27
Aug
Study Shows Organic Practices Increase Crop and Nutritional Quality with Weather Uncertainty
(Beyond Pesticides, August 27, 2025) A study published in European Journal of Agronomy finds that “organic farming equals conventional yield under irrigation and enhances seed quality in drought, aiding food security.”
For decades, organic advocates have heard from defenders of chemical-intensive agriculture that organic farming is not commercially attainable for widespread adoption and cannot compete on productivity and profitability at a commercial scale. At the same time, chemical manufacturers, chemical-dependent farmers, and their allies greenwash their products (e.g., active ingredients, full formulations, and pesticide-treated seeds) and practices by insisting in regulatory comments, contract science studies, and lobbying campaigns that they are necessary for climate-smart, sustainable, regenerative, and/or integrated pest management agriculture and land management.
In this context, the chemical industry alliance is now pushing deregulation, preemption of state and local authority to restrict pesticides, and immunity from lawsuits for the harm caused by their products and practices. An expansive coalition of farmers, farmworkers, conservationists, medical professionals, Indigenous communities, and environmental and public health advocates is fighting back, including Beyond Pesticides.
Background and Methodology
The researchers tested twelve common bean genotypes of Phaselous vulgaris L., with eight local [Basque Country] landraces (defined by Oxford Language as “a local cultivar [plant] or animal breed that has been improved by traditional agricultural methods”), which are “generally grown under rainfed conditions.” The other four landraces are commercial varieties commonly cultivated in Spain and the European Union. “Under rainfed conditions, the common bean seeds received only minimal water at the beginning of the season to ensure the seedlings’ survival (Table 1),” say the authors in describing the distinction between the two watering protocols. They continue: “The irrigation regime was defined by the seasonal climatology (Table 1). In 2016 and 2017, the irrigated subplots received three complementary irrigations of 12 mm each and two in 2018.”
“The trials were conducted in experimental fields in Arkaute, Alava [a hamlet],” according to the researchers. “In this area, the months with the lowest precipitation (July and August) coincide with the flowering and grain-filling stages of common beans, which are developmental stages more susceptible to drought, thus influencing crop production . . .” They engaged in field trials during three growing seasons (2016, 2017, and 2018), with soil analyses included pH levels, organic matter (soil), soil health indicators (e.g., nitrogen, nitrate, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium, carbon/nitrogen ratio, and texture. The design of the field plots considered management system (organic or chemical-intensive), water use (human-made irrigation or rainfed), and bean genotype. For further details, see Section 2.3, “Experimental design and growth conditions.”
The seeds were analyzed in an elemental analyzer and an isotope ratio mass spectrometer to determine water-use efficiency and nitrogen fixation, respectively. Carbon isotope discrimination refers to the plant “discriminating” between the lighter CO2 isotope and the heavier one to assess water-use efficiency. The efficiency of photosynthesis in the bean genotypes was measured in light-adapted leaves with a portable fluorimeter at the pod-filling stage. Yield was measured per hectare after the harvest; seed quality, meanwhile, was measured by the balance of protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, and energy value. Information on statistical data analysis can be found in Section 2.7.
The authors in this study are based in plant biology, environmental science, and chemistry departments at the University of the Basque Country (Spain), Auburn University (U.S.), and Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute: Catrin (Czech Republic). The study was supported by various research projects funded by the Basque Government. As the role of artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more commonplace in academic and research environments, it is important to note that there is a section in this article entitled: “Declaration of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process.” To that end, researchers used ChatGPT to edit language, and after doing so, they reviewed, edited, and take responsibility for the final results. Moreover, the authors declared “that the research was conducted without any financial or non-financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.”
Results
Local landraces were specifically promising, according to the researchers, because they balanced resilience to elevated heat with superior nutritional quality. The study results, when comparing current variable irrigation conditions, conclude that conventional seeds watered through irrigation demonstrated the highest yields and caloric value; however, organic seeds under rainfed conditions promoted protein, fiber, and nitrogen fixation. The authors note that the choice of variety (genotype) matters more in organic seeds for efficient use of sunlight through photosynthesis (the underlying biological mechanism that contributes to yield results in plants), suggesting that breeding could potentially offset any category of disadvantage that organic systems may have.
