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0 pointsSohcahtoa826y ago0 comments

> Organic farming absolutely uses pesticides and herbicides. In fact they often must use more of it and at greater frequency than conventional farming methods because the organic variants are inferior.

Got a citation for that? I've always been under the impression that organic farming by definition doesn't use pesticides and herbicides, and that's why they're more expensive. The yields are lower because of some crops being eaten by insects, and quality is lower due to having to battle weeds devouring nutrients from the soil. Is this not accurate?

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Nicksil6y ago

Information on herbicide/pesticide use in organic farming is abundant. A quick search (https://duckduckgo.com/?q=organic+farming) will yield plenty to begin research. Due diligence is necessary given the mass of mis/dis-information, turning fact-finding into a much more difficult process for the laymen (like me) than it should be, but seek many sources, develop a consensus.

HN user "widowlark" posted (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21337495) a link to a "Scientific American" article which you may find useful: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/httpblogs...

The Wikipedia article on "Organic farming" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_farming) has a section-or-two discussing the practice; it'll provide a decent jumping-off point for further research.

franzmafka6y ago

This is obviously a bit facetious but would you consider a duck a pesticide? Small scale artisan farmers are always looking for better solutions and often find them. A distinction needs to be made between a true organic small producer and a conventional farmer chasing an organic label and those extra dollars per pound.

widowlark6y ago

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/httpblogs...

Sohcahtoa82OP6y ago

Thank you for this.

Come to think of it, I do seem to recall at one point reading about organic farming using "natural" pesticides and ending up needing to use more of them because they're less effective.

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