杏吧原创

ORGANIC farms produce more than just wholesome food, they could be benefiting
animals too. A report from Britain鈥檚 Soil Association, which promotes organic
farming, has found that wildlife is substantially richer and more varied on
organic farms than on conventional farms.

Based on a review of previous research, the report found that organic farms
can support five times as many wild plants, including 57 per cent more species,
compared with conventional farms. Birds, insects and other arthropods were more
abundant, both in number and variety. Significantly, the differences were most
marked in cropped areas: organic fields have deeper vegetation and weed cover
among crops than in fields on conventional farms.

Cropped land covers 95 per cent of all farmland so, argues the Soil
Association, converting intensive farms to organic farms could have a massive
impact on farmland wildlife. Most existing schemes to bring wildlife to
conventional farms only focus on field margins. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to green the middle,
not just the edges,鈥� says Patrick Holden, the director of the Soil Association.
He says that at present just 3 per cent of British farmland is organic.

Gundula Azeez, the association鈥檚 policy director and author of the report,
says that the differences in fields were marked. 鈥淥ne study found that there
were 44 per cent more birds in the cropped areas compared with conventional
farms,鈥� she says.

Wild plants, including endangered species, were also more abundant in the
cropped areas. 鈥淵ou could improve the margins of conventional farming, but you
wouldn鈥檛 get these benefits,鈥� says Azeez. 鈥淚n organic farming, these species are
integral to the system.鈥