Sustainable intensification in agricultural systems

Science.gov (United States)

Pretty, Jules; Bharucha, Zareen Pervez

2014-01-01

Background Agricultural systems are amended ecosystems with a variety of properties. Modern agroecosystems have tended towards high through-flow systems, with energy supplied by fossil fuels directed out of the system (either deliberately for harvests or accidentally through side effects). In the coming decades, resource constraints over water, soil, biodiversity and land will affect agricultural systems. Sustainable agroecosystems are those tending to have a positive impact on natural, social and human capital, while unsustainable systems feed back to deplete these assets, leaving fewer for the future. Sustainable intensification (SI) is defined as a process or system where agricultural yields are increased without adverse environmental impact and without the conversion of additional non-agricultural land. The concept does not articulate or privilege any particular vision or method of agricultural production. Rather, it emphasizes ends rather than means, and does not pre-determine technologies, species mix or particular design components. The combination of the terms ‘sustainable’ and ‘intensification’ is an attempt to indicate that desirable outcomes around both more food and improved environmental goods and services could be achieved by a variety of means. Nonetheless, it remains controversial to some. Scope and Conclusions This review analyses recent evidence of the impacts of SI in both developing and industrialized countries, and demonstrates that both yield and natural capital dividends can occur. The review begins with analysis of the emergence of combined agricultural–environmental systems, the environmental and social outcomes of recent agricultural revolutions, and analyses the challenges for food production this century as populations grow and consumption patterns change. Emergent criticisms are highlighted, and the positive impacts of SI on food outputs and renewable capital assets detailed. It concludes with observations on policies and

Identifying the characteristic of SundaParahiyangan landscape for a model of sustainable agricultural landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Dahlan, M. Z.; Nurhayati, H. S. A.; Mugnisjah, W. Q.

2017-10-01

This study was an explorative study of the various forms of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of Sundanese people in the context of sustainable agriculture. The qualitative method was used to identify SundaParahiyangan landscape by using Rapid Participatory Rural Appraisal throughsemi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and field survey. The Landscape Characteristic Assessment and Community Sustainability Assessment were used to analyze the characteristic of landscape to achieve the sustainable agricultural landscape criteria proposed by US Department of Agriculture. The results revealed that the SundaParahiyangan agricultural landscape has a unique characteristic as a result of the long-term adaptation of agricultural society to theirlandscape through a learning process for generations. In general, this character was reflected in the typical of Sundanese’s agroecosystems such as forest garden, mixed garden, paddy field, and home garden. In addition, concept of kabuyutan is one of the TEKs related to understanding and utilization of landscape has been adapted on revitalizing the role of landscape surrounding the agroecosystem as the buffer zone by calculating and designating protected areas. To support the sustainability of production area, integrated practices of agroforestry with low-external-input and sustainable agriculture (LEISA) system can be applied in utilizing and managing agricultural resources.

Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Caporali

Full Text Available In the framework of the 16th National Meeting of the Italian Ecological Society (“Global Change, Ecological Diversity and Sustainability”, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, 19-22 September 2006, a symposium was devoted to “Agroecology and Sustainable Development”. A major goal of this symposium was to contribute to keeping the dialogue among the experts of the various disciplines alive. Sustainability of agriculture is a challenge for society world wide. Universities and society as a whole have a responsibility in re-examining current perception of nature, of the world and of human society in the light of natural resources depletion, increasing pollution and social inequalities. The urgency to address sustainability issues is increasingly being reflected in the manner in which institutions of higher education around the world are giving priority to the teaching, research and practice of sustainability. The University of Tuscia is involved in international initiatives concerning teaching and research in Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture.

Sustainable intensification of agriculture for human prosperity and global sustainability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rockstrom, J.; Williams, J.; Daily, G.; Noble, A.; Matthews, N.; Gordon, L.; Wetterstrand, H.; DeClerck, F.; Fraiture, de C.M.S.

2017-01-01

There is an ongoing debate on what constitutes sustainable intensification of agriculture (SIA). In this paper, we propose that a paradigm for sustainable intensification can be defined and translated into an operational framework for agricultural development. We argue that this paradigm must now be

Sustainability Assessment and Reporting in Agriculture Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward Kassem

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Sustainability assessment is a mainstream business activity that demonstrates the link between the organization’s strategy and commitment to a sustainable global economy. Sustainability indicators describe the environmental, social, economic and governance performance of Small and Medium‑sized Businesses/Enterprises (SMB/SME. Unfortunately, their implementations in the Czech Republic show a low level of engagement in sustainability assessment. The paper presents the results of the authors’ research in sustainability assessment of SMB/SMEs in the agriculture sector of the Czech Republic. An appropriate set of key performance indicators (KPIs in four dimensions (economy, environment, social and governance was developed to suit the SMB/SMEs sustainability assessment in the agriculture sector. A set of KPIs is proposed to help SMB/SMEs to avoid the barriers of sustainability assessment. These indicators are based mainly on Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture, Global Reporting Initiatives Frameworks and on current research state‑of‑the‑art. They have been created following the analysis of a number of agricultural enterprises over the world, particularly within European countries.

An Underground Revolution: Biodiversity and Soil Ecological Engineering for Agricultural Sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Bender, S Franz; Wagg, Cameron; van der Heijden, Marcel G A

2016-06-01

Soil organisms are an integral component of ecosystems, but their activities receive little recognition in agricultural management strategies. Here we synthesize the potential of soil organisms to enhance ecosystem service delivery and demonstrate that soil biodiversity promotes multiple ecosystem functions simultaneously (i.e., ecosystem multifunctionality). We apply the concept of ecological intensification to soils and we develop strategies for targeted exploitation of soil biological traits. We compile promising approaches to enhance agricultural sustainability through the promotion of soil biodiversity and targeted management of soil community composition. We present soil ecological engineering as a concept to generate human land-use systems, which can serve immediate human needs while minimizing environmental impacts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Participatory Research and Development for Sustainable Agriculture ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Participatory Research and Development for Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management - A Sourcebook Volume 3 : Doing Participatory Research and Development. Couverture du livre Participatory Research and Development for Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management : A.

The problem of sustainability within the complexity of agricultural production systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cotes Torres, Alejandro; Cotes Torres, Jose Miguel

2005-01-01

The problem of sustainability is a topic that since the end of the XX century has been worrying more the different sectors of society; becoming one of the topics of greatest interest for managers, consumers, academics and investigators that conform the different agricultural food chains of the world. This paper presents from the general systems theory point of view some elements of critical reflection, approaching the problem of sustainability from the complexity of agricultural production systems, beginning with the original philosophical conception of agricultural and ending by outlining some considerations that should be kept in mind for the development of scientific and technological advances concordant with the agricultural food chain needs of the XX century; which permit an orientation of not only work by profession is who lead the processes of animal and vegetable production, but also creates a sense of pertinence in all of the participants in the chain, highlighting the importance of studying by means of systemic thought, agronomy and animal science, as disciplines that approach to complexities of agriculture which is the angular stone of civilization, such as we know it at the moment

Visualisation of uncertainty for the trade-off triangle used in sustainable agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Paul; Takahashi, Taro; Lee, Michael

2017-04-01

Agriculture at the global-scale is at a critical juncture where competing requirements for maximal production and minimal pollution have led to the concept of sustainable intensification. All farming systems (arable, grasslands, etc.) are part of this debate, where each have particular associated environmental risks such as water and air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and soil degradation, as well as issues affecting production efficiency, product quality and consumer acceptability, reflected in the development of agricultural sustainability policies. These challenges necessitate multidisciplinary solutions that can only be properly researched, implemented and tested in real-world production systems which are suited to their geographical and climatic production practice. In this respect, various high-profile agricultural data collection experiments have been set up, such as the North Wyke Farm Platform (http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/farmplatform) to research agricultural productivity and ecosystem responses to different management practices. In this farm-scale grasslands experiment, data on hydrology, emissions, nutrient cycling, biodiversity, productivity and livestock welfare/health are collected, that in turn, are converted to trade-off metrics with respect to: (i) economic profits, (ii) societal benefits and (iii) environmental concerns, under the umbrella of sustainable intensification. Similar agriculture research platforms have similar objectives, where data collections are ultimately synthesised into trade-off metrics. Trade-offs metrics can then be usefully visualized via the usual sustainable triangle, with a new triangle for each key time period (e.g. baseline versus post-baseline). This enables a visual assessment of change in sustainability harmony or discord, according to the remit of the given research experiment. In this paper, we discuss different approaches to calculation of the sustainability trade-off metrics that are required from the farm

Toward malaysian sustainable agriculture in 21st century

Science.gov (United States)

Khorramnia, K.; Shariff, A. R. M.; Rahim, A. Abdul; Mansor, S.

2014-02-01

Sustainable agriculture should be able to meet various social goals and objectives so that it can be maintained for an indefinite period without significant negative impacts on environment and natural resources. A wide variety of agricultural activities are running in Malaysia. Maintaining high quality of agricultural products with lower environmental impacts through a sustainable economic viability and life satisfaction of farmers and community are important factors helping to meet sustainable agriculture. Human resources are playing key role in directing the community toward sustainable development. The trend of improving the human development index in Malaysia is highest in the East Asia and the Pacific, high human development countries and the world, since 2000. Precision agriculture is providing strong tools to achieve sustainable agriculture. Different types of sensors, positioning and navigation systems, GIS, software and variable rate technology are well known components of precision agriculture. Drones and robots are promising tools that enabling farmers and managers to collect information or perform particular actions in remote areas or tough conditions. According to a survey, forestry and timber, rubber production and oil palm estates are three main agricultural divisions that precision agriculture may improve the productivity in respect to area of cropland/worker. Main factors affecting the adoption of precision agriculture in Malaysia are: a) Political and legal supports, b) Decision support systems and user interfaces c) Experienced research team works d) National educational policy e) Success in commercialization of precision agriculture system.

Toward malaysian sustainable agriculture in 21st century

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khorramnia, K; Shariff, A R M; Rahim, A Abdul; Mansor, S

2014-01-01

Sustainable agriculture should be able to meet various social goals and objectives so that it can be maintained for an indefinite period without significant negative impacts on environment and natural resources. A wide variety of agricultural activities are running in Malaysia. Maintaining high quality of agricultural products with lower environmental impacts through a sustainable economic viability and life satisfaction of farmers and community are important factors helping to meet sustainable agriculture. Human resources are playing key role in directing the community toward sustainable development. The trend of improving the human development index in Malaysia is highest in the East Asia and the Pacific, high human development countries and the world, since 2000. Precision agriculture is providing strong tools to achieve sustainable agriculture. Different types of sensors, positioning and navigation systems, GIS, software and variable rate technology are well known components of precision agriculture. Drones and robots are promising tools that enabling farmers and managers to collect information or perform particular actions in remote areas or tough conditions. According to a survey, forestry and timber, rubber production and oil palm estates are three main agricultural divisions that precision agriculture may improve the productivity in respect to area of cropland/worker. Main factors affecting the adoption of precision agriculture in Malaysia are: a) Political and legal supports, b) Decision support systems and user interfaces c) Experienced research team works d) National educational policy e) Success in commercialization of precision agriculture system

Sustainability in the Agricultural sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Forgács

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The present study will examine the possible ways of integrating sustainability indicators in assessing the performance of agriculture. We are examining the appropriate ways of calculating the output of the sector including the damages caused by and the benefits of agricultural production. The involvment of environmental pressure into the assessment of agricultural performance does not show significant changes in values.

SUSTAINABLE FARMS: INTEGRATION OF AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manolo Muñoz-Espinosa

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The inappropriate use of agrochemicals and technologies in farming systems can cause an accelerated deterioration of agricultural and soil pollution. Thus, agriculture and livestock are becoming an environmental problem in the world, which implies the need to assess the efficiency of agricultural production systems related to sustainability. The traditional peasant system is apparently unsustainable, while farm with an integral production approach have better opportunities for development over time as they tend to sustainability. This type of farms incorporate productive alternatives that improve as a whole, the system and the livelihood of the peasants. The trends towards sustainability of farms are mainly due to a better land use. As well as, implementing systems adapted to each soil and production type to ensure profitability and persistence, achieving the highest possible agricultural productivity. The urgency to produce food for a growing population is almost a paradigm that reinforces the imperative for maximum yield per unit area, and creates a vision of the rural world aimed at increasing profit at the expense of the attributes and core values of livelihood in rural areas. It can be concluded that the integrated farming articulate various subsystems, which working together could allow higher sustainability of agricultural production practices, environmentally friendly, safeguarding the food sovereignty of the population and improving the quality of life of farmers

Inventions for future sustainable development in agriculture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jacobsen, E.; Beers, P.J.; Fischer, A.R.H.

2011-01-01

This chapter is directed to the importance of different inventions as driver for sustainable development of agriculture. Inventions are defined as radical new ideas, perspectives and technologies that hold the potential to trigger a change in sustainable agriculture. Innovation is based on one or

The scale concept and sustainable development: implications on the energetics and water resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demanboro, Antonio Carlos; Mariotoni, Carlos Alberto

1999-01-01

The relationships between both the demographic growth and the water and energetic resources are focused. The planet scale and carrying capacity are discussed starting from the maximum and optimum sustainable concepts, both anthropocentric and biocentric. Two scenarios denominated 'sustainable agriculture' and 'sharing-water' are elaborated with the available resources of water, fertile lands and energy consumption, and with the population trends. (author)

Chemical Pesticides and Human Health: The Urgent Need for a New Concept in Agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicolopoulou-Stamati, Polyxeni; Maipas, Sotirios; Kotampasi, Chrysanthi; Stamatis, Panagiotis; Hens, Luc

2016-01-01

The industrialization of the agricultural sector has increased the chemical burden on natural ecosystems. Pesticides are agrochemicals used in agricultural lands, public health programs, and urban green areas in order to protect plants and humans from various diseases. However, due to their known ability to cause a large number of negative health and environmental effects, their side effects can be an important environmental health risk factor. The urgent need for a more sustainable and ecological approach has produced many innovative ideas, among them agriculture reforms and food production implementing sustainable practice evolving to food sovereignty. It is more obvious than ever that the society needs the implementation of a new agricultural concept regarding food production, which is safer for man and the environment, and to this end, steps such as the declaration of Nyéléni have been taken.

Sustainable agricultural water management across climates

Science.gov (United States)

DeVincentis, A.

2016-12-01

Fresh water scarcity is a global problem with local solutions. Agriculture is one of many human systems threatened by water deficits, and faces unique supply, demand, quality, and management challenges as the global climate changes and population grows. Sustainable agricultural water management is paramount to protecting global economies and ecosystems, but requires different approaches based on environmental conditions, social structures, and resource availability. This research compares water used by conservation agriculture in temperate and tropical agroecosystems through data collected from operations growing strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, and pistachios in California and corn and soybeans in Colombia. The highly manipulated hydrologic regime in California has depleted water resources and incited various adaptive management strategies, varying based on crop type and location throughout the state. Operations have to use less water more efficiently, and sometimes that means fallowing land in select groundwater basins. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the largely untouched landscape in the eastern plains of Colombia are rapidly being converted into commercial agricultural operations, with a unique opportunity to manage and plan for agricultural development with sustainability in mind. Although influenced by entirely different climates and economies, there are some similarities in agricultural water management strategies that could be applicable worldwide. Cover crops are a successful management strategy for both agricultural regimes, and moving forward it appears that farmers who work in coordination with their neighbors to plan for optimal production will be most successful in both locations. This research points to the required coordination of agricultural extension services as a critical component to sustainable water use, successful economies, and protected environments.

Sustainable Agricultural Development and Environment: Conflicts ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

sustainable development in the context of Rwanda as the level of socio- political and ... envisaged by the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) includes the .... sustainable agriculture and agri-business development in Rwanda is.

Earth Observation for Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Bach, Heike; Mauser, Wolfram; Gernot, Klepper

2016-08-01

The global and regional potentials of Earth Observation (EO) to contribute to food security and sustainable agriculture in the 2050-timeframe were analysed in the ESA study EO4Food, whose outcome will be presented (www.EO4Food.org). Emphasis was put on the global societal, economic, environmental and technological megatrends that will create demand for food and shape the future societies. They will also constitute the background for developments in EO for food security and sustainable agriculture. The capabilities of EO in this respect were critically reviewed with three perspectives 1) the role of EO science for society, 2) observables from space and 3) development of future science missions.It was concluded that EO can be pivotal for the further development of food security and sustainable agriculture. EO allows to support the whole economic and societal value chain from farmers through food industry to insurance and financial industry in satisfying demands and at the same time to support society in governing sustainable agriculture through verifyable rules and regulations. It has the potential to become the global source of environmental information that is assimilated into sophisticated environmental management models and is used to make agriculture sustainable.

Chemical pesticides and human health: The urgent need for a new concept in agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Polyxeni Nicolopoulou-Stamati

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The industrialization of the agricultural sector has increased the chemical burden on natural ecosystems. Pesticides are agrochemicals used in agricultural lands, public health programs and urban green areas in order to protect plants and humans from various diseases. However, due to their known ability to cause a large number of negative health and environmental effects, their side effects can be an important environmental health risk factor. The urgent need for a more sustainable and ecological approach has produced many innovative ideas, among them agriculture reforms and food production implementing sustainable practice evolving to food sovereignty. It is more obvious than ever that the society needs the implementation of a new agricultural concept regarding food production which is safer for man and the environment, and to this end, steps such as the declaration of Nyéléni have been taken.

Ants as tools in sustainable agriculture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Offenberg, Joachim

2015-01-01

1. With an expanding human population placing increasing pressure on the environment, agriculture needs sustainable production that can match conventional methods. Integrated pest management (IPM) is more sustainable, but not necessarily as efficient as conventional non-sustainable measures. 2...... in multiple crops. Their efficiency is comparable to chemical pesticides or higher, while at lower costs. They provide a rare example of documented efficient conservation biological control. 3. Weaver ants share beneficial traits with almost 13 000 other ant species and are unlikely to be unique...... of agricultural systems, this review emphasizes the potential of managing ants to achieve sustainable pest management solutions. The synthesis suggests future directions and may catalyse a research agenda on the utilization of ants, not only against arthropod pests, but also against weeds and plant diseases...

Soil Degradation, Policy Intervention and Sustainable Agricultural Growth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sasmal, J.; Weikard, H.P.

2013-01-01

Sustainable agricultural growth in developing countries is jeopardized by soil degradation consequent upon intensive cultivation and use of increasing doses of chemical inputs. To pave the way to sustainable agricultural growth we develop a model that incorporates organic fertilizer into the

GLOBAL CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN SLOVAKIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magdalana Bartosova

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The paper is focused on the evaluation of economic, social and environmental challenges of sustainable agriculture. The selected indicators of the economic challenges of sustainable agriculture imply that agriculture in Slovakia is not in long term be able to ensure competitiveness in the European market, gross agricultural output is characterized by a faster decline in animal production than in crop production and the value of import of agri-food commodities is higher than the value of export. According to selected indicators of social challenges of sustainable agriculture the number of persons working in agriculture has decreasing tendency in last years. The evaluation of selected indicators of environmental challenges of sustainable agriculture implies that area of organic agriculture is the most widely applied sub-measure within the measure agri-environmental payments. For ensuring the balance of the three mentioned dimensions of sustainable agriculture is necessary to increase of local production and consumption of local products, to ensure the protection of nature and landscape, to ensure rural development and to increase the employment opportunities in countryside.

Study of agricultural waste treatment in China and Russia-based on the agriculture environment sustainable development

Science.gov (United States)

Chernyaeva, Victoria A.; Teng, Xiuyi; Sergio

2017-06-01

China and Russia are both agriculture countries, agricultural environment sustainable development is very important for them. The paper studies three main agricultural wastes: straw, organic waste and plastic waste, and analyzes their treatments with the view of agricultural sustainable development.

Sustainability in nursing: a concept analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Anåker, Anna; Elf, Marie

2014-01-01

Aim The aim of this study was to describe, explore and explain the concept of sustainability in nursing. Background Although researchers in nursing and medicine have emphasised the issue of sustainability and health, the concept of sustainability in nursing is undefined and poorly researched. A need exists for theoretical and empirical studies of sustainability in nursing. Design Concept analysis as developed by Walker and Avant. Method Data were derived from dictionaries, international healthcare organisations and literature searches in the CINAHL and MEDLINE databases. Inclusive years for the search ranged from 1990 to 2012. A total of fourteen articles were found that referred to sustainability in nursing. Results Sustainability in nursing involves six defining attributes: ecology, environment, future, globalism, holism and maintenance. Antecedents of sustainability require climate change, environmental impact and awareness, confidence in the future, responsibility and a willingness to change. Consequences of sustainability in nursing include education in the areas of ecology, environment and sustainable development as well as sustainability as a part of nursing academic programs and in the description of the academic subject of nursing. Sustainability should also be part of national and international healthcare organisations. The concept was clarified herein by giving it a definition. Conclusion Sustainability in nursing was explored and found to contribute to sustainable development, with the ultimate goal of maintaining an environment that does not harm current and future generations′ opportunities for good health. This concept analysis provides recommendations for the healthcare sector to incorporate sustainability and provides recommendations for future research. PMID:24602178

Barriers to Sustainable Business Model Innovation in Swedish Agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennie Cederholm Björklund

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Sweden’s agriculture industry has faced many challenges in recent years. Among the most severe challenges are the decrease in the number of small and medium-sized farms, the decrease in the number of people employed in agricultural actvites, and the increase in governmental regulatons and legislaton governing such actvites. At the same tme, the demand that agriculture contributes to sustainable social and ecological development has increased. Although research shows that sustainable business model innovaton (SBMI contributes to the creaton of sustainable businesses and to the development of a sustainable society, Swedish agriculture has not been at the forefront in the use of SBMI. The purpose of this paper is to examine the barriers to SBMI in Swedish agriculture in order to understand why farmers seldom engage in SBMI. This qualitatve study follows the Gioia methodology and data for the analysis were acquired in semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs at six family farms in Sweden. The paper makes a theoretcal contributon to the research on SBMI with its focus on sustainable entrepreneurship in the Swedish agricultural industry. The paper concludes that the barriers to SBMI are external, internal, and contextual.

Methylotrophic bacteria in sustainable agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Manish; Tomar, Rajesh Singh; Lade, Harshad; Paul, Diby

2016-07-01

Excessive use of chemical fertilizers to increase production from available land has resulted in deterioration of soil quality. To prevent further soil deterioration, the use of methylotrophic bacteria that have the ability to colonize different habitats, including soil, sediment, water, and both epiphytes and endophytes as host plants, has been suggested for sustainable agriculture. Methylotrophic bacteria are known to play a significant role in the biogeochemical cycle in soil ecosystems, ultimately fortifying plants and sustaining agriculture. Methylotrophs also improve air quality by using volatile organic compounds such as dichloromethane, formaldehyde, methanol, and formic acid. Additionally, methylotrophs are involved in phosphorous, nitrogen, and carbon cycling and can help reduce global warming. In this review, different aspects of the interaction between methylotrophs and host plants are discussed, including the role of methylotrophs in phosphorus acquisition, nitrogen fixation, phytohormone production, iron chelation, and plant growth promotion, and co-inoculation of these bacteria as biofertilizers for viable agriculture practices.

Sustainable food and agriculture: stakeholder's frames

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Gorp, B.; van der Goot, M.J.

2012-01-01

Despite its importance, the notion of sustainability is open for discursive struggle. This article's primary objective is to acquire insight into the manner in which the principal stakeholders strategically use frames in their public communication about sustainable food and agriculture. A framing

Sustainability in nursing: a concept analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Anåker, Anna; Elf, Marie

2014-06-01

The aim of this study was to describe, explore and explain the concept of sustainability in nursing. Although researchers in nursing and medicine have emphasised the issue of sustainability and health, the concept of sustainability in nursing is undefined and poorly researched. A need exists for theoretical and empirical studies of sustainability in nursing. Concept analysis as developed by Walker and Avant. Data were derived from dictionaries, international healthcare organisations and literature searches in the CINAHL and MEDLINE databases. Inclusive years for the search ranged from 1990 to 2012. A total of fourteen articles were found that referred to sustainability in nursing. Sustainability in nursing involves six defining attributes: ecology, environment, future, globalism, holism and maintenance. Antecedents of sustainability require climate change, environmental impact and awareness, confidence in the future, responsibility and a willingness to change. Consequences of sustainability in nursing include education in the areas of ecology, environment and sustainable development as well as sustainability as a part of nursing academic programs and in the description of the academic subject of nursing. Sustainability should also be part of national and international healthcare organisations. The concept was clarified herein by giving it a definition. Sustainability in nursing was explored and found to contribute to sustainable development, with the ultimate goal of maintaining an environment that does not harm current and future generations' opportunities for good health. This concept analysis provides recommendations for the healthcare sector to incorporate sustainability and provides recommendations for future research. © 2014 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Nordic College of Caring Science.

Integrated weed management for sustainable rice production: concepts, perspectives and options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amartalingam Rajan

2002-01-01

Weed management has always been in some way integrated with cultural and biological methods, probably occurring more fortuitously than purposefully. Experience has shown that repeated use of any weed control technique especially in monocultures production systems results in rapid emergence of weeds more adapted to the new practice. In intensive high input farming systems, heavy selection pressure for herbicide tolerant weeds and the environmental impacts of these inputs are important tissues that require a good understanding of agroecosystem for successful integration of available options. Rice culture, in particular flooded rice culture has always employed integration through an evolution of management practices over the generations. However, a vast majority office farmers in Asia have yet to achieve the high returns realised by farmers elsewhere, where a near optimum combination of high inputs are being effectively integrated for maximum productivity. In addition to technological and management limitations, farmers in developing countries are faced with social, economic and policy constraints. On the other hand, farmers who had achieved considerable increases in productivity through labour replacing technologies, in particular direct seeding with the aid of herbicides, are now faced with issues related to environmental concerns due to high levels of these inputs. The issues facing weed scientists and farmers alike in managing weeds effectively and in a manner to ensure sustainability have become more challenging than ever before. In the last two decades, no issue has been discussed so. intensively as Sustainable Farming, Sustainable Agriculture or Alternative Agriculture within the broader global concept of Sustainable Development. To address these challenges a clear perspective of sustainable farming is essential. This paper addresses these concepts, perspectives and options for choices in weed management for sustainable rice production. (Author)

Sustainability through precision agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

As population and standard of living increase in many parts of the world, so will the need for food and other agriculturally-based products. To be sustainable, these increases in production must occur with minimum impact on the environment and with efficient use of production resources, including la...

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, A MULTIDIMENSIONAL CONCEPT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

TEODORESCU ANA MARIA

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Sustainable development imposed itself as a corollary of economic term "development". Sustainable development is meant to be the summation of economic, environmental and social considerations for the present and especially for the future. The concept of sustainable development plays an important role in european and global meetings since 1972, the year it has been set for the first time. Strategies necessary to achieve the objectives of sustainable development have been developed, indicators meant to indicate the result of the implementation of policies have been created, national plans were oriented towards achieving the proposed targets. I wanted to highlight the multidimensional character of the concept of sustainable development. Thus, using specialized national and international literature, I have revealed different approaches of one pillar to the detriment of another pillar depending on the specific field. In the different concepts of sustainable development, the consensus is undoubtedly agreed on its components: economic, social, environmental. Based on this fact, the concept of sustainability has different connotations depending on the specific content of each discipline: biology, economics, sociology, environmental ethics. The multidimensional valence of sustainable development consists of three pillars ability to act together for the benefit of present and future generations. Being a multidimensional concept, importance attached to a pillar over another is directed according to the particularities of each field: in economy profit prevails, in ecology care of natural resources is the most important, the social aims improving human living conditions. The challenge of sustainable development is to combine all the economic, environmental and social benefits and the present generation to come. Ecological approach is reflected in acceptance of limited natural resources by preserving natural capital. In terms of the importance of

Nanotechnology in sustainable agriculture: Present concerns and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nanotechnology in sustainable agriculture: Present concerns and future aspects. ... of those living in developing countries face daily food shortages as a result of ... applications in agricultural, food, and water safety that could have significant ...

CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABILITY – A LOGICAL APPROACH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

EMIL DINGA

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The paper aims to achieve a definition of the concept of sustainability and of sustainable system from a logical perspective. In this respect, it introduces and defines (through the sufficiency predicates the concept of logically vivid system and, on this basis, are discussed a logical concept of sustainability, respectively of a sustainable system in general are discussed and built up. Sustainability is considered in light of identity preservation of the systems, as a static anchor, on one hand, and of the concept of automatic stabilizers as a dynamic anchor on the other side. Finally, the two sufficiency conditions for a logically vivid system be sustainable are identified: the presence of hyper-cycles, respectively the absence of positive feed-back.

Nepal's agriculture, sustainability and intervention : looking for new directions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Basnyat, B.B.

1995-01-01

This study focuses on intervention processes that support sustainable agriculture. It argues that we know very little about how to intervene for sustainable agriculture, particularly for those areas where the Green Revolution has passed almost unnoticed and where degradation of natural

[Discussion on agricultural product quality and safety problem from ecological view].

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Ming; Dong, Nan; Lyu, Xin

2015-08-01

There are many different perspectives about the sustainable agriculture, which had been proposed since the last three decades in the world. While China's ecologists and agronomists proposed a similar concept named 'ecological agriculture'. Although ecological agriculture in China has achieved substantial progress, including theory, models and supporting technologies nearly several decades of practice and development, its application guidance still is not yet clear. The organic agriculture model proposed by European Union is popular, but it is limited in the beneficiary groups and the social and ecological responsibility. In this context, the article based on an ecological point of view, analyzed the shortcomings of ecological imbalance caused by a single mode of agricultural production and the negative impact on the quality of agricultural products, and discussed the core values of ecological agriculture. On this basis, we put forward the concept of sustainable security of agricultural products. Based on this concept, an agricultural platform was established under the healthy ecosysphere environment, and from this agricultural platform, agricultural products could be safely and sustainably obtained. Around the central value of the concept, we designed the agricultural sustainable and security production model. Finally, we compared the responsibility, benefiting groups, agronomic practices selection and other aspects of sustainable agriculture with organic agriculture, and proved the advancement of sustainable agricultural model in agricultural production quality and safety.

Sustainable development in agriculture, food and nutrition--a patent analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Vani, Kohila P; Doble, Mukesh

2011-05-01

The paper discusses the patents that have been filed in the areas of sustainable development in agriculture, food and nutrition and use of natural resources in achieving this goal. A large number of patents deal with the production of fertilizers from animal manure, plant sources and other organic wastes, which are more sustainable that the chemical fertilizers that are being currently used. Sustainability in agriculture is achieved in developing processes for the manufacture of biopesticides/insecticides and bioactive agricultural products. Development of novel sustainable agricultural processes has also been the focus of researchers and technologists. Plant derived nutritious food products are sustainable and can cater for the growing population burden. This has been the focus of several patents. Processes for enhancing the nutrition in food also serve the purpose of catering for the under nourished population.

SPECIALIZATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zofia Kołoszko-Chomentowska

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In the present article, an attempt was made to assess the sustainability of agricultural holdings with diff erent directions of production. Agricultural holdings in the Podlaskie voivodeship registered in the FADN system in 2011–2012 were investigated. Assessment accounted for agroecological indicators (share of permanent grasslands, share of cereals in crops, soil coverage with vegetation, stock density and economic indicators (profi tableness of land and labor. Analysis was conducted according to a classifi cation into agricultural holding types: fi eldcrops, dairy cattle, and granivores. Fieldcrop and granivore holdings achieved more favourable environmental sustainability indicators. Holdings specializing in dairy cattle breeding posed a threat to the natural environment, mainly due to their excessive stock density. Economic sustainability assessment showed that granivore holdings were assessed most favorably. In these holdings, holding income per full-time worker was 37% greater than in fi eldcrop holdings and 57% greater than in dairy cattle holdings.

BARRIERS TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INSTRUMENTS ASSISTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryszard KATA

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper provides identification and assessment of barriers to the implementation of the instruments of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP that support sustainable development of agriculture. This issue has been studied on the example of individual farms of south-eastern Poland, which benefited from programs to support sustainable agriculture in 2004-2013. The introduction of agriculture on the path of sustainable development depends on institutional factors (including political, which can induce farmers to take into account the environment and future generations in their microeconomic decisions. It has been shown that the most important barriers to the efficient and effective implementation of programs in support of sustainable agriculture are financial and information and education constraints.

Developing Sustainable Life Support System Concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Evan A.

2010-01-01

Sustainable spacecraft life support concepts may allow the development of more reliable technologies for long duration space missions. Currently, life support technologies at different levels of development are not well evaluated against each other, and evaluation methods do not account for long term reliability and sustainability of the hardware. This paper presents point-of-departure sustainability evaluation criteria for life support systems, that may allow more robust technology development, testing and comparison. An example sustainable water recovery system concept is presented.

Enhancing Sustainable Development of Diverse Agriculture in Bangladesh

OpenAIRE

Alam, Jahangir

2005-01-01

The report presents the current status of some selected CGPRT Crops (secondary crops) and examines their potentials in enhancing the sustainable development of diverse agriculture in Bangladesh. Agriculture in Bangladesh is composed of crop, livestock, fisheries and forestry subsectors. This study deals primarily with crop agriculture and the scope of diversification is limited to crop rather than agricultural diversification.

Agricultural sustainability in the semi-arid Near East

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Hole

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Agriculture began in the eastern Mediterranean Levantine Corridor about 11000 years ago toward the end of the Younger Dryas when aridity had diminished wild food resources. During the subsequent Climatic Optimum, agricultural villages spread rapidly but subsequent climatic changes on centennial to millennial scales resulted in striking oscillations in settlement, especially in marginal areas. Natural climate change thus alternately enhanced and diminished the agricultural potential of the land. Growing populations and more intensive land us, both for agriculture and livestock, have led to changes in the structure of vegetation, hydrology, and land quality. Over the millennia, political and economic interventions, warfare and incursions by nomadic herding tribes all impacted sustainability of agriculture and the ability of the land to supports its populations. In much of the region today, agricultural land use is not sustainable given existing technology and national priorities. The Near Eastern case is instructive because of the quality of information, the length of the record, and the pace of modern change.

Development of Bioelectrochemical Systems to Promote Sustainable Agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaojin Li

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Bioelectrochemical systems (BES are a newly emerged technology for energy-efficient water and wastewater treatment. Much effort as well as significant progress has been made in advancing this technology towards practical applications treating various types of waste. However, BES application for agriculture has not been well explored. Herein, studies of BES related to agriculture are reviewed and the potential applications of BES for promoting sustainable agriculture are discussed. BES may be applied to treat the waste/wastewater from agricultural production, minimizing contaminants, producing bioenergy, and recovering useful nutrients. BES can also be used to supply irrigation water via desalinating brackish water or producing reclaimed water from wastewater. The energy generated in BES can be used as a power source for wireless sensors monitoring the key parameters for agricultural activities. The importance of BES to sustainable agriculture should be recognized, and future development of this technology should identify proper application niches with technological advancement.

Farmers' Perception of Sustainable Agriculture in South- Western ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

KENNY

Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to test the existence of relationships between the ... Key words Sustainable practices, industrial agriculture, agricultural technology, rural economy. Introduction .... consumers. 4.19. 1.11.

Comparative review of multifunctionality and ecosystem services in sustainable agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jiao; Tichit, Muriel; Poulot, Monique; Darly, Ségolène; Li, Shuangcheng; Petit, Caroline; Aubry, Christine

2015-02-01

Two scientific communities with broad interest in sustainable agriculture independently focus on multifunctional agriculture or ecosystem services. These communities have limited interaction and exchange, and each group faces research challenges according to independently operating paradigms. This paper presents a comparative review of published research in multifunctional agriculture and ecosystem services. The motivation for this work is to improve communication, integrate experimental approaches, and propose areas of consensus and dialog for the two communities. This extensive analysis of publication trends, ideologies, and approaches enables formulation of four main conclusions. First, the two communities are closely related through their use of the term "function." However, multifunctional agriculture considers functions as agricultural activity outputs and prefers farm-centred approaches, whereas ecosystem services considers ecosystem functions in the provision of services and prefers service-centred approaches. Second, research approaches to common questions in these two communities share some similarities, and there would be great value in integrating these approaches. Third, the two communities have potential for dialog regarding the bundle of ecosystem services and the spectrum of multifunctional agriculture, or regarding land sharing and land sparing. Fourth, we propose an integrated conceptual framework that distinguishes six groups of ecosystem services and disservices in the agricultural landscape, and combines the concepts of multifunctional agriculture and ecosystem services. This integrated framework improves applications of multifunctional agriculture and ecosystem services for operational use. Future research should examine if the framework can be readily adapted for modelling specific problems in agricultural management. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Urban agriculture in Tanzania : issues of sustainability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Foeken, D.W.J.

2004-01-01

This book, the result of a collaborative study carried out by researchers from Tanzania, Israel and the Netherlands, assesses the sustainability of urban agriculture in two medium-sized towns in Tanzania: Morogoro and Mbeya. It first gives an overview of urban agriculture in Tanzania and a

Modelling sustainable bioenergy potentials from agriculture for Germany and Eastern European countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simon, Sonja; Wiegmann, Kirsten

2009-01-01

This paper presents a model for analyzing the sustainable potential of agricultural biomass for energy production. Available land and residue potentials are assessed up to 2030 for Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Two scenarios are presented: a ''business as usual'' scenario is compared to a sustainability scenario. The latter implements a comprehensive sustainability strategy, taking also into account non-agricultural land use such as building activity and nature conservation. On the one hand our model quantifies the conflict of objectives between enhanced extensification in agriculture and increased area for nature conservation. On the other hand the synergies in restricting built up area and increased mobilisation of agricultural residues are assessed. Additionally the impact of reduced subsidized agricultural exports from the EU is calculated, also as an indicator for the influence of world food markets on bioenergy potentials. Our results show that the sustainable energy potential from agricultural biomass is strongly restricted for Germany and the Czech Republic compared to their energy demand. But in Poland and Hungary native agricultural biomass provides a much higher potential for energy supply, even if sustainability is comprehensively considered. However, this is strongly influenced by the amount of agricultural exports of each country. For bioenergy from agricultural cultivation to remain a sustainable option in the energy sector, its influence on the food markets must be respected more thoroughly and a comprehensive approach to sustainable development in land use is a prerequisite. (author)

Sustainable Agriculture Evaluation for Red Soil Hill Region of Southeast China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHAO Qi-Guo; XU Meng-Jie

2004-01-01

Agricultural sustainability for economic development is important and a complex issue throughout the world; however,it is difficult to synthetically evaluate its use in the policy making process. The objective of this study was to evaluate sustainable agriculture in the red soil hill region of Southeast China through a newly proposed method combining four separate sub-systems: regional population (P), resource (R), environmental (E), and socio-economic (S). This new index system was proposed to appraise synthetically the agricultural sustainability of the red soil hill region from 1988 to 1996 with a two-step method assessing: a) the agricultural sustainability in each province independently and b) the relative sustainability of each province to the whole region. The first step only provided a development trend for each province based on its original situation, while the second step provided additional information on the comparative status of each province in agricultural development to the region as a whole. Higher index scores were found for the economy and resource categories denoting improvement. However, lower scores in the environment category indicated the improvement was achieved at the cost of deteriorating ecological surroundings due to an increasing population that demanded more from the agro-ecosystem and put heavier pressures on it. Results also showed that water and soil losses in this region were the major obstacles encountered in sustainable agriculture development. The assessment results were verified when compared with results from another method. This suggested that the new assessment system was reliable and credible in evaluating agricultural sustainability on a regional scale.

Sustainable agriculture a challenge for soil microbiology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nubia Moreno Sarmiento

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Soils: a solid foundation for life, was the theme of the celebration of 2015, the General Assembly of the UN, decides to declare as the International Year of Soils, considering that these are the foundation of agricultural development, the essential functions of ecosystems and food security. It is therefore a key to sustaining life on Earth element. During that year several actions that contributed to the awareness of their problems and protection of soil resources were made. One was that FAO, reviewed and published in June 2015, the World Soil Charter (originally developed in 1982. The World Soil Charter of Revised, as a preamble quote: 1. Soils are essential for life on Earth, but pressures on soil resources are reaching critical limits. Careful soil management is an essential factor of sustainable agriculture and also provides a valuable tool to regulate climate and a way to safeguard ecosystem services and biodiversity spring. 2. In the final document of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil in June 2012, "The future we want" economic and social importance of good management is recognized land, including land, particularly its contribution to economic growth, biodiversity, sustainable agriculture, food security, poverty eradication, empowerment of women, measures to address climate change and increase water availability.

