Most of the world's current wildlife extinctions are being caused by the expansion of primitive low-yield farming, the union says. Sixteen of these hot spots are also centers of severe human malnutrition. For the past 40 years, too many environmental groups have pretended that organic farming could feed the world's growing population and save wildlife, too, despite crop yields that were little more than half as high as those of modern mainstream farms. Groups such as the World Wildlife Fund have demanded that we preserve the traditional peasant farmers of the third world. Unfortunately, these are the very farmers whose primitive, desperate cropping strategies have already destroyed half the world's tropical forests.
Pesticides protect the high yields achieved by modern seeds, nitrogen fertilizers, and irrigation.
The Organic Trade Association says organic farming could also produce higher yields if it had more research funding. The World Conservation Union and Future Harvest agree that agricultural pollution must be minimized, but the groups condemn organic farming with faint praise. Then they compliment integrated pest management, which uses pesticides sparingly. They also emphasize the importance of chemical fertilizer. The World Conservation Union has challenged the conservation credentials of the environmental movement.