Practitioners of sustainable agriculture focus on three main objectives: a healthy environment, financial success, and social and economic equality. A sustainable agricultural system can benefit from the efforts of growers, food processors, distributors, retailers, consumers, and waste management, to name a few.
People who work in sustainable agriculture and sustainable food systems employ a variety of approaches. Growers can employ techniques to improve soil health, use less water, and reduce farm pollution. Customers and merchants who are concerned about sustainability might search for “values-based goods that are produced in a way that supports the welfare of farmworkers, is environmentally benign, or boosts the local economy.
In addition, scholars in sustainable agriculture frequently combine the fields of biology, economics, engineering, chemistry, community development, and many other disciplines in their work.
Sustainable farming involves more than simply a handful of methods.
Additionally, it involves negotiations: a back-and-forth between occasionally competing interests of a single farmer or of community members as they work to find a solution on intricate issues pertaining to how we produce our food and fibre.
Multiple strategies are used in sustainable manufacturing techniques. Topography, soil qualities, climate, pests, the availability of inputs in the area, and the objectives of each grower must all be considered when developing specific methods.
Although sustainable agriculture is site-specific and individualised, there are a few broad principles that can be used to guide growers in choosing the best management practises:
Selection of species and varieties that are suitable for the farm’s location and environmental conditions; diversification of crops (including livestock) and cultural practises to increase the farm’s biological and financial stability; management of the soil to improve and protect soil quality; efficient and compassionate input use; and consideration of the farmers’ objectives and way of life.
Selection of species and varieties that are suitable for the farm’s location and environmental conditions; diversification of crops (including livestock) and cultural practises to increase the farm’s biological and financial stability; management of the soil to improve and protect soil quality; efficient and compassionate input use; and consideration of the farmers’ objectives and way of life.
Diversity
Diversified farms are typically more resilient from an economic and environmental standpoint.
Despite the efficiency and management benefits of monoculture farming, the loss of the crop in any given year could force a farm out of business and/or substantially undermine the stability of a community that depends on that crop. Farmers who plant a range of crops reduce their exposure to economic risk and the jarring price swings brought on by shifts in supply and demand.
Diversity may protect a farm biologically when handled properly. Crop rotation can be employed, for instance, in annual farming systems to control weeds, diseases, and insect pests. Additionally, by retaining soil and nutrients, saving soil moisture with mowed or standing dead mulches, and boosting soil water infiltration rate and holding capacity, cover crops can have stabilising impacts on the agroecosystem.
By boosting the populations of beneficial arachnids, cover crops in vineyards and orchards can protect the system against pest infestations and lessen the need for chemical inputs. Utilizing a diversity of cover crops is crucial to both attracting and sustaining a diverse range of beneficial arthropods and preventing the failure of a particular species to grow.
Including both crops and cattle in the same farming enterprise can maximise diversity. Before the mid-1900s, when technology, governmental regulations, and economics forced farms to become more specialised, this was the standard method. Operations with both crops and cattle have a number of benefits. In the beginning, soil erosion can be decreased by cultivating row crops only on more level terrain and pasture or forages on steeper slopes.
Soil Management
A “healthy” soil is a vital element of sustainability, according to a prevalent idea among those who practise sustainable agriculture; a healthy soil will result in healthy crop plants that have optimal vigour and are less prone to pests. Even the healthiest plants can be attacked by specific pests that affect numerous crops, but good soil, water, and nutrient management can help prevent some insect issues brought on by crop stress or nutritional imbalance.
Additionally, crop management practises that degrade soil quality frequently necessitate higher tillage inputs of water, fertilisers, pesticides, and/or energy to sustain yields.
Efficient use of inputs
Sustainable agriculture also makes use of a lot of the tools and techniques that conventional farmers employ. In contrast, sustainable farmers place the greatest emphasis on using natural, renewable, and on-farm inputs. The effects of a given strategy on the environment, society, and economy are equally significant. Converting to sustainable practises entails more than just changing inputs.
It frequently replaces conventional inputs, notably chemical inputs that affect the environment on farms and in rural communities, with improved management and scientific knowledge. The objective is to create biological systems that are effective and don’t require a lot of material input.
If synthetic chemicals are appropriate in a sustainable farming system, growers regularly ask. The least harmful and energy-intensive methods are those that yet preserve profitability and productivity. Prior to employing any chemical inputs, preventative measures and other options should be used.
However, there might be some circumstances in which employing synthetic chemicals might be more “sustainable” than using just non-chemical solutions or hazardous “organic” chemicals. As an illustration, one grape grower substituted a few treatments of a broad spectrum contact herbicide in the vine row for tillage. Compared to making several passes with a cultivator or mower, this method might use less energy and might result in less soil compaction.
Consideration of farmer goals and lifestyle choices
Individual objectives and lifestyle preferences should be taken into account together with environmental and general social factors when making management decisions. Adoption of certain technology or techniques, for instance, that promise financial success, may also necessitate such intensive management that one’s lifestyle actually declines. Management choices that support sustainability benefit the individual, the community, and the environment.
Consumers and the Food System
In order to build a sustainable food system, consumers can make a significant contribution. They strongly convey to producers, merchants, and other players in the system what they believe to be significant through their purchases. Cost and nutritional value of food have traditionally affected customer decisions. Finding methods to extend consumer viewpoints so that concerns about social equality, resource consumption, and environmental quality are taken into account while making purchasing decisions is now a difficulty.
New institutions and rules must be established at the same time to allow producers that use sustainable practises to sell their products to a larger audience. One specific way to start a conversation between customers, retailers, producers, and others is through coalitions set up to improve the food system. These coalitions or other public forums may be crucial venues for elucidating problems, outlining new regulations, fostering greater trust among participants, and promoting a long-term perspective on food distribution, production, and consumption.
