Environmental benefits of organic agriculture

Cindy Hurtado

There are long-term benefits it requires to produce food while establishing an ecological balance in order to
prevent problems with pests or soil fertility, through organic fertilizers and cover soils as these promote wildlife
and flora in terms of the structure of the soil, increasing nutrients and its capacity for water retention, thanks to
these techniques the benefit of controlling soil erosion is due to the fact that the time the soil is exposed to
erosive forces decreases, soil biodiversity increases and nutrient losses are reduced, which helps to maintain
and improve soil productivity. When synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are used, contamination of the
groundwater is generated, therefore the benefit of using organic systems such as Compost and animal manure is
that they improve the structure of the soil and the water, improving the retention of nutrients.

Another benefit is in terms of mitigation of the greenhouse effect and global warming through the ability to return
carbon in the soil, through minimum tillage, return of crop residues to the soil and use of cover crops, since
These practices increase productivity and favoring carbon storage. Because the more organic carbon is retained
in the soil, the greater the mitigation potential of agriculture against climate change. It should be noted that
organic systems do not allow the use of GMOs during any stage of production, processing or handling of organic
food. That is why there is an organic label which serves to guarantee that GMOs have not been intentionally used
in the production and processing of organic products, where by opting for organic products, the consumer
through their purchasing power promotes a less polluting agricultural system.

As mentioned above, the impact of organic agriculture on natural resources favors interactions within the
agroecosystem that are vital for both agricultural production and nature conservation, since practices such as soil
conditioning, soil stabilization, are adopted. waste recycling, carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, predation,
pollination and habitats.