Organic or Non-organic Agriculture: Comparison of Organic and Conventional Farming Sustainability

Abstract

Reduction of the level of greenhouse gas emissions from sector of agriculture are one of the serious issues across European Union. The dairy industry is responsible for generating a significant amount of emissions from enteric fermentation, manure and long-term storage. The amount of emissions produced depends highly on factors such as livestock feeding and manure management systems, feed intensity and quality.  Farms that have high milk yield also produce more liquid manure, leading to an increase in overall emissions from manure management.

Organic farming has been valued as one of the most suitable solutions to conventional agriculture for the achievement of climate goals. Organic farming can be described as a farming approach based on prevention, ecological processes, and the restriction of pesticides. Restricting pests and lower yields can have a negative impact on production costs and revenues. However, organic farming has lower operating costs and higher product costs, which can increase overall incomes.

The research aims to evaluate the environmental, economic and social dimensions of conventional and organic farming, comparing were comparing on their integral environmental, economic and social sustainability. The core element for the sustainability assessment is the construction of the composite sustainability index using data for scientific literature, reports and statistics.