Going organic

• The basic rules of organic production are that natural inputs are approved and synthetic inputs are prohibited, althouth there are exceptions in both cases. Soil-building crop rotations are also essential to organic production, with management techniques such as intercropping, double-digging, mulching and integration of crops and livestock playing a vital part.

Students learning how to make compost, Honduras. Credit: FAO/G. Bizzarri

• Compost, which is cheap and locally available, is an important element of organic farming. It restores soil structure, improves water retention, and enhances high yield over time because it has a wide range of nutrients.
  
• Land under organic production methods is increasing, currently totalling about 15.8 million hectares. Two-thirds of this land is in Argentina and Australia, the rest mostly in Europe. Just 0.5 per cent of agricultural land is farmed organically in developing countries.
  
• In Austria and Switzerland organic agriculture represents 10 per cent of the food system, while sales of organic food have risen rapidly in many other developed countries, opening up a new market for organic farmers both at home and in the developing world.

For more details of how you can help, click here.