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sustainable agriculture

Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society’s present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs.^[1] It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem services. There are many methods to increase the sustainability of agriculture. When developing agriculture within sustainable food systems, it is important to develop flexible business process and farming practices.^[2] Agriculture has an enormous environmental footprint, playing a significant role in causing climate change, water scarcity, water pollution, land degradation, deforestation and other processes;^[3] it is simultaneously causing environmental changes and being impacted by these changes.^[4] Sustainable agriculture consists of environment friendly methods of farming that allow the production of crops or livestock without damage to human or natural systems. It involves preventing adverse effects to soil, water, biodiversity, surrounding or downstream resources—as well as to those working or living on the farm or in neighboring areas. Elements of sustainable agriculture can include permaculture, agroforestry, mixed farming, multiple cropping, and crop rotation.^[5]

Developing sustainable food systems contributes to the sustainability of the human population. For example, one of the best ways to mitigate climate change is to create sustainable food systems based on sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture provides a potential solution to enable agricultural systems to feed a growing population within the changing environmental conditions.^[4] Numerous sustainability standards and certification systems exist, including organic certification, Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade, UTZ Certified, GlobalGAP, Bird Friendly, and the Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C).^[6]

 and Teaching Policy Act of 1977,^[7] the term “sustainable agriculture” is defined as an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term:

• satisfy human food and fiber needs^[7]
• enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agriculture economy depends^[7]
• make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls^[7]
• sustain the economic viability of farm operations^[7]
• enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.^[7]

The British scholar Jules Pretty has stated several key principles associated with sustainability in agriculture:^[8]

1. The incorporation of biological and ecological processes such as nutrient cycling, soil regeneration, and nitrogen fixation into agricultural and food production practices.^[8]
2. Using decreased amounts of non-renewable and unsustainable inputs, particularly environmentally harmful ones.^[8]
3. Using the expertise of farmers to both productively work the land as well as to promote the self-reliance and self-sufficiency of farmers.^[8]
4. Solving agricultural and natural resource problems through the cooperation and collaboration of people with different skills. The problems tackled include pest management and irrigation.^[8]

It “considers long-term as well as short-term economics because sustainability is readily defined as forever, that is, agricultural environments that are designed to promote endless regeneration”.^[9] It balances the need for resource conservation with the needs of farmers pursuing their livelihood.^[10]

It is considered to be reconciliation ecology, accommodating biodiversity within human landscapes.^[11]

Different viewpoints

There is a debate on the definition of sustainability regarding agriculture. The definition could be characterized by two different approaches: an ecocentric approach and a technocentric approach.^[12] The ecocentric approach emphasizes no- or low-growth levels of human development, and focuses on organic and biodynamic farming techniques with the goal of changing consumption patterns, and resource allocation and usage. The technocentric approach argues that sustainability can be attained through a variety of strategies, from the view that state-led modification of the industrial system like conservation-oriented farming systems should be implemented, to the argument that biotechnology is the best way to meet the increasing demand for food.^[12]

One can look at the topic of sustainable agriculture through two different lenses: multifunctional agriculture and ecosystem services.^[13] Both of approaches are similar, but look at the function of agriculture differently. Those that employ the multifunctional agriculture philosophy focus on farm-centered approaches, and define function as being the outputs of agricultural activity.^[13] The central argument of multifunctionality is that agriculture is a multifunctional enterprise with other functions aside from the production of food and fiber. These functions include renewable resource management, landscape conservation and biodiversity.^[14] The ecosystem service-centered approach posits that individuals and society as a whole receive benefits from ecosystems, which are called “ecosystem services”.^[13][15] In sustainable agriculture, the services that ecosystems provide include pollination, soil formation, and nutrient cycling, all of which are necessary functions for the production of food.^[16]

It is also claimed sustainable agriculture is best considered as an ecosystem approach to agriculture, called agroecology.^[17]

Ethics

Most agricultural professionals agree that there is a “moral obligation to pursue [the] goal [of] sustainability.”^[18] The major debate comes from what system will provide a path to that goal because if an unsustainable method is used on a large scale it will have a massive negative effect on the environment and human population.

Factors affecting sustainability

Traditional farming methods have a low carbon footprint.^{[citation needed]}

Practices that can cause long-term damage to soil include excessive tilling of the soil (leading to erosion) and irrigation without adequate drainage (leading to salinization).^[19][20]

Conservation farming in Zambia

The most important factors for a farming site are climate, soil, nutrients and water resources. Of the four, water and soil conservation are the most amenable to human intervention. When farmers grow and harvest crops, they remove some nutrients from the soil. Without replenishment, the land suffers from nutrient depletion and becomes either unusable or suffers from reduced yields. Sustainable agriculture depends on replenishing the soil while minimizing the use or need of non-renewable resources, such as natural gas or mineral ores.

A farm that can “produce perpetually”, yet has negative effects on environmental quality elsewhere is not sustainable agriculture. An example of a case in which a global view may be warranted is the application of fertilizer or manure, which can improve the productivity of a farm but can pollute nearby rivers and coastal waters (eutrophication).^[21] The other extreme can also be undesirable, as the problem of low crop yields due to exhaustion of nutrients in the soil has been related to rainforest destruction.^[22] In Asia, the specific amount of land needed for sustainable farming is about 12.5 acres which include land for animal fodder, cereal production as a cash crop, and other food crops. In some cases, a small unit of aquaculture is included (AARI-1996).