Overall, the authors note that, “Our findings highlighted organic farming as a promising management strategy to improve common bean quality, even under the seasonal pressure induced by climate change.” They continue: “Moreover, seeds from organic farming showed higher fat content, particularly notably in 2016, where a higher seed energy value was also observed.”
“Moreover, our study confirms that Δ13C [carbon isotope discrimination] is an effective marker for selecting stress-tolerant genotypes for heat or the combination of drought-heat stresses,” the authors mention in the conclusion. They explain how analyzing a local landrace genotype, found in both organic and conventional fields, brought them to this conclusion. “Specifically, the local genotype AA emerges as one of the most tolerant and productive genotypes under rainfed conditions, whose seeds showed the highest fat and protein content in organic rainfed conditions.”
There were a handful of local organic landraces that matched the yields of commercial varieties under stress-like conditions, such as drought, acknowledging the role that organic seed production can play in climate action for agricultural systems. Rainfed plots were found to have the most volatility when it came to rainfed organic fields, given the uncertainty of nature and emerging weather patterns.
Previous Research
Organic seed production as an alternative to pesticide-treated seeds has been a longstanding priority for the organic movement, as well as environmental and public health advocates interested in transforming the current broken system. Organic Seed Alliance published a report in 2016 finding that the supply of organic seeds is not keeping up with the rising demand for organic products (see Daily News here); they found that vegetable farmers who grow on less than ten acres use, on average, 75 percent organic seed, while growers who farm over 480 acres use only 20 percent organic seed. This gap persists to this day.
Interdisciplinary research from inside and outside of the U.S has compared organically managed and chemical-intensive agriculture management. The Rodale Institute, Ohio State University, and Tennessee State University determined in a recent study based on field trials that organic grain cropping systems contain higher concentrations of total nitrogen and soil organic carbon, exceeding those found in conventional, chemical-intensive systems. (See Daily News here.) This study is an extension of the Rodale Institute’s Farming System Trial (FST), a 40-year-long field study published in 2020 with the overarching goal of “[a]ddress[ing] the barriers to the adoption of organic farming by farmers across the country.” The FST finds:
- Organic systems achieve 3–6 times the profit of conventional production;
- Yields for the organic approach are competitive with those of conventional systems (after a five-year transition period);
- Organic yields during stressful drought periods are 40% higher than conventional yields;
- Organic systems leach no toxic compounds into nearby waterways (unlike pesticide-intensive conventional farming;
- Organic systems use 45% less energy than conventional systems; and
- Organic systems emit 40% less carbon into the atmosphere.
In the international context, the results of a sixteen-year field trial based in Central Kenya determined higher crop yield stability in low-input organic systems with previously degraded soil than in high-input organic and nonorganic agricultural systems. (See Daily News here.) The production of organic bananas in the Caribbean nation of Martinique was determined to outcompete chemical-intensive counterparts in terms of microbial decomposition, according to research by the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD). (See Daily News here.)
For more information and the Daily News archive covering pesticide-coated seeds and organic/non-treated alternatives, see here.
Call to Action
Organic advocates follow the lead of Indigenous farmers and land stewards, farmer-peasant movements, food sovereignty and environmental justice advocates in the necessity to relinquish corporate control of seed production. For millennia, communities across the globe have exchanged seeds and cultivated local breeds to accommodate their microclimatic, soil, and related conditions.
Moving toward organic seed production is not just a matter of biodiversity, climate, and public health protections, but most importantly about maintaining and supporting the diversity of cultural foodways that are inextricably linked to seeds. This is about local authority and autonomy.
There are numerous resources for accessing alternatives to pesticide-treated seeds. Consider reviewing resources by the Organic Seed Alliance, which “ensures an abundant and diverse supply of ecologically grown seed, tended in perpetuity by skilled and diverse communities of seed stewards.” Beyond Pesticides has several resources, including a brief documentary on this issue called Seeds That Poison. Please see the Pollinator-Friendly Seeds and Nursery Directory, a resource where you can find companies and nurseries that grow and distribute organic seeds across the U.S.
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.
Source: European Journal of Agronomy
