Environmental problems of industrial and organic poultry farming

Abstract

Poultry farming, using modern intensive farming methods, is one of the most efficient livestock industries that ensures food security for a large part of the world’s population. In the context of industrial poultry farming, the largest share of global production (up to 98 % of meat and 92 % of eggs) is accounted for by broiler chickens (to a lesser extent, turkeys, ducks, geese, etc.), as well as by food eggs obtained from modern egg crosses of chickens. The global poultry production is estimated at 137.8 million tons and 86.3 million metric tons of eggs in 2021, with steady growth every year. Taking into account the wishes of consumers, European countries are increasingly switching to the production of organic poultry products, believing that this way they can best meet consumer requirements based on three main dimensions of quality assessment: 1) the safety of poultry housing; 2) the safety of organic products for human health; 3) the safety of organic production for the environment. Improvement of poultry housing conditions is aimed at using extensive production systems, such as organic systems, free-range systems with lower stocking densities. Such systems are becoming increasingly popular, especially in the European Union, and are aimed at improving farming conditions and poultry welfare, reducing environmental impact and increasing the sustainability of the industry. However, both intensive farming methods in industrial and organic poultry production lead to significant impacts on human health and the environment. Wastes such as poultry manure and used litter are associated with ammonia, nitrogen oxide and methane emissions that contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions and pose a serious threat to the environment and human health. Poultry waste can contain pesticide residues, pathogens, pharmaceuticals (antibiotics), hormones, metals, macronutrients (in the wrong proportions) and other pollutants that can lead to air, soil and water pollution, as well as the formation of multidrug-resistant strains. The analysis shows that industrial poultry farming can be more controlled than organic farming in terms of environmental safety. Key words: industrial and organic poultry farming, environmental conditions, environmental safety, air, soil, water pollution, pollutants.