[89], Guaitecas Archipelago in Patagonia made up the southern limit of Pre-Hispanic agriculture,[90] as noted by the mention of the cultivation of Chiloé potatoes by a Spanish expedition in 1557. [140] In the world's poorer nations where most of the world's hungry live, and where conventional agriculture's expensive inputs are not affordable by the majority of farmers, adopting organic management actually increases yields 93% on average, and could be an important part of increased food security. As early as the 1970s private associations certified organic producers. 2007. [104] These differences among findings can often be attributed to variations between study designs including differences in the crops studied and the methodology by which results were gathered. [7] When major climate change took place after the last ice age (c. 11,000 BC), much of the earth became subject to long dry seasons. [49], Other cultural practices used to enhance crop competitiveness and reduce weed pressure include selection of competitive crop varieties, high-density planting, tight row spacing, and late planting into warm soil to encourage rapid crop germination. [29], In July 1939, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, the author of the standard work on biodynamic agriculture (Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening),[30] came to the UK at the invitation of Walter James, 4th Baron Northbourne as a presenter at the Betteshanger Summer School and Conference on Biodynamic Farming at Northbourne's farm in Kent. The organic farming systems used 20 – 56% less energy to produce a They also sought to find specific solutions to specific circumstances. [155], For most of its history, agriculture has been organic, without synthetic fertilisers or pesticides, and without GMOs. 2004. Marketing U.S. Organic Foods: Recent Trends From Farms to Consumers. Depending on climate-related areas primarily farming is the raising and breeding of grazing livestock, such as cattle, sheep, ostriches, horses or goats. In the UK, farm as an agricultural unit, always denotes the area of pasture and other fields together with its farmhouse, farmyard and outbuildings. [93][94] Economic Information Bulletin No. [26], By 8000 BC, farming was entrenched on the banks of the Nile. [128] Direct-to-consumer sales include farmers' markets, community supported agriculture (CSA), on-farm stores, and roadside farm stands. [50], Weeds can be controlled by grazing. 2009. In most Western countries, a centralized dairy facility processes milk and dairy products, such as cream, butter, and cheese. 2015. [132] On the other hand, the increased need for labour may be seen as an "employment dividend" of organic farming, providing more jobs per unit area than conventional systems. [8], A farm may be owned and operated by a single individual, family, community, corporation or a company, may produce one or many types of produce, and can be a holding of any size from a fraction of a hectare[9] to several thousand hectares.[10]. Markandya, A. and S. Setboonsarng. The meat of sheep, goats, cows and poultry was eaten, mainly by the elite. One theory for this change was that consumers were substituting "local" produce for "organic" produce. 7 CFR, part 205. [41] Planting a variety of vegetable crops supports a wider range of beneficial insects, soil microorganisms, and other factors that add up to overall farm health. Citation used: UNEP, 2011, Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication, www.unep.org/greeneconomy. 6. [24] Claims of much earlier cultivation of rye, at the Epipalaeolithic site of Tell Abu Hureyra in the Euphrates valley of northern Syria, remain controversial. [149] In 2000 uncompensated costs for 1996 reached 2,343 million British pounds or £208 per ha (£84.20/ac). Current models indicate that wild stands that had been harvested previously started to be planted, but were not immediately domesticated. 2008. [132] On the one hand, this increased labour cost is one factor that makes organic food more expensive. Modern agriculture has raised social, political, and environmental issues including overpopulation, water pollution, biofuels, genetically modified organisms, tariffs and farm subsidies.