Issue of productivity versus strategies for the development of Polish agricultural sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zbigniew Floriańczyk

2012-09-01

Full Text Available In the article assessment of economic efficiency of agriculture is discussed from the sustainable development perspective. Basic definitions are outlined and spheres of sustainability related to Polish agriculture characteristics. Concepts of productivity and efficiency measurement are illustrated with the use of recently conducted research. Ability of different measures to reflect most important processes in agriculture sector is discussed. Following, development policies for economy and agricultural sector are reviewed to suggest concept of economic efficiency measurement form the sustainable agriculture perspective.

Green Agriculture - features and agricultural policy measures for the transition to a sustainable agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cornelia Nistor

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Agriculture is one of the most important economic activities in each country or area, as it is in close correlation with all other the other economic activities, in a whole which must be structured so as to achieve a more efficient planning and organization of the territory. The practice of a traditional agriculture, based on industrialization, affects the natural environment through emissions of pollutants, waste and deforestation which together affects biodiversity. Green Agriculture suppose to empower managers to widespread the use of fertilizers, to improve the crop rotation, to realize a more efficient water consumption, to improve the storage methods and the supply chain of products. Agricultural policies are closely interrelated with environmental policies as agricultural activities have a considerable influence on the environment. The efficiency of agricultural policies is reflected in monetary transfers between agriculture and other economic sectors, in the costs due to the reallocation of the resources between different agricultural and non-agricultural activities and in the realized gains. Currently there is a constant concern of the governments for the transition to a green agriculture, and most countries recognize the importance of achieving sustainable economic development.

Sustainability of agricultural water use worldwide

Science.gov (United States)

Tuninetti, M.; Tamea, S.; Dalin, C.

2017-12-01

Water is a renewable but limited resource. Most human use of freshwater resources is for agriculture, and global water demand for agriculture is increasing because of the growth in food demand, driven by increasing population and changing diets. Hence, measuring the pressure exerted by agriculture on freshwater sources is a key issue. The sustainability of water use depends on the water source renewability rate: the water use is not sustainable (depleting the water storage) where/when it exceeds the renewable freshwater availability. In this study, we explore the sustainability of rain and irrigation water use for the production of nine major crops, globally at a 5'x5' spatial resolution. We split the crop water use into soil moisture (from rainfall) and irrigation, with, for the first time, separating ground- and surface-water sources, which is a key distinction because the renewability of these two water sources can be very different. In order to physically quantify the extent to which crop water use is sustainable, we measure the severity of the source depletion as the number of years required for the hydrological cycle to replenish the water resource used by the annual crop production, namely the Water Debt. This newly developed indicator allows one to compare the depletion level of the three water sources at a certain location for a specific crop. Hence, we mapped, for each crop, the number of years required to replenish the water withdrawn from soil-, surface- and ground-water resources. Each map identifies the hotspots for each water source, highlighting regions and crops that threaten most the water resource. We found that the water debt with soil moisture is heterogeneous in space but always lower than one year indicating a non-surprising sustainability of rain-fed agriculture. Rice and sugarcane make the largest contribution to global soil moisture depletion. Water debt in surface water is particularly high in areas of intense wheat and cotton production

Academics' conceptions of teaching sustainability

OpenAIRE

Wyatt, Margaret

2017-01-01

Over the last decade a growing number of universities have committed to ensuring that sustainability is integral to higher education with the intent of preparing eco-literate graduates who can make positive contributions to the sustainability of the environment. With particular consideration for the increasingly internationalised teaching environment of many higher education institutions, this study sought to explore how academics' conceptions of teaching sustainability might d...

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL AGRICULTURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anda GHEORGHIU

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Agriculture today is a strategic point of a country's economy, providing food based on population, development of internal and external trade and manufacturing industries by supplying raw materials. For Romania, this branch is a strong point both in terms climatic (temperate, balanced relief, soil quality and at the same time is also a way of national development and convergence of rural areas to their full potential untapped. With strong reforms, well implemented, a specific legislative framework which aims to protecting private property, Romania could reduce the low efficiency and can have a sustainable agriculture. The paper aimed to present the advantages of consuming organic products, and, on the other hand, the advantages of a country in terms of organic farming. European agriculture is a competitive, market-oriented, but also protecting the environment model.

[Theories and methodologies of engineering designs on sustainable agricultural land consolidation project--a case study of Xuemeiyang land consolidation project in Changtai County, Fujian Province].

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Yanmei; Wu, Cifang; Cheng, Chengbiao; Qiu, Lingzhang; Huang, Shengyu; Zheng, Ruihui

2002-09-01

The concept and characteristics of engineering designs on sustainable agricultural land consolidation project were discussed in this paper. Principles, basic methods and procedures of engineering designs on agricultural land consolidation project were put forward, which were successfully adopted for designing agricultural land consolidation in Xuemeiyang region of Changtai County, including diversity designs of sustainable land use, engineering designs of soil improvement, roads, ditches, and drains for protecting existent animal environments, and design of ecological shelter-forests in farmland. Moreover, from sustainable economic, ecological and social points, the results of these engineering designs were evaluated based on fouteen important indexes. After carrying out these engineeringdesigns, the eco-environments and agricultural production conditions were significantly improved, and the farm income was increased in planned regions.

18 Prerequisite for Sustainable Agricultural Development in the Sub ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

User

2011-07-21

Jul 21, 2011 ... Keywords: Prerequisite, agricultural development, sustainable .... into many areas of policy and public provision, reducing subsidies and bringing ... indirectly influence agricultural prices is often far greater than the effects of.

Towards an integral approach to sustainable agriculture and healthy nutrition : vision of the Scientific Council for Integral Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weijden, van der W.J.; Huber, M.A.S.; Jetten, T.H.; Blom, P.; Egmond, Van N.D.; Lauwers, L.; Ommen, van B.; Vilsteren, van A.; Wijffels, H.H.F.; Zijpp, van der A.J.; Lammerts Van Bueren, E.

2012-01-01

Sustainable agriculture and healthy nutrition are high on the social agenda. Work is now being done to face both challenges, often with measurable success. However, huge changes are still needed and some problems have even been exacerbated. Although agriculture and nutrition are closely linked, both

College Students' View of Biotechnology Products and Practices in Sustainable Agriculture Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, William A.

2008-01-01

Sustainable agriculture implies the use of products and practices that sustain production, protect the environment, ensure economic viability, and maintain rural community viability. Disagreement exists as to whether or not the products and practices of modern biotechnological support agricultural sustainability. The purpose of this study was to…

Do Smallholder, Mixed Crop-Livestock Livelihoods Encourage Sustainable Agricultural Practices? A Meta-Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas K. Rudel

2016-02-01

Full Text Available As calls for bolstering ecosystem services from croplands have grown more insistent during the past two decades, the search for ways to foster these agriculture-sustaining services has become more urgent. In this context we examine by means of a meta-analysis the argument, proposed by Robert McC. Netting, that small-scale, mixed crop-livestock farming, a common livelihood among poor rural peoples, leads to environmentally sustainable agricultural practices. As predicted, mixed crop-livestock farms exhibit more sustainable practices, but, contrary to predictions, a small scale of operation does not predict sustainability. Many smallholders on mixed crop-livestock farms use sustainable practices, but other smallholders practice a degrading, input-scarce agriculture. Some large farm operators use soil-conserving, minimum-tillage techniques while other large operators ignore soil-conserving techniques and practice an industrialized, high chemical input agriculture. The strength and pervasiveness of the link in the data between mixed crop-livestock farming and sustainable agricultural practices argues for agricultural policies that promote mixed crop-livestock livelihoods.

Innovative Financial Approach for Agricultural Sustainability: A Case Study of Alibaba

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qi Zhou

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Sustainability and agricultural finance are two important issues attracting attention from industry and academia. This research adopts an in-depth case study methodology to investigate the agricultural finance initiatives of Alibaba Group, and explores how the agricultural finance practices of an e-commerce platform facilitate its sustainability goal. A reference framework is proposed to prove the adoption of agricultural finance. The influence of three moderating variables, namely, IT support, financial attractiveness, and cooperation with other entities, is analyzed. We find that advanced IT support and financial attractiveness are two indispensable enablers for agricultural finance initiatives, and collaboration with other entities is necessary in adopting agricultural supply chain finance.

Room for Sustainable Agriculture. Part 1 Advice. Part 2 Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-03-15

An outline is given of the social dilemmas associated with agriculture and horticulture in the Netherlands. Ongoing innovation and accelerated sustainable development are essential to resolve these dilemmas. Given the importance of the Dutch agriculture and horticulture sector, there is every reason for the central government to play its part and help remove the obstacles to the continuing sustainable development of the sector. The Council recommends that the central government continues developing the Council's vision for agriculture and horticulture with the parties concerned, allows scope for the development of different agricultural business models, applies knowledge and innovation as drivers of continuing sustainable development, amends laws and regulations as necessary, and facilitates a permanent dialogue between the sector and society. The advisory report also sets out the Council's vision concerning the political and public debate on agriculture and horticulture. This debate is most clearly characterised by major and seemingly insurmountable differences of opinion. The Council hopes that its report will induce a shift in thinking about Dutch agriculture among politicians and society at large, so that the transitions considered necessary by the Council can be implemented more rapidly.

Room for Sustainable Agriculture. Part 1 Advice. Part 2 Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-03-15

An outline is given of the social dilemmas associated with agriculture and horticulture in the Netherlands. Ongoing innovation and accelerated sustainable development are essential to resolve these dilemmas. Given the importance of the Dutch agriculture and horticulture sector, there is every reason for the central government to play its part and help remove the obstacles to the continuing sustainable development of the sector. The Council recommends that the central government continues developing the Council's vision for agriculture and horticulture with the parties concerned, allows scope for the development of different agricultural business models, applies knowledge and innovation as drivers of continuing sustainable development, amends laws and regulations as necessary, and facilitates a permanent dialogue between the sector and society. The advisory report also sets out the Council's vision concerning the political and public debate on agriculture and horticulture. This debate is most clearly characterised by major and seemingly insurmountable differences of opinion. The Council hopes that its report will induce a shift in thinking about Dutch agriculture among politicians and society at large, so that the transitions considered necessary by the Council can be implemented more rapidly.

Seeds of Knowledge: The Evolution of the Louis Bromfield Sustainable Agriculture Library.

Science.gov (United States)

Miraglia, Laurie L.

The Louis Bromfield Sustainable Agriculture Library is located in Lucas, Ohio, at Malabar Farm State Park. Established in 1992, the library is jointly maintained by the Ohio State University Sustainable Agriculture Program and the Ohio Department of Agriculture. The library's namesake, Louis Bromfield, was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and noted…

Analysis of promising sustainable renovation concepts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vanhoutteghem, Lies; Tommerup, Henrik M.; Svendsen, Svend

This report focuses on analyses of the most promising existing sustainable renovation concepts, i.e. full-service concepts and technical concepts, for single-family houses. As a basis for the analyses a detailed building stock analysis was carried out. Furthermore, as a basis a general working...... method for proposals on package solutions for sustainable renovation was described. The method consists of four steps, going from investigation of the house to proposal for sustainable renovation, detailed planning and commissioning after renovation. It could be used by teams of consultants...... of the building envelope and the electricity required to run the system. Positive impact on the indoor environment can be expected. Thermal comfort will be improved by insulation and air-tightness measures that will increase surface temperatures and reduce draught from e.g. badly insulated windows. A ventilation...

Nanotechnology in Sustainable Agriculture: Recent Developments, Challenges, and Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Prasad, Ram; Bhattacharyya, Atanu; Nguyen, Quang D.

2017-01-01

Nanotechnology monitors a leading agricultural controlling process, especially by its miniature dimension. Additionally, many potential benefits such as enhancement of food quality and safety, reduction of agricultural inputs, enrichment of absorbing nanoscale nutrients from the soil, etc. allow the application of nanotechnology to be resonant encumbrance. Agriculture, food, and natural resources are a part of those challenges like sustainability, susceptibility, human health, and healthy life. The ambition of nanomaterials in agriculture is to reduce the amount of spread chemicals, minimize nutrient losses in fertilization and increased yield through pest and nutrient management. Nanotechnology has the prospective to improve the agriculture and food industry with novel nanotools for the controlling of rapid disease diagnostic, enhancing the capacity of plants to absorb nutrients among others. The significant interests of using nanotechnology in agriculture includes specific applications like nanofertilizers and nanopesticides to trail products and nutrients levels to increase the productivity without decontamination of soils, waters, and protection against several insect pest and microbial diseases. Nanotechnology may act as sensors for monitoring soil quality of agricultural field and thus it maintain the health of agricultural plants. This review covers the current challenges of sustainability, food security and climate change that are exploring by the researchers in the area of nanotechnology in the improvement of agriculture. PMID:28676790

Nanotechnology in Sustainable Agriculture: Recent Developments, Challenges, and Perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ram Prasad

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Nanotechnology monitors a leading agricultural controlling process, especially by its miniature dimension. Additionally, many potential benefits such as enhancement of food quality and safety, reduction of agricultural inputs, enrichment of absorbing nanoscale nutrients from the soil, etc. allow the application of nanotechnology to be resonant encumbrance. Agriculture, food, and natural resources are a part of those challenges like sustainability, susceptibility, human health, and healthy life. The ambition of nanomaterials in agriculture is to reduce the amount of spread chemicals, minimize nutrient losses in fertilization and increased yield through pest and nutrient management. Nanotechnology has the prospective to improve the agriculture and food industry with novel nanotools for the controlling of rapid disease diagnostic, enhancing the capacity of plants to absorb nutrients among others. The significant interests of using nanotechnology in agriculture includes specific applications like nanofertilizers and nanopesticides to trail products and nutrients levels to increase the productivity without decontamination of soils, waters, and protection against several insect pest and microbial diseases. Nanotechnology may act as sensors for monitoring soil quality of agricultural field and thus it maintain the health of agricultural plants. This review covers the current challenges of sustainability, food security and climate change that are exploring by the researchers in the area of nanotechnology in the improvement of agriculture.

Sustainability of Indian Agriculture: Towards An Assessment

OpenAIRE

V M Rao

2008-01-01

This paper presents a systemic framework to look at the prospects for sustainability of Indian agriculture. The framework is based on trends, indicators and assessment by experts spanning three domains which are the principal influences shaping the growth, efficiency and stability of agriculture. The domains are: natural resources covering land, water, climate and environment; human development comprising the characteristics of farmers as producers and entrepreneurs; and, technology and insti...

Existing sustainable renovation concepts for single-family houses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tommerup, Henrik M.; Vanhoutteghem, Lies; Svendsen, Svend

2010-01-01

In the Nordic Innovation Centre Project, SuccessFamilies, the main objective is to change the business environment in order to speed up the implementation of sustainable renovation of single-family houses – proposing new service concepts that will combine both the technical solutions, financing...... with individual solutions, traditional warehouses ”do-it-yourself-shops” and some actors marketing single products. To speed up the implementation of sustainable renovation of single-family houses there is a great need for full-service packages. Existing technical renovation concepts, typically focusing...... services as well as other promoting issues to overcome the behavioural, organizational, legal and social barriers that exist in sustainable renovation. A starting point for such a change has been to get an overview of the existing sustainable renovation concepts, i.e. full-service concepts and technical...

Sustainable agriculture and protection of the environment

Science.gov (United States)

Siemianowska, Ewa; Wesołowski, Andrzej; Skibniewska, Krystyna A.; Tyburski, Józef; Gurzyński, Marcin

2017-10-01

The economic, environmental and social development should not degrade the environment but it should leave it for the next generations in the state that it is presently or even better. The principle of sustainable agriculture is to cover the human needs for food without damage to the environment. The aim of the article was to research the farmers' awareness of the principle of sustainable agriculture and balanced fertilization and their influence on the environment. Among 100 farmers of the Tczew district (Poland) there was done questionnaire research on the determination rates of nitrogen fertilizers and on the regulation of fertilizers usage in Poland. Most of farmers declared a good knowledge of good agricultural practices and of balanced fertilization and the awareness of threats issuing from their activities. At the same time in Poland since the announcement of the Nitrate Directive of the former European Common Market (1992) up till now (2013) the application of nitrogen fertilizers doubled and the yield of wheat increased only by 15%, which means the increase of environmental burden with this chemical element.

Sustainable agriculture and protection of the environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siemianowska Ewa

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The economic, environmental and social development should not degrade the environment but it should leave it for the next generations in the state that it is presently or even better. The principle of sustainable agriculture is to cover the human needs for food without damage to the environment. The aim of the article was to research the farmers’ awareness of the principle of sustainable agriculture and balanced fertilization and their influence on the environment. Among 100 farmers of the Tczew district (Poland there was done questionnaire research on the determination rates of nitrogen fertilizers and on the regulation of fertilizers usage in Poland. Most of farmers declared a good knowledge of good agricultural practices and of balanced fertilization and the awareness of threats issuing from their activities. At the same time in Poland since the announcement of the Nitrate Directive of the former European Common Market (1992 up till now (2013 the application of nitrogen fertilizers doubled and the yield of wheat increased only by 15%, which means the increase of environmental burden with this chemical element.

Contribution of nuclear techniques towards a sustainable agriculture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muniz Ugarte, O.

1997-01-01

The papers mentions the main nuclear techniques applied in order to achieve a sustainable agriculture, the technical support given to Cuba by the IAEA mainly in training and in the creation of a infrastructure (Laboratories) to enable the application of nuclear techniques to agricultural research related to soil fertility, plant nutrition and water usage

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE New practices bring lasting food ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2010-11-16

Nov 16, 2010 ... Since 1970, IDRC-supported research has introduced sustainable agricultural practices to farmers and communities across the developing world. The result: higher productivity, less poverty, greater food security, and a healthier environment.

Sustainable commercialization of new crops for the agricultural bioeconomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N.R. Jordan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Diversification of agroecological systems to enhance agrobiodiversity is likely to be critical to advancing environmental, economic, and social sustainability of agriculture. Temperate-zone agroecological systems that are currently organized for production of summer-annual crops can be diversified by integration of fallow-season and perennial crops. Integration of such crops can improve sustainability of these agroecological systems, with minimal interference with current agricultural production. Importantly, these crops can provide feedstocks for a wide range of new bio-products that are forming a new agricultural bioeconomy, potentially providing greatly increased economic incentives for diversification. However, while there are many fallow-season and perennial crops that might be used in such a “bioeconomic” strategy for diversification, most are not yet well adapted and highly-marketable. Efforts are underway to enhance adaptation and marketability of many such crops. Critically, these efforts require a strategic approach that addresses the inherent complexity of these projects. We outline a suitable approach, which we term “sustainable commercialization”: a coordinated innovation process that integrates a new crop into the agriculture of a region, while intentionally addressing economic, environmental and social sustainability challenges via multi-stakeholder governance. This approach centers on a concerted effort to coordinate and govern innovation in three critical areas: germplasm development, multifunctional agroecosystem design and management, and development of end uses, supply chains, and markets. To exemplify the approach, we describe an ongoing effort to commercialize a new fallow-season crop, field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L..

Transition to Sustainable Fertilisation in Agriculture, A Practices Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huttunen, Suvi; Oosterveer, Peter

2017-01-01

It is argued that sustainability transition in agriculture requires a shift from a regime oriented towards increasing agricultural productivity to a regime in which the environmental and social effects of production are regarded as central. Practice theories represent an emerging perspective on

Agricultural policy and sustainable livestock development.

Science.gov (United States)

Schillhorn van Veen, T W

1999-01-01

Future agricultural and rural development is, to a large extent, influenced by the projected food needs of 2.5 billion people expected to swell the world population by 2020. This increase will require more food in general and, in view of recent experience in East Asia, more animal products. To achieve this increase will require judicious use of resources, and trade, especially in those countries where natural resources are insufficient to support food production. Achieving food sufficiency in a sustainable manner is a major challenge for farmers, agro-industries, researchers and governments. The latter play an important role as many of the farmers' choices are, to a large extent, directed by government or supra-government, often through macro- and micro-economic policy. In many countries the economic, environmental, trade and agricultural policies have not been conducive to an agricultural development that is risk-free with respect to the environment, animal welfare or public health. The recent decline of government support in agriculture forced farmers in Western countries to think about more risk adverse agricultural practices and more efficient production systems. On the other hand, many countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, as well as other developing countries, are still going through a painful process of adjustment to new market conditions. International banks and development agencies have a mandate to help developing countries, but are somewhat restricted both by needing to work directly with governments and by their perceived dogmatic approach to development. Changing policies do, now and in the future, also affect the development of animal disease control programmes, including the control of parasitic diseases. On the one hand there is an increasing interest in risk-free control practices, and on the other hand a demand for greater regulatory control over the production process. As parasitic diseases of animals are closely linked to the

Agricultural science and ethics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gjerris, Mickey; Vaarst, Mette

2014-01-01

Humans live in constant interaction with nature. That is part and parcel of being a biological creature on this planet. On one hand, humans exploit the available resources to survive, and at the same time, humans are deeply dependent on the continued capacity of nature to sustain their lives......, about 20 % of the world's coral reefs and 35 % of the mangrove areas were lost (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). In the following, the development of agricultural science will be sketched out and the role of ethics in agricultural science will be discussed. Then different views of nature that have...... shaped agriculture and the role of science in agriculture will be discussed by analyzing some of the presumptions behind the concept of ecosystem services and the way animals are viewed. Finally, the concepts of animal welfare and sustainability will be explored to show how they make vivid the connection...

Sustainable Agriculture: enhancing the 'neem cake'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mariani, Susanna

2015-01-01

The 'neem cake' is the scrap processing of the industrial chain producing neem oil and azadirachtin. The ENEA Technical Unit Environment and Sustainable Development Innovation the Agro-Industrial System, developed a promising experiment to promote the use of 'neem cake' as an insecticide, and fertilizer of low cost in sustainable agriculture. [it

An integrated approach to monitoring ecosystem services and agriculture: implications for sustainable agricultural intensification in Rwanda.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosa, Melissa F; Bonham, Curan A; Dempewolf, Jan; Arakwiye, Bernadette

2017-01-01

Maintaining the long-term sustainability of human and natural systems across agricultural landscapes requires an integrated, systematic monitoring system that can track crop productivity and the impacts of agricultural intensification on natural resources. This study presents the design and practical implementation of a monitoring framework that combines satellite observations with ground-based biophysical measurements and household surveys to provide metrics on ecosystem services and agricultural production at multiple spatial scales, reaching from individual households and plots owned by smallholder farmers to 100-km 2 landscapes. We developed a set of protocols for monitoring and analyzing ecological and agricultural household parameters within two 10 × 10-km landscapes in Rwanda, including soil fertility, crop yield, water availability, and fuelwood sustainability. Initial results suggest providing households that rely on rainfall for crop irrigation with timely climate information and improved technical inputs pre-harvest could help increase crop productivity in the short term. The value of the monitoring system is discussed as an effective tool for establishing a baseline of ecosystem services and agriculture before further change in land use and climate, identifying limitations in crop production and soil fertility, and evaluating food security, economic development, and environmental sustainability goals set forth by the Rwandan government.

Elimination Method of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA: A Simple Methodological Approach for Assessing Agricultural Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Byomkesh Talukder

2017-02-01

Full Text Available In the present world context, there is a need to assess the sustainability of agricultural systems. Various methods have been proposed to assess agricultural sustainability. Like in many other fields, Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA has recently been used as a methodological approach for the assessment of agricultural sustainability. In this paper, an attempt is made to apply Elimination, a MCDA method, to an agricultural sustainability assessment, and to investigate its benefits and drawbacks. This article starts by explaining the importance of agricultural sustainability. Common MCDA types are discussed, with a description of the state-of-the-art method for incorporating multi-criteria and reference values for agricultural sustainability assessment. Then, a generic description of the Elimination Method is provided, and its modeling approach is applied to a case study in coastal Bangladesh. An assessment of the results is provided, and the issues that need consideration before applying Elimination to agricultural sustainability, are examined. Whilst having some limitations, the case study shows that it is applicable for agricultural sustainability assessments and for ranking the sustainability of agricultural systems. The assessment is quick compared to other assessment methods and is shown to be helpful for agricultural sustainability assessment. It is a relatively simple and straightforward analytical tool that could be widely and easily applied. However, it is suggested that appropriate care must be taken to ensure the successful use of the Elimination Method during the assessment process.

Factors Affecting the Greenhouse Owners’ Attitude toward Sustainable Agriculture in Zanjan Province

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahra Hooshmandan Moghaddam Fard

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Due to the low compliance of greenhouse production with the principles of sustainable agriculture, a meaningful effort in this regard needs to be done. One of the important factors affecting the success of future planning is the positive attitude of greenhouse owners toward sustainable agriculture. The purpose of this descriptive- correlational study was to investigate factors affecting greenhouse owners’ attitude toward sustainable agriculture. The validity of the questionnaire was verified by a panel of experts in the related field and to obtain its reliability, calculated alpha Cronbach coefficient was higher than 0.75 for different parts. The statistical population consisted all greenhouse owners in Zanjan province (N=80 and based on Krejci and Morgan sampling Table and using randomized sampling method 66 greenhouse owners selected. Results showed that majority of greenhouse owner use moderately of information channels and mass media. The majority of greenhouse owners (59.6 percent had a medium level of knowledge regarding sustainable agriculture and Majority of them (73.7 percent had a positive attitude toward sustainable agriculture. Correlation coefficient showed that greenhouse owners’ attitude had a positive meaningful correlation with information using level, income from the greenhouse, number of educational classes and their job satisfaction but a negative meaningful correlation with the number of household members participating in the activity. Regression analysis revealed that five variable of information using level, the number of household members participating in activity, knowledge and daily time spending in the greenhouse were explained 55.4 percent of greenhouse owners’ attitude toward sustainable agriculture.

Interdependence of Agricultural Production and Environment and the Road to Sustainable Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Curić Jasmina

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Sustainability of agricultural production in the world is in serious crisis. Interdependence of agricultural production and the environment is multiple and causality works both ways. On one hand, there are environmental changes which hamper food production, and on the other, the agricultural production, as it is, is severely damaging the environment. The very systems of agricultural production jeopardize future production. The goal of this paper is to explore causes of limitations of sustainable agricultural development in the world, where the authors emphasize the following: gas emissions with greenhouse effect, a disturbed cycle of nitrogen circulation and destruction of biodiversity.

Building Integrated Design Practice under the Concept of Sustainable Development

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xuexin

2018-03-01

With the continuous development of social economy, people are more demanding for architecture. Some advanced design concepts are gradually applied to the design of buildings. Under the concept of sustainable development, building integration design has also been widely used to promote the rapid development of architectural design. Integrated design concepts and sustainable development concepts play an important role to meet people’s requirements. This article will explore the concept of sustainable development under the concept of integrated architectural design and practice analysis, propose appropriate measures.

Participatory Research and Development for Sustainable Agriculture ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

It is crucial, for example, that local stakeholders provide input to the process. Participatory research and ... Participatory Research and Development for Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management - A Sourcebook Volume 2: Enabling Participatory Research and Development. Book cover Participatory ...

Holistic Sustainability Assessment of Agricultural Rainwater Harvesting

Science.gov (United States)

We present a methodology for holistic sustainability assessment of green infrastructure, applied to agricultural rainwater harvesting (RWH) in the Albemarle-Pamlico river basin. It builds upon prior work in the region through the use of detailed, crop-level management information...

Agriculture, trade and the environment: The impact of liberalization on sustainable development

OpenAIRE

Antle, J. (ed.); Lekakis, J. (ed.); Zanias, G. (ed.)

1998-01-01

Metadata only record Revised papers selected from the international conference "European agriculture at the crossroads: Competition and sustainability" hosted by the Dept. of Economics of the University of Crete, in Rethimno, 1996. The conference examined the relationship between free trade and agricultural sustainability in the European Union.

Earthworms, pesticides and sustainable agriculture: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Datta, Shivika; Singh, Joginder; Singh, Sharanpreet; Singh, Jaswinder

2016-05-01

The aim of this review is to generate awareness and understand the importance of earthworms in sustainable agriculture and effect of pesticides on their action. The natural resources are finite and highly prone to degradation by the misuse of land and mismanagement of soil. The world is in utter need of a healthy ecosystem that provides with fertile soil, clean water, food and other natural resources. Anthropogenic activities have led to an increased contamination of land. The intensification of industrial and agricultural practices chiefly the utilization of pesticides has in almost every way made our natural resources concave. Earthworms help in a number of tasks that support many ecosystem services that favor agrosystem sustainability but are degraded by exhaustive practices such as the use of pesticides. The present review assesses the response of earthworm toward the pesticides and also evaluates the relationship between earthworm activity and plant growth. We strictly need to refresh and rethink on the policies and norms devised by us on sustainable ecology. In an equivalent way, the natural resources should be utilized and further, essential ways for betterment of present and future livelihood should be sought.

Investigating the Sustainability of Perennial Agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Sutherlin, C. E.; Brunsell, N. A.; De Oliveira, G.; Crews, T.; Vico, G.

2017-12-01

The changing climate leads to uncertainties concerning the sustainability of certain agricultural resources, and with the additional stresses of an increasing global population, uncertainty in food security will greatly increase. To adhere to future food demands in the face of this changing climate, perennial agriculture has been a proposed solution. However, it is equally important to assure that perennial agriculture is not negatively affecting the climate in exchange for this proposed more robust food source. We chose to examine the interactions between perennial and annual agricultural crops by focusing on the efficiency of exchanges with the atmosphere. This is done using the omega decoupling factor for 4 different sites as a way of quantifying the contributions of radiation and stomatal conductance over the resulting water and carbon cycles. This gives us an indication of how the plant canopy is interacting with, and influencing the local microclimate. Ultimately, this should give us an indication of the ability of perennial crops to aid in the climate mitigation process. We hypothesized that the perennial site chosen would have omega values more similar to the omega values of a natural grassland rather than an annual crop site. Using AmeriFlux towers to determine the canopy values needed to calculate the omega decoupling factor, we focused on the Kernza perennial crops being grown at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas (KLS), in comparison to a natural grassland in Manhattan, Kansas (KON), a typical land cover model in Lawrence, Kansas (KFS), and an annual crop site in Lamont, Oklahoma (ARM). These results will allow us to move forward in the investigation of perennial crops as a sustainable food source.

Sustainability and Competitiveness of Romanian Farms through Organic Agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirela Ionela Aceleanu

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Currently, the development of any sector involves respecting the principles of sustainability, which means economic, social and environmental development. Moreover, organic farming is a very important field for ensuring sustainable development. Romania has great potential for the development of organic agriculture, especially due to the large number of available farmland and reduced use of fertilizers and other chemicals. However, the development of organic farming in Romania is in an early stage, due to the numerous problems that Romanian agriculture is still facing. Concern for the environment should be reflected at the level of production processes and consumption. As market demand influences and stimulates production, we can ask the question to what extent stimulating the consumption of organic products through green marketing can boost organic agriculture development and competitiveness of Romanian farms. Using several methods of research, such as analysis, synthesis, comparison, statistical methods and by calling on studies, reports and data series on organic farming in the EU and Romania, this paper highlights Romania's position in terms of the level of development of organic agriculture and recommends several ways to improve the outcomes obtained by Romania in the field. Moreover, based on regression equations, the trend of convergence of Romanian organic agriculture development in relation to the EU countries is analysed. The paper demonstrates that one of the measures that can be taken by Romanian farms is green marketing strategy development that can stimulate both consumption and production of organic products. Therefore, with increasing interest in the development of organic agriculture in Romania, green marketing can play an increasingly important role in promoting the benefits of consuming organic products, thus contributing to business development of organic products as well as to the development of Romanian agriculture

Agroecology as a Science of Integration for Sustainability in Agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Caporali

2007-06-01

Full Text Available A knowledge contribution is provided in order to understand agroecology as both a scientific discipline and a philosophical paradigm for promoting sustainability in agriculture. The peculiar character of agroecology as an applied science based on the systems paradigm is explored in the fields of research and tuition. As an organisational capability of connecting different hierarchical levels in accordance with the goal of sustainability, integration is shown as an emergent property of the evolution of agriculture as a human activity system.

Sustainability concept for energy, water and environment systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Afgan, N.H.

2004-01-01

This review is aimed to introduce historical background for the sustainability concept development for energy, water and environment systems. In the assessment of global energy and water resources attention is focussed in on the resource consumption and its relevancy to the future demand. In the review of the sustainability concept development special emphasize is devoted to the definition of sustainability and its relevancy to the historical background of the sustainability idea. In order to introduce measuring of sustainability the attention is devoted to the definition of respective criteria. There have been a number of attempts to define the criterions for the assessment of the sustainability of the market products. Having those criterions as bases, it was introduced a specific application in the energy system design

Expanding Agricultural and Rural Extension Roles for Sustainable ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Expanding Agricultural and Rural Extension Roles for Sustainable Extension ... privatization of the public sector of national economies of developing nations has ... include marketing extension, non-farm rural micro enterprise development, ...

Evaluating agricultural trade-offs in the age of sustainable development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kanter, David R.; Musumba, Mark; Wood, Sylvia L.R.; Palm, Cheryl; Antle, John; Balvanera, Patricia; Dale, Virginia H.; Havlik, Petr; Kline, Keith L.; Scholes, R.J.; Thornton, Philip; Tittonell, Pablo; Andelman, Sandy

2016-01-01

A vibrant, resilient and productive agricultural sector is fundamental to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Bringing about such a transformation requires optimizing a range of agronomic, environmental and socioeconomic outcomes from agricultural systems – from crop yields, to

Challenges for Sustainable Land Management through Climate-Smart Agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Dougill, Andrew; Stringer, Lindsay

2017-04-01

There are increasing pushes for agricultural land management to be both sustainable and climate-smart (in terms of increasing productivity, building resilience to climate change and enhancing carbon storage). Climate-smart agriculture initiatives include conservation agriculture, based on minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotation, and agroforestry. Such efforts address key international goals of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), but as yet have not seen widespread uptake. Based on analyses of different project interventions from across a range of southern African countries, we outline the inter-related challenges that are preventing adoption of climate-smart agriculture initiatives. We then identify routes to building multi-stakeholder partnerships and empowering communities through participatory monitoring with the aim of increasing uptake of such sustainable land management practices. Good practice examples remain largely restricted to local-level project interventions with significant donor (or private-sector) support, aligned to short-term community priorities relating to access to inputs or reduced labour requirements. Scaling-up to district- and national-level initiatives is yet to be widely successful due to problems of: limited policy coherence; a lack of communication between stakeholders at different levels; and limited understanding of long-term benefits associated with changes in agricultural practices. We outline opportunities associated with improved communication of climate information, empowerment of district-level adaptation planning and diversification of agricultural livelihood strategies as key routes to guide farmers towards more sustainable, and climate-smart, land management practices. Recent experiences in Malawi, which has experienced significant floods and an El Niño drought year in the last two years, are used to

Determinants of Sustainability Reporting in Food and Agriculture Sectors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiří Hřebíček

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Since the end of the 1990s, sustainability reporting (SR has become an increasingly relevant topic in business and academia. However, it is still limited in food and agriculture sector in the Czech Republic and the European Union and only little information of the latest developments have thus far been presented. This paper provides current information dating from 2010 to 2014 from publications related to food and agriculture sector. The objective of the paper is to identify what determinants of SR are examined in the world initiatives to identify (in consistencies, gaps, and opportunities for our future research of this field. The paper focuses to new G4 Guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI and the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture (SAFA systems of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO of the United Nation. Finally, possible future research of SR including SR information systems are discussed by illuminating gaps and underexposed themes in the area of regulation and governance as well as stakeholder perception.

Impact of promoting sustainable agriculture project on livelihood ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study on impact assessment of Promoting Sustainable Agriculture Project ... the Fisher Index, Focused Group Discussion and descriptive statistical analysis. ... The qualitative analysis showed that 30%, 45% and 10% of men, women and ...

Facilitating North-South Partnerships for Sustainable Agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Termeer, C. J. A. M.; Hilhorst, T.; Oorthuizen, J.

2010-01-01

The increased number of development cooperation and sustainable agriculture partnerships brings with it new challenges for professionals who are asked to facilitate these partnering processes. In this article we shed more light on the world of development cooperation and we explore questions that facilitators working with North-South partnerships…

Exploring the international policy dimension of sustainability in Dutch agriculture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brouwer, F.M.; Leneman, H.; Groeneveld, R.A.

2007-01-01

The report offers an overview of experiences in France and the United Kingdom as regards efforts to promote sustainability in agriculture. It also identifies international policy constraints on national efforts to promote sustainability. In addition, it explores opportunities for and threats to the

Environmentally sustainable agriculture and future developments of the CAP

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Helle Ørsted; Pedersen, Anders Branth; Christensen, Tove

2009-01-01

Recent reforms of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have set in motion a process of increased market orientation in the agricultural sector, a process that will be intensified by trade liberalization if an agreement is reached under the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is wi......Recent reforms of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have set in motion a process of increased market orientation in the agricultural sector, a process that will be intensified by trade liberalization if an agreement is reached under the World Trade Organization (WTO...... in the world market could increase pressure to slacken regulatory requirements on agriculture. Thus, the question of whether liberalization will hinder or promote environmentally sustainable production methods in agriculture is unresolved. This paper analyses different scenarios of agricultural policy...

Optimal use of agrometeorological information for sustainable agricultural production in semi-arid regions of India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Surender, S.; Diwan, S.; Rao, V.U.M.

2006-05-01

The concept of sustainable agriculture encompasses ecological, economic and social problems in which weather and climate can be of great importance. Despite considerable technological advancement and improved irrigation facilities, Indian farmers are still dependent on seasonal rains, which are highly variable both in time and space. Inclement weather events like droughts, floods, cold and heat waves, hails, squalls, tropical storms severely affect the agricultural production. Their harmful effects may be partially reduced if the occurrence of these events is predicted in advance and farmers are suitably advised to take preventive/corrective measures. With the objective to help the farmers maximize profits by decreasing weather related losses, increasing the timeliness of farm operations and to reduce environmental pollution through the optimal use of agricultural chemicals, the location specific/regional Agrometeorological Advisory Service was initiated in the year 1991. The forecasting skills of most of the weather parameters at Hisar have improved considerably over the years. Now, it is time to integrate and make use of vast agrometeorological information available online in preparing weather based advisories for in-season agricultural operations both for single locations and on a meso or regional scale as desired. This can be further strengthened through input from new technologies such as neural network, remote sensing, GIS, ground measurements and modeling applications along with traditional wisdom available with the farming communities should be integrated to further strengthen the location specific weather forecasting system for the development of sustainable and more efficient crop production systems. (author)

Agricultural and Food Production in Hungary: On the Road to Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Szűcs Csaba

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In the last 25 years Hungarian agriculture has lost its position. Rapid growth in the world’s population requires an increase in food production since one seventh of the population is still starving. The development of agricultural production and the food industry is the basis for the development of rural areas. Hungary produces two per cent of the EU agricultural output, which is far behind its potential. Agriculture, food industry and food trade can only develop together. We need to find the most favourable forms of coexistence with multinational chains sustainably. Food industry is a critical point in the product line, it lags behind the performance of European countries, and resources are insufficient. Long-term co-operation between farmers and processors is inadequate; the common organizations of the markets are minimal. Today, sustainability is increasingly emphasized, environmental and nature protection has been appreciated. The agriculture and forestry sectors are not only suitable for production of food and other raw materials, but they can also replenish resources and have a beneficial effect on biodiversity as well. Today’s problems can only be solved by taking sustainability into consideration. Agri-food industry that complies with the requirements can play a major role in rural employment and value creation.

Sustainable Water Management in Urban, Agricultural, and Natural Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tess Russo

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Sustainable water management (SWM requires allocating between competing water sector demands, and balancing the financial and social resources required to support necessary water systems. The objective of this review is to assess SWM in three sectors: urban, agricultural, and natural systems. This review explores the following questions: (1 How is SWM defined and evaluated? (2 What are the challenges associated with sustainable development in each sector? (3 What are the areas of greatest potential improvement in urban and agricultural water management systems? And (4 What role does country development status have in SWM practices? The methods for evaluating water management practices range from relatively simple indicator methods to integration of multiple models, depending on the complexity of the problem and resources of the investigators. The two key findings and recommendations for meeting SWM objectives are: (1 all forms of water must be considered usable, and reusable, water resources; and (2 increasing agricultural crop water production represents the largest opportunity for reducing total water consumption, and will be required to meet global food security needs. The level of regional development should not dictate sustainability objectives, however local infrastructure conditions and financial capabilities should inform the details of water system design and evaluation.

