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Integrated Pest Management pp 141–166Cite as

An Environmental, Energetic and Economic Comparison of Organic and Conventional Farming Systems

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Abstract

Various organic technologies have been utilized for about 6,000 years to make agriculture sustainable while at the same time conserving soil, water, energy and biological resources. Benefits of organic technologies include higher soil organic matter and nitrogen, lower fossil energy inputs, yields similar to conventional systems, and conservation of soil moisture and water resources, especially advantageous under drought conditions. Traditional organic farming technologies may be adopted by conventional agriculture to make it more sustainable and ecologically sound.

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Acknowledgement

This research was supported in part by the Podell Emeriti Award at Cornell University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Tower Road East, Blue Old Insectary, Room 165, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA

    David Pimentel

  2. Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Horticulture, Research Aide, Greenhouse worker, Tower Road East, Blue Insectary-Old, Room 161, 14853, Ithaca, New York, USA

    Michael Burgess

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Correspondence to David Pimentel .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA

    David Pimentel

  2. FOA Chatha Div. Agricultural Extension Education, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Jammu, India

    Rajinder Peshin

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Pimentel, D., Burgess, M. (2014). An Environmental, Energetic and Economic Comparison of Organic and Conventional Farming Systems. In: Pimentel, D., Peshin, R. (eds) Integrated Pest Management. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7796-5_6

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