The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

168 The Idea of an Essay: Volume 3 pH between 5.5 and 8. They claim that a possible explanation can be because of the difficulty in controlling the pH in organic crops. Since organic crops require the use of biological processes to control pests and nutrients, growing organically demands more knowledge, in other words, “best management practice” (Seufert et al., 2012). Studies conducted in lesser-developed countries indicated a much lower organic yield, supporting their claim of best management practice. Also, studies that applied best management practice indicated the better performance of organic crops after more than two seasons of growing organic (Seufert et al., pp. 230, 2012). Seufert et al. state that although it is possible for the yield of organic crops to match the yield of conventional crops, it often does not because of the variability of crop types, “The performance of organic systems varies substantially across crop type and species” (2012). So even though certain organic crops are capable to nearly matchconventional yields, growing conditions andbestmanagement practice are highly variable, making it extremely difficult. While their study indicated the higher yield of conventional agriculture, they conclude their study claiming: There are many factors to consider in balancing the benefits of organic and conventional agriculture, and there are no simple ways to determine a clear ‘winner’ for all possible farming situations. However, instead of continuing the ideologically charged ‘organic versus conventional’ debate, we should systematically evaluate the costs and benefits of different management techniques… Observing the many publications between conventional and organic agriculture, it appears the argument will continue to be debated. Both organic and conventional agriculture have their advantages. Organic agriculture is perceived by people to be the healthier option, but there are no long-term, population studies to support this claim. With the exception of organic milk, the findings supporting organic agriculture as a healthier option are saturated with publication bias. Organic agriculture is healthier to the environment because it allows more nutrients in the soil, but the yield is on average 25% less than conventional agriculture. Also, because of biological controls, organic agriculture is more difficult to manage than conventional agriculture. Although there are many more arguments present in the debate between organic and conventional agriculture, this essay determined to address the core arguments alone in great detail.