Organic farms offer wildlife less benefits than thought

THE benefits to wildlife from organic farming are much lower than previously thought.

Organic farms may be seen as wildlife-friendly, but the benefits do not compensate for the lower yields produced, according to research by the University of Leeds. Its like-for-like comparisonsfound that organic farms had, on average, 12 per cent more biodiversity but produced less than half of the yield of conventional counterparts.

"Over the next 40 years, we're going to have to double food production worldwide to keep pace with population increases," said Professor Tim Benton, who led the project.

"Using organic rather than conventional means, we'd need to use twice the amount of land for agriculture."