ABSTRACT

For decades, there has been debate about the possibility that organic farming can feed the world’s population. The most recent studies, analyzing the yields of individual crops, show a yield gap between organic and conventional farming. The rotations and the intensity of soil use are also different between systems and the impact of this factor on productivity has not been assessed. A meta-analysis of the yield data of organic and conventional crops and the intensity of soil use (years with harvest crop in relation to rotation duration) was carried out using studies published in peer-reviewed journals. The yields under organic farming were on average 25% lower than the conventional ones, reaching a yield gap of 30% for cereals. The intensity of soil use was also lower in organic systems, the size of the reduction depending on the type of study: field experiments (7%) or on-farm studies (20%). Combining the yield gap with the reduction in the number of crops harvested in the rotation, a productivity gap of 29% to 44% was estimated depending on the type of crops included in the rotation. These results show that the productivity gap is greater than the yield gap between organic and conventional farming.

摘要

几十年来，关于有机农业能否养活世界人口的问题一直存在争议。最近的研究分析了单个作物的产量，显示有机农业和传统农业之间的产量差距。不同系统之间的轮作和土壤利用强度也不同，并且尚未评估该因素对生产力的影响。使用发表在同行评审期刊上的研究，对有机作物和常规作物的产量数据以及土壤利用强度（收获作物的年份与轮作持续时间）进行了荟萃分析。有机农业的产量平均比传统农业低 25%，谷物的产量差距达到 30%。有机系统的土壤利用强度也较低，减少的程度取决于研究类型：田间试验 (7%) 或农场研究 (20%)。将产量差距与轮作作物数量的减少相结合，根据轮作中包括的作物类型，估计生产力差距为 29% 至 44%。这些结果表明，生产力差距大于有机农业和传统农业之间的产量差距。