Managing Water Resources for Environmentally Sustainable Irrigated Agriculture in Pakistan

OpenAIRE

Muhammad Afzal

1996-01-01

Pakistan’s agriculture is almost wholly dependent on irrigation and irrigated land supplies more than 90 percent of agricultural production. Irrigation is central to Pakistan’s economy. Massive investments in irrigation contributed to the development of one of the largest Indus Basin Irrigation System. Despite heavy budgetary inputs in irrigation system, it is facing shortage of resources and suffering from operational problems. The sustainability of irrigated agriculture is threatened due to...

Agricultural innovations for sustainable crop production intensification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michele Pisante

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Sustainable crop production intensification should be the first strategic objective of innovative agronomic research for the next 40 years. A range of options exist (often very location specific for farming practices, approaches and technologies that ensure sustainability, while at the same time improving crop production. The main challenge is to encourage farmers in the use of appropriate technologies,  and  to  ensure  that  knowledge  about  sound  production  practices  is  increasingly accepted and applied by farmers. There is a huge, but underutilized potential to link farmers’ local knowledge with science-based innovations, through favourable institutional arrangements.  The same  holds  for  the  design,  implementation  and  monitoring  of  improved  natural  resource management  that  links  community  initiatives  to  external  expertise.  It is also suggested that a comprehensive effort be undertaken to measure different stages of the innovation system, including technological adoption and diffusion at the farm level, and to investigate the impact of agricultural policies on technological change and technical efficiency. This paper provides a brief review of agronomic management practices that support sustainable crop production system and evidence on developments  in the selection of crops and cultivars; describes farming systems for crop which take a predominantly ecosystem approach; discusses the scientific application of ecosystem principles for the management of pest and weed populations; reviews the  improvements in fertilizer and nutrient management that explain productivity growth; describes the benefits and constraints of irrigation technologies; and suggests a way forward. Seven changes in the context for agricultural development are proposed that heighten the need to examine how innovation occurs in the agricultural sector.

Weed sustainable managment in agricultral and non-agricultural areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giovanni Arcangeli

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Sustainable agriculture is a way to assure the availability of natural resources for future generations.Weed managementin cultivated and not cultivated areas is part of sustainable agriculture as well, and has to face three important challenges:economical (to increase income and competitiveness of farm sector, social (give rural areas opportunity of economicdevelopment and improvement of living conditions, environmental (promote good agricultural practices andpreserve habitats, biodiversity and landscape. The first two challenges involve the in-depth study of models, the economicthreshold of intervention, the management of herbicide resistance phenomena, the study and development ofnew herbicide molecules, or even modern formulations, leading to the optimization of treatments with possible reductionof distributed doses per hectare. Environmental issues must be set in the studies to assess and manage the factorsleading to phenomena of diffuse or point pollution (i.e. water volumes, soil, etc.. However, a sustainable agricultureproduction must take into account consumers’ needs and concerns, especially about food health and safety withrespect to production methods (traditional, integrated and biological. In this context, the results obtained by the developmentof more advanced active principles, the spread of public and private Integrated Production Specifications(Disciplinari di Produzione Integrata and the greater and greater commitment by the institutions in charge of monitoringthe agro-pharmaceutical residues in agro-food products, can be set. The SIRFI SIRFI (Società Italiana per laRicerca sulla Flora Infestante, thanks to the multi-disciplinarity of the structures supporting it, always takes an activepart into innovation especially aimed to the identification of tools implementing farm activity sustainability.

Farmer’s motivation to adopt sustainable agricultural practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davide Menozzi

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The 2014-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP reform defines new rules for farmers including maintenance of the ecological focus area (EFA. Sustainability is also a requirement to meet consumer expectations and a competitive advantage for firms. This paper aims to evaluate the farmers’ intention to implement sustainable practices related to the EFA measure and to the private sustainability schemes proposed by the food industry. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB was applied on a sample of durum wheat producers to analyse intentions 1 to maintain 7% of the arable land as an EFA, and 2 to implement the private sustainability scheme. Structural equation modelling was applied to test for the relative importance of intention determinants. The farmers’ attitude and past behaviour positively affect intentions to implement the EFA, while perceived behavioural control and attitudes predict intentions to adopt the private sustainability scheme. These results suggest possible interventions that public authorities and supply chain leaders might implement to stimulate farmers’ sustainable behaviours. 

Evaluating strategies for sustainable intensification of U.S. agriculture through the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research network

Science.gov (United States)

Sustainable intensification is an emerging model for agriculture designed to reconcile accelerating global demand for agricultural products with long-term environmental stewardship. Defined here as increasing agricultural production while maintaining or improving environmental quality, sustainable i...

Beyond agricultural innovation systems? Exploring an agricultural innovation ecosystems approach for niche design and development in sustainability transitions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pigford, Ashlee Ann E.; Hickey, Gordon M.; Klerkx, Laurens

2018-01-01

Well-designed and supported innovation niches may facilitate transitions towards sustainable agricultural futures, which may follow different approaches and paradigms such as agroecology, local place-based food systems, vertical farming, bioeconomy, urban agriculture, and smart farming or digital

Prospects for land-use sustainability on the agricultural frontier of the Brazilian Amazon.

Science.gov (United States)

Galford, Gillian L; Soares-Filho, Britaldo; Cerri, Carlos E P

2013-06-05

The Brazilian Amazon frontier shows how remarkable leadership can work towards increased agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability without new greenhouse gas emissions. This is due to initiatives among various stakeholders, including national and state government and agents, farmers, consumers, funding agencies and non-governmental organizations. Change has come both from bottom-up and top-down actions of these stakeholders, providing leadership, financing and monitoring to foster environmental sustainability and agricultural growth. Goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from land-cover and land-use change in Brazil are being achieved through a multi-tiered approach that includes policies to reduce deforestation and initiatives for forest restoration, as well as increased and diversified agricultural production, intensified ranching and innovations in agricultural management. Here, we address opportunities for the Brazilian Amazon in working towards low-carbon rural development and environmentally sustainable landscapes.

Are Organic Standards Sufficient to Ensure Sustainable Agriculture? Lessons From New Zealand’s ARGOS and Sustainability Dashboard Projects

OpenAIRE

Merfield, Charles; Moller, Henrik; Manhire, Jon; Rosin, Chris; Norton, Solis; Carey, Peter; Hunt, Lesley; Reid, John; Fairweather, John; Benge, Jayson; Le Quellec, Isabelle; Campbell, Hugh; Lucock, David; Saunders, Caroline; MacLeod, Catriona

2015-01-01

Our review concludes that organic standards need to account for a broader set of criteria in order to retain claims to ‘sustainability’. Measurements of the ecological, economic and social outcomes from over 96 kiwifruit, sheep/beef and dairy farms in New Zealand between 2004 and 2012 by The Agricultural Research Group on Sustainability (ARGOS) project showed some enhanced ecosystem services from organic agriculture that will assist a “land-sharing” approach for sustainable land management. H...

Bioavailable soil P as a main key for sustainable agriculture: its functional model determined using isotopic tracers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fardeau, J.C.; Guiraud, G.; Marol, C.

1994-12-31

Sustainable agriculture is defined in many ways. In all of them, two main complementary concepts appear: this agriculture must firstly satisfy the human needs of foods for the present and secondly must not compromise the ability for the future generations to meet their needs. Therefore, concerning P, the sustainability in an ecosystem can be maintained if, and only if: (i) bioavailable soil P is not a limiting factor of crop yields in the considered conditions; (ii) all the parameters describing the available soil P will be unmodified each time that P is simultaneously taken by crops and returned to soils; (iii) P inputs and outputs must be without negative consequences on environment. Whatever the ecosystem, P nutrition can be described in terms of fluxes of P between soil and plant roots. The isotopic exchange method gives informations not only on bioavailable soil P but also on potential fluxes of P between soil and soil-solution. As roots take phosphorus in the soil solution it is concluded that this method can be used to predict not only potential P uptake by plants or crops in native soils but also the contribution to crop nutrition of a P application in soil. Isotopic tracers of P seem to be, at the present time, the simplest tool useful to describe, with a high accuracy, the main link of P cycle in sustainable agriculture: the bioavailable soil P. (authors). 9 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab. (authors).

Bioavailable soil P as a main key for sustainable agriculture: its functional model determined using isotopic tracers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fardeau, J.C.; Guiraud, G.; Marol, C.

1994-01-01

Sustainable agriculture is defined in many ways. In all of them, two main complementary concepts appear: this agriculture must firstly satisfy the human needs of foods for the present and secondly must not compromise the ability for the future generations to meet their needs. Therefore, concerning P, the sustainability in an ecosystem can be maintained if, and only if: (i) bioavailable soil P is not a limiting factor of crop yields in the considered conditions; (ii) all the parameters describing the available soil P will be unmodified each time that P is simultaneously taken by crops and returned to soils; (iii) P inputs and outputs must be without negative consequences on environment. Whatever the ecosystem, P nutrition can be described in terms of fluxes of P between soil and plant roots. The isotopic exchange method gives informations not only on bioavailable soil P but also on potential fluxes of P between soil and soil-solution. As roots take phosphorus in the soil solution it is concluded that this method can be used to predict not only potential P uptake by plants or crops in native soils but also the contribution to crop nutrition of a P application in soil. Isotopic tracers of P seem to be, at the present time, the simplest tool useful to describe, with a high accuracy, the main link of P cycle in sustainable agriculture: the bioavailable soil P. (authors). 9 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab. (authors)

Sustainable Uses of FGD Gypsum in Agricultural Systems: Introduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Dexter B; Dick, Warren A

2014-01-01

Interest in using gypsum as a management tool to improve crop yields and soil and water quality has recently increased. Abundant supply and availability of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum, a by-product of scrubbing sulfur from combustion gases at coal-fired power plants, in major agricultural producing regions within the last two decades has attributed to this interest. Currently, published data on the long-term sustainability of FGD gypsum use in agricultural systems is limited. This has led to organization of the American Society of Agronomy's Community "By-product Gypsum Uses in Agriculture" and a special collection of nine technical research articles on various issues related to FGD gypsum uses in agricultural systems. A brief review of FGD gypsum, rationale for the special collection, overviews of articles, knowledge gaps, and future research directions are presented in this introductory paper. The nine articles are focused in three general areas: (i) mercury and other trace element impacts, (ii) water quality impacts, and (iii) agronomic responses and soil physical changes. While this is not an exhaustive review of the topic, results indicate that FGD gypsum use in sustainable agricultural production systems is promising. The environmental impacts of FGD gypsum are mostly positive, with only a few negative results observed, even when applied at rates representing cumulative 80-year applications. Thus, FGD gypsum, if properly managed, seems to represent an important potential input into agricultural systems. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Great Recession and paradigm shift – towards sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wiktor Szydło

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Great Recession is another proof that the current paradigm of economic growth should be changed. It ought to be applied to all sectors, including agriculture. The farming sector was strongly affected by substantial price increases of some products. It was especially painful for poorer consumers in developing and Third World countries, while its benefits were channelled mainly to big farmers and speculators in developed economies. Common Agricultural Policy could not avert this turbulence. The implementa-tion of the concept of sustainable development is a possible solution of this problem as its approach is more holistic and humanistic. However, the implementation of adequate reforms is very slow. It is a sign that leading US and EU policymakers attempt to stay within the limits of current model of growth.However, the second wave of price hikes may prove to be more lasting, which would further deepen income inequality.

Technological Approaches to Sustainable Agriculture at a Crossroads: An Agroecological Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel A. Altieri

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Most efforts to improve agricultural production remain focused on practices driven by an intensification agenda and not by an agroecological one. Agroecology transcends the reformist notion of organic agriculture and sustainable intensification proponents who contend that changes can be achieved within the dominant agroindustrial system with minor adjustments or “greening” of the current neoliberal agricultural model. In the technological realm, merely modifying practices to reduce input use is a step in the right direction but does not necessarily lead to the redesign of a more self sufficient and autonomous farming system. A true agroecological technological conversion calls into question monoculture and the dependency on external inputs. Traditional farming systems provide models that promote biodiversity, thrive without agrochemicals, and sustain year-round yields. Conversion of conventional agriculture also requires major social and political changes which are beyond the scope of this paper.

Understanding robustness as an image of sustainable agriculture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goede, de D.M.

2014-01-01

The general aim of the research described in this thesis is to contribute to a better understanding of the conceptualisation of robustness in agricultural science as well as its relevance to sustainability. Robustness rapidly gained attention as a potential solution for a variety of

Soil Erosion and Agricultural Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Montgomery, D. R.

2009-04-01

Data drawn from a global compilation of studies support the long articulated contention that erosion rates from conventionally plowed agricultural fields greatly exceed rates of soil production, erosion under native vegetation, and long-term geological erosion. Whereas data compiled from around the world show that soil erosion under conventional agriculture exceeds both rates of soil production and geological erosion rates by up to several orders of magnitude, similar global distributions of soil production and geological erosion rates suggest an approximate balance. Net soil erosion rates in conventionally plowed fields on the order of 1 mm/yr can erode typical hillslope soil profiles over centuries to millennia, time-scales comparable to the longevity of major civilizations. Well-documented episodes of soil loss associated with agricultural activities date back to the introduction of erosive agricultural methods in regions around the world, and stratigraphic records of accelerated anthropogenic soil erosion have been recovered from lake, fluvial, and colluvial stratigraphy, as well as truncation of soil stratigraphy (such as truncated A horizons). A broad convergence in the results from studies based on various approaches employed to study ancient soil loss and rates of downstream sedimentation implies that widespread soil loss has accompanied human agricultural intensification in examples drawn from around the world. While a broad range of factors, including climate variability and society-specific social and economic contexts — such as wars or colonial relationships — all naturally influence the longevity of human societies, the ongoing loss of topsoil inferred from studies of soil erosion rates in conventional agricultural systems has obvious long-term implications for agricultural sustainability. Consequently, modern agriculture — and therefore global society — faces a fundamental question over the upcoming centuries. Can an agricultural system

Considering the normative, systemic and procedural dimensions in indicator-based sustainability assessments in agriculture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Binder, Claudia R.; Feola, Giuseppe; Steinberger, Julia K.

2010-01-01

This paper develops a framework for evaluating sustainability assessment methods by separately analyzing their normative, systemic and procedural dimensions as suggested by Wiek and Binder [Wiek, A, Binder, C. Solution spaces for decision-making - a sustainability assessment tool for city-regions. Environ Impact Asses Rev 2005, 25: 589-608.]. The framework is then used to characterize indicator-based sustainability assessment methods in agriculture. For a long time, sustainability assessment in agriculture has focused mostly on environmental and technical issues, thus neglecting the economic and, above all, the social aspects of sustainability, the multi-functionality of agriculture and the applicability of the results. In response to these shortcomings, several integrative sustainability assessment methods have been developed for the agricultural sector. This paper reviews seven of these that represent the diversity of tools developed in this area. The reviewed assessment methods can be categorized into three types: (i) top-down farm assessment methods; (ii) top-down regional assessment methods with some stakeholder participation; (iii) bottom-up, integrated participatory or transdisciplinary methods with stakeholder participation throughout the process. The results readily show the trade-offs encountered when selecting an assessment method. A clear, standardized, top-down procedure allows for potentially benchmarking and comparing results across regions and sites. However, this comes at the cost of system specificity. As the top-down methods often have low stakeholder involvement, the application and implementation of the results might be difficult. Our analysis suggests that to include the aspects mentioned above in agricultural sustainability assessment, the bottom-up, integrated participatory or transdisciplinary methods are the most suitable ones.

The role of culture in implementing the concept of sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Bakri, M.

2018-03-01

Environment degradation urges human to live in a sustaining way both for production and consumption mode. It covers any sector of human life include architecture. People are competing to implement the concept of sustainability using the latest technology while the culture has begun to be forgotten. Bearing in mind that by examining the culture related or daily activities, the sustainable development can be implemented with a solid base and fully accepted by the society. Hence, the benefit of sustainable development can be felt by the inhabitant sooner. The aim of this research is examining the local culture in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, and Gozo, Maltese Islands which has sustainability concept. The local culture can be a starting point in implementing the notion of sustainability through daily basis approach. This research uses the qualitative method and collects the data through observation and literature review. The result has shown that some of the cultures in selected area have sustainability values which can be developed further in term of the implementation of sustainable development. Thus, related to the sustainable development, the practitioners can shift to the deep-rooted local value rather than apply an alien concept in society.

Concept Maps for Evaluating Learning of Sustainable Development

Science.gov (United States)

Shallcross, David C.

2016-01-01

Concept maps are used to assess student and cohort learning of sustainable development. The concept maps of 732 first-year engineering students were individually analyzed to detect patterns of learning and areas that were not well understood. Students were given 20 minutes each to prepare a concept map of at least 20 concepts using paper and pen.…

Sustainable land management : strategies to cope with the marginalisation of agriculture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brouwer, F.M.; Rheenen, van T.; Dhillion, S.; Elgersma, A.M.

2008-01-01

In large parts of the world, the reduction in the viability of agriculture and rural areas is an escalating problem. "Sustainable Land Management" offers a contemporary overview of the strategies employed to cope with the marginalisation of agriculture, through analyses of case studies and regional

McSustainability and McJustice: Certification, Alternative Food and Agriculture, and Social Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maki Hatanaka

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Alternative food and agriculture movements increasingly rely on market-based approaches, particularly voluntary standards and certification, to advance environmental sustainability and social justice. Using a case study of an ecological shrimp project in Indonesia that became certified organic, this paper raises concerns regarding the impacts of certification on alternative food and agriculture movements, and their aims of furthering sustainability and justice. Drawing on George Ritzer’s McDonaldization framework, I argue that the ecological shrimp project became McDonaldized with the introduction of voluntary standards and certification. Specifically, efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control became key characteristics of the shrimp project. While the introduction of such characteristics increased market access, it also entailed significant costs, including an erosion of trust and marginalization and alienation of farmers. Given such tradeoffs, in concluding I propose that certification is producing particular forms of environmental sustainability and social justice, what I term McSustainability and McJustice. While enabling the expansion of alternative food and agriculture, McSustainability and McJustice tend to allow little opportunity for farmer empowerment and food sovereignty, as well as exclude aspects of sustainable farming or ethical production that are not easily measured, standardized, and validated.

Integrating irrigation and drainage management to sustain agriculture in northern Iran

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Darzi-Naftchali, Abdullah; Ritzema, Henk

2018-01-01

In Iran, as in the rest of the world, land and water for agricultural production is under pressure. Integrating irrigation and drainage management may help sustain intensified agriculture in irrigated paddy fields. This study was aimed to investigate the long-term effects of such management

Sustainable Nutrient Management in Chinese Agriculture:Challenges and Perspective

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2006-01-01

China has to raise agricultural productivity in its limited and shrinking farmland to guarantee food security for its huge and ever-growing population. Sustainable soil nutrient management is of paramount importance to the world's most populous country. Critical challenges the country is facing in sustaining soil fertility and in alleviating the hazardous impact of intensive fertilizer use are discussed in this paper. It is emphatically pointed out that national strategies as well as area-specific action plans with respect to scientific nutrient management are urgently needed to balance productivity and sustainability in the future. Relevant proposals for addressing those challenges are also presented.

Sustainability Assessment of the Agricultural and Energy Systems of Senegal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyrke Gaudreau

2015-04-01

Full Text Available To improve decision-making, sustainability-based approaches to assessment of options and undertakings demand that we move beyond narrowly defined considerations to address the full suite of requirements for progress towards sustainability. This paper reports on a sustainability assessment exercise that originally focused on burning agricultural residues, primarily peanut shells, for cooking applications in Senegal. The scope of assessment had to be expanded to address the agricultural and energy systems of Senegal, when closer examination revealed a complex set of energy and agricultural system interactions that could undermine the anticipated positive effects of initiatives centred primarily on peanut residue cookstoves. The case highlights the need to be open to expanding the scope of assessment to address underlying and/or unexpected issues that cannot be addressed appropriately at the project scale. In particular, the case illustrates how the assessment of an energy system may serve as an entry point into a deeper exploration of the context in which the energy system is embedded. The analysis also illustrates a situation in which different paths that may be followed, each with its own degree of uncertainty, path dependence, feasibility, fairness, cultural sensitivity, trade-off acceptability and possibilities for public judgement of overall desirability.

Exploring Corn-Ethanol As A Complex Problem To Teach Sustainability Concepts Across The Science-Business-Liberal Arts Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Oches, E. A.; Szymanski, D. W.; Snyder, B.; Gulati, G. J.; Davis, P. T.

2012-12-01

The highly interdisciplinary nature of sustainability presents pedagogic challenges when sustainability concepts are incorporated into traditional disciplinary courses. At Bentley University, where over 90 percent of students major in business disciplines, we have created a multidisciplinary course module centered on corn ethanol that explores a complex social, environmental, and economic problem and develops basic data analysis and analytical thinking skills in several courses spanning the natural, physical, and social sciences within the business curriculum. Through an NSF-CCLI grant, Bentley faculty from several disciplines participated in a summer workshop to define learning objectives, create course modules, and develop an assessment plan to enhance interdisciplinary sustainability teaching. The core instructional outcome was a data-rich exercise for all participating courses in which students plot and analyze multiple parameters of corn planted and harvested for various purposes including food (human), feed (animal), ethanol production, and commodities exchanged for the years 1960 to present. Students then evaluate patterns and trends in the data and hypothesize relationships among the plotted data and environmental, social, and economic drivers, responses, and unintended consequences. After the central data analysis activity, students explore corn ethanol production as it relates to core disciplinary concepts in their individual classes. For example, students in Environmental Chemistry produce ethanol using corn and sugar as feedstocks and compare the efficiency of each process, while learning about enzymes, fermentation, distillation, and other chemical principles. Principles of Geology students examine the effects of agricultural runoff on surface water quality associated with extracting greater agricultural yield from mid-continent croplands. The American Government course examines the role of political institutions, the political process, and various

Eco-efficient Agriculture: Concepts, Challenges, and Opportunities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Keating, B.A.; Carberry, P.S.; Bindraban, P.S.; Asseng, S.; Meinke, H.B.; Dixon, J.

2010-01-01

Eco-efficiency in the simplest of terms is about achieving more with less—more agricultural outputs, in terms of quantity and quality, for less input of land, water, nutrients, energy, labor, or capital. The concept of eco-efficiency encompasses both the ecological and economic dimensions of

Biotechnology: a tool for sustainable innovation in agriculture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nocera, Rachele

2015-01-01

Feed 9.6 billion people, according to UN projections, will populate the planet in 2050. This is the challenge that agriculture is called to deal and that will be one of the topics carriers EXPO 2015. The answer to food needs of a population growing, in particular in the Countries in the developing world, will certainly not unique, but the road seems marked: it is that of an i ntensification sustainable a griculture, supported by innovation and research, able to enhance agricultural yields without adding to the budget input necessary for the production (energy, earth, water). [it

Sustainable intensification of China's agroecosystems by conservation agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rattan Lal

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Agriculture in China started about 8000 BCE with cultivation of millet and rice. Thus, China's modern agriculture is rooted in a long evolutionary history of agricultural practices. China's population of 211 million in 1700 increased to 295 million in 1800, 400 million in 1900, 1266 million in 2000, and is 1409 million in 2017. Thus, China has to feed 18.5% of the world population on merely 7% of the world's arable land and with even scarcer water resources. Yet, between 1950 and 2017, the grain production in China increased at a faster rate than that of the population. Total grain production (million ton or Tg was 113 in 1949, 305 in 1970, 462 in 2000, and 603 in 2015. The high agricultural productivity is attributed to high consumption of fertilizers (58.8 Tg in 2015, pesticides (1.81 Tg in 2014, and irrigation (65.7 Mha in 2014. However, the high production is also associated with the severe problems of soil degradation (erosion, water contamination and air pollution. It is estimated that ~40% of China's arable land is degraded to some degree. Thus, there is a strong need for a paradigm shift of sustaining high productivity while restoring quality of natural resources of soil, water and air. In this context, conversion to a system-based conservation agriculture (CA may be an important strategy of sustainable intensification of agro-ecosystems for advancing and sustaining high production while restoring soil health, purifying water and air and improving the environment. The CA has been practiced in China since 1990s and was adopted on ~8.0 Mha in 2015. The available literature shows that conversion to CA increases soil organic C (SOC concentration and stocks mostly in the surface layer while also producing an equivalent agronomic yield. Therefore, a widespread adoption of CA in China would necessitate a deeper understanding of its ecological underpinnings. To be effective, site-specific CA practices must reduce risks of soil erosion under

THE KNOWLEDGE OF ROMANIAN AGRICULTURE IN TERMS OF SUSTAINABILITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iuliana DOBRE

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Agriculture, a key component of the structure of economic branches, should be addressed directly related to the maintenance of natural resources and their exploitation in a controlled way or the enhancement of their own, without resorting to inconsistent stimulus elements that can in time generate dysfunctions in products and the environment. Looking at things from this perspective, there is a need for a sustainable agriculture approach, given its social, ecological and economic representativeness, with active and continuous character.

Sustainable Capture: Concepts for Managing Stream-Aquifer Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Davids, Jeffrey C; Mehl, Steffen W

2015-01-01

Most surface water bodies (i.e., streams, lakes, etc.) are connected to the groundwater system to some degree so that changes to surface water bodies (either diversions or importations) can change flows in aquifer systems, and pumping from an aquifer can reduce discharge to, or induce additional recharge from streams, springs, and lakes. The timescales of these interactions are often very long (decades), making sustainable management of these systems difficult if relying only on observations of system responses. Instead, management scenarios are often analyzed based on numerical modeling. In this paper we propose a framework and metrics that can be used to relate the Theis concepts of capture to sustainable measures of stream-aquifer systems. We introduce four concepts: Sustainable Capture Fractions, Sustainable Capture Thresholds, Capture Efficiency, and Sustainable Groundwater Storage that can be used as the basis for developing metrics for sustainable management of stream-aquifer systems. We demonstrate their utility on a hypothetical stream-aquifer system where pumping captures both streamflow and discharge to phreatophytes at different amounts based on pumping location. In particular, Capture Efficiency (CE) can be easily understood by both scientists and non-scientist alike, and readily identifies vulnerabilities to sustainable stream-aquifer management when its value exceeds 100%. © 2014, National Ground Water Association.

SOME ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT AGRICULTURAL LAND USE AREAS WITHIN THE TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kapinos N.

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Land Fund in Ukraine is experiencing excessive human impact, which is reflected in its performance exceeding the allowable agricultural development and land structure imbalance. The environmental condition of land resources close to critical. Among the largest land area occupied by agricultural land (71% of which - 76% is arable land. Violation environmentally acceptable ratio of arable land, natural grasslands and forests negatively affected the sustainability of agricultural landscapes. Throughout the widespread land degradation processes, among which the most ambitious is the erosion (about 57.5% of the territory, pollution (20% of the territory, flooding (about 12% of the territory. Sustainable (balanced land is one of the key factors of sustainable nature of territorial entities and may be formed of a priority, taking into account environmental factors. In ecological optimization based on value criteria ekolohostabilizuyuchyh and anthropogenic pressures lands should necessarily provide for withdrawal of intensive land use, which in its modal properties can not ensure sustainability of land use. However, today in Ukraine within the territories of communities no project development to optimize land use on the basis of sustainable development. Accordingly, the purpose of the article was the study of certain aspects of Land Management sustainable development of agricultural land within the territories of local communities. The current structure of the land fund of Ukraine was actually formed in the Soviet period, under the influence of policies of extensive agricultural development. Violation environmentally acceptable ratio of arable land, natural grasslands and forests negatively affected the stability and condition of land, which is confirmed by relevant research. In such circumstances, balancing the land proposed to carry out in two stages - the ecological and economic. In ecological optimization criteria based on land value necessarily

Sustainable Agriculture: enhancement of the 'neem cake'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Susanna, Mariani

2015-01-01

The 'neem cake' scrap processing of the industrial chain producing neem oil and azadirachtin. The ENEA laboratories have developed a promising trial to promote the use of neem cake as a low-cost insecticide and fertilizer in sustainable agriculture. [it

Embedding Sustainability and Renewable Energy Concepts into Undergraduate Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Belu, R.; Cioca, L.

2017-12-01

Human society is facing an uncertain future due to the present unsustainable use of natural resources and the growing imbalance with our natural environment. Creation of a sustainable society is a complex multi-disciplinary and multi-stage project, believed to dominate our century, requiring collaboration, teamwork, and abilities to work with respect and learn from other disciplines and professions. Sustainable development means technological progress meeting the present needs without compromising future generation ability to meet its needs and aspirations. It has four aspects: environment, technology, economy, and societal organizations. Students are often taught to deal with technological developments and economic analysis to assess the process or product viability, but are not fully familiar with sustainability and optimization of technology development benefits and the environment. Schools in many disciplines are working to include sustainability concepts into their curricula. Teaching sustainability and renewable energy has become an essential feature today higher education. Sustainable and green design is about designs recognizing the constraints of the natural resource uses and the environment. It applies to all of engineering and science areas, as all systems interact with the environment in complex and important ways. Our project goals are to provide students with multiple and comprehensive exposures to sustainability and renewable energy concepts, facilitating the development of passion and skills to integrate them into practice. The expected outcomes include an increased social responsibility; development of innovative thinking skills; understanding of sustainability issues, and increasing student interests in the engineering and science programs. The project aims to incorporate sustainability and renewable energy concepts into our undergraduate curricula, employing the existing course resources, and developing new courses and laboratory experiments

Assessing Agricultural Intensification Strategies with a Sustainable Agriculture Matrix

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, X.; Davidson, E. A.

2017-12-01

To meet the growing global demand for food and bioenergy, agricultural production must nearly double by 2050, placing additional pressures on the environment and the society. Thus, how to efficiently use limited land, water, and nutrient resources to produce more food with low pollution (MoFoLoPo) is clearly one of the major challenges of this century. The increasingly interconnected global market provides a great opportunity for reallocating crop production to the countries and regions that use natural resources more efficiently. For example, it is estimated that optimizing the allocation of crop production around the world can mitigate 41% of nitrogen lost to the environment. However, higher efficiency in nutrients use does not necessarily lead to higher efficiency in land use or water use. In addition, the increasing share of international trade in food supply may introduce additional systemic risk and affect the resilience of global food system. Using the data/indicator from a Sustainable Agriculture Matrix and an international trade matrix, we developed a simple model to assess the trade-offs of international trade considering resource use efficiencies (including water, land, nitrogen, and phosphorus), economic costs and benefits, and the resilience of food system.

Factors Affecting Attitude of the Greenhouse Owner towards Sustainable Agriculture in Alborz province

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omid Jamshidi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The attitude of greenhouse owner as the basis of agricultural production towards sustainable agriculture could be grounds for increasing the sustainability of this type of cultivation system. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the attitude of greenhouse owners towards sustainability in the Alborz province. The target population for this study consisted of all active greenhouse owners in the Alborz province (N=366. The sample size was determined by using Cochran’s formula (n=155 and using the proportional stratified random sampling method. The validity was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability was established by Cronbach's Alpha coefficient (0.85. The results showed that the attitude of 41 percent of the respondents towards sustainability was positive. Also, there were significant differences between the attitudes of the respondents in the group with related education and unrelated education group. Correlation analysis showed that the there is a positive relation between attitude towards searching behavior and the use of communication channels. In addition, the results of multiple regression analysis indicated that about 40 percent of the attitudes of greenhouse owner towards sustainable agriculture are explained by 4 variables. The result of this study indicate that by using different means of providing information and training, we can change the attitudes of greenhouse owners and lead them to produce more sustainable and healthy product.

Strategies of Transition to Sustainable Agriculture in Iran II- Inputs Replacement and Designing Agroecosystem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alireza Koocheki

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Sustainable agricultural development is an important goal in economic planning and human development worldwide. A range of processes and relationships are transformed, beginning with aspects of basic soil structure, organic matter content, and diversity and activity of soil biota. Eventually, major changes also occur in the relationships among weed, insect, and disease populations, and in the balance between beneficial and pest organisms. Ultimately, nutrient dynamics and cycling, energy use efficiency, and overall system productivity are impacted. Measuring and monitoring these changes during the conversion period helps the farmer evaluate the success of the conversion process, and provides a framework to determine the requirements for sustainability. After improving resource use efficiency, replacement of ecological inputs with chemical inputs as second step and redesign of agro-ecosystems is as final step in transition of common to sustainable agriculture. The study was investigated to evaluation of Iran’s agricultural systems status. Materials and Methods Using organic and ecological inputs than chemicals is the second step for transition to sustainable agriculture. This study was performed to assess and measure the status of inputs replacement and agro-ecosystem designing based on ecological principle in Iran. For this purpose, we used 223 studied researches on agronomical and medicinal plants. After, they analyzed based on functional and structural characteristics and then used. Considering to the importance of multi-functionality in sustainable agriculture, in this study we considered the multiple managements for inputs replacement. The using functions in the study were: improving fertility and bio-chemical characteristics of soil, ecological managements of pest and diseases, reducing the energy usage, and increasing biodiversity. Using the organic and biological inputs, remaining the plant residual on soil, using

Sustainable Agriculture in Print: Current Books. Special Reference Briefs: SRB 95-02.

Science.gov (United States)

National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD.

Prepared by the Alternative Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC) staff and volunteers, this annotated bibliography provides a list of 85 recently published books pertaining to sustainable agriculture. AFSIC focuses on alternative farming systems (e.g., sustainable, low-input, regenerative, biodynamic, and organic) that maintain agricultural…

The plurality of values in sustainable agriculture models: diverse lock-in and coevolution patterns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gael Plumecocq

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In Western economies, several agriculture models coexist. For instance, intensive agriculture organization, which has increased yields while causing major pollution and resource depletion, competes with alternative models, which tackle these sustainability issues and lead to lower yields. An agronomical typology of current agriculture models in Western societies is proposed that describes multiple sustainability issues through an agroecological perspective. However, in order to choose between these agroecological pathways, we must understand their social structure and the principles underlying them. Thus, our purpose is to characterize the institutional aspects of the alternative models using socioeconomic convention theory. We conducted a series of workshops with specialists in the natural sciences (agronomy, landscape ecology, and entomology and social sciences (economics and sociology to describe sustainable agriculture models. This characterization revealed the values underlying six different sustainable agriculture models, their forms of organization, and the institutions governing them. We discuss the implications of the coexistence of these six models in light of sustainable transition issues. From this coexistence perspective, transition (i refers to an intertwined process of legitimation and disqualification, and (ii means seeing pathways as the multiplicity and degree of interconnection between models. Therefore, we (i identified the elements in each model that legitimize its mode of organization, and (ii disqualified the elements that are incompatible with the principles underlying the model's practices. Moreover, we emphasize that multiple transition pathways are possible based on complex, complementary combinations of different models. This revealed the intricate processes of competition and complementarity involving these models. Finally, our study on the coexistence, interdependence, and coevolution of multiple agriculture models

Landscape practise and key concepts for landscape sustainability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Jesper; Christensen, Andreas Aagaard; Svenningsen, Stig Roar

2013-01-01

Conceptual frameworks which have seen man and nature as being an integrated whole were widespread before they became suppressed by developments within both capitalism and socialism. Therefore an idealistic use of such concepts in scientific work has often had limited practical value. At the same...... and relate it to an empirical study of sustainable tourism in eight protected areas and their regions in the Baltic. They are subject to large differences in human pressure. The political commitment to the related EU Natura 2000 networks has been taken as our point of departure for a more detailed analysis...... of accessibility and its related conflicts, and opportunities for a sustainable development of tourism in and around the protected areas. It is concluded that the concept of carrying capacity cannot meaningfully be used for sustainability studies at an abstract conceptual level, but proves its relevance through...

Incorporating Bioenergy in Sustainable Landscape Designs Workshop Two: Agricultural Landscapes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2015-08-01

The Bioenergy Technologies Office hosted two workshops on Incorporating Bioenergy in Sustainable Landscape Designs with Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories in 2014. The second workshop focused on agricultural landscapes and took place in Argonne, IL from June 24—26, 2014. The workshop brought together experts to discuss how landscape design can contribute to the deployment and assessment of sustainable bioenergy. This report summarizes the discussions that occurred at this particular workshop.

An Auto-Photographic Study of Undergraduate Students' Conceptions of Ocean Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chi-I; Li, Yuh-Yuh

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate students' understandings of ocean sustainability and the pedagogical influence of higher education on those conceptions. Design/methodology/approach: The conceptions of ocean sustainability of 54 university students of various academic disciplines enrolled in the 2014/2015 semester course…

GREEN CONCEPTS AND MATERIAL FLOW COST ACCOUNTING APPLICATION FOR COMPANY SUSTAINABILITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rochman Marota

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Health equipment and furniture become a complementary factor for good health services to the communities. Management of health equipment and furniture is started by manufacturers within the industry scope and sustainable business processes. This study aimed to apply green concepts and MFCA at PT XYZ, and to analyze their effects on the dimensions of the company sustainability. To measure the effects of green concepts and MFCA on the dimensions of corporate sustainability, a multiple regression analysis was used. The analysis showed that they gave significant effects from the results of the F test, t test and probability test. From these results, a number of suggestions for improvement of production process performance as managerial implications for maintaining the stability of the company sustainability index were formulated.Keywords: efficiency and effectiveness of production cost, green concepts, the company sustainability, material flow cost accounting

Emergy evaluation of agricultural sustainability of Northwest China before and after the grain-for-green policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Xiuhong; Shen, Jianxiu; Zhang, Wei

2014-01-01

China’s grain-for-green policy (GFGP) was implemented with the goal of improving ecological security. Consequently, agricultural energy and agrochemical inputs have been significantly increased to improve food security and to increase the income of farmers in the regions where the GFGP was implemented. In analysis of the sustainability of the agricultural system affected by the GFGP, it is essential to consider both economic profitability and environmental sustainability. Using Yanchi County as a case study area, this study used an emergy synthesis to examine the sustainability of the agricultural system before and after the GFGP in Northwest China. We found that the total emergy input and energy output of the agricultural system in the study area increased from 1991 to 2008; however, the sustainability of the system declined, and this decline was especially evident after the GFGP was launched in 2001. Increasing inputs of non-renewable purchased resources will not only reduce the effectiveness of the GFGP in Northwest China, but also hinder the implementation of the energy-saving and emission-reduction policy that China launched in 2005. We suggest that sustainable agricultural development in Northwest China should be based on effective use of renewable resources and development of a low-carbon agricultural economy. - Highlights: • The total emergy input and energy output of the study system increased from 1991 to 2008. • The change of each emergy index was more evident after the GFGP launched in 2001. • The increase in input of non-renewable purchased resources will gradually reduce the function of the GFGP in West China. • Agricultural development in West China should be based on organic agriculture

Ecologically sustainable chemical recommendations for agricultural pest control?

Science.gov (United States)

Thomson, Linda J; Hoffmann, Ary A

2007-12-01

Effective pest control remains an essential part of food production, and it is provided both by chemicals and by natural enemies within agricultural ecosystems. These methods of control are often in conflict because of the negative impact of chemicals on natural enemies. There are already well-established approaches such as those provided by the International Organization for Biological and Integrated Control-Pesticides and Beneficial Organisms for testing, collecting, and publishing information on responses of natural enemies to chemicals based on laboratory responses of specific organisms; however, these tests do not assess the cumulative impact of chemical inputs across an entire season or consider impacts on the complex communities of natural enemies that can provide effective pest control on a farm. Here, we explore the potential of different approaches for assessing the impact of chemicals on agricultural ecosystems and we propose a simple metric for sustainable chemical use on farms that minimizes overall impact on beneficial groups. We suggest ways in which the effectiveness of metrics can be extended to include persistence and habitat features. Such metrics can assist farmers in developing targets for sustainable chemical use as demonstrated in the viticultural industry.

Making rainfed agriculture sustainable through environmental friendly technologies in Pakistan: A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirza B. Baig

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Pakistan is an agricultural country spreading over an area of about 79. 6 million hectares (Mha with an arid and semi arid climate. Of 79. 6 Mha, about 23 Mha is suitable for crop production and nearly 25 percent of the total cultivated area is designated for rainfed agriculture. Unfortunately, rain-fed agriculture is constrained with multifarious problems such as moisture stress, soil erosion and crusting, nutrient deficiency, depletion and poor nutrient use efficiency, and weed infestation limiting the yield potential of these lands. In addition, deforestation and poor crop husbandry techniques are commonly noticed features. To meet the food requirements, farmers bring all the available pieces of lands under plough including steep slopes. Farming on steep slopes if not managed on scientific lines, results in severe erosion. The problems faced by the farmers are due to the unsustainable practices they adopt to practice dryland agriculture, limiting the productive potential of these important ecosystems. However, their potential can be improved by adopting suitable rainwater harvesting techniques; employing scientific soil and water conservation methods and using sustainable agricultural practices. This paper highlights some important issues associated with the rainfed agriculture of Pakistan. Working strategies for realizing optimum and sustainable yields have been outlined while conserving both land and water resources.

