Organic food to be cheaper than other produce

It is currently regarded as a luxury purchase by shoppers, who have been forced to turn to lower cost, intensively-farmed produce by the economic downturn.

But a study suggests that the price of oil could soon make cereal crops grown with fertiliers more expensive than those produced more naturally.

Industrial farming relies on fossil fuels to mine, manufacture and transport fertilizers which replace nutrients in the soil.

Organic farming, however, improves soil fertility through crop rotations and is less affected by oil prices.

Peter Melchett, policy director of the Soil Association which promotes organic farming, said: "This study suggests that as oil inevitably becomes scarcer and costs more, economic forces will increasingly favor organic farming.