You lot must realise that I usually put forward a strong environmentalist
line on this forum. But I have to say I agree with the anti-organic methods
posts in this thread but... but... but... firstly, organic farming will only
use fungicides when necessary, whereas conventional agriculture has a
planned spraying regime, often several times, as a matter of course.
If modern fungicides etc have genuinely improved to the point where they
are equal to, or superior to, the old organic methods in lack of toxicity
and most importantly in bio degradation and lack of accumulation in the
environment, then certainly the traditional methods should be reviewed but I
don't hear the agricultural companies shouting this from the rooftops as I
am sure they would if it was genuinely true.
Bear in mind that agri-fungicides tend to kill everything and there are
plenty of beneficial fungi that should be kept in the soil. An example - I
live in a place where a big crop for our farmers is early potatoes, which
are prone to potato blight (a fungus) and so they spray the crop routinely
to prevent this getting a hold. Because of this all the other beneficial
fungi in the environment of the field get killed. It is a fungal free zone.
Organic farmers I know don't have such a vulnerability because the natural
beneficial fungi in the environment are already on the plant when it pushes
through "into the light". The existing "good fungi" have already populated
the "habitat" of the potato leaves thus leaving not much of a niche for the
blight fungus to get a hold on. They still get blight but it does not get
such a hold and is managed by cutting the affected plants down early.
Another example - the potato crop also suffers from eelworm and so
nematicides are routinely applied to the non-organic crop. A well
established organic field has fungi which literally have "lassos" which
catch the nematodes. The crop still gets eelworm attack but it is much less
of a problem than it is to those who farm with "dead" soil.
Nick Palmer
On the side of the Planet - and the people - because they're worth it