Evaluating strategies for sustainable intensification of US agriculture through the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research network

Science.gov (United States)

Spiegal, S.; Bestelmeyer, B. T.; Archer, D. W.; Augustine, D. J.; Boughton, E. H.; Boughton, R. K.; Cavigelli, M. A.; Clark, P. E.; Derner, J. D.; Duncan, E. W.; Hapeman, C. J.; Harmel, R. D.; Heilman, P.; Holly, M. A.; Huggins, D. R.; King, K.; Kleinman, P. J. A.; Liebig, M. A.; Locke, M. A.; McCarty, G. W.; Millar, N.; Mirsky, S. B.; Moorman, T. B.; Pierson, F. B.; Rigby, J. R.; Robertson, G. P.; Steiner, J. L.; Strickland, T. C.; Swain, H. M.; Wienhold, B. J.; Wulfhorst, J. D.; Yost, M. A.; Walthall, C. L.

2018-03-01

Sustainable intensification is an emerging model for agriculture designed to reconcile accelerating global demand for agricultural products with long-term environmental stewardship. Defined here as increasing agricultural production while maintaining or improving environmental quality, sustainable intensification hinges upon decision-making by agricultural producers, consumers, and policy-makers. The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network was established to inform these decisions. Here we introduce the LTAR Common Experiment, through which scientists and partnering producers in US croplands, rangelands, and pasturelands are conducting 21 independent but coordinated experiments. Each local effort compares the outcomes of a predominant, conventional production system in the region (‘business as usual’) with a system hypothesized to advance sustainable intensification (‘aspirational’). Following the logic of a conceptual model of interactions between agriculture, economics, society, and the environment, we identified commonalities among the 21 experiments in terms of (a) concerns about business-as-usual production, (b) ‘aspirational outcomes’ motivating research into alternatives, (c) strategies for achieving the outcomes, (d) practices that support the strategies, and (e) relationships between practice outreach and adoption. Network-wide, concerns about business as usual include the costs of inputs, opportunities lost to uniform management approaches, and vulnerability to accelerating environmental changes. Motivated by environmental, economic, and societal outcomes, scientists and partnering producers are investigating 15 practices in aspirational treatments to sustainably intensify agriculture, from crop diversification to ecological restoration. Collectively, the aspirational treatments reveal four general strategies for sustainable intensification: (1) reducing reliance on inputs through ecological intensification, (2) diversifying management

Routing of biomass for sustainable agricultural development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suhaimi Masduki; Aini Zakaria

1998-01-01

Photosynthetically derived biomass and residues, including waste products from food processing industries are renewable. They accumulate every year in large quantities, causing deterioration to the environment and loss of potentially valuable resources. The conserved energy is potentially convertible; thermodynamically the energy can be tapped into forms which are more amenable for value added agricultural applications or for other higher value products such as chemicals or their feedstocks. The forms and types in which this biomass has to be modified for the intended use depend on the costs or the respective alternatives. Under current situations, where chemical feedstocks are available in abundance at very competitive prices, biomass is obviously more suitably placed in the agro-industrial sector. Recycling of the biomass or residues into the soil as biofertilizers or for some other uses for agricultural applications requires less intense energy inputs for their improvements. Highly efficient biological processes with microorganisms as the primary movers in the production of the desired end products indeed require less capital costs than in most other industrial entities. In this paper, the various processes, which are potentially valuable and economically feasible in the conversion of biomass and residues for several products important in the agricultural sector, are described. Emphasis is given to the approach and the possible permutations of these processes to arrive at the desired good quality products for sustainable agricultural development. (Author)

Deficit irrigation and sustainable water-resource strategies in agriculture for China’s food security

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Taisheng; Kang, Shaozhong; Zhang, Jianhua; Davies, William J.

2015-01-01

More than 70% of fresh water is used in agriculture in many parts of the world, but competition for domestic and industrial water use is intense. For future global food security, water use in agriculture must become sustainable. Agricultural water-use efficiency and water productivity can be improved at different points from the stomatal to the regional scale. A promising approach is the use of deficit irrigation, which can both save water and induce plant physiological regulations such as stomatal opening and reproductive and vegetative growth. At the scales of the irrigation district, the catchment, and the region, there can be many other components to a sustainable water-resources strategy. There is much interest in whether crop water use can be regulated as a function of understanding of physiological responses. If this is the case, then agricultural water resources can be reallocated to the benefit of the broader community. We summarize the extent of use and impact of deficit irrigation within China. A sustainable strategy for allocation of agricultural water resources for food security is proposed. Our intention is to build an integrative system to control crop water use during different cropping stages and actively regulate the plant’s growth, productivity, and development based on physiological responses. This is done with a view to improving the allocation of limited agricultural water resources. PMID:25873664

Development Model Sustainable Promoted by the Family Agriculture in Function of Environmental Preservation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sônia Maria Agra Zamith

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The objective of the research is to indicate directions of alternatives to self-sustainable development outlined at the principle of a family socioeconomic context, and sustainability, environmental  protection  promoted  by  family  agriculture.  The  inclusion  of  Family agriculture model in the discussion, of the preliminary verification of the agricultural production methods used by family units at the time ensuring the livelihood and allows the marketing  of  surplus  production  levels.  The  method  employed  was  the  hypothetical- deductive, with explanatory purpose, which means corresponded to the selection of authors who have the necessary support to the understanding of the precautionary principle in environmental law.

Deficit irrigation and sustainable water-resource strategies in agriculture for China's food security.

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Taisheng; Kang, Shaozhong; Zhang, Jianhua; Davies, William J

2015-04-01

More than 70% of fresh water is used in agriculture in many parts of the world, but competition for domestic and industrial water use is intense. For future global food security, water use in agriculture must become sustainable. Agricultural water-use efficiency and water productivity can be improved at different points from the stomatal to the regional scale. A promising approach is the use of deficit irrigation, which can both save water and induce plant physiological regulations such as stomatal opening and reproductive and vegetative growth. At the scales of the irrigation district, the catchment, and the region, there can be many other components to a sustainable water-resources strategy. There is much interest in whether crop water use can be regulated as a function of understanding of physiological responses. If this is the case, then agricultural water resources can be reallocated to the benefit of the broader community. We summarize the extent of use and impact of deficit irrigation within China. A sustainable strategy for allocation of agricultural water resources for food security is proposed. Our intention is to build an integrative system to control crop water use during different cropping stages and actively regulate the plant's growth, productivity, and development based on physiological responses. This is done with a view to improving the allocation of limited agricultural water resources. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Sustaining Agriculture and the Rural Environment; governance, policy and multifunctionality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brouwer, F.M.

2004-01-01

Apart from food and raw materials, agriculture can also provide ancillary benefits such as landscapes, biodiversity, cultural heritage and thriving rural communities. This book offers a state-of-the-art overview of strategies for sustainable management practices and their implementation through the

Architectural dimension of sustainability: Re-establishing the concept of recycling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Šijaković Milan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Building related processes as water pollution, landfill waste, energy use and related emissions of global warming gases, material and land loss, are undisputable proofs of the devastating effects of the construction industry on our environment. Given that only a small percentage of a total building stock is made out of new work, it is not enough to develop strategies and principles for a sustainable design only for the new projects, but for the existing buildings as well. Therefore, it is essential that, through repurposing, we consider what can be done with what we already have if we are to significantly benefit sustainability agenda in the future. This research focuses on the concept of architectural recycling as a method for achieving sustainable architectural design. In the first place, two concepts, two extremes in dealing with existing buildings will be analysed: 1 preservation as radical stasis and 2 destruction as radical change. This analysis will enable the formulation of the concept of architectural recycling as the ‘preservation through change’, viewed as a sustainable response to rapidly changing conditions. The elaboration of the concept of architectural recycling, as a key method for responding to the sustainability agenda, is the focus of this paper. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. TR 36035: Spatial, Environmental, Energy and Social Aspects of Developing Settlements and Climate Change - Mutual Impacts

An Empirical Study on Sustainable Agriculture Land Use Right Transfer in the Heihe River Basin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ye Sun

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Agriculture land use right transfer (ALURT is a new policy designed to meet the demand of the sustainable development of agriculture in China. In the Heihe river basin (HRB, ALURT has also recently been introduced to cope with the emerging challenges in agriculture. In this paper, we empirically study the long-term viability of this new policy in HRB using a sustainability assessment. We collect the documents of ALURT contracts, statistical data of ALURT performance, and conduct interviews with its users. The main finding is that the centralized institutional structure of ALURT in HRB compromises its long-term viability. In particular, the power imbalance under the regulation of the intermediate agency, which causes the dissatisfaction of the participants, is threatening the application of the ALURT policy in the long run. Therefore, we suggest that the role of the intermediate agency in ALURT needs to be redefined, to better serve the sustainable development of agriculture in HRB.

The scale concept and sustainable development: implications on the energetics and water resources; O conceito de escala e o desenvolvimento sustentavel: implicacoes sobre os recursos energeticos e hidricos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Demanboro, Antonio Carlos; Mariotoni, Carlos Alberto [Universidade Estadual de Campinas, SP (Brazil). Faculdade de Engenharia Civil]. E-mail: cam@fec.unicamp.br

1999-07-01

The relationships between both the demographic growth and the water and energetic resources are focused. The planet scale and carrying capacity are discussed starting from the maximum and optimum sustainable concepts, both anthropocentric and biocentric. Two scenarios denominated 'sustainable agriculture' and 'sharing-water' are elaborated with the available resources of water, fertile lands and energy consumption, and with the population trends. (author)

Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program(SANREM CRSP)

OpenAIRE

Moore, Keith M.

2007-01-01

This presentation describes the history and current program of the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM CRSP). SANREM Objectives include increasing stakeholder income generation capacity, empowering stakeholders, particularly women, enhancing decentralized resource management, strengthening local institutions, improving market access for smallholders and communities, and promoting sustainable and environmentally sound developme...

Agronomy, sustainability and good agricultural practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caliman Jean-Pierre

2005-03-01

Full Text Available Sustainable palm oil production needs to be based on the application of a code of good practices, respecting a certain number of criteria related to economic, environmental and social aspects. We focus here on economic and environmental aspects, attempting to take stock of the current situation regarding the management of inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, and of oil mill waste (empty fruit bunches, effluent. We also take a look at the main agricultural research required if we are to be able to assess the situation on different scales and see how it is evolving, and also provide assistance for rational management that is compatible with farmers’ production targets.

EVALUATION OF SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF AGRICULTURE WITHIN THE CARPATHIANS IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonel SUBIĆ

2013-01-01

Full Text Available By transition process, which is presented in the Republic of Serbia for many years, rural areas are also covered in great extent. Changes in national agricultural policy, in terms of orientation towards rural development and multifunctional agriculture, have led to situation that process of development must involve all stakeholders, from governmental institutions, via local community, to population of rural areas. Such approach to rural development could initiate easier integration into international institutions and European Union, as well as to strengthening of cross-border cooperation within the mentioned area of economy. The most part of the Carpathians in the Republic of Serbia is taken by the national park „Đerdap“ and its protected zone. Within the mentioned protected area, sustainable use of agricultural land is based on traditional system of mountain agriculture that provides a high degree of ecological rationality and represents a very good foundation for development of integral and organic production.Opening toward the international community and peculiarly clear commitment of Serbia to European integrations,requires a new definition of role and importance of agricultural sector. Therefore, it is estimated that now is the perfect time for establishment of concrete conceptual framework and Strategy that will answer to key questions within the agro-food sector. In this context, authors’ intention (they are also the members of the research team of IAE Belgrade which is the holder of the project III 46006 - Sustainable agriculture and rural development in function of Republic of Serbia strategic goals achievement within the Danube region is to evaluate a social sustainability of agriculture in the area of the Carpathians in Serbia. Because of that, research is focused to administrative area of next municipalities: Golubac, Kučevo, Majdanpek, Kladovo and Negotin. Considering microeconomic character of research, it was used the

Assessing the Sustainability of Agricultural and Urban Forests in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Guy Robertson; Andy. Mason

2016-01-01

The Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), published the National Report on Sustainable Forests-2010 (USDA Forest Service 2011) (hereafter, National Report) several years ago and will be releasing a subsequent version of the report in 2017. Based on the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators for Forest Sustainability, the National...

Evolution of the concept of sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carrizosa Umana, Julio

2000-01-01

Topics like the sustainable development are analyzed before the years eighty; main models and criticize current. In her it is to synthesize the process of theoretical construction of the concept, making emphasis in the relativity of the development idea, in the relationship of the sustainability with the justness, and in their vision of the future. The neo liberal pattern of D.S is presented and the variations introduced by the World Bank as well as the proposals of construction of a model of community DS

The Implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act and the Strength of the Sustainable Agriculture Movement.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiseman, Samuel R

2015-01-01

In the wake of growing public concerns over salmonella outbreaks and other highly publicized food safety issues, Congress passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act in 2011, which placed more stringent standards on food growing and packaging operations. In negotiations preceding the Act's passage, farmers of local, sustainable food argued that these rules would unduly burden local agricultural operations or, at the extreme, drive them out of business by creating overly burdensome rules. These objections culminated in the addition of the Tester-Hagan Amendment to the Food Safety Modernization Act, which created certain exemptions for small farms. Proposed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules to implement the Act threatened to weaken this victory for small farm groups, however, prompting a loud response from small farmers and local food proponents. The FDA's second set of proposed rules, issued in September 2014 in response to these and other complaints, were, perhaps surprisingly, responsive to small farmers' concerns. Using comments submitted to the FDA, this article explores the responses of the agriculture industry and public health organizations, as well as small farm groups, consumers of local food, and sustainable agriculture interests (which, for simplicity, I alternately describe as comprising the "sustainable agriculture" or "small farm" movement), to three aspects of the FDA's proposed rules--involving manure application, on-farm packing activities, and exemptions for very small farms--to assess the strength of the sustainable agriculture movement. The rules involving manure application and on-farm packing, it turns out, reveal little about the independent political strength of the local food movement, as large industry groups also objected to these provisions. But for the third issue discussed here--exemptions for very small farms--the interests of sustainable agriculture groups were directly opposed to both industry and public health organizations

Role of an explorative model for learning about sustainable agricultural development in Burkina Faso

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paassen, van A.; Ridder, de N.; Stroosnijder, L.

2011-01-01

Agricultural development is complex, highly dynamic and differs among varying contexts. Decision-making for sustainable agricultural development cannot be based on generalized science-based knowledge, but should include context-specific knowledge and values of local stakeholders. Computer models

A Multi-Factor Analysis of Sustainable Agricultural Residue Removal Potential

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jared Abodeely; David Muth; Paul Adler; Eleanor Campbell; Kenneth Mark Bryden

2012-10-01

Agricultural residues have significant potential as a near term source of cellulosic biomass for bioenergy production, but sustainable removal of agricultural residues requires consideration of the critical roles that residues play in the agronomic system. Previous work has developed an integrated model to evaluate sustainable agricultural residue removal potential considering soil erosion, soil organic carbon, greenhouse gas emission, and long-term yield impacts of residue removal practices. The integrated model couples the environmental process models WEPS, RUSLE2, SCI, and DAYCENT. This study uses the integrated model to investigate the impact of interval removal practices in Boone County, Iowa, US. Residue removal of 4.5 Mg/ha was performed annually, bi-annually, and tri-annually and were compared to no residue removal. The study is performed at the soil type scale using a national soil survey database assuming a continuous corn rotation with reduced tillage. Results are aggregated across soil types to provide county level estimates of soil organic carbon changes and individual soil type soil organic matter content if interval residue removal were implemented. Results show interval residue removal is possible while improving soil organic matter. Implementation of interval removal practices provide greater increases in soil organic matter while still providing substantial residue for bioenergy production.

Measuring Baseline Agriculture-Related Sustainable Development Goals Index for Southern Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles Nhemachena

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Sustainable development has become the main focus of the global development agenda as presented in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs. However, for countries to assess progress, they need to have reliable baseline indicators. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to develop a composite baseline index of the agriculture-related SDGs in Southern Africa to guide progress reporting. The paper identified eight of the SDG indicators related to the agriculture sector. The paper relies on data for indicators from five SDGs (SDGs 1, 2, 6, 7 and 15. Applying the arithmetic mean method of aggregation, an agriculture-related SDG composite index for Southern Africa between zero (0 = poor performance and 100 (best possible performance was computed for thirteen countries that had data on all identified indicators. The results show that the best performing countries (Botswana, Angola, Namibia, Zambia and South Africa in the assessment recorded high scores in SDGs 1, 2 and 7. The three countries (Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Madagascar that performed poorly on both SDG 1 and 2 also had the least scores on the overall agriculture-related SDG composite index. The water stress indicator for SDG 6 recorded the worst performance among most countries in the region. Possible approaches to improve the contribution of agriculture to SDGs may include investing more resources in priority areas for each agriculture-related SDG depending on baseline country conditions. The implementation, monitoring and evaluation of regional and continental commitments in the agriculture sector and the SDGs are critical for achievement of the targets at the national and local levels. While the methods employed are well-grounded in literature, data unavailability for some of the SDGs in some countries presented a limitation to the study, and future efforts should focus on collecting data for the other SDGs in order to permit a wider application.

Renewable energy for sustainable urban development: Redefining the concept of energisation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nissing, Christian [Environmental and Process Systems Engineering Research Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town (South Africa); Blottnitz, Harro von, E-mail: Harro.vonBlottnitz@uct.ac.z [Environmental and Process Systems Engineering Research Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town (South Africa); African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town (South Africa)

2010-05-15

It is widely recognised that access to and supply of modern energy play a key role in poverty alleviation and sustainable development. The emerging concept of energisation seems to capture this idea; however, there is no unified definition at the point of writing. In this paper, the aim is to propose a new and comprehensive definition of the concept of energisation. The chronological development of this concept is investigated by means of a literature review, and a subsequent critique is offered of current definitions and usage of the concept. Building upon these first insights, two planned cases of energisation in post-apartheid South Africa are contrasted to an unplanned one: they are the national electrification programme, the integrated energy centres initiative, and a wood fuelled local economy in Khayelitsha, Cape Town's biggest township. Especially the latter case, based on original data collection by the authors, provides a new understanding of specific elements affecting energisation. Finally, a new and detailed definition of the concept of sustainable energisation is developed by systematically reiterating three key elements: the target group, the concept of energy services, and sustainable development.

Renewable energy for sustainable urban development. Redefining the concept of energisation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nissing, Christian [Environmental and Process Systems Engineering Research Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town (South Africa); Von Blottnitz, Harro [Environmental and Process Systems Engineering Research Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town (South Africa); African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town (South Africa)

2010-05-15

It is widely recognised that access to and supply of modern energy play a key role in poverty alleviation and sustainable development. The emerging concept of energisation seems to capture this idea; however, there is no unified definition at the point of writing. In this paper, the aim is to propose a new and comprehensive definition of the concept of energisation. The chronological development of this concept is investigated by means of a literature review, and a subsequent critique is offered of current definitions and usage of the concept. Building upon these first insights, two planned cases of energisation in post-apartheid South Africa are contrasted to an unplanned one: they are the national electrification programme, the integrated energy centres initiative, and a wood fuelled local economy in Khayelitsha, Cape Town's biggest township. Especially the latter case, based on original data collection by the authors, provides a new understanding of specific elements affecting energisation. Finally, a new and detailed definition of the concept of sustainable energisation is developed by systematically reiterating three key elements: the target group, the concept of energy services, and sustainable development. (author)

Renewable energy for sustainable urban development: Redefining the concept of energisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nissing, Christian; Blottnitz, Harro von

2010-01-01

It is widely recognised that access to and supply of modern energy play a key role in poverty alleviation and sustainable development. The emerging concept of energisation seems to capture this idea; however, there is no unified definition at the point of writing. In this paper, the aim is to propose a new and comprehensive definition of the concept of energisation. The chronological development of this concept is investigated by means of a literature review, and a subsequent critique is offered of current definitions and usage of the concept. Building upon these first insights, two planned cases of energisation in post-apartheid South Africa are contrasted to an unplanned one: they are the national electrification programme, the integrated energy centres initiative, and a wood fuelled local economy in Khayelitsha, Cape Town's biggest township. Especially the latter case, based on original data collection by the authors, provides a new understanding of specific elements affecting energisation. Finally, a new and detailed definition of the concept of sustainable energisation is developed by systematically reiterating three key elements: the target group, the concept of energy services, and sustainable development.

Estimates of sustainable agricultural water use in northern China based on the equilibrium of groundwater

Science.gov (United States)

Yali, Y.; Yu, C.

2015-12-01

The northern plain is the important food production region in China. However, due to the lack of surface water resources, it needs overmuch exploitation of groundwater to maintain water use in agriculture, which leads to serious environmental problems. Based on the assumption that the reserves of groundwater matches the statistics and keeps on stable, the author explores the reasonable agricultural water and its spatial distribution based on the principle of sustainable utilization of water resources. According to the priorities of water resources allocation (domestic water and ecological water＞industrial water＞agricultural water), it is proposed to reduce agricultural water use to balance the groundwater reserves on condition that the total water supply is constant. Method: Firstly, we calculate annual average of northern groundwater reserves changes from 2004 to 2010, which is regarded as the reduction of agricultural water; Then, we estimate the food production changes using variables of typical crop water requirements and unit yields assuming that the efficiency of water use keeps the same during the entire study period; Finally, we evaluate the usage of sustainable agricultural water. The results reveal that there is a significant reduction of groundwater reserves in Haihe river basin and Xinjiang oasis regions; And the annual loss of the corn and wheat production is about 1.86 billion kg and 700 million kg respectively due to the reduction of agricultural water; What's more, in order to ensure China's food security and sustainable agricultural water use, in addition to great efforts to develop water-saving agriculture, an important adjustment in the distribution of food production is in need. This study provided a basis to the availability of agricultural water and a new perspective was put forth for an estimation of agricultural water.

Sustainability Management in Agribusiness: Challenges, Concepts, Responsibilities and Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nina Friedrich

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The idea of sustainable management has recently gained growing attention in the agribusiness sector. This is mainly due to a widespread discontent with the industrialization of agricultural production and food processing and growing public pressure on agribusiness firms to implement more sustainable management practices. In this paper we present the results of an explorative empirical study of sustainability management in German agribusiness firms. The study shows that agribusiness firms have developed a broad understanding of sustainability management and perceive a multi-facetted spectrum of societal demands they have to meet. The most important arguments for implementing more sustainable management practices are that companies have to make sure that they are trusted by society in the long run and that the perception of a company by external stakeholders has become more and more important. The companies surveyed know quite a number of sustainability programmes and standards, but the number of companies that actually participate in these initiatives is much smaller. Nonetheless, the majority of the respondents feels that their company is more successful with regard to sustainability management than industry average.

Indonesia-Madagascar partnership in agricultural linkages (impartial aims for sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y Widodo

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Starting in 2011 Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA through the Program of Third Country Experts (TCE invited Indonesian scientists to be involved in the development endeavors for African Countries, including Madagascar especially in attempt to increase productivity of rice as main staple food of Malagasy. Initiation of bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Madagascar had been stimulated from JICA-TCE, furthermore for developing Indonesian soybean to Madagascar from 2013 to 2015. Madagascar and many African Countries are grouped into the countries requesting global aid for taming hunger as declared under Millennium Development Goals (MDGs ended 2015 that continued into Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 2030. Fortunately, there is a similarity of languages in Indonesia and Madagascar East and West Africa as heritage from the ancient voyage before western occupation or even Before Christ (BC era as reflected in the relief at wall of Borobudur a Buddhist temple in Magelang Central Java Indonesia. Based on historical background, there is an opportunity to propose Indonesia- Madagascar Partnership in Agricultural Linkages (IMPARTIAL as a new alliance for attaining sustainable development in developing countries at the southern hemisphere. Implementing agricultural innovation to provide adequate food and renewable energy for daily modern livelihood is a key to attain sustainability.

Engineering crop nutrient efficiency for sustainable agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Liyu; Liao, Hong

2017-10-01

Increasing crop yields can provide food, animal feed, bioenergy feedstocks and biomaterials to meet increasing global demand; however, the methods used to increase yield can negatively affect sustainability. For example, application of excess fertilizer can generate and maintain high yields but also increases input costs and contributes to environmental damage through eutrophication, soil acidification and air pollution. Improving crop nutrient efficiency can improve agricultural sustainability by increasing yield while decreasing input costs and harmful environmental effects. Here, we review the mechanisms of nutrient efficiency (primarily for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and iron) and breeding strategies for improving this trait, along with the role of regulation of gene expression in enhancing crop nutrient efficiency to increase yields. We focus on the importance of root system architecture to improve nutrient acquisition efficiency, as well as the contributions of mineral translocation, remobilization and metabolic efficiency to nutrient utilization efficiency. © 2017 Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

An Introspective view of Sustainable Cohousing with The Malaysian Housing Concept

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jumadi Norhaslina

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Sustainable development strategies are becoming demanded in assisting in wealth distribution and improving living conditions for mankind. A sustained community is one of the sustainable development agendas that encourage community involvement and participation in contributing to sustainability. Moreover, with the rapid population growth, especially in urban cities as the proportion of urban dwellers will reach two-thirds of the world population, this will lead to several problems including the social life changing intensely. Sustainable Cohousing is one of the suggested answers for an innovative form of neighbourly accommodation. Generally, Cohousing is formed by a group of people who are committed to living as a community and who actively participate in the design and operation to shape their own neighbourhood. Through this concept, the community can decide how they can implement sustainability principles in terms of social, economical and environmental terms in their neighbourhood. Therefore, it is important to bring back the sense of togetherness amongst the people and improve their social wellbeing through an effective neighbourhood. The objective of this study is to isolate the basic concept of Cohousing and to identify the conceptual framework of Sustainable Cohousing that may apply to improving the sustainable living in Malaysia. The research methodology was through identifying and reviewing the issues in existing literature on cohousing chosen from various dimensions, such as principles and elements, sustainable value, development model and so on, which can be suited with the Malaysian culture. The findings of this research are useful for property development practitioners and policy makers in promoting sustainability through the new concept of modern housing.

The Concept of Sustainable Development as a Paradigm of Development of Sosiety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khaustova Viktoriia Ye.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The article is dedicated to studying the concept of sustainable development as a new paradigm of development of humanity. The genesis of the evolution of the views of scientists on the goals, essence, and problems of the introduction of this concept are considered. The interpretation of the concept of “sustainable development” by scientists and practitioners is analyzed, and the main approaches to understanding its essence are grouped. The basic principles of sustainable development are singled out. The main approaches to assessing sustainable development of socio-economic systems at different levels, their content, goals, and features of application are investigated. The views of scientists on the path to achieving sustainable development are considered, and the key discussion aspects in solving this problem are identified. It is shown that the concept of sustainable development has undergone a long evolution and continues to develop in accordance with new global challenges. Sustainable development is associated with the formation of a fundamentally new attitude towards man: on the one hand, as a subject of the ecological and economic system, on the other hand, as the main goal of its development. It is substantiated that the transition to sustainable development on a global scale is possible only with the obligatory condition of coherence of all objects and subjects of this process, which is systemic in nature and connects all levels of the socio-economic system (the global, national, regional, local one and various spheres of its functioning (the economic, social, ecological one.

The Concept of Sustainable Strategy Implementation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joanna Radomska

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The idea of sustainable development has been present in the field of management for many years, yet the challenges and rules of contemporary business mean that it remains topical. At the same time, the results of much research indicates an unsatisfactory level of execution of development concepts. Due to this, the subject of the study encompasses the implementation of the idea of sustainability in the strategy execution process, lending it a holistic and balanced nature. The purpose of the paper is an examination of the relationship between strategy implementation and the effectiveness of the strategy execution process. The relationships between the perspectives defined and results obtained by organizations were investigated. The research demonstrated the existence of a positive correlation of varied intensity. It is thus possible to identify a positive influence of the integration of the idea of sustainability with strategy execution, which is reflected in the effectiveness of activities undertaken.

Geography, sustainability and the concept of glocalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herman Theodoor Verstappen

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Sustainability focuses on the question whether our planet can sustain the present and future global human impact. The related environmental issues and particularly global changes, such as increasing temperatures, rising sea level, deforestation and deteriorating biodiversity, have become a key subject in earth science research. The social and economic components of sustainability, however, get less scientific attention and are often ignored in political and religious circles. Emphasis is on the symptoms of the issue rather than on coping strategies. Are the growing population numbers and social discrepancies compatible with sustainability and is the free market economy of our consumption society compatible with the ecological limits of growth, social balance and human aspirations? Sustainable development is a realistic concept only if its economic aspects are shouldered by social and environmental considerations and if regional and local diversity is respected. The globalization required today thus should be coupled with decentralized glocalization. In this interdisciplinary field of regional differentiation geography can make important contributions. Earth observation from satellites and data handling using geoinformation systems are essential tools.

The impact of marketing systems on soil sustainability of agriculture in developing countries : a method and an application

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Castaño, J.; Meulenberg, M.T.G.; Tilburg, van A.

2005-01-01

This article is concerned with soil-sustainability problems of agriculture in developing countries, in particular with soil erosion. The aim of our study is to develop a comprehensive model that explains the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices with respect to soil conservation. Our

The Cradle to Cradle concept - is it always sustainable?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjørn, Anders; Strandesen, Maria

TerraSkin with a cellulose based reference paper was conducted. From this, energy systems and recycling infrastructure was found to be decisive parameters for the sustainability of C2C products. They are therefore not always sustainable. Moreover a literature study identified inherent sustainability......The Cradle to Cradle (C2C) concept has gained wide interest among especially designers over the past few years. This paper aims to investigate whether C2C products are in fact always sustainable and to explore whether an ideal C2C society is so too. An LCA comparing the C2C certified mineral paper...

A Review of Organic Farming for Sustainable Agriculture in Northern India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. K. Yadav

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In the post independence period, the most important challenge in India has been to produce enough food for the growing population. Hence, high-yielding varieties are being used with infusion of irrigation water, fertilizers, or pesticides. This combination of high-yielding production technology has helped the country develop a food surplus as well as contributing to concerns of soil health, environmental pollution, pesticide toxicity, and sustainability of agricultural production. Scientists and policy planners are, therefore, reassessing agricultural practices which relied more on biological inputs rather than heavy usage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Organic farming can provide quality food without adversely affecting the soil’s health and the environment; however, a concern is whether large-scale organic farming will produce enough food for India’s large population. Certified organic products including all varieties of food products including basmati rice, pulses, honey, tea, spices, coffee, oilseeds, fruits, cereals, herbal medicines, and their value-added products are produced in India. Non edible organic products include cotton, garments, cosmetics, functional food products, body care products, and similar products. The production of these organic crops and products is reviewed with regard to sustainable agriculture in northern India.

Linked sustainability challenges and trade-offs among fisheries, aquaculture and agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanchard, Julia L; Watson, Reg A; Fulton, Elizabeth A; Cottrell, Richard S; Nash, Kirsty L; Bryndum-Buchholz, Andrea; Büchner, Matthias; Carozza, David A; Cheung, William W L; Elliott, Joshua; Davidson, Lindsay N K; Dulvy, Nicholas K; Dunne, John P; Eddy, Tyler D; Galbraith, Eric; Lotze, Heike K; Maury, Olivier; Müller, Christoph; Tittensor, Derek P; Jennings, Simon

2017-09-01

Fisheries and aquaculture make a crucial contribution to global food security, nutrition and livelihoods. However, the UN Sustainable Development Goals separate marine and terrestrial food production sectors and ecosystems. To sustainably meet increasing global demands for fish, the interlinkages among goals within and across fisheries, aquaculture and agriculture sectors must be recognized and addressed along with their changing nature. Here, we assess and highlight development challenges for fisheries-dependent countries based on analyses of interactions and trade-offs between goals focusing on food, biodiversity and climate change. We demonstrate that some countries are likely to face double jeopardies in both fisheries and agriculture sectors under climate change. The strategies to mitigate these risks will be context-dependent, and will need to directly address the trade-offs among Sustainable Development Goals, such as halting biodiversity loss and reducing poverty. Countries with low adaptive capacity but increasing demand for food require greater support and capacity building to transition towards reconciling trade-offs. Necessary actions are context-dependent and include effective governance, improved management and conservation, maximizing societal and environmental benefits from trade, increased equitability of distribution and innovation in food production, including continued development of low input and low impact aquaculture.

Sustainable rural development and cross-border cooperation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stojanović Žaklina

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of sustainable rural development comprises three aspects - social, economical and ecological. They are supposed to act in synergy, but, at the same time, these aspects are supposed to be competitive. Agriculture, as a traditional activity of rural economy, contributes to the sustainable development of rural areas only if there is an adequate resources management. If not, there will be a significant degradation of rural environment. These are the reasons why sustainable agriculture development is emphasized since it maximizes productivity and minimizes negative effects on nature and human resources. In this context, one should observe the connection between agriculture and tourism existing in the EU, where the application of sustainable agricultural development concept produces external effects connected to biodiversity protection and environment in rural areas. These become a good foundation for the development of rural and ecotourism. EU enlargement induced diversification of support programmes that EU gives to the candidate countries, as well as to those who are just entering the process of stabilization and association to the EU. Through cross-border cooperation projects, many goals can be accomplished, among which aspiration for promotion of sustainable economical and social development in border regions is one of the leading. Knowing that these regions are usually passive and underdeveloped, the projects of cross-border cooperation could induce development of those activities in local economy, which could bring better living conditions and economic prosperity on the one hand, and protection of environment on the other. Examples of this kind of projects in Serbia can usually be found in rural and ecotourism development.

Agricultural entrepreneurship and sustainability - is it a good or bad fit?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lauwere, de C.C.

2009-01-01

In today’s Dutch agriculture emphasis is put on entrepreneurship, social responsibility and sustainability. But do these fit together? In economic theories entrepreneurs are seen as movers of the markets, seekers of profit opportunities and innovators. Not all farmers however meet these conditions

On Establishing of the Concept of «Smart» Sustainable City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Korepanov Oleksiy S.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at carrying out a comparative analysis of different approaches to the definition of concepts of «smart city» and «smart sustainable city», as well as formalizing these concepts for their implementation, which will potentially contribute to spreading of both the concept and the national practice of sustainable urban development, including the economic, environmental, and general justice issues. The main reasons connected with the key role of cities in the social and economic aspects of people’s life over the world and the enormous influence on the ecological stability are considered; the main current scientific sources concerned with the research on «smart» cities are covered, and their comparative analysis is carried out. The definitions of other alternative concepts such as «digital» city, «intellectual» city, «virtual» city, etc., representing more concrete and less inclusive levels of development of city, are considered in detail and presented. The differences between the concept of «smart city» and other related terms in three categories are discussed. A detailed analysis of different keywords from different sources is carried out. Based on the carried out analysis, six primary categories have been identified: smart life, smart people, smart environment and sustainability, smart management, smart mobility and smart economy, which are important for understanding the essence of «smart» sustainable city.

Agroforestry—The Next Step in Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew Heron Wilson

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Agriculture faces the unprecedented task of feeding a world population of 9 billion people by 2050 while simultaneously avoiding harmful environmental and social effects. One effort to meet this challenge has been organic farming, with outcomes that are generally positive. However, a number of challenges remain. Organic yields lag behind those in conventional agriculture, and greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient leaching remain somewhat problematic. In this paper, we examine current organic and conventional agriculture systems and suggest that agroforestry, which is the intentional combination of trees and shrubs with crops or livestock, could be the next step in sustainable agriculture. By implementing systems that mimic nature’s functions, agroforestry has the potential to remain productive while supporting a range of ecosystem services. In this paper, we outline the common practices and products of agroforestry as well as beneficial environmental and social effects. We address barriers to agroforestry and explore potential options to alter policies and increase adoption by farmers. We conclude that agroforestry is one of the best land use strategies to contribute to food security while simultaneously limiting environmental degradation.

The Role of Agricultural Management in Sustaining Zayandeh-rud Flow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Emami Heidari

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Management of agricultural practices plays a vital role in reducing the use of limited water resources in arid and semi-arid regions which could result in their sustainability. In this research, the role of managing agriculture in sustaining flow of Zayandeh-rud was studied by calculation of rice water requirement (actual evapotranspiration in paddy fields of Zarrin-shahr by using method of FAO-56 and comparing the results assuming a shift in cropping pattern from rice to other crops. Rice water requirement was estimated at 1485 mm and the volume of water required for irrigation of paddy fields with area of about 6630 Hectare was estimated at 77 MCM. Volume of irrigated waterwas also evaluated by water balance method, confirmed the reliability of FAO-56 method. The results show that, replacing rice or wheat-rice cropping pattern with some possible crops such as bean, maize, walnut, apple and grape decreases irrigation requirements about 27, 15, 24, 29 and 40 MCM, respectively. Generalizing results for the total paddy fields in Isfahan Province with estimated area of about 20000 Hectare will result in an increase of about 3.4 to 9.1 m3/s in Zayandeh-rud discharge during critical months of June to October, when the river flow highly decreases, causing sustainable flow of the river through the year.

Agricultural biology in the 3rd millennium: nutritional food security & specialty crops through sustainable agriculture and biotechnology

Science.gov (United States)

Food security and agricultural sustainability are of prime concern in the world today in light of the increasing trends in population growth in most parts of the globe excepting Europe. The need to develop capacity to produce more to feed more people is complicated since the arable land is decreasin...

Sustainability of natural attenuation of nitrate in agricultural aquifers

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Christopher T.; Bekins, Barbara A.

2010-01-01

Increased concentrations of nitrate in groundwater in agricultural areas, coinciding with increased use of chemical and organic fertilizers, have raised concern because of risks to environmental and human health. At some sites, these problems are mitigated by natural attenuation of nitrate as a result of microbially mediated reactions. Results from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research under the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program show that reactions of dissolved nitrate with solid aquifer minerals and organic carbon help lower nitrate concentrations in groundwater beneath agricultural fields. However, increased fluxes of nitrate cause ongoing depletion of the finite pool of solid reactants. Consumption of the solid reactants diminishes the capacity of the aquifer to remove nitrate, calling into question the long-term sustainability of these natural attenuation processes.

Sustainable development in the EU : Redefining and operationalizing the concept

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Hees, Sander R W

Although sustainable development plays an important role in EU law, neither EU law nor EU policy clearly explains what the concept means and how it must be put into practice. Policy-makers, NGOs, politicians and businesses do, however, need guidance on sustainable development for the purpose of good

An agenda for assessing and improving conservation impacts of sustainability standards in tropical agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Milder, Jeffrey C; Arbuthnot, Margaret; Blackman, Allen; Brooks, Sharon E; Giovannucci, Daniele; Gross, Lee; Kennedy, Elizabeth T; Komives, Kristin; Lambin, Eric F; Lee, Audrey; Meyer, Daniel; Newton, Peter; Phalan, Ben; Schroth, Götz; Semroc, Bambi; Van Rikxoort, Henk; Zrust, Michal

2015-04-01

Sustainability standards and certification serve to differentiate and provide market recognition to goods produced in accordance with social and environmental good practices, typically including practices to protect biodiversity. Such standards have seen rapid growth, including in tropical agricultural commodities such as cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soybeans, and tea. Given the role of sustainability standards in influencing land use in hotspots of biodiversity, deforestation, and agricultural intensification, much could be gained from efforts to evaluate and increase the conservation payoff of these schemes. To this end, we devised a systematic approach for monitoring and evaluating the conservation impacts of agricultural sustainability standards and for using the resulting evidence to improve the effectiveness of such standards over time. The approach is oriented around a set of hypotheses and corresponding research questions about how sustainability standards are predicted to deliver conservation benefits. These questions are addressed through data from multiple sources, including basic common information from certification audits; field monitoring of environmental outcomes at a sample of certified sites; and rigorous impact assessment research based on experimental or quasi-experimental methods. Integration of these sources can generate time-series data that are comparable across sites and regions and provide detailed portraits of the effects of sustainability standards. To implement this approach, we propose new collaborations between the conservation research community and the sustainability standards community to develop common indicators and monitoring protocols, foster data sharing and synthesis, and link research and practice more effectively. As the role of sustainability standards in tropical land-use governance continues to evolve, robust evidence on the factors contributing to effectiveness can help to ensure that such standards are designed and

Microbial Phosphorus Solubilization and Its Potential for Use in Sustainable Agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth T. Alori

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The use of excess conventional Phosphorus (P fertilizers to improve agricultural productivity, in order to meet constantly increasing global food demand, potentially causes surface and ground water pollution, waterway eutrophication, soil fertility depletion, and accumulation of toxic elements such as high concentration of selenium (Se, arsenic (As in the soil. Quite a number of soil microorganisms are capable of solubilizing/mineralizing insoluble soil phosphate to release soluble P and making it available to plants. These microorganisms improve the growth and yield of a wide variety of crops. Thus, inoculating seeds/crops/soil with Phosphate Solubilizing Microorganisms (PSM is a promising strategy to improve world food production without causing any environmental hazard. Despite their great significance in soil fertility improvement, phosphorus-solubilizing microorganisms have yet to replace conventional chemical fertilizers in commercial agriculture. A better understanding of recent developments in PSM functional diversity, colonizing ability, mode of actions and judicious application should facilitate their use as reliable components of sustainable agricultural systems. In this review, we discussed various soil microorganisms that have the ability to solubilize phosphorus and hence have the potential to be used as bio fertilizers. The mechanisms of inorganic phosphate solubilization by PSM and the mechanisms of organic phosphorus mineralization are highlighted together with some factors that determine the success of this technology. Finally we provide some indications that the use of PSM will promote sustainable agriculture and conclude that this technology is ready for commercial exploitation in various regions worldwide.

