Organic agriculture prohibits the use of fertilizers and pesticides, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or other toxic products, considered pollutants and non-durable, eventually destroying biodiversity of an ecosystem, hurting health and infiltrating ground waters. Many studies proved that organic agriculture, compared to conventional agriculture, liberates less carbon dioxide retained in the soil and uses less energy, which contributes to lower Greenhouse Gas Emission and improves our environment quality. Several scientists challenge these data but this seems to end to the same point: the organic agriculture is better for the environment. On the other side the yield of this type of production is about 80%, in average; the farms that use mostly conventional agriculture, requires many years to fertilize their soil that had gone under chemical uses before obtaining the same results as a organic farm.
The organic certification is a system that regulates in a global way the production, encouraging agricultural production as well as biodiversity, soils biologic activities and cycles. The farmers who practice this type of agriculture, stake on several different tools for production such as crop rotation, green manure, cover cropping, application of compost, and mulching. Organic farmers also use certain processed fertilizers such as seed meal, and various mineral powders such as rock phosphate and greensand, a naturally occurring form of potash. Organic farming can be considered as a durable type of agriculture, the difference being that in order to use the term "organic" the farmers must comply with a definite list of rules and regulations as well as going under an inspection of their farm and then receive their certification.
In the case of coffee farms, the coffee trees grows under the shadow of other trees such as banana trees, orange trees, cocoa trees and this type of growth encourage, in a long-term period, because it prevents erosion; the soil is maintained in place by the strong roots of those shadow trees. It's important to keep in mind that coffee trees grow in high altitude, in an environment where the grounds are steep. Moreover, in the case of a washed coffee, the pulp of the coffee cherry is reused in compost along with tree leaves, fruit peels and other organic element providing several living minerals, which contribute to the health of the plantation. One coffee tree requires about 2kg of compost. All these factors contribute to maintain the biodiversity of the plantation; birds, insects and mammals can go on with their lives in their original ecosystem, in favorable and optimal conditions for their species, contrary to sun-growth plantation. This diversity highly contributes to a durable agriculture since these animals often eat pests or contributes to the pollenization, a factor that has certainly contributed to the natural creation of all the different varieties of coffees around the world.
For more info about organic certification, please visit the websites below:
United States Department of Agriculture: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome
National Organic Program-Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Organic_Program