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Criticisms and Frequent Misconceptions about Organic Agriculture: The Counter-Arguments |
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Misconception Number 6: Some natural pesticides used in organic farming have been proven to have harmful effects on health. For instance, Pyrethrin sprayed on organic fruits is highly toxic and Rotenone, another natural pesticide, is a potent neurotoxin long used to kill fish and recently linked to Parkinson’s disease. So there is no reason to trust that organic products are safer.
Summary of Counter-Arguments:
- Natural pesticides are quickly degraded and therefore unlikely to leave residues in food stuff.
- Organic Agriculture relies first on preventive measures and, only as a last resort, on natural pesticides.
- Organic standards-setting bodies are responsive to new data on toxicity of natural substances and precautionary measured are applied while alternatives are being sought.
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Details of Counter-Arguments:
It is true that natural
pesticides used in Organic Agriculture can also have a certain level of
toxicity. For instance, the plant-extracted Rotenone is known to be toxic
to humans and other mammals
in addition to being lethal to insects [1]
However, most natural pesticides
have a very small persistence in the environment and are, therefore, unlikely
to be leave residues in food. Rotenone, for instance, breaks down
when exposed to sunlight and has a short lifespan (a week or less) in the
environment. The botanical pest controls (among which are Rotenone and
Pyrethrum) are derived from plants. These materials are registered with
the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and have undergone safety
testing which placed them in the EPA’s least toxic category. Botanicals
are preferred in organic production to synthetic pesticides because they
break down quickly into common natural compounds, while synthetic
substances tend to persist in the environment. An important measure of the
safety of these plant-derived materials is their known effects based on
historical use for the last 3,000 years.
Most importantly, Organic
Agriculture relies first on preventive measures and only secondly on
natural pesticides to control pests and diseases in crop production.
Organic farming relies on prevention rather than cure, and the primary
form of pest control is through following cultural methods and best
practices. Organic standards are based on the principle that design and
management of the whole farming system to achieve health, vitality, and
diversity of soil, crops, and the environment are the primary means to
ensure that pest and disease problems are minimized. The incidence of pest
and disease damage in organic systems is reduced using a number of
fundamental practices including use of sustainable crop rotations,
maintenance of biodiversity, maintenance of optimum crop health, and the
use of resistant varieties. Organic growers are also encouraged to explore
the use of biological control agents (predators or parasites of pests
which are released into the crop area) instead of natural pesticides for
insect problems. All these
techniques reduce the need for organic farmers to use natural pesticides
(for instance Rotenone was used by only eight Soil Association-certified
organic farmers in 2005 in the UK). When there is a real pest
outbreak despite these preventive measures, organic farmers resort to use
of natural pesticides (after permission from their certification body),
but do so with caution in order to disturb the natural equilibrium as little
as possible.
Nevertheless, the organic sector does not pretend to be the holder
of immutable truths. New studies
can bring interesting data on the effect of natural pesticides and the
organic sector is responsive to such information, open to debating the
issues, and will consider putting additional restrictions on the use of
the substances if necessary, and may even ban the substances if it is
proven that their use in agriculture has a significant adverse effect on
health. For instance, the NOSB (National
Organic Standards Board) of the US
recommends that all agricultural inputs be evaluated as to their long term
effect on the environment, not simply on whether they are synthetic or
natural. Another example is that in response to a recent study linking Rotenone
to Parkinson’s Disease, and as an additional safeguard to operators'
health, the UK Soil Association introduced further restrictions on the use
of Rotenone.
[1] The e-Pesticide Manual, 13th
edition (2006) edited by Clive Tomlin.
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