2
.
6
.
2
. Agricultural issues Concerning agriculture, three different ethical
issues can be distinguished: i the conditions of the people living and working on the farms; ii
the livestock husbandry and iii the impact of cultivation on the environment.
The circumstances for earning one’s livelihood from agriculture have to be such that working
and social conditions as well as benefits are attrac- tive. Humans are obliged to show kindness and
respect to livestock as well as being morally re- sponsible
for their
health and
well-being Hansson, 1996; Nilsson, 1996. Humans should
treat their environment in such a way that it is sustainable and can continue to give mankind joy,
food and other products.
3. The shortcomings of organic farming
When the environmental problems in agricul- ture came into spotlight, different forms of or-
ganic farming had been practiced in Europe for several decades. These farming methods were
quickly presented as a solution for most of the problems agriculture is facing. In this section, we
point out the inability of organic farming methods to solve some of the major environmental
problems.
3
.
1
. A brief history Although some environmental problems were
already identified as a result of the industrializa- tion of societies in the 19th century, the break-
through of broad environmental consciousness took place in the 1960s. New research orienta-
tions, national and multinational environmental protection agencies, and environmental interest
organizations were founded. Within agriculture several organizations, sharing a prejudiced view of
nature, biodynamic and organic-biological, pro- moted their agricultural methods as a solution to
the environmental problems.
One theory of organic farming, biodynamic farming, which is part of a comprehensive philos-
ophy called anthroposophy, was presented by Steiner in 1924. Its aim was not to solve environ-
mental problems but to introduce a form of pro- duction for high food quality capturing ‘cosmic
forces’. Biodynamic and other forms of organic agriculture exclude easily soluble inorganic fertil-
izers and synthetic pesticides on principle KRAV, 1999.
3
.
2
. Con6entional 6ersus organic agriculture Most problems that occur in conventional agri-
culture may also be present in organic farming, such as erosion, nitrogen leaching, ammonia
volatilization from animal wastes, high levels of native soil cadmium, accumulation of trace metals
in soil, and subsoil compaction caused by farm machinery. Organic farming methods do not offer
solutions to many of these problems.
For example, the exclusion of easily soluble inorganic fertilizer does not necessarily imply less
leaching or less eutrophication. On the contrary, leaching of total N from soil receiving animal
manure, either composted or anaerobically stored, can be much higher than from inorganic fertilizer
applied at the same N rate if measured over several years Bergstro¨m and Kirchmann, 1999.
Green manuring can also cause high nitrate leach- ing losses, as shown in several investigations
Cameron and Wild, 1984; Bonde and Rosswall, 1987; Linde´n and Wallgren, 1993. From an envi-
ronmental point of view, it does not matter whether the nutrients come from inorganic or
organic sources. What matters is when, how and in what quantity plant nutrients are available to
crops, i.e. if the nutrient supply is in synchrony with the demand of the crop Myers et al., 1997.
However, the release of nutrients from organic manures is very often not synchronized with crop
uptake, mineralization can take place at times when no crops are present, and as a result organic
manures can cause high nitrate leaching losses.
Ammonia volatilization is mainly caused by animal manures and not by N fertilizers Kirch-
mann et al., 1998. Means to reduce ammonia volatilization during composting have been inves-
tigated by Kirchmann 1985 and Witter and Kirchmann 1989a,b who found that the poten-
tial to reduce ammonia losses, both through mix- ing with large amounts of straw litter and through
addition of peat, rock powder and calcium salts, is rather small. Storing animal manure anaerobi-
cally has resulted in significantly lower ammonia losses than composting Kirchmann and Lund-
vall, 1998. Composting, however, is a prerequi- site in biodynamics and a preferred method in
organic farming in general. Means to reduce am- monia losses from manure and slurry have been
proposed in national agricultural programmes Gustavsson, 1998 and not organic farming
organisations.
There are strong indications that the cadmium content of soils is increasing not only through
fertilization but also deposition. In Sweden the cadmium content of wheat grain has signifi-
cantly increased during the period 1916 – 1980 Kjellstro¨m et al., 1975; Andersson and Binge-
fors, 1985. Andersson 1981 found that the re- moval of cadmium by leaching was negligible
compared to the supply by precipitation. To re- duce the cadmium supply through inorganic fer-
tilizers in Sweden, the manufacturing process for phosphorus fertilizer has been changed, remov-
ing most of the cadmium. Through this process, the concentration of cadmium in soluble phos-
phorus fertilizers has been reduced to B 5 mg Cd kg
− 1
P Hydro Agri, 1998. In contrast, in organic farming, fertilization with raw phos-
phates can lead to a much higher application of cadmium.
