Farming, Organic or Conventional

Synopsis

Looks at the developments that have taken place in British agriculture over the last 50 years. Although yields have doubled, this is not without other inputs into the system, especially fertilisers and chemical sprays. Dr Bernard Tinker from Rothamsted Experimental Station argues that these are necessary to maintain high yields, but some farmers feel that use of such chemicals may be destroying soil fertility and damaging the environment. One of these is Sam Mayall, who has been an organic farmer for 30 years. He believes that farming should be based on biological principles and the return of organic matter to the soil to build up a true natural soil fertility. But there are problems with changing from a modern intensive system to an organic system as described by James Walters from Loseley Park Farm near Guildford. He believes that the answer is perhaps a compromise between the two systems.

Series

Food Production Systems, Course T274

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Video; Videocassette. Standard formats. col. 24 min.

Year of production

1987

Availability

OUT OF DISTRIBUTION

Subjects

Agriculture

Keywords

farming; organic farming

Credits

Producer

Pam Taylor

Cast

Dick Morris

Production Company

Name

BBC Open University Productions

Distributor

Name

Open University Worldwide

Web

http://www.ouw.co.uk External site opens in new window

Phone

+44 (0) 1908 274066

Address

Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA

Notes

NB. As of May 2016 Open University Worldwide are no longer distributing DVDs. They have posted this message on their website: ‘Unfortunately Open University Worldwide Limited has decided that product sales are no longer viable given the reduced funding to Higher Education institutions and diminishing demand for the products we have traditionally stocked. At present the Open University Students Association (OUSA) will continue to sell the "Good Study Guide", and we are in discussion with other possible distributors to continue to make The Open University’s products available for purchase. As soon as we have any information on other channels of distribution we will update this notice’. Some products are still available via second hand dealers on Amazon.co.uk