ORGANIC FARMING YIELD CAN FEED WORLD, REPORTS UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN STUDY

Organic farming can yield up to three times as much food on individual farms in developing countries as lowintensive methods on the same land, according to new findings at the University of Michigan. Researchers refute claims that organic agriculture cannot produce enough food to feed global populations.

According to Michigan researchers, yields were almost equal in developed countries on organic and conventional farms. In developing countries, food production could double or triple using organic methods, explains Ivette Perfecto, professor of the University School of Natural Resources and Environment, and one of the study's principal investigators. "My hope is that we can finally put a nail in the coffin of the idea that you can't produce enough food through organic agriculture," says Perfecto. In addition, the authors found that yields could be accomplished using existing quantities of organic fertilizers - without putting more farmland into production.