ORGANIC GARDENING ARTICLES
Organic Farms Best For Wildlife
Organic farms are better for wildlife than those run conventionally, according to a study covering 180 farms from Cornwall to Cumbria. The organic farms were found to contain 85% more plant species, 33% more bats, 17% more spiders and 5% more birds.
Scientists - from Oxford University, the British Trust for Ornithology, and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology - spent five years on the research. Funded by the government, it was the largest ever survey of organic farming. "The exclusion of synthetic pesticides and fertilisers from organic is a fundamental difference between systems," the study says.
Other key differences found on the organic farms included smaller fields, more grasslands and hedges that are taller, thicker and on average 71% longer.
Dr Lisa Norton, of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, said: "Hedges are full of native, berry-producing shrubs, which are great for insects and the birds and bats that feed on them."
Increased biodiversity was a "happy by-product" of sustainable farming practices and farmers working with "natural processes" to increase productivity, she added. The fact the organic arable farms were more likely to have livestock on them also made them richer habitats for wildlife.
The study's lead author, British Trust for Ornithology habitat research director Dr Rob Fuller, told BBC News: "There were very large benefits right across the species spectrum." The study had looked at a "very, very high" proportion of England's organic arable farms, he said. More organic farming would help "restore biodiversity within agricultural landscapes", Dr Fuller added. "Less than 3% of English farmland is organic so there is plenty of scope for an increase in area."
Soil Association policy manager Gundula Azeez said: "A greater area of organically-managed land in the UK would help restore the farmland wildlife that has been lost from our countryside in recent decades with intensive farming."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4740609.stm
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ORGANIC FUTURES
by Myers, Adrian
£12.95
A comprehensive argument for the inevitability of a return to organic & sustainable farming methods
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More Concerns for Farmers: Neurologic Effects of Chronic Pesticide Exposure
Although there is considerable evidence that pesticides are neurotoxic, most research has focused on the short- and long-term consequences of acute high-level exposure such as that seen during industrial accidents or food contamination.
To date, little has been known about the effects of chronic moderate exposure such as that experienced by farmers and other workers who regularly use agricultural pesticides. Now, a recent analysis of data collected in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS) links chronic moderate pesticide exposure to neurologic symptoms affecting both the central and peripheral nervous systems [EHP 113:877-882]. According to the research team, increases in such symptoms may be an early indicator of impaired neurological function.
The AHS, an ongoing study sponsored by the NIEHS, the National Cancer Institute, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, furnished a rich data source for the researchers to investigate possible links. Between 1993 and 1997, approximately 20,000 private pesticide applicators (primarily farmers) in Iowa and North Carolina enrolled in the AHS and completed two questionnaires on demographic characteristics, lifestyle, medical history (including neurologic symptoms), and pesticide use. The current analysis focused on 18,782 of these individuals, white men aged 18-75 years who provided complete symptom information.
The 23 symptoms in the analysis included headache, dizziness, depression, limb weakness, poor balance, difficulty concentrating, and vision difficulties. In addition to the symptom information, participants detailed how long and how frequently they used any of 50 pesticides, including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fumigants. They also indicated whether they had ever experienced pesticide poisoning or high-exposure incidents such as accidental skin contact with a large amount of pesticide.
To define cumulative exposure, the researchers calculated lifetime days of use from the number of years and the number of days per year that the applicators had used each pesticide. The team considered two measures of symptoms: the absolute number and the presence of 10 or more. To control for confounding by pesticide poisoning or high-exposure incidents, the researchers conducted analyses with and without those data from affected individuals. They also considered potential effects from pesticide use within the past year.
For pesticides overall, applicators with the most (more than 500) cumulative lifetime days of pesticide use reported more symptoms than those with the fewest lifetime days of use. The relationship between cumulative exposure and symptoms was strongest with insecticides; applicants with the most lifetime days of use were 2.5 times more likely to have 10 or more symptoms as applicators who had never used insecticides. Within the insecticide category, relationships with symptoms were strongest for organophosphates and organochlorines. Neither recent use nor a history of poisoning or high-exposure incident affected the results.
The results of this study extend previous research demonstrating a link between chronic moderate pesticide exposure and a range of cognitive, sensory, and motor symptoms. The AHS is unusually robust due to its large size and its wealth of detailed exposure information. The results of this analysis provide substantial evidence that neurologic symptoms may be increased by even moderate insecticide exposure, and that cumulative exposure may be as important as recent exposure, although more work is needed to understand the pathology underlying the reported symptoms.
Julia R. Barrett
http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2005/113-7/ss.html
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THE NEW ORGANIC GROWER
by Coleman, Eliot
£19.95
This new, fully revised and expanded edition, which also incorporates information of specific relevance to UK organic gardeners. Also has a fully revised chapter on organic pest management, more than forty new illustrations, and an updated, comprehensive bibliography.
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