Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on crop rotation, green manure, compost, biological pest control, organically approved pesticide application and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and control pests, excluding or strictly limiting the use of synthetic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock antibiotics, food additives, and genetically modified organisms.
Since 1990, the market for organic products has grown at a rapid pace, to reach $46 billion in 2007. This demand has driven a similar increase in organically managed farmland. Approximately 32.2 million hectares worldwide are now farmed organically, representing approximately 0.8 percent of total world farmland.In addition, as of 2007 organic wild products are harvested on approximately 30 million hectares.
Organic agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by many nations, based in large part on the standards set by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), an international umbrella organization for organic organizations established in 1972. IFOAM defines the overarching goal of organic farming as follows:
"Organic farming is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all involved.."
—International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements
Organic farming is not expected to increase overall agricultural productivity and in many cases the amount of food grown per hectare is significantly less than with conventional methods. "Agriculture faces one final demographic spurt - a nearly 50 percent increase in the world's population before it levels off at around 9 billion people in 2050." Although organic agriculture is likely to continue to grow in popularity, organic agriculture is unlikely to be important for meeting the looming demographic driven food production challenge.
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