Efficient, equitable and sustainable energy policy in a small open economy: Concepts and assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Youngho; Fang, Zheng

2017-01-01

This study aims to develop three broadly defined concepts of designing and evaluating energy policy of a small open economy, namely, efficiency, equity, and sustainability which are applied to Singapore. By analysing the historical energy and economic data and examining energy policies and programs implemented, this study finds that (1) energy intensity improves over time and three strategies employed to improve energy efficiency - tariffs, deregulation and setting energy standards - are found to have some positive effects. (2) A utility rebate programme is implemented and revised continuously to achieve equity in energy consumption across Singapore households. (3) By the weak concept of sustainability, Singapore is considered marginally sustainable. Institutional, technological and market-based approaches are being implemented to increase energy efficiency, improve energy equity and secure sustainability. - Highlights: • Three concepts of designing and evaluating energy policy are developed. • Efficiency, equity and sustainability are the three concepts. • Three strategies are identified in improving energy efficiency. • A utility rebate programme is to achieve equity in energy consumption across households. • Institutional and market-based approaches are to secure sustainable energy supply.

Enabling a sustainable and prosperous future through science and innovation in the bioeconomy at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarkar, Sara F; Poon, Jacquelyne S; Lepage, Etienne; Bilecki, Lori; Girard, Benoit

2018-01-25

Science and innovation are important components underpinning the agricultural and agri-food system in Canada. Canada's vast geographical area presents diverse, regionally specific requirements in addition to the 21st century agricultural challenges facing the overall sector. As the broader needs of the agricultural landscape have evolved and will continue to do so in the next few decades, there is a trend in place to transition towards a sustainable bioeconomy, contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emission and our dependency on non-renewable resources. We highlight some of the key policy drivers on an overarching national scale and those specific to agricultural research and innovation that are critical to fostering a supportive environment for innovation and a sustainable bioeconomy. As well, we delineate some major challenges and opportunities facing agriculture in Canada, including climate change, sustainable agriculture, clean technologies, and agricultural productivity, and some scientific initiatives currently underway to tackle these challenges. The use of various technologies and scientific efforts, such as Next Generation Sequencing, metagenomics analysis, satellite image analysis and mapping of soil moisture, and value-added bioproduct development will accelerate scientific development and innovation and its contribution to a sustainable and prosperous bioeconomy. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Water Resources and Sustainable Agriculture in 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Asrar, G.

2008-05-01

Global agriculture faces some unique challenges and opportunities for the rest of this century. The need for food, feed and fiber will continues to grow as the world population continue to increase in the future. Agricultural ecosystems are also expected to be the source of a significant portion of renewable energy and fuels around the world, without further compromising the integrity of the natural resources base. How can agriculture continue to provide these services to meet the growing needs of world population while sustaining the integrity of agricultural ecosystems and natural resources, the very foundation it depends on? In the last century, scientific discoveries and technological innovations in agriculture resulted in significant increase in food, feed and fiber production globally, while the total amount of water, energy, fertilizers and other input used to achieve this growth remained the same or even decreased significantly in some parts of the world. Scientific and technical advances in understanding global and regional water and energy cycles, water resources management, soil and water conservation practices, weather prediction, plant breeding and biotechnology, and information and communication technologies contributed to this tremendous achievement. The projected increase in global population, urbanization, and changing lifestyles will continue the pressure on both agriculture and other managed and natural ecosystems to provide necessary goods and services for the rest of this century. To meet these challenges, we must obtain the requisite scientific and technical advances in the functioning of Earth's water, energy, carbon and biogeochemical cycles. We also need to apply the knowledge we gain and technologies we develop in assessing Earth's ecosystems' conditions, and their management and stewardship. In agricultural ecosystems, management of soil and water quality and quantity together with development of new varieties of plants based on advances

THE CONCEPT OF “SAFETY NET” AND ITS APPLICATION IN AMERICAN AND CANADIAN AGRICULTURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michał Soliwoda

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This aim of the article was  to provide a multi-faceted presentation of the possibilities of aplication the concept of "safety net" in agriculture in the United States and Canada. Literature review, elements of heuristic methods, and the documentaty method- in comparative terms - were used.  . The theoretical basis of the concept of safety nets in agriculture refer to the achievements earned by many schools and streams  in economics and finance. An in-depth analysis is based on an "eclectic" and interdisciplinary approach. In practice, the "architecture" of safety nets in agriculture in the U.S.  and Canada is quite complex and is based on relationships between the individual components. The role of risk management systems for agriculture will be strengthened.

Cyanobacterial Farming for Environment Friendly Sustainable Agriculture Practices: Innovations and Perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jainendra Pathak

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Sustainable supply of food and energy without posing any threat to environment is the current demand of our society in view of continuous increase in global human population and depletion of natural resources of energy. Cyanobacteria have recently emerged as potential candidates who can fulfill abovementioned needs due to their ability to efficiently harvest solar energy and convert it into biomass by simple utilization of CO2, water and nutrients. During conversion of radiant energy into chemical energy, these biological systems produce oxygen as a by-product. Cyanobacterial biomass can be used for the production of food, energy, biofertilizers, secondary metabolites of nutritional, cosmetics, and medicinal importance. Therefore, cyanobacterial farming is proposed as environment friendly sustainable agricultural practice which can produce biomass of very high value. Additionally, cyanobacterial farming helps in decreasing the level of greenhouse gas, i.e., CO2, and it can be also used for removing various contaminants from wastewater and soil. However, utilization of cyanobacteria for resolving the abovementioned problems is subjected to economic viability. In this review, we provide details on different aspects of cyanobacterial system that can help in developing sustainable agricultural practices. We also describe different large-scale cultivation systems for cyanobacterial farming and discuss their merits and demerits in terms of economic profitability.

Sustainable management of agriculture activity on areas with soil vulnerability to compaction trough a developed decision support system (DSS)

Science.gov (United States)

Moretto, Johnny; Fantinato, Luciano; Rasera, Roberto

2017-04-01

One of the main environmental effects of agriculture is the negative impacts on areas with soil vulnerability to compaction and undersurface water derived from inputs and treatment distributions. A solution may represented from the "Precision Farming". Precision Farming refers to a management concept focusing on (near-real time) observation, measurement and responses to inter- and intra-variability in crops, fields and animals. Potential benefits may include increasing crop yields and animal performance, cost and labour reduction and optimisation of process inputs, all of which would increase profitability. At the same time, Precision Farming should increase work safety and reduce the environmental impacts of agriculture and farming practices, thus contributing to the sustainability of agricultural production. The concept has been made possible by the rapid development of ICT-based sensor technologies and procedures along with dedicated software that, in the case of arable farming, provides the link between spatially-distributed variables and appropriate farming practices such as tillage, seeding, fertilisation, herbicide and pesticide application, and harvesting. Much progress has been made in terms of technical solutions, but major steps are still required for the introduction of this approach over the common agricultural practices. There are currently a large number of sensors capable of collecting data for various applications (e.g. Index of vegetation vigor, soil moisture, Digital Elevation Models, meteorology, etc.). The resulting large volumes of data need to be standardised, processed and integrated using metadata analysis of spatial information, to generate useful input for decision-support systems. In this context, a user-friendly IT applications has been developed, for organizing and processing large volumes of data from different types of remote sensing and meteorological sensors, and for integrating these data into user-friendly farm management support

Développement durable et agriculture durable : sens du concept de « durabilité » à travers la presse régionale et le discours des agriculteurs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lise Bihannic

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Cette étude porte sur la question du sens des concepts de développement durable et d’agriculture durable à travers, d’une part, une analyse de contenu de leur diffusion dans la presse régionale (presse spécialisée en milieu agricole et presse généraliste. D’autre part, elle s’intéresse à l’appropriation de ces concepts par les agriculteurs. Pour ce faire, des entretiens semi-directifs ont été menés auprès de ces acteurs en prise avec ces questions de « durabilité ». L’objectif est de mettre en parallèle ces deux formes de contenu et de mettre en lumière les représentations sociales liées à ces objets en partant du postulat que ces dernières, en tant que forme de connaissance socialement élaborées, sont un guide pour l’action et que celles-ci se forment, se transmettent, et évoluent au cœur de la communication (Moscovici, 1976.This study focuses on the meaning of the concepts of sustainable development and sustainable agriculture. First, this study deals with a content analysis of their circulation in the regional papers (specialized in agriculture and popular newspaper. Second, it is interested in the appropriation of theses concepts farmers. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with these stakeholders concerned with these issues. The aim of the study is to compare these two content analyses and to highlight the social representations of these concepts. We postulate that these representations are a form of knowledge which is socially constructed. They are a guide to action and that they take shape, they are transmitted and they evolve in the heart of communication (Moscovici, 1976.

Assessing the impacts of sustainable agricultural practices for water quality improvements in the Vouga catchment (Portugal) using the SWAT model.

Science.gov (United States)

Rocha, João; Roebeling, Peter; Rial-Rivas, María Ermitas

2015-12-01

The extensive use of fertilizers has become one of the most challenging environmental issues in agricultural catchment areas. In order to reduce the negative impacts from agricultural activities and to accomplish the objectives of the European Water Framework Directive we must consider the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices. In this study, we assess sustainable agricultural practices based on reductions in N-fertilizer application rates (from 100% to 0%) and N-application methods (single, split and slow-release) across key agricultural land use classes in the Vouga catchment, Portugal. The SWAT model was used to relate sustainable agricultural practices, agricultural yields and N-NO3 water pollution deliveries. Results show that crop yields as well as N-NO3 exportation rates decrease with reductions in N-application rates and single N-application methods lead to lower crop yields and higher N-NO3 exportation rates as compared to split and slow-release N-application methods. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS COMPETITIVENESS: TRANSLATING CONCEPT INTO PRACTICE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Idqan Fahmi

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Globalization has proven to spur economic growth for many countries in the world. It has, however, also negative impacts in terms of widening income gap, environmental degradation etc. such that many are worried that the growth will not be sustainable. Triple bottom line was introduced to make the economic growth and company competitiveness more sustainable. Although to define the concept is easy, to make it implemented, especially by developing countries, is another matter. Education and research track by universities is suggested to be one best way to accelerate the implementation of the concept. A case of Graduate Program of Management and Business (MB-IPB is used to illustrate the attempt.Keywords: Sustainable Business Competitiveness, Triple Bottom Line, MB-IPB, 3PsABSTRAKGlobalisasi telah terbukti memacu pertumbuhan ekonomi pada berbagai belahan dunia, tetapi juga mempunyai banyak dampak negatif yang dirasakan dalam bentuk melebarnya kesenjangan pendapatan, kerusakan lingkungan dll. Akibatnya banyak khawatir bahwa pertumbuhan ekonomi yang terjadi tidak akan berkelanjutan. Konsep Triple Bottom Line diperkenalkan untuk membuat pertumbuhan ekonomi dan dayasaing perusahaan lebih berkelanjutan. Walaupun konsep ini relatif mudah untuk dijelaskan, menerapkannnya ternyata tidak mudah, terutama di negara berkembang. Jalur pendidikan dan penelitian merupakan salah satu cara terbaik yang dapat dilakukan universitas untuk mempercepat penerapan konsep. Kasus Program Pascasarjana Manajemen dan Bisnis (MB-IPB digunakan untuk mengilustrasikan upaya tersebut.Kata kunci: Dayasaing Bisnis Berkelanjutan, Triple Bottom Line, MB-IPB, 3P

Sustainability of utility-scale solar energy: Critical environmental concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez, R. R.; Moore-O'Leary, K. A.; Johnston, D. S.; Abella, S.; Tanner, K.; Swanson, A.; Kreitler, J.; Lovich, J.

2017-12-01

Renewable energy development is an arena where ecological, political, and socioeconomic values collide. Advances in renewable energy will incur steep environmental costs to landscapes in which facilities are constructed and operated. Scientists - including those from academia, industry, and government agencies - have only recently begun to quantify trade-off in this arena, often using ground-mounted, utility-scale solar energy facilities (USSE, ≥ 1 megawatt) as a model. Here, we discuss five critical ecological concepts applicable to the development of more sustainable USSE with benefits over fossil-fuel-generated energy: (1) more sustainable USSE development requires careful evaluation of trade-offs between land, energy, and ecology; (2) species responses to habitat modification by USSE vary; (3) cumulative and large-scale ecological impacts are complex and challenging to mitigate; (4) USSE development affects different types of ecosystems and requires customized design and management strategies; and (5) long-term ecological consequences associated with USSE sites must be carefully considered. These critical concepts provide a framework for reducing adverse environmental impacts, informing policy to establish and address conservation priorities, and improving energy production sustainability.

Agricultural Water Use Sustainability Assessment in the Tarim River Basin under Climatic Risks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Zhang

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Proper agricultural water management in arid regions is the key to tackling climatic risks. However, an effective assessment of the current response to climate change in agricultural water use is the precondition for a group adaptation strategy. The paper, taking the Tarim River basin (TRB as an example, aims to examine the agricultural water use sustainability of water resource increase caused by climatic variability. In order to describe the response result, groundwater change has been estimated based on the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE and the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS–Noah land surface model (NOAH data. In order to better understand the relationship between water resource increase and agricultural water consumption, an agricultural water stress index has been established. Agricultural water stress has been in a severe state during the whole period, although it alleviated somewhat in the mid–late period. This paper illustrates that an increase in water supply could not satisfy agricultural production expansion. Thus, seasonal groundwater loss and a regional water shortage occurred. Particularly in 2008 and 2009, the sharp shortage of water supply in the Tarim River basin directly led to a serious groundwater drop by nearly 20 mm from the end of 2009 to early 2010. At the same time, a regional water shortage led to water scarcity for the whole basin, because the water consumption, which was mainly distributed around Source Rivers, resulted in break-off discharge in the mainstream. Therefore, current agricultural development in the Tarim River basin is unsustainable in the context of water supply under climatic risks. Under the control of irrigation, spatial and temporal water allocation optimization is the key to the sustainable management of the basin.

Drought, climate change and sustainability of water in agriculture: A roadmap towards the NWRS2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel El Chami

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The frequency and intensity of drought, extreme events and high wind velocities in South Africa are expected to increase in the next century as a result of the changing climate. The National Water Resource Strategy 2 (NWRS2 has set out the general and strategic directions for water resources management in the country for the next 20 years. However, the strategy does not draw a framework tailored specifically for agricultural use, with specific measures and goals. Therefore, to reach sustainability of water in agriculture, four major strategic goals are suggested, on which research institutions can focus and promote through good governance. The strategy emphasises: (1 crop research to find new drought-and heat- tolerant and resistant breeds and varieties; (2 intensified research in agricultural practices; (3 increasing the efficiency of water use within agriculture; and (4 integrating all these strategic goals within a sustainable research framework. Finally, the research calls for rapid action and implementation.

Sustainability and uncertainty

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Karsten Klint

2007-01-01

The widely used concept of sustainability is seldom precisely defined, and its clarification involves making up one's mind about a range of difficult questions. One line of research (bottom-up) takes sustaining a system over time as its starting point and then infers prescriptions from...... this requirement. Another line (top-down) takes an economical interpretation of the Brundtland Commission's suggestion that the present generation's needsatisfaction should not compromise the need-satisfaction of future generations as its starting point. It then measures sustainability at the level of society...... a clarified ethical goal, disagreements can arise. At present we do not know what substitutions will be possible in the future. This uncertainty clearly affects the prescriptions that follow from the measure of sustainability. Consequently, decisions about how to make future agriculture sustainable...

SOME PROBLEMS REGARDING THE AGRICULTURAL AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Condrea DRAGANESCU

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The old rural civilization which assured a long and miraculous surviving of the Romanian people, it is at present in a critical breaking up moment. Production and rural living standard have become lacked of competitiveness, traditions and customs are left and people move to cities. Production looks to be unefficient and not sustainable from an ethnical and social point of view. Under the pressure of this situation, and also of the international concerns (ONU 1972, FAOSARD, UE and European concerns (LEADER 199, EU RDP 2007-2013, sustainable development has become the core of the activity of Romanian scientists and authorities (SNDD 2013-2020-2030, PNDR 2007-2013 . Taking into consideration the previous research results and programmes, the present study approaches the need to pass to real actions based on the analysis of the thresholds of the affected space, some aspects of the agricultural and rural sustainable development, regarding: farm modernization as an economical and social imperative and mention some aspects of the rural sustainable development including also the preservation of cultural, natural and rural heritage.

Farm Education and the Effect of a Farm Visit on Children's Conception of Agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Smeds, Pia; Jeronen, Eila; Kurppa, Sirpa

2015-01-01

Personal connections to agriculture have decreased considerably in Finland during the last few decades due to structural changes in agriculture. In this study, we will elucidate the understanding and conception of agriculture amongst urban pupils who have grown up during the 21st century. The research strategy consists of intervention in form of a…

Risk identification of agricultural drought for sustainable Agroecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Dalezios, N. R.; Blanta, A.; Spyropoulos, N. V.; Tarquis, A. M.

2014-09-01

Drought is considered as one of the major natural hazards with a significant impact on agriculture, environment, society and economy. Droughts affect sustainability of agriculture and may result in environmental degradation of a region, which is one of the factors contributing to the vulnerability of agriculture. This paper addresses agrometeorological or agricultural drought within the risk management framework. Risk management consists of risk assessment, as well as a feedback on the adopted risk reduction measures. And risk assessment comprises three distinct steps, namely risk identification, risk estimation and risk evaluation. This paper deals with risk identification of agricultural drought, which involves drought quantification and monitoring, as well as statistical inference. For the quantitative assessment of agricultural drought, as well as the computation of spatiotemporal features, one of the most reliable and widely used indices is applied, namely the vegetation health index (VHI). The computation of VHI is based on satellite data of temperature and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The spatiotemporal features of drought, which are extracted from VHI, are areal extent, onset and end time, duration and severity. In this paper, a 20-year (1981-2001) time series of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/advanced very high resolution radiometer (NOAA/AVHRR) satellite data is used, where monthly images of VHI are extracted. Application is implemented in Thessaly, which is the major agricultural drought-prone region of Greece, characterized by vulnerable agriculture. The results show that agricultural drought appears every year during the warm season in the region. The severity of drought is increasing from mild to extreme throughout the warm season, with peaks appearing in the summer. Similarly, the areal extent of drought is also increasing during the warm season, whereas the number of extreme drought pixels is much less than

Agricultural marketing systems and sustainability : study of small scale Andean hillside farms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Castaño, J.

2001-01-01

A better understanding of the way in which marketing systems can contribute to the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (ASAP) on small-farms constitutes the aim of this study. In particular, the study examines the contribution of vertical

The concept and principles of sustainable architectural design for national parks in Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milošević Predrag

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The paper elaborates the concept of sustainable architectural design that has come to the forefront in the last 20 years, and in the light of the National Park. This concept recognizes that human civilization is an integral part of the natural world and that nature must be preserved and perpetuated if the human community itself is to survive. Sustainable design articulates this idea through developments that exemplify the principles of conservation and encourage the application of those principles in our daily lives. A corollary concept, and one that supports sustainable design, is that of bio-regionalism - the idea that all life is established and maintained on a functional community basis and that all of these distinctive communities (bio-regions have mutually supporting life systems that are generally self-sustaining. The concept of sustainable design holds that future technologies must function primarily within bioregional patterns and scales. They must maintain biological diversity and environmental integrity contribute to the health of air, water, and soils, incorporate design and construction that reflect bio-regional conditions, and reduce the impacts of human use. Sustainable design, sustainable development, design with nature environmentally sensitive design, holistic resource management - regardless of what it's called, "sustainability," the capability of natural and cultural systems being continued over time, is the key. Sustainable design must use an alternative approach to traditional design and the new design approach must recognize the impacts of every design choice on the natural and cultural resources of the local, regional, and global environments. Sustainable park and recreation development will succeed to the degree that it anticipates and manages human experiences. Interpretation provides the best single tool for shaping experiences and sharing values. By providing an awareness of the environment, values are taught that are

Design of Concept of Sustainable Marketing Communication Strategy for a Ideal Industrial Enterprise and Practical Applications of this Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Šujaková, Monika; Golejová, Simona; Sakál, Peter

2017-09-01

In the contribution the authors deal with the design and use of a sustainable marketing communication strategy of an ideal industrial enterprise in the Slovak Republic. The concept of an ideal enterprise is designed to increase the enterprise's sustainable competitiveness through the formation of a corporate image. In the framework of the research, the practical application of the draft concept was realized through a semi-structured interview in the form of propositional logic.

Technologies for climate change adaptation. Agriculture sector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhu, X [ed.; UNEP Risoe Centre, Roskilde (Denmark); Clements, R; Quezada, A; Torres, J [Practical Action Latin America, Lima (Peru); Haggar, J [Univ. of Greenwich, London (United Kingdom)

2011-08-15

This guidebook presents a selection of technologies for climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector. A set of 22 adaptation technologies are showcased. These are based primarily on the principles of agroecology, but also include scientific technologies of climate and biological sciences complemented by important sociological and institutional capacity building processes that are required for climate change to function. The technologies cover: 1) Planning for climate change and variability. 2) Sustainable water use and management. 3) Soil management. 4) Sustainable crop management. 5) Sustainable livestock management. 6) Sustainable farming systems. 7) Capacity building and stakeholder organisation. Technologies that tend to homogenise the natural environment and agricultural production have low possibilities of success in environmental stress conditions that are likely to result from climate change. On the other hand, technologies that allow for, and promote diversity are more likely to provide a strategy which strengthens agricultural production in the face of uncertain future climate change scenarios. The 22 technologies showcased in this guidebook have been selected because they facilitate the conservation and restoration of diversity while also providing opportunities for increasing agricultural productivity. Many of these technologies are not new to agricultural production practices, but they are implemented based on the assessment of current and possible future impacts of climate change in a particular location. agroecology is an approach that encompasses concepts of sustainable production and biodiversity promotion and therefore provides a useful framework for identifying and selecting appropriate adaptation technologies for the agriculture sector. The guidebook provides a systematic analysis of the most relevant information available on climate change adaptation technologies in the agriculture sector. It has been compiled based on a literature

Agricultural production and sustainable development in a Brazilian region (Southwest, Sao Paulo State): motivations and barriers to adopting sustainable and ecologically friendly practices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leite, A. E.; De Castro, R.; Jabbour, C. J. C.

2014-01-01

The objective of this study is to identify the adoption level of practices associated with more sustainable agriculture and environmentally friendly practices. Additionally, the motivations for and barriers to the adoption of these practices by farmers are investigated. Data were collected through...... closed questionnaires taken by a random sample of farmers in the Southwest, Sao Paulo, Brazil, during the second half of 2013. Overall, sustainable agricultural practices recommended in the literature and analysed in this study are being not fully adopted by farmers of the studied area. The results...... showed that financial motivation is associated with farmers adopting new, more sustainable technology, whereas the lack of information on and lack of technical support for these technologies are significant barriers. Other results, research implications, limitations and suggestions for future research...

Rooftop greenhouses in educational centers: A sustainability assessment of urban agriculture in compact cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Nadal, Ana; Pons, Oriol; Cuerva, Eva; Rieradevall, Joan; Josa, Alejandro

2018-06-01

Today, urban agriculture is one of the most widely used sustainability strategies to improve the metabolism of a city. Schools can play an important role in the implementation of sustainability master plans, due their socio-educational activities and their cohesive links with families; all key elements in the development of urban agriculture. Thus, the main objective of this research is to develop a procedure, in compact cities, to assess the potential installation of rooftop greenhouses (RTGs) in schools. The generation of a dynamic assessment tool capable of identifying and prioritizing schools with a high potential for RTGs and their eventual implementation would also represent a significant factor in the environmental, social, and nutritional education of younger generations. The methodology has four-stages (Pre-selection criteria; Selection of necessities; Sustainability analysis; and Sensitivity analysis and selection of the best alternative) in which economic, environmental, social and governance aspects all are considered. It makes use of Multi-Attribute Utility Theory and Multi-Criteria Decision Making, through the Integrated Value Model for Sustainability Assessments and the participation of two panels of multidisciplinary specialists, for the preparation of a unified sustainability index that guarantees the objectivity of the selection process. This methodology has been applied and validated in a case study of 11 schools in Barcelona (Spain). The social perspective of the proposed methodology favored the school in the case-study with the most staff and the largest parent-teacher association (social and governance indicators) that obtained the highest sustainability index (S11); at a considerable distance (45%) from the worst case (S3) with fewer school staff and parental support. Finally, objective decisions may be taken with the assistance of this appropriate, adaptable, and reliable Multi-Criteria Decision-Making tool on the vertical integration and

Transforming Agricultural Water Management in Support of Ecosystem Restoration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hanlon, Edward; Capece, John

2009-11-20

Threats to ecosystems are not local; they have to be handled with the global view in mind. Eliminating Florida farms, in order to meet its environmental goals, would simply move the needed agricultural production overseas, where environmentally less sensitive approaches are often used, thus yielding no net ecological benefit. South Florida is uniquely positioned to lead in the creation of sustainable agricultural systems, given its population, technology, and environmental restoration imperative. Florida should therefore aggressively focus on developing sustainable systems that deliver both agricultural production and environmental services. This presentation introduces a new farming concept of dealing with Florida’s agricultural land issues. The state purchases large land areas in order to manage the land easily and with ecosystem services in mind. The proposed new farming concept is an alternative to the current “two sides of the ditch” model, in which on one side are yield-maximizing, input-intensive, commodity price-dependent farms, while on the other side are publicly-financed, nutrient-removing treatment areas and water reservoirs trying to mitigate the externalized costs of food production systems and other human-induced problems. The proposed approach is rental of the land back to agriculture during the restoration transition period in order to increase water storage (allowing for greater water flow-through and/or water storage on farms), preventing issues such as nutrients removal, using flood-tolerant crops and reducing soil subsidence. Since the proposed approach is still being developed, there exist various unknown variables and considerations. However, working towards a long-term sustainable scenario needs to be the way ahead, as the threats are global and balancing the environment and agriculture is a serious global challenge.

The Potential of Religion in the Promotion and Implementation of the Concept of Sustainable Development

Science.gov (United States)

Sadowski, Ryszard F.

2017-12-01

This article presents religion's potential where the promotion and implementation of the concept of sustainable development are concerned. First inspired by Lynn White in the 1960s, discussion on religion's role in the ecological crisis now allows for an honest assessment of the ecological potential of various religious traditions and their contribution to the building of a sustainable world. This article on the one hand points to the religious inspirations behind the concept of sustainable development, and on the other highlights the joint action of representatives of religion and science in the name of sustainable development, as well as the involvement of religions in the concept's implementation.

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS COMPETITIVENESS: TRANSLATING CONCEPT INTO PRACTICE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Idqan Fahmi

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Globalization has proven to spur economic growth for many countries in the world. It has, however, also negative impacts in terms of widening income gap, environmental degradation etc. such that many are worried that the growth will not be sustainable. Triple bottom line was introduced to make the economic growth and company competitiveness more sustainable. Although to define the concept is easy, to make it implemented, especially by developing countries, is another matter. Education and research track by universities is suggested to be one best way to accelerate the implementation of the concept. A case of Graduate Program of Management and Business (MB-IPB is used to illustrate the attempt.   Keywords: Sustainable Business Competitiveness, Triple Bottom Line, MB-IPB, 3Ps   /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

Environmental Sustainability of Agriculture Stressed by Changing Extremes of Drought and Excess Moisture: A Conceptual Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elaine Wheaton

2017-06-01

Full Text Available As the climate changes, the effects of agriculture on the environment may change. In the future, an increasing frequency of climate extremes, such as droughts, heat waves, and excess moisture, is expected. Past research on the interaction between environment and resources has focused on climate change effects on various sectors, including agricultural production (especially crop production, but research on the effects of climate change using agri-environmental indicators (AEI of environmental sustainability of agriculture is limited. The aim of this paper was to begin to address this knowledge gap by exploring the effects of future drought and excess moisture on environmental sustainability of agriculture. Methods included the use of a conceptual framework, literature reviews, and an examination of the climate sensitivities of the AEI models. The AEIs assessed were those for the themes of soil and water quality, and farmland management as developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Additional indicators included one for desertification and another for water supply and demand. The study area was the agricultural region of the Canadian Prairie Provinces. We found that the performance of several indicators would likely decrease in a warming climate with more extremes. These indicators with declining performances included risks for soil erosion, soil salinization, desertification, water quality and quantity, and soil contamination. Preliminary trends of other indicators such as farmland management were not clear. AEIs are important tools for measuring climate impacts on the environmental sustainability of agriculture. They also indicate the success of adaptation measures and suggest areas of operational and policy development. Therefore, continued reporting and enhancement of these indicators is recommended.

Integrated Systems Mitigate Land Degradation and Improve Agricultural System Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Landblom, Douglas; Senturklu, Songul; Cihacek, Larry; Brevik, Eric

2017-04-01

Rain-fed agricultural production supported by exogenous inputs is not sustainable because a continuous influx of expensive inputs (fertilizer, chemicals, fossil fuel, labor, tillage, and other) is required. Alternatives to traditional management allow natural occurring dynamic soil processes to provide the necessary microbial activity that supports nutrient cycling in balance with nature. Research designed to investigate the potential for integrated systems to replace expensive inputs has shown that healthy soils rich in soil organic matter (SOM) are the foundation upon which microbial nutrient cycling can reduce and eventually replace expensive fertilizer. No-till seed placement technology effectively replaces multiple-pass cultivation conserving stored soil water in semi-arid farming systems. In multi-crop rotations, cool- and warm-season crops are grown in sequence to meet goals of the integrated farming and ranching system, and each crop in the rotation complements the subsequent crop by supplying a continuous flow of essential SOM for soil nutrient cycling. Grazing animals serve an essential role in the system's sustainability as non-mechanized animal harvesters that reduce fossil fuel consumption and labor, and animal waste contributes soil nutrients to the system. Integrated systems' complementarity has contributed to greater soil nutrient cycling and crop yields, fertilizer reduction or elimination, greater yearling steer grazing net return, reduced cow wintering costs grazing crop residues, increased wildlife sightings, and reduced environmental footprint. Therefore, integrating crop and animal systems can reverse soil quality decline and adopting non-traditional procedures has resulted in a wider array of opportunities for sustainable agriculture and profitability.

Sustainability of energy crops. Four papers by the Centre for Agriculture and Environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanegraaf, M.C.; Van Kuik, M.; Van Zeijts, H.

1998-07-01

Between 1994 and 1996 CLM developed a method for assessing the ecological and economic sustainability of producing and using energy from agricultural and forest biomass. The method has much in common with environmental life cycle assessment (LCA). CLM has also co-ordinated a concerted action called 'Environmental aspects of biomass production and routes for European energy supply'. LCA is at present the best available instrument for assessing the ecological sustainability of energy crops. CLM focused on three topics disseminating the results of the concerted action; updating the work on bioethanol, and proposals for new financial instruments. The results are presented in this report. First, the results from the concerted action and work carried out by CLM were disseminated. Papers were presented at the international conference on 'Implementation of solid biofuels for carbon dioxide mitigation', 29-30 September 1997, Uppsala, Sweden, and at the international workshop on 'Environmental aspects of energy crop production', 9-10 October 1997, Brasimone, Italy. In addition, a paper was written on the need to co-ordinate policy options to stimulate the production and use of energy crops from an energy, agricultural and environmental point of view. Second, a study on bioethanol was carried out in which data obtained elsewhere on the use of bioethanol as a transport fuel were revised and updated. The sustainability of bioethanol production from sugar beet was compared with that of bioethanol from winter wheat. Using bioethanol from sugar beet replaces more fossil energy than bioethanol from winter wheat. For both crops, the costs per ton avoided CO2 decrease over time to 2010, but are still higher than electricity routes. The third action was the development of proposals for new financial instruments to stimulate energy production from biomass in the agricultural and forestry sector. This proposal was presented at the ALTENER Seminar on 'Financial incentives for

Transitions towards sustainable agriculture: the organic apiculture niche in an Argentinean cooperative

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maximiliano Vila Seoane

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This article argues that it is possible to transform innovation pathways in natural-resource-based industries towards more sustainable ones. In particular, it employs the socio-technical transitions framework to understand the structural barriers that the industrial agricultural system puts to COOPSOL, an Argentinean cooperative project of organic apiculture. The article is based on qualitative data that systematize, on the one hand, the pressures for continuity and change in the agricultural system. On the other hand, the data reveal the main perceptions of COOPSOL´s actors about the existing structural limits.

Scenarios reveal pathways to sustain future ecosystem services in an agricultural landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Jiangxiao; Carpenter, Stephen R; Booth, Eric G; Motew, Melissa; Zipper, Samuel C; Kucharik, Christopher J; Chen, Xi; Loheide, Steven P; Seifert, Jenny; Turner, Monica G

2018-01-01

Sustaining food production, water quality, soil retention, flood, and climate regulation in agricultural landscapes is a pressing global challenge given accelerating environmental changes. Scenarios are stories about plausible futures, and scenarios can be integrated with biophysical simulation models to explore quantitatively how the future might unfold. However, few studies have incorporated a wide range of drivers (e.g., climate, land-use, management, population, human diet) in spatially explicit, process-based models to investigate spatial-temporal dynamics and relationships of a portfolio of ecosystem services. Here, we simulated nine ecosystem services (three provisioning and six regulating services) at 220 × 220 m from 2010 to 2070 under four contrasting scenarios in the 1,345-km 2 Yahara Watershed (Wisconsin, USA) using Agro-IBIS, a dynamic model of terrestrial ecosystem processes, biogeochemistry, water, and energy balance. We asked (1) How does ecosystem service supply vary among alternative future scenarios? (2) Where on the landscape is the provision of ecosystem services most susceptible to future social-ecological changes? (3) Among alternative future scenarios, are relationships (i.e., trade-offs, synergies) among food production, water, and biogeochemical services consistent over time? Our results showed that food production varied substantially with future land-use choices and management, and its trade-offs with water quality and soil retention persisted under most scenarios. However, pathways to mitigate or even reverse such trade-offs through technological advances and sustainable agricultural practices were apparent. Consistent relationships among regulating services were identified across scenarios (e.g., trade-offs of freshwater supply vs. flood and climate regulation, and synergies among water quality, soil retention, and climate regulation), suggesting opportunities and challenges to sustaining these services. In particular, proactive

Land use planning for sustainable development of peri-urban zones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Živanović-Miljković Jelena

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Taking into consideration that growth of urban population has impacts on land use and that managing urban population change is one of the most important contemporary challenges, this paper deals with the sustainable development of peri-urban zones which represent important an environment where employment opportunities are developed and resources exploited (particularly agricultural resources and environment where important recreational and leisure activities could be pursued. Within the review of current concepts and planning practices, the concepts of multifunctional agriculture and multifunctional landscapes in peri-urban zones are pointed out, as well as EU Developing Periurban Projects. The paper particularly focuses on the current situation in Serbia, where there is no specific legal basis for the planning of peri-urban areas, although there are positive examples of strategies, regulations and planning documents which treat agriculture and greenery in peri-urban zones in a sustainable manner.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN AZERBAIJAN REPUBLIC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. T. Imrani

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. The aim is to determine the socio-economic aspects of sustainable development of the Republic of Azerbaijan taking into account economic, environmental, social and environmental opportunities of the country; to find the rationale for the concept of sustainable development to eliminate major differences specific to regional economic development, management of economic and social development of the regions.Methods. Historical and comparative analysis, system approach, analysis of statistical and mathematical materials.Findings. We identified the advantages of the concept of sustainable development; cunducted the analysis of the dynamics of development of the leading industries in the region; studied the most promising sectors of the regions from the economic and geographic point of view.Conclusion. We identified socio-economic aspects of sustainable development of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Integrated nutrient management, soil fertility, and sustainable agriculture: Current issues and future challenges

OpenAIRE

Goletti, F.; Gruhn, P.; Yudelman, M.

2000-01-01

Metadata only record The challenge for agriculture over the coming decades will be to meet the world's increasing demand for food in a sustainable way. Declining soil fertility and mismanagement of plant nutrients have made this task more difficult. In their 2020 Vision discussion paper, Peter Gruhn, Francesco Goletti, and Montague Yudelman point out that as long as agriculture remains a soil-based industry, major increases in productivity are unlikely to be attained without ensuring that ...

“Sustainability Learning”: An Introduction to the Concept and Its Motivational Aspects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ralf Hansmann

2010-09-01

Full Text Available This theoretical paper clarifies the concept of sustainability learning and specifically analyzes motivational aspects. Mastering the challenges of sustainability requires individual learning as well as learning processes on different levels of human systems ranging from groups and organizations to human societies, and mankind as a whole. Learning processes of individuals play a fundamental role, since individuals constitute and shape the larger social aggregates. Learning processes on the level of social aggregates are important since social systems embed and influence individuals. Therefore, sustainability learning needs to be understood as a multi-level concept, comprising individual learning as well as learning processes of human systems. Transdisciplinarity and mutual learning between science and society are considered fundamental approaches of sustainability learning, and hence increase the capacity of mankind to manage human-environment systems in sustainable ways. Based on systemic considerations, the two-fold role, in which motivations act as determinants and targeted outcomes of sustainability learning processes, is explained together with the outstanding role that cooperation, hence cooperative motivation, plays for sustainable development. Finally, the multifaceted, controversial discourses on what sustainability ultimately means (for the scientific community, for a given cultural or political entity, organization, or individual person are considered.

Global Challenges and New Approaches in the Common Agricultural Policy 2014 - 2020

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bánhegyi Gabriella

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Unfavorable environmental issues raise attention globally toward the concept of sustainability. Agriculture is not only a sector influenced greatly by environmental conditions, but at the same time, as the most important utilizer of land, a major shaper of the environmental conditions. When forming agricultural policies special attention should be paid to issues such as climate change, scarcity of fresh water, food shortage and biodiversity loss — just to name some of them. The new European general strategy for the upcoming 7 years period has brought new measures for the agricultural policy as well, environment and sustainability being among the top issues.

GM Crops, Organic Agriculture and Breeding for Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salvatore Ceccarelli

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The ongoing debate about the use of genetically-modified (GM crops in agriculture has largely focused on food safety and genetic contamination issues. Given that the majority of GM crops have been produced to respond to the problem of crop yield reductions caused by diseases, insects and weeds, the paper argues that in those cases, the currently used GM crops are an unstable solution to the problem, because they represent such a strong selection pressure, that pests rapidly evolve resistance. Organic agriculture practices provide a more sustainable way of producing healthy food; however, the lower yields often associated with those practices, making the resultant healthy food more expensive, open the criticism that such practices will not be able to feed human populations. Evolutionary plant breeding offers the possibility of using the evolutionary potential of crops to our advantage by producing a continuous flow of varieties better adapted to organic systems, to climate change and to the ever changing spectrum of pests, without depending on chemical control.

