000			02587nab a22002777a 4500
001			G96748
003			MX-TxCIM
005			20171220113549.0
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024	8		_ahttps://doi.org/10.1038/nature11069
040			_aMX-TxCIM
041	0		_aEn
043			_aUS
100	1		_aSeufert, V.
245	0	0	_aComparing the yields of organic and conventional agriculture
260			_c2012
500			_aPeer-review: Yes - Open Access: Yes|http://science.thomsonreuters.com/cgi-bin/jrnlst/jlresults.cgi?PC=MASTER&ISSN=0028-0836
520			_aNumerous reports have emphasized the need for major changes in the global food system: agriculture must meet the twin challenge of feeding a growing population, with rising demand for meat and high-calorie diets, while simultaneously minimizing its global environmental impacts1, 2. Organic farming?a system aimed at producing food with minimal harm to ecosystems, animals or humans?is often proposed as a solution3, 4. However, critics argue that organic agriculture may have lower yields and would therefore need more land to produce the same amount of food as conventional farms, resulting in more widespread deforestation and biodiversity loss, and thus undermining the environmental benefits of organic practices5. Here we use a comprehensive meta-analysis to examine the relative yield performance of organic and conventional farming systems globally. Our analysis of available data shows that, overall, organic yields are typically lower than conventional yields. But these yield differences are highly contextual, depending on system and site characteristics, and range from 5% lower organic yields (rain-fed legumes and perennials on weak-acidic to weak-alkaline soils), 13% lower yields (when best organic practices are used), to 34% lower yields (when the conventional and organic systems are most comparable). Under certain conditions?that is, with good management practices, particular crop types and growing conditions?organic systems can thus nearly match conventional yields, whereas under others it at present cannot. To establish organic agriculture as an important tool in sustainable food production, the factors limiting organic yields need to be more fully understood, alongside assessments of the many social, environmental and economic benefits of organic farming systems.
546			_aEnglish
593			_aCarelia Juarez
595			_aRPC
700	1		_aFoley, J.A., _ecoaut.
700	1		_aRamankutty, N., _ecoaut.
773	0		_tNature _gv. 395, no. 7397, p. 229-232
942			_cJA
999			_c29223 _d29223