Organic agriculture in the twenty-first century.

Organic agriculture has a history of being contentious and is considered by some as an inefficient approach to food production. Yet organic foods and beverages are a rapidly growing market segment in the global food industry. Here, we examine the performance of organic farming in light of four key sustainability metrics: productivity, environmental impact, economic viability and social wellbeing. Organic farming systems produce lower yields compared with conventional agriculture. However, they are more profitable and environmentally friendly, and deliver equally or more nutritious foods that contain less (or no) pesticide residues, compared with conventional farming. Moreover, initial evidence indicates that organic agricultural systems deliver greater ecosystem services and social benefits. Although organic agriculture has an untapped role to play when it comes to the establishment of sustainable farming systems, no single approach will safely feed the planet. Rather, a blend of organic and other innovative farming systems is needed. Significant barriers exist to adopting these systems, however, and a diversity of policy instruments will be required to facilitate their development and implementation.

Processo produtivo e saúde em assentamentos rurais da Zona da Mata pernambucana

A vida e trabalho em assentamentos de reforma agrária suscitam questões importantes para determinação social da saúde como: conflitos agrários, reestruturação produtiva, modernização conservadora, revolução verde, agroecologia e redes sociais. O presente trabalho realizou estudo de caso em dois assentamentos de reforma agrária, buscando analisar a determinação social da saúde a partir do processo de reforma agrária promovido pelo Estado, trabalho e redes sociais. Foram realizadas entrevistas individuais semiestruturadas, além de grupos focais fundamentados nas ferramentas de diálogo do diagnóstico rural participativo. Para análise e processamento dos dados utilizou-se a condensação de significados. Em um dos assentamentos, as tecnologias da modernização conservadora da agricultura foram implantadas por meio da atuação do Estado, com repercussões negativas para saúde das famílias. No segundo caso houve adoção dos princípios da agroecologia devido aos laços das famílias com o Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra e grupo de pesquisadores/as, o que promoveu proteção da saúde das famílias. A reforma agrária, nos dois casos estudados, teve papel importante para promover saúde e garantir uma reprodução social mínima das famílias. Porém, manteve a subordinação do trabalho campesino ao capital. A saúde e emancipação humana plena só serão alcançadas com a superação do modo de produção capitalista.

Life and work in agrarian reform settlements raise important issues for social determination of health such as: agrarian conflicts, productive restructuring, conservative modernization, green revolution, agroecology and social networks. The present work carried out a case study in two settlements of agrarian reform, seeking to analyze the social determination of health from the agrarian reform process promoted by the State, work and social networks. Semi-structured individual interviews were carried out, as well as focus groups based on the participatory rural diagnosis dialogue tools. For the analysis and processing of the data was used the condensation of meanings. In one of the settlements, the technologies of the conservative modernization of agriculture were implemented through State action, with negative repercussions for the health of the families. In the second case, the principles of agroecology were adopted because of the ties of families with the Landless Workers Movement and researchers, which promoted the protection of the families' health. Agrarian reform, in both cases studied, played an important role in promoting health and ensuring a minimum social reproduction of families. However, it maintained the subordination of peasant labor to capital. Health and full human emancipation will only be achieved by overcoming the capitalist mode of production.

Yield and economic performance of organic and conventional cotton-based farming systems--results from a field trial in India.

The debate on the relative benefits of conventional and organic farming systems has in recent time gained significant interest. So far, global agricultural development has focused on increased productivity rather than on a holistic natural resource management for food security. Thus, developing more sustainable farming practices on a large scale is of utmost importance. However, information concerning the performance of farming systems under organic and conventional management in tropical and subtropical regions is scarce. This study presents agronomic and economic data from the conversion phase (2007-2010) of a farming systems comparison trial on a Vertisol soil in Madhya Pradesh, central India. A cotton-soybean-wheat crop rotation under biodynamic, organic and conventional (with and without Bt cotton) management was investigated. We observed a significant yield gap between organic and conventional farming systems in the 1(st) crop cycle (cycle 1: 2007-2008) for cotton (-29%) and wheat (-27%), whereas in the 2(nd) crop cycle (cycle 2: 2009-2010) cotton and wheat yields were similar in all farming systems due to lower yields in the conventional systems. In contrast, organic soybean (a nitrogen fixing leguminous plant) yields were marginally lower than conventional yields (-1% in cycle 1, -11% in cycle 2). Averaged across all crops, conventional farming systems achieved significantly higher gross margins in cycle 1 (+29%), whereas in cycle 2 gross margins in organic farming systems were significantly higher (+25%) due to lower variable production costs but similar yields. Soybean gross margin was significantly higher in the organic system (+11%) across the four harvest years compared to the conventional systems. Our results suggest that organic soybean production is a viable option for smallholder farmers under the prevailing semi-arid conditions in India. Future research needs to elucidate the long-term productivity and profitability, particularly of cotton and wheat, and the ecological impact of the different farming systems.