On sustainable development of uranium mining industry in China based on the concept of ecological security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Shali; Tai Kaixuan

2011-01-01

Ecological security is an important issue for sustainable development of mining industry, on which the development of nuclear industry and nuclear power is based. But uranium mining and processing has larger effect on ecological environment which mainly include tailings, waste rock, waste water, and radiation effects. In this paper, the dialectical relationship between ecological security and sustainable relationship is analyzed, the ecological safety concept at home and abroad is compared and the role that ecological safety plays in the sustainable development of uranium mining based on analysis of restricting factors on uranium mining in China from the perspective of ecological security is also probed into. To achieve sustainable development of the uranium mining industry in China, an ecological security concept from four aspects must be established: 1) the concept of ecological security management; 2) the scientific concept of ecological security; 3) the concept of ecological security investment; and 4) the concept of ecological security responsibility. (authors)

Innovation, Cooperation, and the Perceived Benefits and Costs of Sustainable Agriculture Practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Lubell

2011-12-01

Full Text Available A central goal of most sustainable agriculture programs is to encourage growers to adopt practices that jointly provide economic, environmental, and social benefits. Using surveys of outreach professionals and wine grape growers, we quantify the perceived costs and benefits of sustainable viticulture practices recommended by sustainability outreach and certification programs. We argue that the mix of environmental benefits, economic benefits, and economic costs determine whether or not a particular practice involves decisions about innovation or cooperation. Decision making is also affected by the overall level of knowledge regarding different practices, and we show that knowledge gaps are an increasing function of cost and a decreasing function of benefits. How different practices are related to innovation and cooperation has important implications for the design of sustainability outreach programs. Cooperation, innovation, and knowledge gaps are issues that are likely to be relevant for the resilience and sustainability of many different types of social-ecological systems.

Sustainable Table | Welcome to Sustainable Table

Science.gov (United States)

Sustainable Seafood Industrial Agriculture Industrial Livestock Production Antibiotics Hormones rBGH Animal , safeguarding animal welfare and supporting local communities. Questions to Ask Asking questions is the best way Livestock Husbandry Sustainable Crop Production Innovative Agriculture New Farmers Organic Agriculture Local

Ecological networks: a spatial concept for multi-actor planning of sustainable landscapes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Opdam, P.F.M.; Steingröver, E.G.; Rooij, van S.A.M.

2006-01-01

In this paper, we propose the ecological network concept as a suitable basis for inserting biodiversity conservation into sustainable landscape development. For landscapes to be ecologically sustainable, the landscape structure should support those ecological processes required for the landscape to

The concept of computer software designed to identify and analyse logistics costs in agricultural enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karol Wajszczyk

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The study comprised research, development and computer programming works concerning the development of a concept for the IT tool to be used in the identification and analysis of logistics costs in agricultural enterprises in terms of the process-based approach. As a result of research and programming work an overall functional and IT concept of software was developed for the identification and analysis of logistics costs for agricultural enterprises.

Sustainability assessment of GM crops in a Swiss agricultural context

OpenAIRE

Speiser , Bernhard; Stolze , Matthias; Oehen , Bernadette; Gessler , Cesare; Weibel , Franco; Bravin , Esther; Kilchenmann , Adeline; Widmer , Albert; Charles , Raffael; Lang , Andreas; Stamm , Christian; Triloff , Peter; Tamm , Lucius

2012-01-01

International audience; The aim of this study was to provide an ex ante assessment of the sustainability of genetically modified (GM) crops under the agricultural conditions prevailing in Switzerland. The study addressed the gaps in our knowledge relating to (1) the agronomic risks/benefits in production systems under Swiss conditions (at field and rotation/orchard level), (2) the economic and socio-economic impacts associated with altered farming systems, and (3) the agro-ecological risks/be...

Sustainable Development in the EU: Redefining and Operationalizing the Concept

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sander R.W. van Hees

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Although sustainable development plays an important role in EU law, neither EU law nor EU policy clearly explains what the concept means and how it must be put into practice. Policy-makers, NGOs, politicians and businesses do, however, need guidance on sustainable development for the purpose of good policy-making, for effectively holding the EU accountable, and for the design of CSR programmes. To that end, this article will first explain the guidance which EU law and policy already offer on sustainable development. Subsequently, this article will propose (I a more workable definition of sustainable development than the one (the Brundtland definition which is currently used, and (II a framework of application for sustainable development. This framework of application (which will have the form of a sustainability impact assessment provides practical guidance for policy-makers, politicians, NGOs and businesses when dealing with sustainable development in their day-to-day work.

A Need for Education in Water Sustainability in the Agricultural Realm

Science.gov (United States)

Krajewski, J.

2015-12-01

This study draws upon the definition of water sustainability from the National Water Research Institute as the continual supply of clean water for human uses and for other living beings without compromising the water welfare of future generations. Currently, the greatest consumer of water resources worldwide is irrigation. The move from small-scale, family farms towards corporately owned and market driven, mass scale operations have drastically increased corn production and large-scale factory hog farming in the American Midwest—and the water quality related costs associated with this shift are well-documented. In the heart of the corn belt, the state of Iowa has dealt with issues over the past two decades ranging from flooding of historic proportions, to yield destroying droughts. Most recently, the state's water quality is intensely scrutinized due to nutrient levels higher than almost anywhere else in the world. While the changed agricultural landscape is ultimately responsible for these environmental costs, they can be mitigated if the farmers adopt practices that support water sustainability. However, many Iowa farmers have yet to embrace these necessary practices because of a lack of proper education in this context. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explore how water sustainability is being conceptualized within the agricultural realm, and ultimately, how the issues are being communicated and understood within various subgroups in Iowa, such as the farmers, the college students, and the general public.

The Trofobiose Theory and organic agriculture: the active mobilization of nutrients and the use of rock powder as a tool for sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wagner L. Polito

2006-12-01

Full Text Available The primary objective of the present paper is to link some relevant concepts on the use of ecological agricultural practices to the production of food crops. In a special topic the Trofobiose Theory, as well as the principle of Active Dissolution of Rocks are considered as important tools in improving the sustainability of Organic, Biodynamic and Process Agricultures.O objetivo principal deste trabalho é estabelecer relação entre alguns conceitos relevantes sobre o uso de práticas agro-ecológicas na produção de alimentos. Em um tópico especial, a Teoria da Trofobiose bem como os princípios da Dissolução Ativa de Rochas são considerados como importantes ferramentas na implementação da sustentabilidade no processo de Agriculturas Orgânica e Biodinâmica.

Role of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria in Agricultural Sustainability-A Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Vejan, Pravin; Abdullah, Rosazlin; Khadiran, Tumirah; Ismail, Salmah; Nasrulhaq Boyce, Amru

2016-04-29

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) shows an important role in the sustainable agriculture industry. The increasing demand for crop production with a significant reduction of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides use is a big challenge nowadays. The use of PGPR has been proven to be an environmentally sound way of increasing crop yields by facilitating plant growth through either a direct or indirect mechanism. The mechanisms of PGPR include regulating hormonal and nutritional balance, inducing resistance against plant pathogens, and solubilizing nutrients for easy uptake by plants. In addition, PGPR show synergistic and antagonistic interactions with microorganisms within the rhizosphere and beyond in bulk soil, which indirectly boosts plant growth rate. There are many bacteria species that act as PGPR, described in the literature as successful for improving plant growth. However, there is a gap between the mode of action (mechanism) of the PGPR for plant growth and the role of the PGPR as biofertilizer-thus the importance of nano-encapsulation technology in improving the efficacy of PGPR. Hence, this review bridges the gap mentioned and summarizes the mechanism of PGPR as a biofertilizer for agricultural sustainability.

Defining sustainability as a social-cultural concept: Citizen panels visiting dairy farms in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boogaard, B.K.; Oosting, S.J.; Bock, B.B.

2008-01-01

The important role of values is very evident when it comes to citizens' concept of sustainability. The present paper had the objective to define sustainability as a socio-cultural concept for livestock production systems. The main research question was: how do Dutch citizens value various aspects of

Sustainability of utility-scale solar energy – critical ecological concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Moore-O'Leary, Kara A.; Hernandez, Rebecca R.; Johnston, Dave S.; Abella, Scott R.; Tanner, Karen E.; Swanson, Amanda C.; Kreitler, Jason R.; Lovich, Jeffrey E.

2017-01-01

Renewable energy development is an arena where ecological, political, and socioeconomic values collide. Advances in renewable energy will incur steep environmental costs to landscapes in which facilities are constructed and operated. Scientists – including those from academia, industry, and government agencies – have only recently begun to quantify trade-offs in this arena, often using ground-mounted, utility-scale solar energy facilities (USSE, ≥1 megawatt) as a model. Here, we discuss five critical ecological concepts applicable to the development of more sustainable USSE with benefits over fossil-fuel-generated energy: (1) more sustainable USSE development requires careful evaluation of trade-offs between land, energy, and ecology; (2) species responses to habitat modification by USSE vary; (3) cumulative and large-scale ecological impacts are complex and challenging to mitigate; (4) USSE development affects different types of ecosystems and requires customized design and management strategies; and (5) long-term ecological consequences associated with USSE sites must be carefully considered. These critical concepts provide a framework for reducing adverse environmental impacts, informing policy to establish and address conservation priorities, and improving energy production sustainability.

Scalar alignment and sustainable water governance: The case of irrigated agriculture in Turkey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Özerol, Gül; Bressers, Johannes T.A.

2015-01-01

Irrigated agriculture plays a significant role in global food security and poverty reduction. At the same time its negative impacts on water and land resources threaten environmental sustainability. With the objective of improving the understanding on the complexity of governing water resources for

Nested archetypes of vulnerability in African drylands: where lies potential for sustainable agricultural intensification?

Science.gov (United States)

Sietz, D.; Ordoñez, J. C.; Kok, M. T. J.; Janssen, P.; Hilderink, H. B. M.; Tittonell, P.; Van Dijk, H.

2017-09-01

Food production is key to achieving food security in the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa. Since agricultural productivity is limited, however, due to inherent agro-ecological constraints and land degradation, sustainable agricultural intensification has been widely discussed as an opportunity for improving food security and reducing vulnerability. Yet vulnerability determinants are distributed heterogeneously in the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa and sustainable intensification cannot be achieved everywhere in cost-effective and efficient ways. To better understand the heterogeneity of farming systems’ vulnerability in order to support decision making at regional scales, we present archetypes, i.e. socio-ecological patterns, of farming systems’ vulnerability in the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa and reveal their nestedness. We quantitatively indicated the most relevant farming systems’ properties at a sub-national resolution. These factors included water availability, agro-ecological potential, erosion sensitivity, population pressure, urbanisation, remoteness, governance, income and undernourishment. Cluster analysis revealed eight broad archetypes of vulnerability across all drylands of sub-Saharan Africa. The broad archetype representing better governance and highest remoteness in extremely dry and resource-constrained regions encompassed the largest area share (19%), mainly indicated in western Africa. Moreover, six nested archetypes were identified within those regions with better agropotential and prevalent agricultural livelihoods. Among these patterns, the nested archetype depicting regions with highest erosion sensitivity, severe undernourishment and lower agropotential represented the largest population (30%) and area (28%) share, mainly found in the Sahel region. The nested archetype indicating medium undernourishment, better governance and lowest erosion sensitivity showed particular potential for sustainable agricultural intensification, mainly in

Agriculture and crop science in China:Innovation and sustainability

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yunbi Xu; Jiayang Li; Jianmin Wan

2017-01-01

The International Crop Science Congress (ICSC) is a regularly held event allowing crop scientists to integrate current knowledge into a global context and international applications. The 7th ICSC was held on August 14–19, 2016 in Beijing, China, with the theme "Crop Science: Innovation and Sustainability". As a companion production for this great congress, the nine papers collected in this special issue feature important fields of crop science in China. This editorial first briefly introduces the 7th ICSC, followed by a brief discussion of the current status of, constraints to, and innovations in Chinese agriculture and crop science. Finally, the main scientific points of the papers published in this special issue are surveyed, covering important advances in hybrid rice breeding, minor cereals, food legumes, rapeseed, crop systems, crop management, cotton, genomics-based germplasm research, and QTL mapping. In a section describing future prospects, it is indicated that China faces a full transition from traditional to modern agriculture and crop science.

Final report TransForum WP-046 : images of sustainable development of Dutch agriculture and green space

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hermans, F.L.P.; Apeldoorn, van D.F.; Vervoort, J.M.; Beers, P.J.; Veldkamp, T.

2011-01-01

In the project “Images of sustainable development of Dutch agriculture and green space” three PhD candidates studied the topic of images in sustainable development. Frans Hermans focused on the topic of societal images and their role and influence in innovation projects. The title of his subproject

Agro-Forestry system in West Africa: integrating a green solution to cope with soil depletion towards agricultural sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Monteiro, Filipa; Vidigal, Patricia; Romeiras, Maria Manuel; Ribeiro, Ana; Abreu, Maria Manuela; Viegas, Wanda; Catarino, Luís

2017-04-01

During the last decades, agriculture in West Africa has been marked by dramatic shifts with the coverage of single crops, increasing pressure over the available arable land. Yet, West African countries are still striving to achieve sustainable production at an increased scale for global market needs. Market-driven rapid intensification is often a major cause for cropland area expansion at the expense of deforestation and soil degradation, especially to export commodities in times of high prices. Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is nowadays an important export-oriented crop, being produced under intensive cultivation regimes in several tropical regions. Particularly, among the main cashew production areas, West Africa is the most recent and dynamic in the world, accounting for 45% of the world cashew nuts production in 2015. Considering its global market values, several developing countries rely on cashew nuts as national economy revenues, namely in Guinea-Bissau. Considering the intensive regime of cashew production in Guinea-Bissau, and as widely recognized, intensive agriculture linked with extensification can negatively impact ecosystems, affecting natural resources availability, soil erosion and arability compromised by excessive salinity. Ultimately this will result in the disruption of carbon - nitrogen cycle, important to the agricultural ecosystem sustainability. As such, tree intercropped with legumes as cover crops, offers a sustainable management of the land area, thus creating substantial benefits both economically and environmentally, as it enhances diversification of products outputs and proving to be more sustainable than forestry and/or agricultural monocultures. Soil fertility improvement is a key entry point for achieving food security, and also increment agriculture commodities of the agro-system. Without using inorganic fertilizers, the green solution for improving soil management is to incorporate adapted multi-purpose legumes as cover crops

Imperatives for an agricultural green economy in South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Constansia Musvoto

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Globally, there are social, economic and environmental challenges related to sustainable development; these challenges include climate change, the need to feed a rapidly increasing population, high rates of poverty and environmental degradation. These challenges have forced us to rethink the way in which development takes place, resulting in the emergence of the concept of a �green economy�. A green economy results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing risks to the environment. It is based on principles which integrate social, economic and environmental considerations. South Africa has adopted the principle of green economic growth, and agriculture is one of the sectors that will drive this growth. Agriculture could address some of the sustainable development problems, but there are challenges related to resource availability, environmental impacts of agriculture and climate change. For agriculture to support a green economy it has to be productive, contribute to economic growth and not undermine the environment, social and cultural systems. The information base and policies required to support a green economy in general, and/or an agriculture-supported green economy have not yet been developed, as the green economy is an emerging concept in South Africa as well as globally. The generation of such information requires analysis and synthesis of green economy principles and agricultural imperatives into generic principles and practices for facilitating agriculture�s contribution to the green economy. In this paper, we conduct this analysis and synthesis and highlight the defining aspects of an agricultural green economy.

Generalization of Water Pricing Model in Agriculture and Domestic Groundwater for Water Sustainability and Conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Hek, Tan Kim; Fadzli Ramli, Mohammad; Iryanto; Rohana Goh, Siti; Zaki, Mohd Faiz M.

2018-03-01

The water requirement greatly increased due to population growth, increased agricultural areas and industrial development, thus causing high water demand. The complex problems facing by country is water pricing is not designed optimally as a staple of human needs and on the other hand also cannot guarantee the maintenance and distribution of water effectively. The cheap water pricing caused increase of water use and unmanageable water resource. Therefore, the more optimal water pricing as an effective control of water policy is needed for the sake of ensuring water resources conservation and sustainability. This paper presents the review on problems, issues and mathematical modelling of water pricing based on agriculture and domestic groundwater for water sustainability and conservation.

A DSS for sustainable development and environmental protection of agricultural regions.

Science.gov (United States)

Manos, Basil D; Papathanasiou, Jason; Bournaris, Thomas; Voudouris, Kostas

2010-05-01

This paper presents a decision support system (DSS) for sustainable development and environmental protection of agricultural regions developed in the framework of the Interreg-Archimed project entitled WaterMap (development and utilization of vulnerability maps for the monitoring and management of groundwater resources in the ARCHIMED areas). Its aim is to optimize the production plan of an agricultural region taking in account the available resources, the environmental parameters, and the vulnerability map of the region. The DSS is based on an optimization multicriteria model. The spatial integration of vulnerability maps in the DSS enables regional authorities to design policies for optimal agricultural development and groundwater protection from the agricultural land uses. The DSS can further be used to simulate different scenarios and policies by the local stakeholders due to changes on different social, economic, and environmental parameters. In this way, they can achieve alternative production plans and agricultural land uses as well as to estimate economic, social, and environmental impacts of different policies. The DSS is computerized and supported by a set of relational databases. The corresponding software has been developed in a Microsoft Windows XP platform, using Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft Access, and the LINDO library. For demonstration reasons, the paper includes an application of the DSS in a region of Northern Greece.

Agriculture: Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the food, feed, and fiber needs of our country and the social, economic and other requirements.

Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Ghana: What Governance System Works?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eileen Bogweh Nchanji

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Urban farming takes advantage of its proximity to market, transport and other urban infrastructure to provide food for the city and sustain the livelihoods of urban and peri-urban dwellers. It is an agricultural activity which employs more than 50% of the local urban population with positive and negative impacts on local and national development. Urban agriculture is an informal activity not supported by law but in practice is regulated to a certain extent by state institutions, traditional rulers, farmers and national and international non-governmental organisations. Tamale’s rapid population growth, exacerbated by the unplanned development system and institutional conflicts, are factors contributing to the present bottlenecks in the urban agricultural system. In this paper, these bottlenecks are conceptualised as problems of governance. These issues will be illustrated using ethnographic data from land sales, crop-livestock competition, waste-water irrigation, and markets. I will explain how conflicts which arise from these different situations are resolved through the interactions of various governance systems. Informal governance arrangements are widespread, but neither they nor formal systems are always successful in resolving governance issues. A participatory governance does not seem possible due to actors’ divergent interests. A governance solution for this sector is not yet apparent, contributing to food and nutritional insecurity.

Strategies of Transition to Sustainable Agriculture in Iran I- Improving Resources Use Efficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alireza Koocheki

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction Fast switch to sustainable agriculture patterns is not impossible for many farmers. However to achieve perfect sustainable in agro-ecosystems which are friendly with environment, changing conventional to sustainable agriculture should be carried slowly. For this purpose, three effective steps were mentioned: first level is increasing of inputs efficiency such as fertilizer and chemical pesticides which used in conventional agriculture now. Second level is related to changing inputs by friendly environmental inputs as alternative inputs and the final level is redesigning of the agro-ecosystems that its function is based on series of ecological process. On the other hand, achieving sustainable agriculture requires higher efficiency of inputs and many process should be replaced by friendly environmental inputs with chemical inputs and new system is designed based on ecological principles. The objective of this study was to offer approaches for improving inputs use efficiency as first step to transition from conventional to sustainable agriculture. Material and Methods In order to evaluate the transition status from conventional to sustainable agriculture in agro-ecosystems of Iran, scientific resource and researches that was performed about increasing of inputs efficiency as first step to transition from conventional to sustainable agriculture was studied. For this purpose, 177 studies that had been performed about using different inputs and its efficiency in various crops were assessed. Applied inputs included water, nitrogen and herbicides and studied plants included cereals (wheat, barley, rice, maize and sorghum, beans (bean, pea and lentil, oil crops (canola, sunflower, safflower and sesame, medicinal plants, potato, sugar beet and cotton. In this study, average and range of inputs use efficiency in different crops and also the relationship between increasing of inputs application with their use efficiency was assessed. In the

The concept and principles of sustainable architectural design for national parks in Serbia

OpenAIRE

Milošević Predrag

2004-01-01

The paper elaborates the concept of sustainable architectural design that has come to the forefront in the last 20 years, and in the light of the National Park. This concept recognizes that human civilization is an integral part of the natural world and that nature must be preserved and perpetuated if the human community itself is to survive. Sustainable design articulates this idea through developments that exemplify the principles of conservation and encourage the application of those princ...

The importance of an alternative for sustainability of agriculture around the periphery of the Amazon rainforest.

Science.gov (United States)

Moura, Emanoel G; Sena, Virley G L; Corrêa, Mariana S; Aguiar, Alana das C F

2013-04-01

The unsustainable use of the soil of the deforested area at the Amazonian border is one of the greatest threats to the rainforest, because it is the predominant cause of shifting cultivation in the region. The sustainable management of soils with low natural fertility is a major challenge for smallholder agriculture in the humid tropics. In the periphery of Brazilian Amazonia, agricultural practices that are recommended for the Brazilian savannah, such as saturating soils with soluble nutrients do not ensure the sustainability of agroecosystems. Improvements in the tilled topsoil cannot be maintained if deterioration of the porous soil structure is not prevented and nutrient losses in the root zone are not curtailed. The information gleaned from experiments affirms that in the management of humid tropical agrosystems, the processes resulting from the interaction between climatic factors and indicators of soil quality must be taken into consideration. It must be remembered that these interactions manifest themselves in ways that cannot be predicted from the paradigm established in the other region like the southeast of Brazil, which is based only on improving the chemical indicators of soil quality. The physical indicators play important role in the sustainable management of the agrosystems of the region and for these reasons must be considered. Therefore, alley cropping is a potential substitute for slash and burn agriculture in the humid tropics with both environmental and agronomic advantages, due to its ability to produce a large amount of residues on the soil surface and its effect on the increase of economic crop productivity in the long term. The article presents some promising patents on the importance of an alternative for sustainability of agriculture.

The art of 'doing' sustainable agricultural innovation: approaches and attitudes to facilitating transitional projects

OpenAIRE

Loeber, A.; Vermeulen, T.; Barbier, M.; Elzen, B.

2012-01-01

The management of projects for sustainable innovation is characterised by a variety of intricacies. Facilitators play a central role in dealing with these challenges. Adopting an empirical approach, this chapter discusses the practical approaches and attitudes that facilitators develop to deal with such challenges in the domain of agricultural innovation. To that end, the paper presents a list of four intricacies inherent in running projects that seek to enhance sustainable development, based...

Balancing water scarcity and quality for sustainable irrigated agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Assouline, Shmuel; Russo, David; Silber, Avner; Or, Dani

2015-05-01

The challenge of meeting the projected doubling of global demand for food by 2050 is monumental. It is further exacerbated by the limited prospects for land expansion and rapidly dwindling water resources. A promising strategy for increasing crop yields per unit land requires the expansion of irrigated agriculture and the harnessing of water sources previously considered "marginal" (saline, treated effluent, and desalinated water). Such an expansion, however, must carefully consider potential long-term risks on soil hydroecological functioning. The study provides critical analyses of use of marginal water and management approaches to map out potential risks. Long-term application of treated effluent (TE) for irrigation has shown adverse impacts on soil transport properties, and introduces certain health risks due to the persistent exposure of soil biota to anthropogenic compounds (e.g., promoting antibiotic resistance). The availability of desalinated water (DS) for irrigation expands management options and improves yields while reducing irrigation amounts and salt loading into the soil. Quantitative models are used to delineate trends associated with long-term use of TE and DS considering agricultural, hydrological, and environmental aspects. The primary challenges to the sustainability of agroecosystems lies with the hazards of saline and sodic conditions, and the unintended consequences on soil hydroecological functioning. Multidisciplinary approaches that combine new scientific knowhow with legislative, economic, and societal tools are required to ensure safe and sustainable use of water resources of different qualities. The new scientific knowhow should provide quantitative models for integrating key biophysical processes with ecological interactions at appropriate spatial and temporal scales.

Impact of an increasing supply of bioenergy sources on the sustainability of agricul-tural enterprises, evaluated with the Criteria System for Sustainable Agriculture (CSSA); Folgenabschaetzung einer zunehmenden Bereitstellung von Bioenergietraegern auf die Nachhaltigkeit landwirtschaftlicher Unternehmen, bewertet mit dem Kriteriensystem Nachhaltige Landwirtschaft (KSNL)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Breitschuh, Thorsten; Eckert, Hans; Maier, Uta; Gernand, Ulrich; Mueller, Anja [Thueringer Landesanstalt fuer Landwirtschaft (TLL), Jena (Germany); Verband fuer Agrarforschung und Bildung Thueringen e.V., Jena (Germany)

2009-07-15

The report investigates how an increasing supply of bioenergy sources affects the sustainability situation of farms at different sites and with different structures. The ''Criteria System for Sustainable Agriculture'' (CSSA) was used as analysis and assessment criteria system. The CSSA is based on 34 selected criteria in the field of economy, environment and social conditions. Each criterion indicates a defined pres-sure or state and evaluates the results on the basis of defined tolerance ranges. In the study short-term scenarios of an increasing provision of bioenergy based on real data from agricultural farms were evaluated with the CSSA system. Altogether, 30 scenarios were analysed. As a result the most sustainable scenario for the supply of bioenergy was identified for each farm considered. Using this approach, the most important adaptation reactions of agricultural enterprises were determined and evaluated. Potential applications of the explained procedure are the ex-ante simulation and ex- ante evaluation of agricultural processes and the creation and evaluation of sup-port programmes. (orig.)

Upland agricultural and forestry development in the Amazon: sustainability, criticality and resilience

Science.gov (United States)

Emmanuel Adilson S. Serrao; Daniel Nepstad; Robert. Walker

1996-01-01

This paper provides an overview of agricultural and forestry development in the Amazon basin, and presents and discusses the main land use systems in evidence today in that region. These are logging, shifting-cultivation and ranching. The issue of sustainability is addressed, and current Amazonian land use is interpreted in light of ecological impacts and long-run...

The economic impact of more sustainable water use in agriculture: A computable general equilibrium analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Calzadilla, Alvaro; Rehdanz, Katrin; Tol, Richard S. J.

2010-04-01

SummaryAgriculture is the largest consumer of freshwater resources - around 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawals are used for food production. These agricultural products are traded internationally. A full understanding of water use is, therefore, impossible without understanding the international market for food and related products, such as textiles. Based on the global general equilibrium model GTAP-W, we offer a method for investigating the role of green (rain) and blue (irrigation) water resources in agriculture and within the context of international trade. We use future projections of allowable water withdrawals for surface water and groundwater to define two alternative water management scenarios. The first scenario explores a deterioration of current trends and policies in the water sector (water crisis scenario). The second scenario assumes an improvement in policies and trends in the water sector and eliminates groundwater overdraft world-wide, increasing water allocation for the environment (sustainable water use scenario). In both scenarios, welfare gains or losses are not only associated with changes in agricultural water consumption. Under the water crisis scenario, welfare not only rises for regions where water consumption increases (China, South East Asia and the USA). Welfare gains are considerable for Japan and South Korea, Southeast Asia and Western Europe as well. These regions benefit from higher levels of irrigated production and lower food prices. Alternatively, under the sustainable water use scenario, welfare losses not only affect regions where overdrafting is occurring. Welfare decreases in other regions as well. These results indicate that, for water use, there is a clear trade-off between economic welfare and environmental sustainability.

The emerging roles of agricultural insurance and farmers cooperatives on sustainable rice productions in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Lopulisa, C.; Rismaneswati; Ramlan, A.; Suryani, I.

2018-05-01

Rice is the main staple food of most Asian countries including Indonesia. Most of the rice producers are constituted by small individual farmers characterized with mostly landless, have a less farming capitals and less access to pool resources and of course are confronted with various risk. Agriculture is faced with a lot of uncertainly most of which are not within the control of farmers. Global climatic change, climatic disasters, fluctuation of global economic and competitiveness of multinational company make difficulties of farmers to pursue his sustainable farming activity. The challenge and the role of government is to reduce uncertainly and to improve resiliency of the small farmer. Agriculture insurance shall focus on risk factors that are difficult to manage or cannot be managed by small farmers and it is should be viewed as just one aspect of the “holistic” risk management strategy. Technology, market, consumer, behaviour, development will always move forward, and no individual farmers can adapt this change alone, so small farmers need to corporate with each other that can optimized the resources they have. Cooperative could create possibilities, value added, shortening the supplied chain, made a product more effective and efficient, and finally can complete in domestic and global markets. Therefore, agriculture insurance as well a farmer cooperative may play an important role on sustainability of rice production in Indonesia. Nowadays and in the future agriculture sustainability is a not merely of technology problems but also a matter of economic-social-culture and politic issues within local, national, and international context.

The Battle Between "Good" and "Better": a Strategic Marketing Perspective on Codes of Conduct for Sustainable Agriculture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ingenbleek, P.T.M.; Meulenberg, M.T.G.

2006-01-01

Code-of-conduct organizations (CCOs) for sustainable agriculture, such as Fair Trade and Eurep-Gap, are rapidly changing the face of agribusiness. Yet, there is little understanding of how these organizations contribute to sustainability. This study therefore presents a case study of the strategies

Importance of Animals in Agricultural Sustainability and Food Security.

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, Lawrence P; Wulster-Radcliffe, Meghan C; Aaron, Debra K; Davis, Teresa A

2015-07-01

A conservative projection shows the world's population growing by 32% (to 9.5 billion) by 2050 and 53% (to 11 billion) by 2100 compared with its current level of 7.2 billion. Because most arable land worldwide is already in use, and water and energy also are limiting, increased production of food will require a substantial increase in efficiency. In this article, we highlight the importance of animals to achieving food security in terms of their valuable contributions to agricultural sustainability, especially in developing countries, and the high nutritional value of animal products in the diet. © 2015 American Society for Nutrition.

Measuring environmental sustainability in agriculture: A composite environmental impact index approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabiha, Noor-E; Salim, Ruhul; Rahman, Sanzidur; Rola-Rubzen, Maria Fay

2016-01-15

The present study develops a composite environmental impact index (CEII) to evaluate the extent of environmental degradation in agriculture after successfully validating its flexibility, applicability and relevance as a tool. The CEII tool is then applied to empirically measure the extent of environmental impacts of High Yield Variety (HYV) rice cultivation in three districts of north-western Bangladesh for a single crop year (October, 2012-September, 2013). Results reveal that 27 to 69 per cent of the theoretical maximum level of environmental damage is created due to HYV rice cultivation with significant regional variations in the CEII scores, implying that policy interventions are required in environmentally critical areas in order to sustain agriculture in Bangladesh. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

THE CONCEPT OF LOCAL-SMART-HOUSING: TOWARDS SOCIO-CULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY OF VERNACULAR SETTLEMENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AmirHosein GhaffarianHoseini

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The recent decades have witnessed the widespread manifestation of intelligent building design development around the world. Meanwhile, the concept of smart housing as one of the main issues of intelligent building design development has stimulated various architects and designers to make use of it for the sake of sustainable housing. However, this study represents a gap in smart housing design owing to the lack of a deep consideration on cultural values of users for ensuring the socio-cultural sustainability as one of the objectives of sustainable smart housing designs. Accordingly, the study puts forward the concept of local-smart-housing through utilization of appropriate vernacular architectural features and cultural values of vernacular settlements in smart housing design in order to reinforce the sociocultural sustainability. Meanwhile, this study is limited to the Malay context in order to identify the vernacular features of Malay vernacular settlement’s functional spaces for utilization in smart housing design to make them culturally responsive. Correspondingly, this study proposes the concept of local-smart-housing based on the incorporation of intelligent building design and utilization of vernacular features for enhancing the quality of life for users.

Impacts of the precision agricultural technologies in Iran: An analysis experts' perception & their determinants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Somayeh Tohidyan Far

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Nowadays agricultural methods developments that are productively, economically, environmentally and socially sustainable are required immediately. The concept of precision agriculture is becoming an attractive idea for managing natural resources and realizing modern sustainable agricultural development. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors influencing impacts of precision agriculture from the viewpoints of Boushehr Province experts. The research method was a cross sectional survey and multi-stage random sampling was used to collect data from 115 experts in Boushehr province. According to the results, experts found underground and surface waters conservation, rural areas development, increase of productivity and increasing income as the most important impacts of precision agricultural technologies. Experts’ attitudes indicate their positive view toward these kinds of impacts. Also behavioral attitude has the most effect on impacts.

Do Smallholder, Mixed Crop-Livestock Livelihoods Encourage Sustainable Agricultural Practices? A Meta-Analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rudel, Thomas K.; Kwon, Oh-Jung; Paul, B.K.

2016-01-01

As calls for bolstering ecosystem services from croplands have grown more insistent during the past two decades, the search for ways to foster these agriculture-sustaining services has become more urgent. In this context we examine by means of a meta-analysis the argument, proposed by Robert McC.

Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization for Smallholders: What Is It and How Can We Implement It?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian Sims

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Smallholder farmers are the main producers of the world’s food and they will have to increase production by up to 100 percent by 2050 to feed the growing population. This must be achieved while preserving natural resources and that is why sustainable agricultural mechanization (SAM will be fundamental to the process. SAM is climate-smart and environmentally benign and essentially means no-till conservation agriculture, which requires specific mechanization inputs. Principally, these are seeders and planters capable of penetrating soil surface vegetative cover to deposit seed and fertilizer at the required depth and spacing; and equipment for management of cover crops and weeds. Mechanization is required not only for crop production, but also for processing and along the entire value chain. Mechanization inputs are usually expensive and so specialist service provision will be the indicated way forward. This will need collaboration from both the private and public sectors and will involve public-private partnerships to be developed in one form or another. Given the poor track record of public sector mechanization provision, the delivery of SAM should be firmly in the hands of the private sector that should be committed to SAM principles or otherwise be incentivized to the concept through smart subsidies. Improved information flows via smallholder farmer-friendly innovation platforms; and continuing development and testing of SAM technologies via regional centres of excellence will both be required—especially for sub-Saharan Africa.

Model of Numerical Spatial Classification for Sustainable Agriculture in Badung Regency and Denpasar City, Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Trigunasih, N. M.; Lanya, I.; Subadiyasa, N. N.; Hutauruk, J.

2018-02-01

Increasing number and activity of the population to meet the needs of their lives greatly affect the utilization of land resources. Land needs for activities of the population continue to grow, while the availability of land is limited. Therefore, there will be changes in land use. As a result, the problems faced by land degradation and conversion of agricultural land become non-agricultural. The objectives of this research are: (1) to determine parameter of spatial numerical classification of sustainable food agriculture in Badung Regency and Denpasar City (2) to know the projection of food balance in Badung Regency and Denpasar City in 2020, 2030, 2040, and 2050 (3) to specify of function of spatial numerical classification in the making of zonation model of sustainable agricultural land area in Badung regency and Denpasar city (4) to determine the appropriate model of the area to protect sustainable agricultural land in spatial and time scale in Badung and Denpasar regencies. The method used in this research was quantitative method include: survey, soil analysis, spatial data development, geoprocessing analysis (spatial analysis of overlay and proximity analysis), interpolation of raster digital elevation model data, and visualization (cartography). Qualitative methods consisted of literature studies, and interviews. The parameters observed for a total of 11 parameters Badung regency and Denpasar as much as 9 parameters. Numerical classification parameter analysis results used the standard deviation and the mean of the population data and projections relationship rice field in the food balance sheet by modelling. The result of the research showed that, the number of different numerical classification parameters in rural areas (Badung) and urban areas (Denpasar), in urban areas the number of parameters is less than the rural areas. The based on numerical classification weighting and scores generate population distribution parameter analysis results of a standard

Membrane technology for sustainable treated wastewater reuse: agricultural, environmental and hydrological considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Oron, Gideon; Gillerman, Leonid; Bick, Amos; Manor, Yossi; Buriakovsky, Nisan; Hagin, Joseph

2008-01-01

Field experiments were conducted in agricultural fields in which secondary wastewater of the City of Arad (Israel) is reused for irrigation. For sustainable agricultural production and safe groundwater recharge the secondary effluent is further polished by a combined two-stage membrane pilot system. The pilot membrane system consists of two main in row stages: Ultrafiltration (UF) and Reverse Osmosis (RO). The UF stage is efficient in the removal of the pathogens and suspended organic matter while the successive RO stage provides safe removal of the dissolved solids (salinity). Effluents of various qualities were applied for agricultural irrigation along with continuous monitoring of the membrane system performance. Best agricultural yields were obtained when applying effluent having minimal content of dissolved solids (after the RO stage) as compared with secondary effluent without any further treatment and extended storage. In regions with shallow groundwater reduced soil salinity in the upper productive layers, maintained by extra membrane treatment, will guarantee minimal dissolved solids migration to the aquifers and minimize salinisation processes. (c) IWA Publishing 2008.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE PROBLEM OF A NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMAL PRODUCTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Condrea DRAGANESCU

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The paper aimed to approach the topic of a new strategy for the sustainable and competitive development of Romanian agriculture and especially for animal husbandry. In this purpose, a large variety of studies was investigated and the opinions of well-known personalities were used to present in a critical manner the history of sustainable development concept, principles, causes, reasons, moments, events, institutions involved at international, European and national level, achievements. The study is focused on Romania, starting from the actual situation of animal husbandry and learning from the country own and others experience. During the last centuries, the scientific studies noticed that the growth trends of the world population and resources utilization which could determine complications for survival of human society. The first Report of The Club of Rome (1972 concluded mathematically that " if the present growth trends in world population, industrialization, pollution, food production, and resources depletion continue to remain unchanged, the limits to growth on this planet will be reached sometime in the next hundred years",..that is in the 21 century. As a reply, the international and national bodies adopted recommendations for a sustainable development. This study analyzed the problems of sustainable development of animal production in Romania, taking into consideration that the conversion rate of energy provided by plants to animal products is about 20%, and this decrease of the number of population is supported by agricultural food production. Two production systems are proposed: (1. Intensive production systems, with high forage conversion, in favorable agricultural country area; (2. extensive (free-ranging, transhumance, pendulation, sustainable, biological production in not or less favorable agricultural area (mountain area, etc.

Conceptual Analysis: The Charcoal-Agriculture Nexus to Understand the Socio-Ecological Contexts Underlying Varied Sustainability Outcomes in African Landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miyuki Iiyama

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The production of charcoal is an important socio-economic activity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA. Charcoal production is one of the leading drivers of rural land-use changes in SSA, although the intensity of impacts on the multi-functionality of landscapes varies considerably. Within a given landscape, charcoal production is closely interconnected to agriculture production both as major livelihoods, while both critically depend on the same ecosystem services. The interactions between charcoal and agricultural production systems can lead to positive synergies of impacts, but will more often result in trade-offs and even vicious cycles. Such sustainability outcomes vary from one site to another due to the heterogeneity of contexts, including agricultural production systems that affect the adoption of technologies and practices. Trade-offs or cases of vicious cycles occur when one-off resource exploitation of natural trees for charcoal production for short-term economic gains permanently impairs ecosystem functions. Given the fact that charcoal, as an important energy source for the growing urban populations and an essential livelihood for the rural populations, cannot be readily substituted in SSA, there must be policies to support charcoal production. Policies should encourage sustainable technologies and practices, either by establishing plantations or by encouraging regeneration, whichever is more suitable for the local environment. To guide context-specific interventions, this paper presents a new perspective—the charcoal-agriculture nexus—aimed at facilitating the understanding of the socio-economic and ecological interactions of charcoal and agricultural production. The nexus especially highlights two dimensions of the socio-ecological contexts: charcoal value chains and tenure systems. Combinations of the two are assumed to underlie varied socio-economic and ecological sustainability outcomes by conditioning incentive mechanisms to affect

Sustainability: Teaching an Interdisciplinary Threshold Concept through Traditional Lecture and Active Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Levintova, Ekaterina M.; Mueller, Daniel W.

2015-01-01

One of the difficulties in teaching global sustainability in the introductory political science classes is the different emphases placed on this concept and the absence of the consensus on where the overall balance between environmental protection, economic development, and social justice should reside. Like many fuzzy concepts with which students…

New Research in Organic Agriculture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

1996-01-01

The book is the proceedings from the bi-annual international scientific conference on organic agriculture. The chapters are: - plant and soil interactions, - animal production systems, - traditional knowledge in sustainable agriculture, - research, education and extension in sustainable agricultu......, - environmental impact and nature, - potentials of organic farming, - community, consumer and market, and - policy and financial strategies.......The book is the proceedings from the bi-annual international scientific conference on organic agriculture. The chapters are: - plant and soil interactions, - animal production systems, - traditional knowledge in sustainable agriculture, - research, education and extension in sustainable agriculture...

