming can be more efficient than extensive conventional farming and yields improve," commented Fabrizio Piva, CCPB CEO. "This can be a starting point to show how organic can contribute to feeding the world in a conscious and responsible way”.
Most significant results
Within a complex study, the most significant results for organic can be seen in the 2013 harvest of soft wheat in Russia, which recorded a yield of 14% better than the conventional analogue; soft wheat grown in Kazakhstan (years 2010 and 2018) yields an average of 91% more; apricots from Tunisia between 2006 and 2018 can perform up to 27% better than conventional.
The conditions under which organic yields better are mainly due to a general focus on the production process. This means that companies that invest in research, development, innovation and espouse a sustainable philosophy obtain results that are rewarded by the market: organic is not only a growing sector worldwide, but also manages to remunerate farmers better.
The study is not only a reason for strategic reflection for all institutional and private players in the sector, but also a working tool. Agricultural productivity is in fact one of the parameters that certification bodies assess when inspecting farms, in order to understand whether the method used is organic or not.
Below are the study documents:
- Organic vs. conventional farming: Yields, variability and explanations
- La complementarietà tra biologico e produzioni sostenibili - Prof. Gabriele Canali
- Analysis on yield variability for selected crops in the Black Sea region
Source: CCPB