A STUDY BEATS A PRECONCEIVED IDEA THAT ORGANIC FARMING IS LESS RESISTANT THAN FARMING USING PESTICIDES.

It is a study that will give ammunition to anti-glyphosate. Published in mid-July, but spotted on Monday by « Le Monde », an international study, in which French researchers from the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and the University of Rennes participated, defeats a preconceived idea: organic farming would resist less well than farming using pesticides. In reality, it is almost the opposite.

« The researchers have conducted a vast analysis of the scientific literature on this subject, » explains « Le Monde ». They identified 177 studies that compared the respective performances of organic and conventional farming systems, their potential for natural regulation of pests and the levels of infestation observed.

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In concrete terms, as the study published in the journal « Nature Sustainability » demonstrates:

• Faced with weeds, organic agriculture is less successful than agriculture using pesticides.
• Against animal pests (insects, nematodes – worms – and mites), organic farming performs equally well.
• Against pathogens (fungi or bacteria), however, organic farming is more effective.

According to the researchers, this study shows that « organic agriculture offers a way to reduce the use of synthetic pesticides without increasing the levels of infestation by pests and pathogens.

Source : nouvelobs.com