GOA

The goal of the project is to compare the production potential and environmental performance of organic and conventional agricultural production by analysing globally, on a high spatial resolution, how different crops perform in these two systems. This will allow the identification of the most favourable crop-​​area combinations for organic agriculture from a global comparative perspective.

Global agriculture is causing large environmental impacts. At the same time, increasing population and affluence add pressure on the natural resources and increase food security risks. One option to deal with these challenges is intensification of food production, and a viable alternative is organic agriculture. In order to compare the productivity and impacts of organic and conventional production we will analyse globally, on a high spatial resolution, how different crops perform in these two systems. For this, we will combine and extend the global agricultural models of the co-​applicants’ previous work. In a first step, we will improve the modelling of nutrient cycles in agriculture. Since organic agriculture limits the use of mineral fertilizer, we will analyse how nutrient gaps can be filled by manure and legume cultivation in crop rotations. The latter might require additional irrigation and cause water scarcity, with accompanying impacts on food security and the environment. Based on these results, we will analyse the role of nutrient and water availability for the limitation of the yield, since yield reduction results in additional land use and eventually land use change, both of which are among the main drivers for ecosystem loss. However, organic land use has lower adverse impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services, and this has not yet been addressed sufficiently in the assessment of organic vs. conventional agriculture. We will thus expand the assessment on these impacts in a global context well beyond the comparisons of yields only. Apart from the above key impacts, we will also evaluate other environmental impacts of high concern, such as global warming potential (carbon footprint) and ecotoxicity related to pesticide use, by using state-​of-the-art databases and methodologies for life cycle assessment. The overall analysis will enable the assessment of the production potential and environmental performance of organic and conventional agriculture globally on a high spatial resolution. This will allow the identification of the most favourable crop-​area combinations for organic agriculture from a global comparative perspective.