A REPORT earlier in the year from the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming advocated a radical shake-up in the way the Government supports the agricultural industry.

It called for some of the subsidies paid to farmers for producing food to be stopped - a move which the EU advocated in its recent Common Agricultural Policy reform proposals - and money redirected to more environmentally-friendly schemes. One of the areas which farmers were encouraged to diversify into was organic farming, something which Dr John Zarb, of Helmsley, is heavily involved in.

John is a senior research associate at the Tesco Centre for Organic Agriculture, associated with Newcastle University. Essentially, his role is to develop awareness of sustainable farming as an alternative to modern intensive methods.

He said: "Sustainable farming doesn't just involve the use of pesticides or fertilisers - it goes much further than that. It's about using natural resources and allowing them to replenish, whilst maintaining yields and profitability."

Soil damage and an over-reliance on single cash crops - in turn leading to a reduction in wildlife diversity - are some of the disadvantages of intensive farming, John said.

He advocates a move towards integrating legume crops (peas, beans, clover) into production systems. These can take as much nitrogen from the air and place it in the soil as a fertiliser provides.

To illustrate the potential success of sustainable farming, John gives the example of Honduras - a country that adopted this type of farming back in the 1960s, ironically at the time the "green revolution" of intensive farming gathered pace.

He said: "Grain crops saw yields increase four-fold over a five-year period. Over the last 30 years, the country has become self-sufficient in many crops (rather than being reliant on one or two cash crops for export). The result has led to a migration flow towards rural areas rather than away from them."

Sustainable farming has worked for communities across Asia - as well as in Latin America - but the fact that this goes on largely unnoticed in this country is not lost on John.

"If 45,000 farmers transform a region in five years, who knows about it? It's not headline news."

His work at the Tesco Centre (Tesco contributes financially to the centre) has a large practical element. He manages field trials and is involved in actual farming processes, such as potato cultivation. He is also involved in other projects such as urban farming and how to carry out biologically-sound composting.

On the academic front, he is a PhD supervisor and writes articles for journals such as Organic Farming, The Ecologist, and Living Earth.

If sustainable farming works, why isn't it practised more in this country? John believes opposition falls into different categories. There is the conservative view, which is wary of alternative methods that are not intensive.

Then there are those who agree in principle with sustainable farming but see it as being impossible to implement. They have quotas to meet and mortgages to pay. They may like the idea but it doesn't pay the bills.

John is aware of the need to combine realism with idealism.

"It is a complex issue. You can only take one step at a time. There can be no sweeping changes. I'm not in the business of turning farmers out of their farms."

So what does he believe can be done in the immediate future? He hopes that not just farmers but gardening enthusiasts and schools will visit the college to learn more.

Just creating a greater awareness of the principles of sustainable farming is the first step.

Further down the line, John would like to see farmers producing a greater variety of crops, including vegetables, and marketing them locally, thereby eliminating some of the "food miles" which are a prominent feature of the current system in which imported food is widely sold in the shops.

John's passion for what he does stems from a life-long love of the natural environment.

Originally from North Wales, the 39-year-old worked as a farm labourer for ten years before attending the Scottish Agricultural College, where he studied for his PhD. He came to Helmsley because his wife, Erica, is from Ryedale.

He says there was no "blinding revolution" that led him into his area of work, rather it was simply his "innate love of nature". He grows a plethora of fruit and vegetables himself - organically, of course - in his allotment.

Much of John's work may take place outside of mainstream thought, but as the recent report on the future of farming indicates, it is becoming more and relevant.

He believes farming methods will have to change as natural resources such as oil run out.

He also believes attitudes need to change, saying: "Reports suggest there could be no farmable soil left in the USA within 50 years. But you get the feeling people believe it is as remote as being hit by lightning."

Updated: 09:43 Wednesday, July 24, 2002