Editor's Note

What's Natural?

For everything you see on the market, you can find its 'organic' counterpart. Most people are not fully sure what it means for something to be organic. After all, crops are crops. And no matter how they are produced, they are always a product of some technology. There is always some kind of fertilizer in use. Our cover story deals with a farmer who developed an effective type of organic fertilizer that he claims is better than the other harmful chemical stuff. Chemicals might be detrimental to the soil in the longer term, but these organic compost varieties bring out the natural power and vitality of the soil. Nevertheless, the debate over the merits of 'organic' rages on in agricultural and consumer circles.

We are a country that needs to be concerned with, most of all, having enough food to feed everybody first. This means working towards better food technology; trying to get higher yields per acre. Doing whatever it takes to prove Malthus wrong and to show that the growing population is not faced with the inevitably dismal conclusion of mass starvation. If that's our concern, this whole organic/inorganic debate should probably be secondary. Some of us can afford to care about what's 'natural'. Some of us can insist our soil and fertilizer all be organic. And there's nothing wrong with that per se. But we have to keep things in perspective. Because let's face it. If you're hungry, what's natural?

Abak Hussain
From the Insight Desk

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