There are significant benefits to the environment of organic farming and therefore for people to choose organic food:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organic farming is a long-term, sustainable approach to food production.\u00a0Organic farming\u00a0takes a proactive, preventative approach instead of\u00a0dealing with problems after they emerge which can be too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Practices that build up the soil\u00a0such as crop rotation, inter-cropping, cover cropping, symbiotic planting, organic fertilisers and minimum tillage are central to organic practices. These all support and encourage healthy soil fauna and flora, improving soil formation and structure and creating a more balanced and stable soil ecosystem. Nutrient and energy cycling will increase\u00a0and the retentive ability\u00a0of the soil for nutrients and water are improved, which compensates for the non-use of mineral fertilisers. These\u00a0soil management techniques\u00a0are also important for mitigating soil erosion. The\u00a0export of nutrients in crops can be\u00a0compensated by\u00a0on-farm\u00a0renewable resources (e.g. compost, animal manure, green manure) but it is sometimes necessary to add minerals such as\u00a0potassium, phosphate, calcium, magnesium and trace elements from external sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In many agriculture areas, pollution of groundwater with synthetic fertilisers<\/a> and pesticides is a significant\u00a0problem. The use of these types of inputs are\u00a0prohibited in organic farming. They are replaced by organic fertilisers and through greater biodiversity (in terms of crops\u00a0cultivated), enhancing soil structure and water infiltration. Well managed organic systems with better nutrient retentive abilities, greatly reduce the risk of groundwater pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAir and climate change<\/h3>\n\n\n\n