"Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all involved." (From IFOAM website:http://www.ifoam.org/organic_facts/doa/index.html. Retrieved June 12, 2008)

1840		Justus von Liebig develops a theory on mineral plant nutrition. He believes that mineral salts, were the only nutrients plants needed and they could completely replace manure.
Circa 1910	Fritz Haber Carl Bosch	Chemists Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch develop an ammonia synthesis process, making use of nitrogen from the atmosphere. This form of ammonia already had been used to manufacture explosives, and following the war was made available for fertilizer in agriculture.
1905 to 1924		Organic agriculture (as opposed to the agriculture of indigenous cultures, which always employs only organic means) began more or less simultaneously in Central Europe and India. The British botanist Sir Albert Howard, often referred to as the father of modern organic agriculture, works as an agricultural adviser in Pusa, Bengal, where he documents traditional Indian farming practices, and came to regard them as superior to his conventional agriculture science. (see his 1940 book below)
1909		American agronomist F.H. King tours China, Korea, and Japan, studying traditional fertilization, tillage, and general farming practices. He publishs his findings in “Permanent Agriculture: Farmers of Forty Centuries” (1911, Courier Dover Publications, ISBN 0-486-43609-8). King visualizes a "world movement for the introduction of new and improved methods" of agriculture and in later years his book becomes an important organic reference.
1924		In Germany, Rudolf Steiner's publishes his “Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture” which may be the first comprehensive organic farming system and leads to the development of “biodynamic agriculture”. His book began with a lecture series Steiner presented at a farm in Koberwitz (now in Poland) during 1924. Steiner emphasizes the farmer's role in guiding and balancing the interaction of the animals, plants and soil. Healthy animals depend upon healthy plants (for their food), healthy plants depend upon healthy soil, healthy soil depends upon healthy animals (for the manure).
1939		The first use of the term "organic farming" is by Lord Northbourne (aka Walter James, 4th Baron Northbourne). The term derives from his concept of "the farm as organism", which he expounds in his book, “Look to the Land” (1940). Within the book he describes a holistic, ecologically balanced approach to farming. Northbourne writes of "chemical farming versus organic farming".
1939		Influenced by Sir Albert Howard's work, Lady Eve Balfour (Evelyn Barbara Balfour, 1899-1990) launches the Haughley Experiment on farmland in England. It is the first scientific, side-by-side comparison of organic and conventional farming. (see circa 1943 below referencing her book “The Living Soil”)
1940		Sir Albert Howard's book, “An Agricultural Testament”, is influential in promoting organic techniques, and his 1947 book "The Soil and Health, A Study of Organic Agriculture" adopted Northbourne's terminology and is the first book to include "organic" agriculture or farming in its title.
1940		In Japan, Masanobu Fukuoka, a microbiologist working in soil science and plant pathology, begins to doubt the modern agricultural movement. In the early 1940s, he quits his job as a research scientist, returns to his family's farm, and devotes the next 30 years to developing a radical no-till organic method for growing grain, now known as “Fukuoka farming”.
1943		Lady Eve Balfour published “The Living Soil”, based on the initial findings of the Haughley Experiment. Widely read, it led to the formation of a key international organic advocacy group, the Soil Association.
1946		Creation of the Soil Association in United Kingdom.
1947		In France, there is the introduction of the principals of organic farming because doctors and consumers blame agricultural chemicals for causing the development of cancer and mental disorders.
1950		During the 1950s, sustainable agriculture is a topic of scientific interest, but research seems to concentrate on developing the new chemical approaches. In the United States, J.I. Rodale begins to popularize the term and methods of organic growing, particularly to consumers through promotion of organic gardening.
1959		Creation of Groupement d'agriculteurs biologiques de l'Ouest in France. (Association of organic farmers from the west)
1962		Rachel Carson, a prominent scientist and naturalist, publishs “Silent Spring, chronicling the effects of DDT and other pesticides on the environment. The book is a bestseller in many countries throughout the world. (Many people believe that the book, “Silent Spring” was a key factor for the federal government of the United States to ban the use of DDT in 1972.) In addition, the book and its author are often given credit for launching the worldwide environmental movement.
1970s		Global movements have concerns with pollution and the health of the Earth’s environment. There is an increase in focus toward organic farming. As the distinction between organic and conventional food became clearer, one goal of the organic movement is to encourage consumption of locally grown food. There is the promotion of this concept with slogans such as "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food”.
1972		In Versailles, France, there is the creation of The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). Its goal is to communicate and exchange throughout the world information relating to the principles and practices of organic agriculture of all schools and across national and linguistic boundaries.
1975		Fukuoka releases his first book, “One Straw Revolution”, with a strong impact in certain areas of the agricultural world. His approach to small-scale grain production emphasizes a meticulous balance of the local farming ecosystem, and a minimum of human interference and labor.
1980s		Throughout the world various farming and consumer groups seriously begin to pressure for government regulation of organic production. This leads to legislation and certification standards being enacted through the 1990s and to date. Currently, most aspects of organic food production are government-regulated in the United States and the European Union.
1989		There is the collapse of the Soviet Union, causing a loss of economic support, results in a unique situation to develop in Havana, Cuba – organic food production a necessity. Cuba needs to produce food in creative ways like instituting the world’s only state-supported infrastructure to support urban food production. It is called organopónicos.
1990s		The retail market for organic farming in developed economies is growing by about by about 20% annually due to increasing demand by consumers. Concern for the quality and safety of food, and the potential for environmental damage from conventional agriculture, are apparently responsible for this trend.
1991		The European Union provides a legal framework for the organic agriculture designation.
2002		The United States of America adopts the National Organic Program (NOP), providing a development framework for organic agriculture.
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