Crop quality is put forward as an important argument for organic farming Koepf et al.,
1976; Dlouhy´, 1981. Crop quality depends on the plant nutrient status in the soil, the dynam-
ics of nutrient release, weather conditions during growth, damage caused by pests, toxic com-
pounds produced by the crops themselves and the adherent microflora, contamination with pes-
ticides and pollutants, and the post-harvest treatment. Several investigations have clearly
shown that the type of fertilization, contrary to the principle of organic farming, does not affect
plant quality Hansen, 1981; Evers, 1989a,b,c whereas
the intensity
of fertilization
does Hogstad et al., 1997. Thus, crop quality is not
dependent on the principal difference between inorganic fertilization and organic manuring.
Furthermore, considerable
variation in
crop quality can be found between farms regardless
of whether they are using conventional or or- ganic methods. This division into ‘organic’ and
‘conventional’ agriculture loses sight of the prin- cipal factors concerning crop quality and envi-
ronmentally friendly agriculture.
In contrast to conventional agriculture, or- ganic farming without purchase of feed may re-
sult in a nutrient depletion of soils Nolte and Werner, 1994. Through the import of feeding
stuff to farms, which means a net input of nutri- ents, depletion is normally avoided Kaffka and
Koepf, 1989; Fowler et al., 1993; Granstedt, 1995. As the feeding stuff may be produced
elsewhere
with inorganic
fertilizers, organic
farming indirectly depends on the soil fertility of conventional
farming. However,
regulations about the amount of conventionally grown feed-
ing stuff to be used in organic farming differ between countries.
Side-effects caused by synthetic pesticides and drug feeding are not found in organic farming, a
positive result. However, the exclusion of pesti- cides may result in increased concentrations of
secondary plant metabolites and of mycotoxins of field fungi. Eltun 1996 reported higher con-
centrations of deoxynivalenol and nivalenol in grain samples from organic than from conven-
tional farming. Furthermore, in the same experi- ment no pesticide residues were found in grain
samples grown conventionally. Thus, the exclu- sion of pesticides does not necessarily mean that
crop products do not contain unwanted sub- stances.
The area for housing and outdoor movement of farm animals has received more attention in
organic than in conventional agriculture. This concern
is positive
and space
requirements should be determined for all types of farming.
Humans have kept livestock for millennia, re- sulting in the selection of animals with be-
haviours that differs from the wild species. The natural behavior cannot be the only guideline
for livestock management. It is important to keep animals in such a way that the special re-
quirements of each species are fulfilled and de- structive forms of behaviour are avoided.
3
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3
. Philosophy of life or scientific thinking
?
In order to understand todays organic farming movement, it may be useful to know that the
highly influential form of organic agriculture, bio- dynamic farming Steiner, 1975, had its roots in a
philosophy of life and not in the agricultural sciences Kirchmann, 1994. A common attitude
within the organic movement is that nature and natural products are good, whereas man-made
chemicals are bad, or at least not as good as natural ones. This way of thinking may also ex-
plain why man-made fertilizers and synthetic pes- ticides are excluded.
Although there is no reason to believe that nature is only good, as exemplified in agriculture
by crop failures, plant or animal diseases, and the effects of natural disasters, this romantic way of
thinking is widespread. The forces of nature are fantastic and filled with still unknown secrets, but
at the same time the results of natural activity may be ‘bad’. That is why natural conditions cannot be
the only guideline for an ethical code about inter- actions between humans and nature. We have to
define an ethical code which takes into account the full truth, and it is our responsibility to do so.
As indicated above, views and beliefs originat- ing from a philosophy of life are the driving force
behind organic farming. People should have free choice concerning religion or a philosophy of life
and a strong ethical foundation is very important, but placing philosophical ideas above scientific
thinking, especially if they contradict scientific results, leads to severe communication problems.
For example, to demand the exclusion of synthetic fertilizers shifts matters of science into the field of
dogma Jansson, 1971. The fundamental ques- tion, why plant nutrients should be added in
organic forms or as untreated minerals only, has never been proved.
One reason for the increase in organic agricul- ture in many countries in Europe today is our need
to solve environmental problems. In such situa- tions, we often tend to accept appealing solutions.
Furthermore, intensive propaganda by representa- tives of organic farming movements has had a
strong influence on public opinion, politicians, and scientists.
4. Relevant research areas