Analyzing Agricultural Sustainability Indicators,Under Energy Subsidy Reduction Policy(Case Study of Qorveh Plain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Balali

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Generally, subsidies are the amounts of government payments in order to provide all society members with minimum well-being. In several countries such as Iran, the agriculture sector is supported by different methods to achieve goals such as increasing farmers' income, supporting domestic producers and eliminating dependence on imports, preserving employment and reducing poverty. A significant part of agriculture subsidies has been allocated to energy resources, chemical fertilizers, seeds, agriculture machines, vaccines, animal toxins, the interest on bank loans, insurance fees, certain airplane services, distributing young saplings, and government guaranteed purchase of products. However, examining the subsidies system in Iran reveals that most government payments are in the agriculture sector and more specifically on energy resources. Recently, the extra low cost of energy in the agriculture sector, which has had certain government supports, has resulted in low productivity and environmental damage, and has resulted in increased demand for agricultural products due to population growth, changes in life pattern, deviation in energy cost in agricultural sector, environment destruction and influences on sustainable agriculture indicators. Moreover, among different production units, agriculture has the closest relationship with the environment. This relationship is a mutual.On the one hand, erosion and destruction of the environment along with pollution growth and shortage of water resources negatively influences the production and efficiency of agricultural products, and on the other hand, agricultural pollutants and irregular use of chemical fertilizers in this sector impose indispensable damages to the environment.This study aims to apply a partial equilibrium model in order to examine direct and indirect effects of reduction of energy subsidies on economic and environmental indicators of agricultural sustainability in the Qorveh

Declining agricultural production in rapidly urbanizing semi-arid regions: policy tradeoffs and sustainability indicators

Science.gov (United States)

Dozier, André Q.; Arabi, Mazdak; Wostoupal, Benjamin C.; Goemans, Christopher G.; Zhang, Yao; Paustian, Keith

2017-08-01

In rapidly urbanizing semi-arid regions, increasing amounts of historically irrigated cropland lies permanently fallowed due to water court policies as agricultural water rights are voluntarily being sold to growing cities. This study develops an integrative framework for assessing the effects of population growth and land use change on agricultural production and evaluating viability of alternative management strategies, including alternative agricultural transfer methods, regional water ownership restrictions, and urban conservation. A partial equilibrium model of a spatially-diverse regional water rights market is built in application of the framework to an exemplary basin. The model represents agricultural producers as profit-maximizing suppliers and municipalities as cost-minimizing consumers of water rights. Results indicate that selling an agricultural water right today is worth up to two times more than 40 years of continued production. All alternative policies that sustain agricultural cropland and crop production decrease total agricultural profitability by diminishing water rights sales revenue, but in doing so, they also decrease municipal water acquisition costs. Defining good indicators and incorporating adequate spatial and temporal detail are critical to properly analyzing policy impacts. To best improve agricultural profit from production and sale of crops, short-term solutions include alternative agricultural transfer methods while long-term solutions incorporate urban conservation.

Plasma chemistry for concept of sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chernyak, V.Yu.; Nedybaliuk, O.A.; Tsymbaliuk, O.M.; Fedirchuk, I.I.; Chunikhina, K.I.; Martysh, E.V.; Iukhimenko, V.V.; Veremii, Iu.P.; Prisyazhnevych, I.V.; Prysiazhna, O.V.

2016-01-01

This work is devoted to the exploration of the compatibility of the hybrid plasma-catalytic conversion of liquid hydrocarbons into syngas with the concept of sustainable development. The results of the experimental investigations indicate the high efficiency of plasma-catalytic conversion of ethanol to syngas and the small amount of waste (a few percent of feedstock weight). The results of the simulation of the kinetics using ZDPlasKin code for traditional thermochemical and hybrid plasma-catalytic conversions indicate some differences in their mechanisms, which lead to the significant changes in the syngas ratio.

Sustainable Development Compromise[d] in the Planning of Metro Vancouver’s Agricultural Lands—the Jackson Farm Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meg Holden

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This research provides analysis of the case of the Jackson Farm development application, embedded within the particular dynamics of the municipal, regional, and provincial sustainability land use policy culture of the Metro Vancouver region, in Canada. Within a culture of appreciation of the increasing need for sustainability in land use policy, including the protection of agricultural lands at the provincial level through the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR, to urban intensification and protection of the green zone at the regional scale, lies a political conflict that comes into focus in individual land use decisions, within municipalities struggling for autonomy. This case is neither driven strictly by “the politics of the highest bidder” nor by policy failure; the case of the Jackson Farm is instead a case of the challenges of implementing inter-governmental coordination and collaborative governance in a context of both significant sustainability policy and urban growth. The process can be seen to follow an ecological modernization agenda, seeking “win–win” alternatives rather than recognizing that typical compromises, over time, may tip the direction of development away from sustainability policy goals. Understanding the twists, turns, and eventual compromise reached in the case of the Jackson Farm brings to light the implications of the shift in the regional planning culture which may necessitate a less flexible, more structured prioritization of competing goals within plans and policies in order to meet sustainability goals. We highlight this, and present an alternative implementation process within the existing policy regime with potential to aid the specific goal of agricultural land protection.

Agricultural Urbanism in the Context of Landscape Ecological Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Maltseva, I. N.; Kaganovich, N. N.; Mindiyrova, T. N.

2017-11-01

The article analyzes some of the fundamental aspects of cities sustainable development connected in many respects with the concept of ecological architecture. One of the main concepts of sustainability is considered in detail: the city as an eco-sustainable and balanced system, architectural objects as a full-fledged part of this system, which, most likely, will be determined by one of the directions of this development - the development of landscape architecture as an tool for integration of nature into the urban environment. At the same time, the variety of its functional forms and architectural methods in the system of organization of internal and external space is outlined as well as its interrelation with energy-saving architecture defining them as the two most important components of eco-sustainable development. The development forms of landscape architecture are considered in the review of analogs, as an example (agricultural urbanism object) a thesis on the topic “Vertical Farm Agroindustrial Complex” is presented.

Subsidies and sustainable development. Case studies in the Flemish agricultural and housing policies; Subsidies en duurzame ontwikkeling. Casestudies in het Vlaamse landbouw- en woonbeleid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bachus, K. [Onderzoeksinstituut voor Arbeid en Samenleving HIVA, KU Leuven, Leuven (Belgium)

2012-04-15

This paper is the 2nd research paper as part of the Centre for Sustainable Development project on the theme 'subsidies and sustainable development'. Attention is given to an application of the methodology to map subsidies. In the 1st paper the concept and method are discussed. The method was used for two Flemish subsidies: (1) the Flemish Renovation Incentive and Surcharge Rights in the Flemish agricultural sector [Dutch] Dit paper is het 2e onderzoekspaper in het kader van het Steunpunt Duurzame Ontwikkeling over het thema 'subsidies en duurzame ontwikkeling'. Aandacht wordt besteed aan een toepassing van de methodologie om subsidies in kaart te brengen. In het 1e paper werden de concepten en de methoden besproken. De methode werd toegepast op twee Vlaamse subsidies, namelijk de Vlaamse Renovatiepremie en de Toeslagrechten in de Vlaamse landbouw.

Applying the food multimix concept for sustainable and nutritious diets.

Science.gov (United States)

Zotor, F B; Ellahi, B; Amuna, P

2015-11-01

Despite a rich and diverse ecosystem, and biodiversity, worldwide, more than 2 billion people suffer from micronutrient malnutrition or hidden hunger. Of major concern are a degradation of our ecosystems and agricultural systems which are thought to be unsustainable thereby posing a challenge for the future food and nutrition security. Despite these challenges, nutrition security and ensuring well balanced diets depend on sound knowledge and appropriate food choices in a complex world of plenty and want. We have previously reported on how the food multimix (FMM) concept, a food-based and dietary diversification approach can be applied to meet energy and micronutrient needs of vulnerable groups through an empirical process. Our objective in this paper is to examine how the concept can be applied to improve nutrition in a sustainable way in otherwise poor and hard-to-reach communities. We have reviewed over 100 FMM food recipes formulated from combinations of commonly consumed traditional candidate food ingredients; on average five per recipe, and packaged as per 100 g powders from different countries including Ghana, Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabawe and Southern Africa, India, Mexico, Malaysia and the UK; and for different age groups and conditions such as older infants and young children, pregnant women, HIV patients, diabetes and for nutrition rehabilitation. Candidate foods were examined for their nutrient strengths and nutrient content and nutrient density of recipes per 100 g were compared with reference nutrient intakes for the different population groups. We report on the nutrient profiles from our analysis of the pooled and age-matched data as well as sensory analysis and conclude that locally produced FMM foods can complement local diets and contribute significantly to meet nutrient needs among vulnerable groups in food-insecure environments.

Governing the transformation towards ‘nature-inclusive’ agriculture : insights from the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Runhaar, Hens

2017-01-01

It is becoming increasingly difficult to combine nature conservation by farmers with intensive and large-scale farming. The Dutch government recently adopted the new policy concept of ‘nature-inclusive’ farming, which aims at promoting more sustainable agricultural practices that minimizes negative

Nutritional Sustainability: Aligning Priorities in Nutrition and Public Health with Agricultural Production.

Science.gov (United States)

Finley, John W; Dimick, Dennis; Marshall, Elizabeth; Nelson, Gerald Charles; Mein, Jonathan R; Gustafson, David I

2017-09-01

Nutrition science-based dietary advice urges changes that may have a great impact on agricultural systems. For example, the 2016 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommends greatly increased fruit and vegetable consumption, but the present domestic production is insufficient to accommodate large-scale adoption of these guidelines. Increasing production to the extent needed to meet the DGA will necessitate changes in an already stressed agriculture and food system and will require nutrition and agriculture professionals to come together in open and collegial discourse. All involved need to understand the stress placed on the food system by increasing populations, changing diets, and changing environments, and recognize the major diet-based public health challenges. Furthermore, there is a need to understand the intricate interplay of the myriad parts of the food system and the vast amount of work necessary to make even small changes. New systems approaches are needed, especially at the research level, where nutrition, public health, agriculture, and the food industry work together to solve interconnected problems. Future well-being depends on a sustainable food system that continues to deliver optimal health with minimal impact on the environment. © 2017 American Society for Nutrition.

Revitalization of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria for sustainable development in agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Gouda, Sushanto; Kerry, Rout George; Das, Gitishree; Paramithiotis, Spiros; Shin, Han-Seung; Patra, Jayanta Kumar

2018-01-01

The progression of life in all forms is not only dependent on agricultural and food security but also on the soil characteristics. The dynamic nature of soil is a direct manifestation of soil microbes, bio-mineralization, and synergistic co-evolution with plants. With the increase in world's population the demand for agriculture yield has increased tremendously and thereby leading to large scale production of chemical fertilizers. Since the use of fertilizers and pesticides in the agricultural fields have caused degradation of soil quality and fertility, thus the expansion of agricultural land with fertile soil is near impossible, hence researchers and scientists have sifted their attention for a safer and productive means of agricultural practices. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) has been functioning as a co-evolution between plants and microbes showing antagonistic and synergistic interactions with microorganisms and the soil. Microbial revitalization using plant growth promoters had been achieved through direct and indirect approaches like bio-fertilization, invigorating root growth, rhizoremediation, disease resistance etc. Although, there are a wide variety of PGPR and its allies, their role and usages for sustainable agriculture remains controversial and restricted. There is also variability in the performance of PGPR that may be due to various environmental factors that might affect their growth and proliferation in the plants. These gaps and limitations can be addressed through use of modern approaches and techniques such as nano-encapsulation and micro-encapsulation along with exploring multidisciplinary research that combines applications in biotechnology, nanotechnology, agro biotechnology, chemical engineering and material science and bringing together different ecological and functional biological approaches to provide new formulations and opportunities with immense potential. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Eight Areas of Competency in Decision Making for Sustainability in Metro Food Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John D. WARBACH

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Michigan State University (MSU held a focus group in Detroit, Michigan, USA in 2012 with members of the urban agriculture movement. The session included business persons involved in growing and selling food, members of the health system, community group members and city government. The purpose was to identify the full range of sectors of society involved in the food system, to identify the perceptions of the food system among the city population, test eight sustainability competency areas developed by MSU faculty as concepts and as they related to urban food systems, and to discover what kinds of decision support tools were needed to foster sustainable food systems in Detroit. The focus group session was video and audio recorded, the tapes transcribed and coded to identify common themes and responses to the competency area concepts. The competency areas presented were: ecological integrity, community well-being/social justice, economic vitality, aesthetic quality, civic responsibility, systems interdependence, critical thinking, and personal growth. Participants indicated that they considered sustainability a value that people in urban agriculture shared, but that people struggled with how to move forward toward sustainability. Focus group participants were able to identify some aspect of each of the eight competency areas that they perceived people in urban agriculture, and the broader city resident population already recognized, or engaged in without recognizing that they were doing something that could lead to more sustainable outcomes. However, participants perceived that a sustainable metropolitan food system remains a somewhat elusive goal to achieve for people engaged in pursuing urban agriculture in Detroit due to a negative perception they expressed that many of the city’s population holds for growing food in the city, and in general for goods produced in the city. Information gained from the focus group and subsequent focus groups

The Role of Sukuk Financing for Sustainable Development of Smallholder Farmers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sugiharto Soeleman

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The greatest advance made by mankind was probably the agricultural revolution that has been developed into agricultural development along with population growth in the forms of agricultural expansion and agricultural intensification. The global land grab driven by the acquisition of land has caused radical changes in the use and ownership of land and has important implications for equitable and sustainable development in which local people have been moved to marginal locations. To ensure that the agricultural activities are sustained, a balance of three concepts of people, planet, and profit (3P are critical to achieve long term social, environmental, and economic issues. One of recently popular instruments to fairly treat the people is an equity based Sukuk in which profit will be shared based on pre-agreed ratio between the investors and the people involved. In term of conservation of planet, strategy in selecting the agricultural commodities and the timing of harvesting are critical. An investment decision-making process by using agricultural appraisal process is established to ensure that the agricultural activities are financially profitable.

The assessing the economic stability of the agricultural organizations of the Kemerovo region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sekacheva Vera Mikhailovna

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The main aspects of the essence of economic stability analyzed in this article. The authors define the concept, the problems and the basic criteria for assessing the economic sustainability of the agricultural organizations of the Kemerovo region.

Sustainable refurbishment of exterior walls and building facades. Final report, Part B - General refurbishment concepts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vares, S.; Pulakka, S.; Toratti, T. [and others

2012-11-01

This report is the second part of the final report of Sustainable refurbishment of building facades and exterior walls (SUSREF). SUSREF project was a collaborative (small/medium size) research project within the 7th Framework Programme of the Commission and it was financed under the theme Environment (including climate change) (Grant agreement no. 226858). The project started in October 1st 2009 and ended in April 30th 2012. The project included 11 partners from five countries. SUSREF developed sustainable concepts and technologies for the refurbishment of building facades and external walls. This report together with SUSREF Final report Part B and SUSREF Final Report Part C introduce the main results of the project. Part A focuses on methodological issues. The descriptions of the concepts and the assessment results of the developed concepts are presented in SUSREF Final report part B (generic concepts) and SUSREF Final report Part C (SME concepts). The following list shows the sustainability assessment criteria defined by the SUSREF project. These are Durability; Impact on energy demand for heating; Impact on energy demand for cooling; Impact on renewable energy use potential; Impact on daylight; Environmental impact of manufacture and maintenance; Indoor air quality and acoustics; Structural stability; Fire safety; Aesthetic quality; Effect on cultural heritage; Life cycle costs; Need for care and maintenance; Disturbance to the tenants and to the site; Buildability. This report presents sustainability assessment results of general refurbishment concepts and gives recommendations on the basis of the results. The report covers the following refurbishment cases - External insulation - Internal insulation - Cavity wall insulation - Replacement Insulation during renovation.

Evaluating sustainable water quality management in the U.S.: Urban, Agricultural, and Environmental Protection Practices

Science.gov (United States)

van Oel, P. R.; Alfredo, K. A.; Russo, T. A.

2015-12-01

Sustainable water management typically emphasizes water resource quantity, with focus directed at availability and use practices. When attention is placed on sustainable water quality management, the holistic, cross-sector perspective inherent to sustainability is often lost. Proper water quality management is a critical component of sustainable development practices. However, sustainable development definitions and metrics related to water quality resilience and management are often not well defined; water quality is often buried in large indicator sets used for analysis, and the policy regulating management practices create sector specific burdens for ensuring adequate water quality. In this research, we investigated the methods by which water quality is evaluated through internationally applied indicators and incorporated into the larger idea of "sustainability." We also dissect policy's role in the distribution of responsibility with regard to water quality management in the United States through evaluation of three broad sectors: urban, agriculture, and environmental water quality. Our research concludes that despite a growing intention to use a single system approach for urban, agricultural, and environmental water quality management, one does not yet exist and is even hindered by our current policies and regulations. As policy continues to lead in determining water quality and defining contamination limits, new regulation must reconcile the disparity in requirements for the contaminators and those performing end-of-pipe treatment. Just as the sustainable development indicators we researched tried to integrate environmental, economic, and social aspects without skewing focus to one of these three categories, policy cannot continue to regulate a single sector of society without considering impacts to the entire watershed and/or region. Unequal distribution of the water pollution burden creates disjointed economic growth, infrastructure development, and policy

Food security as a function of Sustainable Intensification of Crop Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Theodor Friedrich

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The challenge to eradicate hunger and establish food security across all its four pillars (availability, accessibility, health and safety, and continuity is ongoing. The actual situation in global food production leads most of the attention to improving accessibility and safety of food, particularly to vulnerable populations. However, in view of the growth in demand, which includes changes in preferences for example towards food of animal origin, availability and continuity will play larger roles in future. Food production needs to increase over the coming decades at challenging rates, while facing problems of degradation and reduced availability of natural resources for production such as soil and water, and facing increasing challenges from climate change. The actual trends in yield development suggest that a simple gradual improvement of production within the existing concepts will not provide a sustainable or feasible solution, and that more fundamental changes in the agricultural production paradigm are required to face these future challenges. The Sustainable Intensification represents such a change in paradigm in which high production levels are combined with sustainability. The concept of sustainable intensification, the rationale for it and its functional elements, represented by Conservation Agriculture, are presented in this paper.

Women in sustainable agriculture and food biotechnology key advances and perspectives on emerging topics

CERN Document Server

2017-01-01

This volume describes the contributions made by women scientists to the field of agricultural biotechnology, the most quickly adopted agricultural practice ever adopted. It features the perspectives of women educators, researchers and key stakeholders towards the development, implementation and acceptance of this modern technology. It describes the multiplying contemporary challenges in the field, how women are overcoming technological barriers, and their thoughts on what the future may hold. As sustainable agricultural practices increasingly represent a key option in the drive towards building a greener global community, the scientific, technological and implementation issues covered in this book are vital information for anyone working in environmental engineering. Provides a broad analysis of the science of agriculture, focusing on the contributions of women to the field, from basic research to applied technology Offers insights into hot topics in the field across the life cycle, from genetic engineering t...

Current Status and Future Potential of Energy Derived from Chinese Agricultural Land: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ningning Zhai

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Energy crisis is receiving attention with regard to the global economy and environmental sustainable development. Developing new energy resources to optimize the energy supply structure has become an important measure to prevent energy shortage as well as achieving energy conservation and emission reduction in China. This study proposed the concept of energy agriculture and constructed an energy agricultural technical support system based on the analysis of energy supply and demand and China’s foreign dependence on energy resources, combined with the function of agriculture in the energy field. Manufacturing technology equipment and agricultural and forestry energy, including crop or forestry plants and animal feces, were used in the system. The current status and future potential of China’s marginal land resources, energy crop germplasm resources, and agricultural and forestry waste energy-oriented resources were analyzed. Developing the function of traditional agriculture in food production may promote China’s social, economic, and environmental sustainable development and achieve energy saving and emission reduction.

Applying Andragogical Concepts in Creating a Sustainable Lifelong Learning Society

Science.gov (United States)

Charungkaittikul, Suwithida; Henschke, John A.

2017-01-01

Today, the world is changing, re-establishing the role of education to have a developed society. This article aims to explore the practical application of Andragogy as a key element for creating a sustainable lifelong learning society, to propose strategies for developing a lifelong learning society using andragogical concepts, to enhance…

Sustainable development of Russian regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. D. Kuz’menkova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Sustainable development of administrative-territorial units (ATU refers to the main directions of Russian Federation state policy to ensure the security of the national economy to meet the vital needs of people and the preservation of such a possibility for the future generations. The article describes and analyzes the factors that have the most significant impact on the level of ATE development. The dynamics of the gross output of agriculture in Russia and its critical evaluation are presents. It was revealed that the development of the region is the basis of the national economy security. At present, the concept of “sustainable development” in Russia is relevant and the role of regions in the sustainable development of the Russian Federation is constantly increasing. Stability of self-financing of the regional economy is achieved through conducting effective fiscal, financial, credit, tax and price policy, establishment of equal inter-budgetary relations with the federal center, the development of the securities market, increasing the volume of exports. Conducted research allowed: to identify the main factors influencing the sustainable development of Russia regions. The reasons for the backlog of economy of the Smolensk region of the nationwide growth rate and direction of their elimination are examined. Formation of the forecast of domestic agriculture development in the period up to 2020 should be based on the priority position of the industry in the agricultural sector, which is determined by its decisive role in meeting the population’s needs for basic food products. Prospective volumes of production of major agricultural products are based on the need to meet the challenges provided by the Russian Federation Government Decree.

Land quality, sustainable development and environmental degradation in agricultural districts: A computational approach based on entropy indexes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zambon, Ilaria; Colantoni, Andrea; Carlucci, Margherita; Morrow, Nathan; Sateriano, Adele; Salvati, Luca

2017-01-01

Land Degradation (LD) in socio-environmental systems negatively impacts sustainable development paths. This study proposes a framework to LD evaluation based on indicators of diversification in the spatial distribution of sensitive land. We hypothesize that conditions for spatial heterogeneity in a composite index of land sensitivity are more frequently associated to areas prone to LD than spatial homogeneity. Spatial heterogeneity is supposed to be associated with degraded areas that act as hotspots for future degradation processes. A diachronic analysis (1960–2010) was performed at the Italian agricultural district scale to identify environmental factors associated with spatial heterogeneity in the degree of land sensitivity to degradation based on the Environmentally Sensitive Area Index (ESAI). In 1960, diversification in the level of land sensitivity measured using two common indexes of entropy (Shannon's diversity and Pielou's evenness) increased significantly with the ESAI, indicating a high level of land sensitivity to degradation. In 2010, surface area classified as “critical” to LD was the highest in districts with diversification in the spatial distribution of ESAI values, confirming the hypothesis formulated above. Entropy indexes, based on observed alignment with the concept of LD, constitute a valuable base to inform mitigation strategies against desertification. - Highlights: • Spatial heterogeneity is supposed to be associated with degraded areas. • Entropy indexes can inform mitigation strategies against desertification. • Assessing spatial diversification in the degree of land sensitivity to degradation. • Mediterranean rural areas have an evident diversity in agricultural systems. • A diachronic analysis carried out at the Italian agricultural district scale.

Land quality, sustainable development and environmental degradation in agricultural districts: A computational approach based on entropy indexes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zambon, Ilaria, E-mail: ilaria.zambon@unitus.it [Department of Agricultural and Forestry scieNcEs (DAFNE), Tuscia University, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, I-01100 Viterbo (Italy); Colantoni, Andrea [Department of Agricultural and Forestry scieNcEs (DAFNE), Tuscia University, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, I-01100 Viterbo (Italy); Carlucci, Margherita [Department of Social and Economic Science, University of Rome La Sapienza, Piazzale A. Moro 5, I-00185 Rome (Italy); Morrow, Nathan [Tulane University, Payson Program in International Development at the School of Law, New Orleans (United States); Sateriano, Adele; Salvati, Luca [Italian Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA-RPS), Via della Navicella 2-4, I-00184 Rome (Italy)

2017-05-15

Land Degradation (LD) in socio-environmental systems negatively impacts sustainable development paths. This study proposes a framework to LD evaluation based on indicators of diversification in the spatial distribution of sensitive land. We hypothesize that conditions for spatial heterogeneity in a composite index of land sensitivity are more frequently associated to areas prone to LD than spatial homogeneity. Spatial heterogeneity is supposed to be associated with degraded areas that act as hotspots for future degradation processes. A diachronic analysis (1960–2010) was performed at the Italian agricultural district scale to identify environmental factors associated with spatial heterogeneity in the degree of land sensitivity to degradation based on the Environmentally Sensitive Area Index (ESAI). In 1960, diversification in the level of land sensitivity measured using two common indexes of entropy (Shannon's diversity and Pielou's evenness) increased significantly with the ESAI, indicating a high level of land sensitivity to degradation. In 2010, surface area classified as “critical” to LD was the highest in districts with diversification in the spatial distribution of ESAI values, confirming the hypothesis formulated above. Entropy indexes, based on observed alignment with the concept of LD, constitute a valuable base to inform mitigation strategies against desertification. - Highlights: • Spatial heterogeneity is supposed to be associated with degraded areas. • Entropy indexes can inform mitigation strategies against desertification. • Assessing spatial diversification in the degree of land sensitivity to degradation. • Mediterranean rural areas have an evident diversity in agricultural systems. • A diachronic analysis carried out at the Italian agricultural district scale.

Agriculture expansion, wood energy and woody encroachment in the Miombo woodlands: striving towards sustainability in Zambia.

Science.gov (United States)

Pelletier, J.

2017-12-01

Agricultural expansion is mostly done at the expense of forests and woodlands in the tropics. In Sub-Saharan Africa, forests are also critical as providers of wood energy for domestic consumption with a clear majority of households depending on firewood and charcoal as primary source of energy. Using Zambia as a case study, we look at the link between agricultural expansion, wood energy and the sustainability of forest resources. Zambia has been identified as having one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, but there is large uncertainty in these estimates. The government of Zambia has identified charcoal production as one of the main of drivers of forest cover loss and is targeting this practice in their national strategy for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). Other assessment however indicate that agricultural expansion is by far the main driver of deforestation and charcoal production is sustainable in Zambia. These competing evaluations call for a better understanding of the drivers of change. Using two national-scale vegetation surveys and remote sensing data, we compare and validate historical forest cover loss estimates to improve their accuracy. We attribute the change and their associated emissions to specific drivers of deforestation. The ecological properties of areas under change are compared to stable areas over time. Our results from national permanent plots indicate a woody encroachment process in Zambia, a potential ecological response to rising CO2 levels. We found that despite large emissions from deforestation, forests and woodlands have been acting as a carbon sink. This research addresses directly the potential feedbacks and responses to competing demands on forests coming from different sectors, including for agriculture and energy, to set the baseline on which to evaluate forest sustainability now and in the future given potentially new ecological conditions. It provides policy relevant

Smallholder Farmers’ Perceptions on Climate Change and the Use of Sustainable Agricultural Practices in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clifton Makate

2017-03-01

Full Text Available In developing regions with high levels of poverty and a dependence on climate sensitive agriculture, studies focusing on climate change adaptation, planning, and policy processes, have gained relative importance over the years. This study assesses the impact of farmer perceptions regarding climate change on the use of sustainable agricultural practices as an adaptation strategy in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa. In this empirical approach, we adopt methods that account for the plausibility that unmeasured characteristics exist, which are correlated with perceptions and the adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices. We use a unique and representative dataset collected in December 2012 and June 2013, from smallholder farmers in the Chinyanja Triangle. The results indicate that farmer’s perceptions significantly influence the use of sustainable agricultural practices. Specifically, we established that farmer perceptions considerably impact the use of grain legume rotations, inorganic fertilizers, compost, and farmyard manure. Our results highlight the need for a serious and perhaps equal consideration of farmer perceptions regarding climate change, as important inputs to climate change adaptation policies targeted at enhancing climatic resilience in smallholder farming communities. This is plausible as the adaptation and pliability of farmers to the effects of climate change should be a social process involving the collective efforts from various stakeholders.

Sustainability of current agriculture practices, community perception, and implications for ecosystem health: an Indian study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarkar, Atanu; Patil, Shantagouda; Hugar, Lingappa B; vanLoon, Gary

2011-12-01

In order to support agribusiness and to attain food security for ever-increasing populations, most countries in the world have embraced modern agricultural technologies. Ecological consequences of the technocentric approaches, and their sustainability and impacts on human health have, however, not received adequate attention particularly in developing countries. India is one country that has undergone a rapid transformation in the field of agriculture by adopting strategies of the Green Revolution. This article provides a comparative analysis of the effects of older and newer paradigms of agricultural practices on ecosystem and human health within the larger context of sustainability. The study was conducted in three closely situated areas where different agricultural practices were followed: (a) the head-end of a modern canal-irrigated area, (b) an adjacent dryland, and (c) an area (the ancient area) that has been provided with irrigation for some 800 years. Data were collected by in-depth interviews of individual farmers, focus-group discussions, participatory observations, and from secondary sources. The dryland, receiving limited rainfall, continues to practice diverse cropping centered to a large extent on traditional coarse cereals and uses only small amounts of chemical inputs. On the other hand, modern agriculture in the head-end emphasizes continuous cropping of rice supported by extensive and indiscriminate use of agrochemicals. Market forces have, to a significant degree, influenced the ancient area to abandon much of its early practices of organic farming and to take up aspects of modern agricultural practice. Rice cultivation in the irrigated parts has changed the local landscape and vegetation and has augmented the mosquito population, which is a potential vector for malaria, Japanese encephalitis and other diseases. Nevertheless, despite these problems, perceptions of adverse environmental effects are lowest in the heavily irrigated area.

Soil carbon and soil respiration in conservation agriculture with vegetables in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Science.gov (United States)

A balance between food production and environmental protection is required to sustainably feed a growing population. The resource saving concept of conservation agriculture aims to achieve this balance through implementing simultaneously three conservation practices; no-till, continuous soil cover, ...

Developing an Integrated Model Framework for the Assessment of Sustainable Agricultural Residue Removal Limits for Bioenergy Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

David Muth, Jr.; Jared Abodeely; Richard Nelson; Douglas McCorkle; Joshua Koch; Kenneth Bryden

2011-08-01

Agricultural residues have significant potential as a feedstock for bioenergy production, but removing these residues can have negative impacts on soil health. Models and datasets that can support decisions about sustainable agricultural residue removal are available; however, no tools currently exist capable of simultaneously addressing all environmental factors that can limit availability of residue. The VE-Suite model integration framework has been used to couple a set of environmental process models to support agricultural residue removal decisions. The RUSLE2, WEPS, and Soil Conditioning Index models have been integrated. A disparate set of databases providing the soils, climate, and management practice data required to run these models have also been integrated. The integrated system has been demonstrated for two example cases. First, an assessment using high spatial fidelity crop yield data has been run for a single farm. This analysis shows the significant variance in sustainably accessible residue across a single farm and crop year. A second example is an aggregate assessment of agricultural residues available in the state of Iowa. This implementation of the integrated systems model demonstrates the capability to run a vast range of scenarios required to represent a large geographic region.

Aquatic microphylla Azolla: a perspective paradigm for sustainable agriculture, environment and global climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Kollah, Bharati; Patra, Ashok Kumar; Mohanty, Santosh Ranjan

2016-03-01

This review addresses the perspectives of Azolla as a multifaceted aquatic resource to ensure ecosystem sustainability. Nitrogen fixing potential of cyanobacterial symbiont varies between 30 and 60 kg N ha(-1) which designates Azolla as an important biological N source for agriculture and animal industry. Azolla exhibits high bioremediation potential for Cd, Cr, Cu, and Zn. Azolla mitigates greenhouse gas emission from agriculture. In flooded rice ecosystem, Azolla dual cropping decreased CH4 emission by 40 % than did urea alone and also stimulated CH4 oxidation. This review highlighted integrated approach using Azolla that offers enormous public health, environmental, and cost benefits.

Water and solute balances as a basis for sustainable irrigation agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Pla-Sentís, Ildefonso

2015-04-01

The growing development of irrigated agriculture is necessary for the sustainable production of the food required by the increasing World's population. Such development is limited by the increasing scarcity and low quality of the available water resources and by the competitive use of the water for other purposes. There are also increasing problems of contamination of surface and ground waters to be used for other purposes by the drainage effluents of irrigated lands. Irrigation and drainage may cause drastic changes in the regime and balance of water and solutes (salts, sodium, contaminants) in the soil profile, resulting in problems of water supply to crops and problems of salinization, sodification and contamination of soils and ground waters. This is affected by climate, crops, soils, ground water depth, irrigation and groundwater composition, and by irrigation and drainage management. In order to predict and prevent such problems for a sustainable irrigated agriculture and increased efficiency in water use, under each particular set of conditions, there have to be considered both the hydrological, physical and chemical processes determining such water and solute balances in the soil profile. In this contribution there are proposed the new versions of two modeling approaches (SOMORE and SALSODIMAR) to predict those balances and to guide irrigation water use and management, integrating the different factors involved in such processes. Examples of their application under Mediterranean and tropical climate conditions are also presented.

Evaluating Water Use for Agricultural Intensification in Southern Amazonia Using the Water Footprint Sustainability Assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael J. Lathuillière

2018-03-01

Full Text Available We performed a Water Footprint Sustainability Assessment (WFSA in the Xingu Basin of Mato Grosso (XBMT, Brazil, with the objectives of (1 tracking blue (as surface water and green water (as soil moisture regenerated by precipitation consumption in recent years (2000, 2014; and (2 evaluating agricultural intensification options for future years (2030, 2050 considering the effects of deforestation and climate change on water availability in the basin. The agricultural sector was the largest consumer of water in the basin despite there being almost no irrigation of cropland or pastures. In addition to water use by crops and pasture grass, water consumption attributed to cattle production included evaporation from roughly 9463 ha of small farm reservoirs used to provide drinking water for cattle in 2014. The WFSA showed that while blue and green water consumptive uses were within sustainable limits in 2014, deforestation, cattle confinement, and the use of irrigation to increase cropping frequency could drive water use to unsustainable levels in the future. While land management policies and practices should strive for protection of the remaining natural vegetation, increased agricultural production will require reservoir and irrigation water management to reduce the potential threat of blue water scarcity in the dry season. In addition to providing general guidance for future water allocation decisions in the basin, our study offers an interpretation of blue and green water scarcities with changes in land use and climate in a rapidly evolving agricultural frontier.

Crop and irrigation management strategies for saline-sodic soils and waters aimed at environmentally sustainable agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Qadir, M; Oster, J D

2004-05-05

Irrigation has long played a key role in feeding the expanding world population and is expected to play a still greater role in the future. As supplies of good-quality irrigation water are expected to decrease in several regions due to increased municipal-industrial-agricultural competition, available freshwater supplies need to be used more efficiently. In addition, reliance on the use and reuse of saline and/or sodic drainage waters, generated by irrigated agriculture, seems inevitable for irrigation. The same applies to salt-affected soils, which occupy more than 20% of the irrigated lands, and warrant attention for efficient, inexpensive and environmentally acceptable management. Technologically and from a management perspective, a couple of strategies have shown the potential to improve crop production under irrigated agriculture while minimizing the adverse environmental impacts. The first strategy, vegetative bioremediation--a plant-assisted reclamation approach--relies on growing appropriate plant species that can tolerate ambient soil salinity and sodicity levels during reclamation of salt-affected soils. A variety of plant species of agricultural significance have been found to be effective in sustainable reclamation of calcareous and moderately sodic and saline-sodic soils. The second strategy fosters dedicating soils to crop production systems where saline and/or sodic waters predominate and their disposal options are limited. Production systems based on salt-tolerant plant species using drainage waters may be sustainable with the potential of transforming such waters from an environmental burden into an economic asset. Such a strategy would encourage the disposal of drainage waters within the irrigated regions where they are generated rather than exporting these waters to other regions via discharge into main irrigation canals, local streams, or rivers. Being economically and environmentally sustainable, these strategies could be the key to future

Ecological mechanisms underlying the sustainability of the agricultural heritage rice-fish coculture system.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Jian; Hu, Liangliang; Tang, Jianjun; Wu, Xue; Li, Nana; Yuan, Yongge; Yang, Haishui; Zhang, Jiaen; Luo, Shiming; Chen, Xin

2011-12-13

For centuries, traditional agricultural systems have contributed to food and livelihood security throughout the world. Recognizing the ecological legacy in the traditional agricultural systems may help us develop novel sustainable agriculture. We examine how rice-fish coculture (RF), which has been designated a "globally important agricultural heritage system," has been maintained for over 1,200 y in south China. A field survey demonstrated that although rice yield and rice-yield stability are similar in RF and rice monoculture (RM), RF requires 68% less pesticide and 24% less chemical fertilizer than RM. A field experiment confirmed this result. We documented that a mutually beneficial relationship between rice and fish develops in RF: Fish reduce rice pests and rice favors fish by moderating the water environment. This positive relationship between rice and fish reduces the need for pesticides in RF. Our results also indicate a complementary use of nitrogen (N) between rice and fish in RF, resulting in low N fertilizer application and low N release into the environment. These findings provide unique insights into how positive interactions and complementary use of resource between species generate emergent ecosystem properties and how modern agricultural systems might be improved by exploiting synergies between species.

Is sustainable resource utilisation a relevant concept in Avanersuaq? The walrus case

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Astrid Oberborbeck; Heide-Jorgensen, Mads Peter; Flora, Janne

2018-01-01

analyse how walruses acquire multiple values as they circulate in different networks. Sustainable resource utilisation, we conclude, is a concept that is relevant in Avanersuaq and beyond, because it works as a biological standard, and hence organises laws, norms, and practices of formal management......This article addresses the role of Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) in present-day Avanersuaq from anthropological and biological perspectives, and asks whether or not sustainable resource utilisation is a useful concept in northwest Greenland. We describe the relations that unfold...... around walrus and walrus hunting, in the communities living adjacent to the North Water polynya on the eastern side of Smith Sound. We examine the interplay of walrus population abundance, hunting practices, uses, and formal (governmental) and informal (traditional) ways of regulating the hunt, and we...

Can precision agriculture increase the profitability and sustainability of the production of potatoes and olives?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Evert, van Frits K.; Gaitán-Cremaschi, Daniel; Fountas, Spyros; Kempenaar, Corné

2017-01-01

For farmers, the application of Precision Agriculture (PA) technology is expected to lead to an increase in profitability. For society, PA is expected to lead to increased sustainability.The objective of this paper is to determine for a number of common PA practices how much they increase

Irrigated agriculture and groundwater resources - towards an integrated vision and sustainable relationship.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Stephen; Garduño, Héctor

2013-01-01

Globally, irrigated agriculture is the largest abstractor, and predominant consumer, of groundwater resources, with large groundwater-dependent agro-economies now having widely evolved especially in Asia. Such use is also causing resource depletion and degradation in more arid and drought-prone regions. In addition crop cultivation practices on irrigated land exert a major influence on groundwater recharge. The interrelationship is such that cross-sector action is required to agree more sustainable land and water management policies, and this paper presents an integrated vision of the challenges in this regard. It is recognised that 'institutional arrangements' are critical to the local implementation of management policies, although the focus here is limited to the conceptual understanding needed for formulation of an integrated policy and some practical interventions required to promote more sustainable groundwater irrigation.

Governing agricultural sustainability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Macnaghten, Philip; Carro-Ripalda, Susana

2015-01-01

Although GM crops are seen by their advocates as a key component of the future of world agriculture and as part of the solution for world poverty and hunger, their uptake has not been smooth nor universal: they have been marred by controversy and all too commonly their regulation has been

Facilitating Transformation and Competence Development in Sustainable Agriculture University Education: An Experiential and Action Oriented Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paola Migliorini

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The need to strengthen the connection between academia and society has received increased attention over the past years. The importance of bringing university students closer to stakeholders in society as part of their learning process is high regarding sustainable agriculture, because of its applied approach. University programs based on experiential and action-oriented learning have been developed over the past decades, but more knowledge is needed about the impact of these educational activities. In a short course in sustainable agriculture at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Bra, Italy, we examined the impacts of experiential and action-oriented learning on competency development as well as transformational impacts on the students. We found that students improve on several core competences as a result of their participation in the short course, and also signs of deep transformational processes among the students.

