ORGANIC FARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE

This report, by the International Trade Centre and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL, outlines the key findings of their research into the climate change mitigation and adaptation potential of organic agriculture, and considers the arguments for including organic agriculture in the Clean Development Mechanism or voluntary carbon dioxide emissions markets. The report suggests that organic agriculture has the potential both to reduce direct carbon emissions and to make a significant contribution to the sequestration of carbon dioxide in the soil. Organic systems are also considered better able to adapt to climate change due to the applications of traditional skills and farmers’ knowledge, soil fertility-building techniques and a high level of diversity. However, further research is required to consider how to improve organic manure management techniques and to further reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of organic crop.
http://www.intracen.org/Organics/publications.htm