Reports Show Less Water Used In Organic Farming
Note: This article is part of EcoWorldly’s series on food and agriculture around the world. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, this week EcoWorldly writers are exploring environmental issues related to bringing food from the farm to your dinner plate.
Sellers of organic products all say the same thing: their products are better for our health and for the environment. So if you’re planning on chowing on organic cranberries, yams and free-range turkeys this Thanksgiving, rest assured that your meal is good for you and Mother Earth on a different level. Organic farming also uses less water than commercial farming methods.
Large quantities of water are used for farming around the world, and some environmentalists argue this has contributed to the global water crisis. According to PeopleandPlanet.net, over two-thirds of the freshwater used by humans annually around the world is used for crop irrigation. In Africa, for example, the Nile River loses 90 percent of its water for irrigation purposes before it reaches the Mediterranean Sea. In Asia, which contains two-thirds of the world’s irrigated land, 85 percent of available water is used for irrigation. And in California, 80 percent of the water withdrawn for state water projects is used for agriculture. The remaining 20 percent is used for residential, commercial, institutional and industrial use, according to a report released by the environmental research and advocacy group Pacific Institute.
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The massive amount of water consumed by the farming industry worldwide has been a source of controversy. The American Association for the Advancement of Science, in a 2001 publication AAAS Atlas of Population & Environment stated:
“Most irrigation schemes around the world are extremely inefficient. Typically, less than half the water reaches crop roots. Much of it is misdirected or evaporates. Meanwhile, over-irrigation combined with inadequate drainage is causing an accumulation of salt that is reducing yields in many of the areas under irrigation. Sometimes there are major ecological impacts. Irrigation projects developed by the former Soviet Union in Central Asia to grow cotton have dramatically emptied the Aral Sea, destroying fisheries, depopulating large areas and causing epidemics of disease.”*
Unlike large-scale industrialized farming, which contaminate local soil, rivers and drinking water sources, organic farming rarely leads to such devastation.
A study released by Cornell University Professor David Pimentel in 2005 reported that organic farming produces the same corn and soybean yields as conventional farming and uses 30 percent less energy and less water. Moreover, because organic farming systems do not use pesticides, they also yield healthier produce and do not contribute to groundwater pollution.
In addition to its conservation of water, organic farming has also been praised for the economic opportunities it creates for farmers in developing countries. Those farmers have found international markets for their organic products. In draught-ridden India, organic rice farmers have also found that using less water is financially practical. Indian rice farmers cited in a 2007 World Wildlife Foundation study claimed that the system of rice intensification (SRI) helped them yield more crop with less water.
Organic farming practices produce positive results for farmers and consumers. One more item to think about when you’re preparing your Thanksgiving feast.
(For more information on connections among irrigation, agriculture, and poverty around the world, click here.)
Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
my observation as an organic farmer over i5 years is 1.carbon levels rise steadily,darkening the soil and improving water retention.and soil health.read masanobu fukuoka for ideas n inspiration.see our photos at khandigeorganic.com
I wonder why we haven’t heard more about this, since the study was completed in 2005. Let’s add this as yet one more great reason to grow and buy organic food. As regards water, another huge reason to favor organic is that chemicals aren’t being used that run off into our water supply.
Chemicals also aren’t left in the food we eat. Have you noticed that the response to the use of chemicals all over the place is always ‘they have been proven safe at these levels’ - completely ignoring the fact that we are ingesting, breathing in, and absorbing through the skin chemicals from many, many sources. We get them through food, air, tap water, bottled water and other drinks, plastic containers…..
For more information on the threat to our water supply and to health, and what you can do at your home, please visit us at http://www.friendsofwater.com. Information to save water and filter water.
My backyard garden profited greatly by the use of “soaker hoses”. No water is sprayed into the air and wasted to evaporation, and small amounts of “manure tea” can be added to the water used, to fertilize organically a hungry crop! I reduce weeds using mulches and get enough food for Mom and I to survive on, thus reducing the pressure for large scale chemical farms to produce. My indirect way of reducing environmental damage can be used by the many temporarily unemployed during the recession/depression we are suffering and by feeding themselves and saving the environment sustain a win-win situation for all!
Timothy, thanks for your comments. The following link from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations provides more information on agricultural impacts on water quality:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/W2598E/w2598e04.htm#agricultural%20impacts%20on%20water%20quality
Table 5 breaks down the problems with pesticide runoff and contamination of surface water and groundwater…
nice article.mulching and multi cropping go along way to improve the wateruse in our organic veggie n herb gardens.bunding and water harvesting .hedges of diverse shrubs and creepers all add up.u can see photos at http://www.khandigeorganic.com
Dear Nayelli Gonzalez,
I wondered what the policy of this website is for reprints of the article as it might fit into the next issue of our magazine.
Looking forward to you reply
Arnd Zschocke