Why organic plants may be WORSE for the planet

ORGANIC plants could actually be worse for the environment than conventionally farmed foods, scientists say.

A lack of chemical fertilisers means more land is used to grow crops, leading indirectly to up to 70 per cent more carbon being emitted because of deforestation, their study found. The authors claim that even organic meat and dairy products are – from a climate point of view – worse than their conventionally produced equivalents.

‘Organic peas, farmed in Sweden, have around a 50 per cent bigger climate impact than conventionally farmed peas,’ said lead researcher Stefan Wirsenius from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.

‘With winter wheat the difference is closer to 70 per cent,’ he said in the study which was published in Nature.

The reason is that the yields per hectare are much lower, primarily because fertilisers are not used. ‘The greater land-use in organic farming leads indirectly to higher carbon dioxide emissions, thanks to deforestation,’ said Dr Wirsenius.

The researchers used a formula called ‘Carbon Opportunity Cost’, based on the amount of carbon stored in forests, and released as carbon dioxide as an effect of deforestation.