Bridges between family farming and organic farming: a study case of the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

The aim of this work was to identify procedures adopted by family farms in the centre and north of Portugal and Galicia (Spain), and to verify whether they resemble those used in organic farming. A checklist was prepared in Portuguese and Spanish and applied personally to managers of family farms. The participation was voluntary and 125 valid responses were collected.The results show that farmers included in the study owned small family farms where labour is mainly performed by the family, and tended to adopt, in general, good agricultural practices, many of which are common to organic farming, such as crop rotation, avoidance of GMO or avoidance of phytoregulators. However, they failed to adopt some important practices, including the use of seeds inoculated with mycorrhizae, composting, biological and biotechnical control or avoidance of chemical control for plant protection. It was further concluded that gender and age of the farmers did not significantly influence the type of agricultural practices, contrarily to the level of education and region, which were significantly associated with many of the cultural interventions investigated.

Environmental Issues as Drivers for Food Choice: Study from a Multinational Framework

“…This immense growth of the human population poses a significant number of challenges, related with many different aspects that go from the food supply chain until the global public health [4]. These challenges include efficient food production, availability of foods at global level, responsible use of land and water, efficient management of natural resources, minimization of environmental impacts, maximization of nutritive value of foods and, finally, management of the use of chemical residues and harmful substances (such as pesticides, for example) with impact on the natural ecosystems and human health [4][5][6].…”

Exploratory Insights into Consumption and Commercialization of Organic Products during COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The food products most consumed via OF are vegetables, such as lettuce (68%) or pumpkin (65%). 1 OF = Organic Farming (% yes), 2 CA = Conventional Agriculture (% yes), 3 OLP = Organic livestock production, 4 CLP = Conventional livestock production, 5 AC = aquaculture (% yes), 6 WC = wild capture (% yes).…”

“…These abusive practices, in turn, lead to widespread pollution and global warming [1][2][3][4]. In this context, organic farming (OF) is often presented as a solution to mitigate the negative impacts that conventional farming causes on the environment [5][6][7]. This is an agricultural system that aims to produce food in a way that causes minimal impacts on animal and human ecosystems [2,5,8].…”

“…This is an agricultural system that aims to produce food in a way that causes minimal impacts on animal and human ecosystems [2,5,8]. Instead of using synthetically produced raw materials (fertilizers, pesticides), organic management practices benefit from adjusting crop to biological cycles, well-defined choices regarding the seeding or planting time, soil preparation and weed control, and the use of biological control and natural pesticides [6,9,10]. This system aims to achieve a balanced relationship along the natural food chain, as well as enhancing the health of soils and the quality of water, contributing to biological diversity, respecting the cycles of nature and contributing to the responsible use of natural resources [8].…”