Comparison of organic and conventional food and food Production. Part I: Plant health and plant production

Abstract

Organic plant production in 2012 covered 50 200 ha which is 5.1% of the total agricultural area of Norway. The country is on the northern frontier for commercial plant production with short growing season, low summer temperature, and in some districts precipitation above the optimum for crops. However, many hours of daylight during the summer months are positive for plant production. Very few Norwegian studies have compared organic and conventional plant production. Therefore, the evaluations of nutrient contents, plant health and environmental contaminants are mainly based on scientific publications from other countries of Europe and North America. The main sources of uncertainty in the evaluation are differences in climate, soil types and varieties cultivated in Norway and in the countries were comparative studies of organic and conventional agriculture have been performed.