Organic agriculture fights climate change

Brand new research from Switzerland describes how organic agriculture causes an EXTERNALITY in terms of mitigating climate change. "Organic agriculture addresses both emission avoidance and carbon sequestration. The first is achieved through lower N2O emissions (due to lower nitrogen input; 1-2% of the nitrogen applied to farming systems is emitted as N2O, irrespective of the form of the N input), less CO2 emissions through erosion (as, due to the better soil structure and more plant cover, less erosion usually occurs in organic farming systems than in conventional ones) and lower CO2 emissions from farming system inputs (this mainly refers to pesticides and fertilizers that are currently and for the foreseeable future mainly produced employing fossil fuel). Sequestration (both temporary and long-term) takes place through differences in cultivation practices (such as increased application of organic manures, use of intercrops and green manures, higher share of perennial grasslands and trees or hedges etc.) and changed soil characteristics (higher soil organic matter content and thus higher organic carbon content, better soil structure). Given the size of the agricultural sector on a global scale, the potential for mitigation via OA is huge. Of course more detailed assessment of the concrete potential duly differentiated according to climatic zones, local climatic conditions, variations in crops and cultivation practices, etc. is till needed.