Irrigation Water Quality Standards for Indirect Wastewater Reuse in Agriculture: A Contribution toward Sustainable Wastewater Reuse in South Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanseok Jeong

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Climate change and the subsequent change in agricultural conditions increase the vulnerability of agricultural water use. Wastewater reuse is a common practice around the globe and is considered as an alternative water resource in a changing agricultural environment. Due to rapid urbanization, indirect wastewater reuse, which is the type of agricultural wastewater reuse that is predominantly practiced, will increase, and this can cause issues of unplanned reuse. Therefore, water quality standards are needed for the safe and sustainable practice of indirect wastewater reuse in agriculture. In this study, irrigation water quality criteria for wastewater reuse were discussed, and the standards and guidelines of various countries and organizations were reviewed to suggest preliminary standards for indirect wastewater reuse in South Korea. The proposed standards adopted a probabilistic consideration of practicality and classified the use of irrigation water into two categories: upland and rice paddy. The standards suggest guidelines for E. coli, electric conductivity (EC, turbidity, suspended solids (SS, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD, pH, odor, and trace elements. Through proposing the standards, this study attempts to combine features of both the conservative and liberal approaches, which in turn could suggest a new and sustainable practice of agricultural wastewater reuse.

Blockchain: The Evolutionary Next Step for ICT E-Agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu-Pin Lin

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Blockchain technology, while still challenged with key limitations, is a transformative Information and Communications Technology (ICT that has changed our notion of trust. Improved efficiencies for agricultural sustainable development has been demonstrated when ICT-enabled farms have access to knowledge banks and other digital resources. UN FAO-recommended ICT e-agricultural infrastructure components are a confluence of ICT and blockchain technology requirements. When ICT e-agricultural systems with blockchain infrastructure are immutable and distributed ledger systems for record management, baseline agricultural environmental data integrity is safeguarded for those who participate in transparent data management. This paper reviewed blockchain-based concepts associated with ICT-based technology. Moreover, a model ICT e-agriculture system with a blockchain infrastructure is proposed for use at the local and regional scale. To determine context specific technical and social requirements of blockchain technology for ICT e-agriculture systems, an evaluation tool is presented. The proposed system and tool can be evaluated and applied to further developments of e-agriculture systems.

Soil nitrogen balance assessment and its application for sustainable agriculture and environment

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Rabindra; Nath; Roy

2005-01-01

,E.M.A.,Stoorvogel,J.J.,Windmeijer,P.N.,Calculating soil nutrient balances in Africa at different scales:Ⅱ,District scale.Fert.Res.,1993,35:237-250.[18]Van der Pol,F.,Soil mining:An Unseen Contributor to Farm Income in Southern Mali,Amsterdam:The Royal Tropical Institute,1992.[19]Van der Pol,F.,Traore,B.,Soil nutrient depletion by agricultural production in southern Mali,Fert.Res.,1993,36:79-90.[20]Pieri,C.,Fertilité des terres de savanes.bilan de trente arns de recherche et de développement agricoles au sud du Sahara,Paris:Ministère de la Coopération et CIRAD-IRAT,1989.[21]Frissel,M.J.,Cycling of mineral nutrients in agricultural ecosystems,London:Elsevier,1978.[22]Smaling,E.M.A.,Fresco,L.O.,A decision support model for monitoring nutrient balances under agricultural land use (NUTMON),Geoderma,1993,60:235-256.[23]Smaling,E.M.A.,An agro-ecological framework for integrated nutrient management with special reference to Kenya,Ph.D.Thesis:Wageningen Agricultural University,1993.[24]Wendt,J.,Assessing systems sustainability through high-precision evaluation for soil nutrient capital.Paper presented at "Scaling soil nutrient balances" workshop,Nairobi,2003.[25]Shepherd,K.D.,Walsh,M.G.,Development of reflectance spectral libraries for characterization of soil properties,Soil Sci.Soc.Am.,2002,66(3):988-998.[26]Roy,R.N.,Misra,R.V.,Lesschen,J.P.et al.,Assessment of soil nutrient balance-Approaches and methodologies,Fertilizer and Plant Nutrition Bull.,2004,14,,[27]Roy,R.N.,Misra,R.V.,Montanez,A.,Decreasing reliance on mineral nitrogen-Yet more food,Ambio,2002,31 (2):177-183.[28]Roy,R.N.,Integrated plant nutrition systems-Basic concepts,development and results of the trial network,initiation of project activities in AGLN,and need for cooperation,in Integrated Plant Nutrition Systems,Fertilizer and Plant Nutrition Bull.,1995,12.[29]Peltonen,J.,New Fertilìzer Products,Proc,IFA-FAO Agriculture Conference "Global Food Security and the Role of Sustainable Fertilization",Rome,2003.[30]Roy,R.N.,Misra,R.V.,Economic and

The sustainability of communicative packaging concepts in the food supply chain. A case study: part 2. Life cycle costing and sustainability assessment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dobon, A.; Cordero, P.; Pereira da Silva, F.I.D.G.; Ostergaard, S.R.; Antvorskov, H.; Robertsson, M.; Smolander, M.; Hortal, M.

2011-01-01

This paper is the second part of a two-paper series dealing with the sustainability evaluation of a new communicative packaging concept. The communicative packaging concept includes a device that allows changing the expiry date of the product as function of temperature during transport and storage:

The Prospect of Horticultural Organic Farming as Sustainable Agricultural Practice for Reducing Poverty: The Case in Bengkulu City, Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Teguh Adiprasetyo; Sukisno Sukisno; Nanik Setyowati; Sempurna Ginting; Merakati Handajaningsih

2015-01-01

Poverty is still an insistent problem which when confronted by humanity requires a systemic, comprehensive and synchronized approach to alleviate it.  The concentration of urban and rural poverty in developing countries underpins the importance of agriculture as a poverty reduction strategy since most of the poor people depend on agriculture.  Thus, improving agricultural productivity, competitiveness and sustainability may reduce poverty.   This study was intended to (1) find out if sustaina...

Spatial Numeric Classification Model Suitability with Landuse Change in Sustainable Food Agriculture Zone in Kediri Sub-district, Tabanan Regency, Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Trigunasih, N. M.; Lanya, I.; Hutauruk, J.; Arthagama, I. D. M.

2017-12-01

The development of rapid population will make the availability and utilization of land resources is increasingly shrinking in number, especially occurs in rice field. Since the last 5 years the numbers of farmland is decrasing by industry, infrastructure development, tourism development and other services. The agricultural problems facing at the moment is the occurrence of a change of use of agricultural land into farming now is not more popular is called over the function of agricultural land into non-farming. According to the Central Bureau of statistics (BPS) of the province of Bali (2013) within a period of 14 years (1999-2013), there has been a change of use of agricultural land be not agriculture/wetland functions over the 4,906 hectares. When averaged over the function flatten paddy fields per year occurred in Bali approximately 350 ha (0.41%). The highest paddy fields over the function during a period of fourteen years there is in Tabanan area of 1,230 ha. To maintain the existence of the rice fields or subak in Bali in particular, need to be done protection against agricultural lands sustainable. Ninth District/Town in Bali today, haven’t had a Perda on protection of agricultural land sustainable food that is mandated by law 41 Year 2009. This will have an impact on food security of the region, and the world’s cultural heritage as the water will lose its existence as a system of irrigation organization in Bali. The purpose of this research was done to (1) determine the numerical classification of spatial parameters of sustainable food farm in Tabanan Regency Kediri Subdistrict, (2) determine the model of the zoning of agricultural land area of sustainable food that fits on Years 2020, 2030, 2040, and in district of Kediri, Tabanan Regency. The method used is the kuantitaif method includes the focus group discussion, the development of spatial data, analysis geoprosessing (spatial analysis and analysis of proximity), and statistical analysis

KEY CONCEPTS OF AGROECOLOGY SCIENCE. A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis Fernando Gómez-Echeverri

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A systematic review was conducted with the objective of determining the key concepts that are currently used in theoretical work in agroecology. They were obtained from titles and keywords of theoretical articles and books that included the term agroecology in the title. Fifteen terms with occurrences higher than three were obtained. They show that agroecology revolves around the concept of integral sustainability, and that there is agreement on neither its object of study nor goal. As a result, most key concepts concern the object of study or the goal of agroecology. Other key concepts are food sovereignty, agriculture, ecofeminism, climate change, family farming, and social movements.

Developing Sustainable Agromining Systems in Agricultural Ultramafic Soils for Nickel Recovery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petra Susan Kidd

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Ultramafic soils are typically enriched in nickel (Ni, chromium (Cr, and cobalt (Co and deficient in essential nutrients, making them unattractive for traditional agriculture. Implementing agromining systems in ultramafic agricultural soils represent an ecological option for the sustainable management and re-valorisation of these low-productivity landscapes. These novel agroecosystems cultivate Ni-hyperaccumulating plants which are able to bioaccumulate this metal in their aerial plant parts; harvested biomass can be incinerated to produce Ni-enriched ash or “bio-ore” from which Ni metal, Ni ecocatalysts or pure Ni salts can be recovered. Nickel hyperaccumulation has been documented in ~450 species, and in temperate latitudes these mainly belong to the family Brassicaceae and particularly to the genus Odontarrhena (syn. Alyssum pro parte. Agromining allows for sustainable metal recovery without causing the environmental impacts associated with conventional mining activities, and at the same time, can improve soil fertility and quality and provide essential ecosystem services. Parallel reductions in Ni phytotoxicity over time would also permit cultivation of conventional agricultural crops. Field studies in Europe have been restricted to Mediterranean areas and these only evaluated the Ni-hyperaccumulator Odontarrhena muralis s.l. Two recent EU projects (Agronickel and LIFE-Agromine have established a network of agromining field sites in ultramafic regions with different edapho-climatic characteristics across Albania, Austria, Greece and Spain. Soil and crop management practices are being developed so as to optimize the Ni agromining process; field studies are evaluating the potential benefits of fertilization regimes, crop selection and cropping patterns, and bioaugmentation with plant-associated microorganisms. Hydrometallurgical processes are being up-scaled to produce nickel compounds and energy from hyperaccumulator biomass. Exploratory

Next-Generation Bio-Products Sowing the Seeds of Success for Sustainable Agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henry Müller

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Plants have recently been recognized as meta-organisms due to a close symbiotic relationship with their microbiome. Comparable to humans and other eukaryotic hosts, plants also harbor a “second genome” that fulfills important host functions. These advances were driven by both “omics”-technologies guided by next-generation sequencing and microscopic insights. Additionally, these new results influence applied fields such as biocontrol and stress protection in agriculture, and new tools may impact (i the detection of new bio-resources for biocontrol and plant growth promotion, (ii the optimization of fermentation and formulation processes for biologicals, (iii stabilization of the biocontrol effect under field conditions, and (iv risk assessment studies for biotechnological applications. Examples are presented and discussed for the fields mentioned above, and next-generation bio-products were found as a sustainable alternative for agriculture.

Globalization and sustainable development: a political ecology strategy to realize ecological justice

OpenAIRE

Byrne, John; Glover, Leigh; Alrøe, Hugo Fjelsted

2006-01-01

Organic agriculture is, like mainstream agriculture, faced with the challenges of globalization and sustainable development. Ecological justice, the fair distribution of livelihoods and environments, has emerged as a key concept in efforts, on the one hand, to resist negative consequences of globalization and ecological modernization and, on the other to propose new agenda and institutional arrangements. This chapter investigates the role that ecological justice as a political ecology strateg...

Strategies and models for agricultural sustainability in developing Asian countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Kesavan, P C; Swaminathan, M S

2008-02-27

The green revolution of the 1960s and 1970s which resulted in dramatic yield increases in the developing Asian countries is now showing signs of fatigue in productivity gains. Intensive agriculture practiced without adherence to the scientific principles and ecological aspects has led to loss of soil health, and depletion of freshwater resources and agrobiodiversity. With progressive diversion of arable land for non-agricultural purposes, the challenge of feeding the growing population without, at the same time, annexing more forestland and depleting the rest of life is indeed daunting. Further, even with food availability through production/procurement, millions of marginal farming, fishing and landless rural families have very low or no access to food due to lack of income-generating livelihoods. Approximately 200 million rural women, children and men in India alone fall in this category. Under these circumstances, the evergreen revolution (pro-nature, pro-poor, pro-women and pro-employment/livelihood oriented ecoagriculture) under varied terms are proposed for achieving productivity in perpetuity. In the proposed 'biovillage paradigm', eco-friendly agriculture is promoted along with on- and non-farm eco-enterprises based on sustainable management of natural resources. Concurrently, the modern ICT-based village knowledge centres provide time- and locale-specific, demand-driven information needed for evergreen revolution and ecotechnologies. With a system of 'farm and marine production by masses', the twin goals of ecoagriculture and eco-livelihoods are addressed. The principles, strategies and models of these are briefly discussed in this paper.

Sustainable development of agriculture in karst areas, South China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linhua Song

1999-01-01

Full Text Available The exposed carbonate rocks aged from Sinian to Mid-Triassic Periods cover an area of 500,000 Km2 in south-west China. In karst areas with spectacular landscapes characterized by magnificent tower karst and conical karst, rare surface drainage systems and prevalent subsurface drainage systems, the environment is ecologically very fragile. The rapid increase of population, over deforested and cultivated lands, worsted the ecological system, causing a higher frequency of draught, flood and various disasters, backward economic development, low living standard of the people. In order to improve the sustainability of the agriculture the experience shows that the following operations should be adopted: (1 serious control of the population increase, emigration, extra labours and improvement of the environmental education of the local inhabitants; (2 terracing of the slopes (shi jala di as to improve the cultivated land quality, to preserve the water, soil and fertiliser and ameliorate the effective utilisation of the land; (3 development of new rural energies such as the solar energy and gas energy, and expansion of the saving-fuel stoves to reduce the load of bio-energy; (4 reforestation and bounding the hills and mountains; the ecological, economic and fuel forests model has been developed in fengcong-depression areas: the tree species with high ecological, economical and energetic characteristics, should be chosen, such as the bamboo, wild grapes, Sapium rotundifolium etc.; (5 better utilisation of the ram water and karst water resource to solve the water supply problems. The karst landscape is well developed in the 500,000 km2 carbonate terrain in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, west Hunan and south Sichuan provinces in south-west China, where 100 million habitants live (Song, 1997. The large population and its high density, serious deforestation, over-cultivation and fragile ecological system make the environmental problems very serious and about 30

Sustainability of Smallholder Agriculture in Semi-Arid Areas under Land Set-aside Programs: A Case Study from China’s Loess Plateau

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qirui Li

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes agricultural sustainability in the context of land degradation, rural poverty and social inequality, taking China’s Loess Hills as an example. The analysis attempts to understand the multi-dimensionality of sustainability at the farm level and its relationship with physical-socio-economic-infrastructural-technological framework conditions in the context of the land set-aside program viz. the Grain for Green Project (GGP. We developed composite indices of sustainability and its environmental, economic and social dimensions using a principal component analysis (PCA-based weighting scheme. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between the estimated sustainability indicators and the variables representing framework conditions of knowledge, demographics, resource endowment and production techniques. The stated analysis was conducted on a dataset collected by means of household surveys in 2014 in valleys and flood plain areas in Yanhe Township. Findings reveal hidden correlations among the indicators of environmental, economic, and social pillars of sustainability. The ratio of land under the conservation program to actual farmland emerged as a key determinant of overall agricultural sustainability and its social dimension, which reaches the maximum when the ratio is around 0.56 and 0.64, respectively. The results also show that there is need to balance off-farm and on-farm income diversification as well as highlight the role of women in ensuring the sustainability of farming households. The core achievement of the article is the definition of the thresholds for the land set-aside program and the identification of major determinants of agricultural sustainability in the rural Chinese context in particular and in rural farming communities in general.

What Do We Need to Know to Enhance the Environmental Sustainability of Agricultural Production? A Prioritisation of Knowledge Needs for the UK Food System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William J. Sutherland

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Increasing concerns about global environmental change and food security have focused attention on the need for environmentally sustainable agriculture. This is agriculture that makes efficient use of natural resources and does not degrade the environmental systems that underpin it, or deplete natural capital stocks. We convened a group of 29 ‘practitioners’ and 17 environmental scientists with direct involvement or expertise in the environmental sustainability of agriculture. The practitioners included representatives from UK industry, non-government organizations and government agencies. We collaboratively developed a long list of 264 knowledge needs to help enhance the environmental sustainability of agriculture within the UK or for the UK market. We refined and selected the most important knowledge needs through a three-stage process of voting, discussion and scoring. Scientists and practitioners identified similar priorities. We present the 26 highest priority knowledge needs. Many of them demand integration of knowledge from different disciplines to inform policy and practice. The top five are about sustainability of livestock feed, trade-offs between ecosystem services at farm or landscape scale, phosphorus recycling and metrics to measure sustainability. The outcomes will be used to guide on-going knowledge exchange work, future science policy and funding.

The concept of sustainable development as a methodological base to form strategy for enterprises of oil complex

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Smirnov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The article substantiates the need for the enterprises of the oil complex as a methodological basis of their strategy concept of sustainable development, according to which natural resources are treated as natural capital, similar in quality funds. The author of the article analyzed the research of Russian and foreign scientists on the theory of sustainable development from different perspectives, as well as the Concept of the Russian Federation transition to sustainable development, the main criteria for sustainability, particularly management of industrial enterprises in the field of nature and the environment. It was found that the implementation of sustainable development ideas "oil for future generations" is not only a moral and environmental dimension, and financial performance. If companies invest in the exploration work sufficient to sustain growth of proved reserves of raw materials, it will inevitably raise the level of its capitalization.

Assessing the impact of pluriactivity on sustainable agriculture. A case study in rural areas of Beotia in Greece.

Science.gov (United States)

Giourga, Christina; Loumou, Angeliki

2006-06-01

Pluriactivity of farms, or part-time farming, is a common feature of agriculture in all countries regardless of their socioeconomic system and level of development. Currently, pluriactivity is related to the values of sustainable agriculture. The objective of this study is to delineate those specific characteristics of pluriactive farms that contribute to sustainable agriculture. In rural areas of Boetia in Greece, a socioeconomic survey was carried out on 114 farms to determine the types of farming applied. The results demonstrate that pluriactivity is a stable component of the agricultural structure in the rural areas of Boetia. It is widespread in plains, but its presence is more important in mountainous and semimountainous areas. The choice of young farmers is to opt for pluriactivity. Farm size does not differ between pluriactive and full-time farms. Pluriactive and full- time farms use the same level of input and get the same output for the same type of crop. However, pluriactive farmers under the same land-productive conditions are oriented toward a more extensive farming system, managing their land with crops that need less inputs. Considering these findings, it can be claimed that pluriactivity can contribute to diminishing the demand on natural resources in favored (level and irrigated) areas, to continue agricultural production in unfavorable (mountainous and semimountainous) areas, and to help the sustenance of the rural population.

Ethnography of a Sustainable Agriculture Program: A Case Study of a Social Movement's Inception and Growth on a University Campus

Science.gov (United States)

Triana, Benjamin

2016-01-01

This ethnography documents how the message of sustainability was interpreted and communicated through a sustainable agricultural (SAG) program at an American higher education institution. The ethnography documents the evolution of the program as the program tackled obstacles and accomplished its goals during the initial phases of the program's…

Sustainability and the Fixed Bed Nuclear Reactor (FBNR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farhang Sefidvash

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Sustainability as a multifaceted and holistic concept is analyzed. Sustainability involves human relationship with elements such as natural environment, economy, power, governance, education and technology with the ultimate purpose of carrying forward an ever-advancing civilization. The Fixed Bed Nuclear Reactor (FBNR is an innovative, small, simple in design, inherently safe, non-proliferating, and environmentally friendly concept that its deployment can generate energy in a sustainable manner contributing to the prosperity of humanity. The development of FBNR will provide electricity as well as desalinated water through a simple but advanced technology for the developing, as well as developed countries. FBNR is environmentally friendly due to its inherent safety and the convenience of using its spent fuel as the source of radiation for irradiation purposes in agriculture, industry, and medicine. Politically, if a ping pong game brought peace between China and USA, a program of development of FBNR supported by the peace loving international community can become a more mature means to bring peace among certain apparently hostile nations who crave sustainable energy, desalinated water and simple advanced technology.

Stakeholder cooperation in implementation of the sustainable development concept: Montenegrin tourist destinations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ljiljana Pjerotic

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The importance of involving diverse stakeholders in tourism planning is receiving growing recognition. Tourism destination planning is a complex process, due to the existence of a wide variety of stakeholders with a wide range of opinions, multiple problem visions and different interests. Despite the complexity of the planning process one feature acknowledged for successful destination management planning is high level of stakeholder cooperation. The paper examines the level of stakeholder cooperation on the specific example of the sustainable development concept implementation in Montenegrin tourism. It starts with two hypotheses: first, the development level of instruments for managing tourist destination depends on stakeholder cooperation level in a particular destination, and second, implementation of the sustainable development concept is positively correlated with the development of instruments for managing tourist destination. The results have indicated poor implementation of tourism development plans and low level of stakeholder cooperation.

Towards Conservation Agriculture systems in Moldova

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boris Boincean

2016-10-01

Full Text Available As the world population and food production demands rise, keeping agricultural soils and landscapes healthy and productive are of paramount importance to sustaining local and global food security and the flow of ecosystem services to society. The global population, expected to reach 9.7 billion people by 2050, will put additional pressure on the available land area and resources for agricultural production. Sustainable production intensification for food security is a major challenge to both industrialized and developing countries. The paper focuses on the results from long-term multi-factorial experiments involving tillage practices, crop rotations and fertilization to study the interactions amongst the treatments in the context of sustainable production intensification. The paper discusses the results in relation to reported performance of crops and soil quality in Conservation Agriculture systems that are based on no or minimum soil disturbance (no-till seeding and weeding, maintenance of soil mulch cover with crop biomass and cover crops, and diversified cropping s involving annuals and perennials. Conservation Agriculture also emphasizes the necessity of an agro-ecosystems approach to the management of agricultural land for sustainable production intensification, as well as to the site-specificity of agricultural production. Arguments in favor of avoiding the use of soil tillage are discussed together with agro-ecological principles for sustainable intensification of agriculture. More interdisciplinary systems research is required to support the transformation of agriculture from the conventional tillage agriculture to a more sustainable agriculture based on the principles and practices of Conservation Agriculture, along with other complementary practices of integrated crop, nutrient, water, pest, energy and farm power management.

Sustainable technological development in chemistry. Improving the quality of life through chemistry and agriculture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-08-01

The importance of agricultural products, their potential conversion to energy sources and their applications for fibre-reinforced construction materials is emphasized. Another potentially important technology is the conversion of sunlight into electricity such as occurs in the leaves of plants. Parallels with nature exist, even though conversions with inorganic materials have, until now, been promising. The ability to control chemical reactions is the subject throughout all the following chapters. The goal is to achieve high reaction efficiencies and to use fewer basic materials, both of which will lead to a reduction in environmental stress. Sustainable developments in chemistry can be described by two approaches: (1) Improvements in society, with challenges for chemistry; and (2) Improvement in the chemical sector itself. Both approaches are dealt with in this report. Five areas for development have been chosen in the discussions for `DTO-Chemie`: Integrated plant conversion (IPC), in particular Valorisation of plant parts for raw materials and energy; Biomass conversion (C1 Chemistry), in particular Technologies for (among others) C1-based chemicals and energy carriers; Photovoltaic cells (PSC), in particular Technologies for the conversion of solar light into electricity; Process Technology in Fine chemistry (PFC), in particular Methodology of manufacturing processes for Fine chemicals; and Sustainable Construction Materials (FRC); in particular Techniques for using fibre-reinforced composites in construction applications. These areas can be viewed as clusters of technologies, with a strong chemistry and agricultural component, which are necessary for achieving a sustainable future. Furthermore, it is important to recognise that technology requires a progressive development (technology lifecycle). The five areas of technology development are tested against a number of criteria: (1) Sustainability / leap / volume; (2) Horizon 2050; (3) Commitment from industry

Brazilian Biodiesel Policy: Social and environmental considerations of sustainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcez, Catherine Aliana Gucciardi; Vianna, Joao Nildo de Souza

2009-01-01

The objective of this article is to analyze the Brazilian Biodiesel Policy (PNPB) and to identify the social and environmental aspects of sustainability that are present or absent within it. Biofuels, namely alcohol and biodiesel, have been increasing in popularity on a global scale due to their potential as alternative and renewable energy sources. Brazil, a vast country blessed with abundant natural resources and agricultural land, has emerged as a global leader in the production of biofuels. This article includes a brief analysis of the concept of sustainable development, which served as a basis to evaluate the Policy documents. Although PNPB's implementation, which began in 2004, is still within its initial stage, it was possible to identify and elaborate on the environmental and social aspects of the Policy, namely: the social inclusion of family farmers; regional development; food security; influencing the carbon and energy balance of biodiesel; promoting sustainable agricultural practices and a diversity of feedstock. (author)

The Concept Of A Sustainable Approach To Corporate Real Estate Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ziemba Ewa

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper is conceptual in nature and presents the assumptions of a holistic approach to corporate real estate management. The approach is based on the imperative of sustainability, which has become a determinant of the proposed Sustainable Corporate Real Estate Management (SCREM model. Moreover, the authors indicate that in addition to the presence of the sustainability imperative, corporate real estate management requires the integration and formalization of knowledge about the concepts of corporate real estate management (CREM with those of corporate social responsibility (CSR. This approach is intended to enable the identification and improvement of real estate management processes and, as a result, contribute to more efficient and effective corporate real estate management and continuous and flexible development of enterprises, as well as boosting economic growth and building prosperity for present and future generations.

The role of collaborations in the development and implementation of sustainable livestock concepts in The Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Olde, de E.M.; Carsjens, G.J.; Eilers, Catharina H.A.M.

2017-01-01

This paper discusses the role of collaborations in the development and implementation of sustainable livestock farming. The study reflects upon the experiences with two innovative pig farming concepts in the Netherlands that aim to address sustainability-related concerns regarding the economic

The Construction of a Solidarity Sustainability Concept Theoretical Contributions to the Reach of Socio-Environmentalism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heloise Siqueira Garcia

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article has as general objective to draw up considerations about the concept of sustainability having as its apparatus its intimate connection with solidarity, so that the studies traced are presented as theoretical contributions to socio-environmentalism. In this context, the following specific objectives were listed: analyze the main aspects of Sustainability, focusing on the social dimension; to study Solidarity in its historical and conceptual aspects; and to understand the close correlation between both categories. In the methodology was adopted the inductive method, having been applied the techniques of the referent, category, operational concepts, bibliographical research and file.

CLIMATE CHANGE, VARIABILITY AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN ZIMBABWE'S RURAL COMMUNITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gukurume Simbarashe

2013-02-01

Full Text Available This article explores the impact of climate change and variability on agricultural productivity in the communal area of Bikita. The article further examines the adaptation and mitigation strategies devised by farmers to deal with the vagaries of climate change and variability. The sustainability of these is also interrogated in this article. This study juxtaposed qualitative and quantitative methodologies albeit with more bias on the former. A total of 40 farmers were sampled for unstructured interviews and focus group discussions. This article argues that the adverse impacts of climate change and variability are felt heavily by the poor communal farmers who are directly dependent on agriculture for livelihood. From the study, some of the widely reported signs of climate variability in Bikita included late and unpredictable rains, high temperatures (heat waves, successive drought, shortening rainfall seasons and seasonal changes in the timing of rainfall. The paper argues that climate change has compounded the vulnerability of peasant farmers in the drought - prone district of Bikita plunging them into food insecurity and abject poverty. It emerged in the study that some of effects of climate variability felt by communal farmers in Bikita included failure of crops, death of livestock and low crop yields, all of which have led to declining agricultural productivity. Findings in this study however established that communal farmers have not been passive victims of the vagaries of climate change and variability. They have rationally responded to it through various adaptation and mitigation strategies both individually and collectively.

Extending the scope of eco-labelling in the food industry to drive change beyond sustainable agriculture practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda-Ackerman, Marco A; Azzaro-Pantel, Catherine

2017-12-15

New consumer awareness is shifting industry towards more sustainable practices, creating a virtuous cycle between producers and consumers enabled by eco-labelling. Eco-labelling informs consumers of specific characteristics of products and has been used to market greener products. Eco-labelling in the food industry has yet been mostly focused on promoting organic farming, limiting the scope to the agricultural stage of the supply chain, while carbon labelling informs on the carbon footprint throughout the life cycle of the product. These labelling strategies help value products in the eyes of the consumer. Because of this, decision makers are motivated to adopt more sustainable models. In the food industry, this has led to important environmental impact improvements at the agricultural stage, while most other stages in the Food Supply Chain (FSC) have continued to be designed inefficiently. The objective of this work is to define a framework showing how carbon labelling can be integrated into the design process of the FSC. For this purpose, the concept of Green Supply Chain Network Design (GSCND) focusing on the strategic decision making for location and allocation of resources and production capacity is developed considering operational, financial and environmental (CO 2 emissions) issues along key stages in the product life cycle. A multi-objective optimization strategy implemented by use of a genetic algorithm is applied to a case study on orange juice production. The results show that the consideration of CO 2 emission minimization as an objective function during the GSCND process together with techno-economic criteria produces improved FSC environmental performance compared to both organic and conventional orange juice production. Typical results thus highlight the importance that carbon emissions optimization and labelling may have to improve FSC beyond organic labelling. Finally, CO 2 emission-oriented labelling could be an important tool to improve the

The energy inside the concept of the sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szauer, Maria Teresa

1999-01-01

The intimately bound of two thematic basic conceptual schemes are shown: The climatic change and the paper of the energy inside the concept of sustainable development. It is presented a description of the green house effect, their causes and consequences. They are analyzed, making emphasis in the differences among the countries of the north and of the south, the consumption of natural resources, the population's growth, and the deforestation like main causes of the climatic change. Lastly is discussed the international negotiations related with the topic

Sustainable Absorption Panels from Agricultural Wastes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ismail F.Z.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Noise has become a serious environmental problem and there are demands for alternative sustainable materials which capable to reduce the noise level at various frequency ranges. Therefore, the aim of this research is to study the potential of turning the agricultural waste and waste paper into a sound absorption panel. For the purpose of this study, combination of two materials was under studied; coconut coir fibre from agriculture waste and shredded waste paper from the office. There were two main objective of the research; first is to develop absorption panels from coconut coir powder that available locally with a combination of shredded paper at different percentage of mixture. Second objective is to identify the absorption rate of the panels. The study encompasses the fabrication of the particle board using the coconut husk powder mix with shredded waste paper and using the gypsum powder as the binder for the two materials. Four acoustic panels of size 0.5m x 0.5m and 0.012 m thick were fabricated with different mix ratio; 25% of coconut coir powder mixed with 75% of shredded waste papers for sample 1, 50% both of the material for sample 2, 75% of coconut coir powder mixed with 25% of shredded waste paper for sample 3, and lastly 100% of coconut coir powder for sample 4. The absorption coefficient of the panels was tested in a reverberation chamber and in accordance with ISO 354:1985 standards. Based on the results, sample 1 gave the highest absorption coefficient compared to sample 2, 3 and 4. It can be concluded that the acoustic panel made from a mixture of 25% coconut coir powder with 75% shredded waste paper provided higher absorption coefficient compared to the performance of the other samples. This might be caused by the size of the coir powder which is very small, creating less void space in between the panel and thus causing it to absorb less sound. Since sound absorption is very much affected by the availability of void space of

Sustainable intensification of U.S. agriculture: Aspirations and barriers in the regional agroecosystems of the LTAR network

Science.gov (United States)

The sustainable intensification of agriculture in the United States will require major shifts in producer decision-making, markets, and public policies. The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network is working to better understand how these shifts may be accomplished. Through a common experime...

Governance challenges of cocoa partnership projects in Indonesia: seeking synergy in multi-stakeholder arrangements for sustainable agriculture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wijaya, A.; Glasbergen, P.; Leroy, P.; Darmastuti, A.

2018-01-01

This paper investigates multi-stakeholder arrangements initiated by businesses and NGOs from the North that aim to enhance a more sustainable agricultural production at specific localities in Southern countries. We aim to better understand the search for concerted action in multi-actor arrangements.

Incorporating Sustainability and Green Design Concepts into Engineering and Technology Curricula

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radian G. Belu

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Human society is facing an uncertain future due to the present day unsustainable use of natural resources and the growing imbalance with our natural environment. Sustainability is an endeavour with uncertain outcomes requiring collaboration, teamwork, and abilities to work with respect and learn from other disciplines and professions, as well as with governments, local communities, political and civic organizations. The creation of a sustainable society is a complex and multi-stage endeavour that will dominate twenty first century.  Sustainability has four basic aspects: environment, technology, economy, and societal organization. Schools with undergraduate engineering or engineering technology programs are working to include sustainability and green design concepts into their curricula. Teaching sustainability and green design has increasingly become an essential feature of the present day engineering education. It applies to all of engineering, as all engineered systems interact with the environment in complex and important ways. Our project main goals are to provide the students with multiple and comprehensive exposures, to what it mean to have a sustainable mindset and to facilitate the development of the passion and the skills to integrate sustainable practices into engineering tools and methods. In this study we are describing our approaches to incorporating sustainability and green design into our undergraduate curricula and to list a variety of existing resources that can easily be adopted or adapted by our faculty for this purpose. Our approaches are: (1 redesigning existing courses through development of new curricular materials that still meet the objectives of the original course and (2 developing upper division elective courses that address specific topics related to sustainability, green design, green manufacturing and life-cycle assessment. 

Definition hierarchically integrated of sustainability indicators applied to a system of alert early, in orinoquia and Colombian amazonia; as example: First advance in investigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bustamante Zamudio, C.; Botero Garcia, R.

1996-01-01

It is necessary to establish the approaches that should be involved to the sustainability concept, clearly of agreement with the concrete objectives that it wants to reach (sustainable agriculture, economic, institutional sustainability, politics) as well as to evaluate and to discern the varied interpretations on the methodologies of sustainability determination. The urgency of understanding like an integrality the development problems in the countries of the third world, related with their, agricultural sectors, the state and potentiality of their resources, the exchange relationships in the international market and the raw materials, allow the presentation of different roads for the identification of strategies in the search of the sustainability

The Capacity-Building Stewardship Model: assessment of an agricultural network as a mechanism for improving regional agroecosystem sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alison J. Duff

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Working lands have potential to meet agricultural production targets while serving as reservoirs of biological diversity and as sources of ecological services. Yet agricultural policy creates disincentives for this integration of conservation and production goals. While necessary, the development of a policy context that promotes agroecosystem sustainability will take time, and successful implementation will depend on a receptive agricultural audience. As the demands placed on working lands grow, there is a need for regional support networks that build agricultural producers' capacity for land stewardship. We used a social-ecological system framework to illustrate the Healthy Grown Potato Program as an agricultural network case study. Our Capacity-Building Stewardship Model reflects a 20-year experience working in collaboration with potato growers certified under an ecolabel in Wisconsin, USA. The model applies an evolving, modular farm stewardship standard to the entire farm - croplands and noncroplands. The model demonstrates an effective process for facilitating communication and shared learning among program participants, including agricultural producers, university extension specialists, nonprofit conservation partners, and industry representatives. The limitation of the model in practice has been securing funding to support expansion of the program and to ensure that the ecolabel standard is responsive to changes in the social-ecological system. Despite this constraint, the Capacity-Building Stewardship Model reveals an important mechanism for building regional commitment to conservation, with agricultural producers in a leadership role as architects, adopters, and advocates for stewardship behavior. Our experience provides important insight for the application of agri-environment schemes on private lands. The durability of a conservation ethic on working farms is likely to be enhanced when networks engage and support producers in an

Sustainable agricultural development in inland valleys

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zwart, S.J.

2018-01-01

The inland valley in Africa are common landscapes that have favorable conditions for agricultural production. Compared to the surrounding uplands they are characterized by a relatively high and secure water availability and high soil fertility levels. Inland valleys thus have a high agricultural

Integrated assessment of agricultural land use policies on nutrient pollution and sustainable development in Taihu Basin, China

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reidsma, P.; Feng, S.; Loon, van M.; Luo, X.; Kang, C.; Lubbers, M.T.M.H.; Kanellopoulos, A.; Wolf, J.; Ittersum, van M.K.; Qu, F.

2012-01-01

Water pollution in Chinese lakes is a major problem. To reduce nutrient pollution and enhance sustainable development in Taihu Basin, China, an integrated assessment of the impacts of agricultural land use policies has been performed, using the technical coefficient generator TechnoGIN and the

SUSTAINABILITY IN AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS: SOCIO-ECONOMICAL INDICATORS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omar Daniel

2009-09-01

Full Text Available It is wide the discussion involving the importance of production adjustment activities in general, to the concept of sustainable development. Among the agricultural activities, the agroforestry systems have been considered sustainable, coming as alternatives to the intensive systems of agricultural production. To monitor the sustainability of agricultural activities, includings  AF,  the  literature  emphasizes  the  biophysical  indicators,  in  detriment  of  the  socio-economical ones. Seeking to define a list of socio-economical indicators that can be adapted to the several models recommendations of  AF a study was developed, supported by specialists and technicians and wide literature review. The conclusions were: the categories related  to the operation of the systems had the largest number of indicators in the socioeconômic component, with larger concentration in the endogenous operations of the system, followed by the endogenous and exogenous resources; the largest number of indicators suggested in the category operation of the system was in the descriptors health and nutrition, employment, habitation and sanity and economic analysis; in the category operation of exogenous systems, there were certain larger number of indicators for the descriptors commercialization and rural infrastructure; practically there was no difference among the number of indicators obtained for the agroforestry systems with and without the animal component.

LivestockPlus — The sustainable intensification of forage-based agricultural systems to improve livelihoods and ecosystem services in the tropics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Rao

2015-05-01

Full Text Available As global demand for livestock products (such as meat, milk and eggs is expected to double by 2050, necessary increases to future production must be reconciled with negative environmental impacts that livestock cause. This paper describes the LivestockPlus concept and demonstrates how the sowing of improved forages can lead to the sustainable intensification of mixed crop-forage-livestock-tree systems in the tropics by producing multiple social, economic and environmental benefits. Sustainable intensification not only improves the productivity of tropical forage-based systems but also reduces the ecological footprint of livestock production and generates a diversity of ecosystem services (ES such as improved soil quality and reduced erosion, sedimentation and greenhouse gas (GHG emissions. Integrating improved grass and legume forages into mixed production systems (crop-livestock, tree-livestock, crop-tree-livestock can restore degraded lands and enhance system resilience to drought and waterlogging associated with climate change. When properly managed tropical forages accumulate large amounts of carbon in soil, fix atmospheric nitrogen (legumes, inhibit nitrification in soil and reduce nitrous oxide emissions (grasses, and reduce GHG emissions per unit livestock product. The LivestockPlus concept is defined as the sustainable intensification of forage-based systems, which is based on 3 interrelated intensification processes: genetic intensification - the development and use of superior grass and legume cultivars for increased livestock productivity; ecological intensification - the development and application of improved farm and natural resource management practices; and socio-economic intensification - the improvement of local and national institutions and policies, which enable refinements of technologies and support their enduring use. Increases in livestock productivity will require coordinated efforts to develop supportive government, non

Ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes: a spatially explicit approach to support sustainable soil management.

Science.gov (United States)

Forouzangohar, Mohsen; Crossman, Neville D; MacEwan, Richard J; Wallace, D Dugal; Bennett, Lauren T

2014-01-01

Soil degradation has been associated with a lack of adequate consideration of soil ecosystem services. We demonstrate a broadly applicable method for mapping changes in the supply of two priority soil ecosystem services to support decisions about sustainable land-use configurations. We used a landscape-scale study area of 302 km(2) in northern Victoria, south-eastern Australia, which has been cleared for intensive agriculture. Indicators representing priority soil services (soil carbon sequestration and soil water storage) were quantified and mapped under both a current and a future 25-year land-use scenario (the latter including a greater diversity of land uses and increased perennial crops and irrigation). We combined diverse methods, including soil analysis using mid-infrared spectroscopy, soil biophysical modelling, and geostatistical interpolation. Our analysis suggests that the future land-use scenario would increase the landscape-level supply of both services over 25 years. Soil organic carbon content and water storage to 30 cm depth were predicted to increase by about 11% and 22%, respectively. Our service maps revealed the locations of hotspots, as well as potential trade-offs in service supply under new land-use configurations. The study highlights the need to consider diverse land uses in sustainable management of soil services in changing agricultural landscapes.

Health and sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Kjӕrgård, Bente; Land, Birgit; Bransholm Pedersen, Kirsten

2014-09-01

In the present article, we explore how sustainable development strategies and health promotion strategies can be bridged. The concept of the 'duality of structure' is taken as our starting point for understanding the linkages between health promotion and sustainable development, and for uncovering the structural properties or conditions which either enable or constrain sustainable public health initiatives. We argue that strategies towards health promotion are not sufficiently integrated with strategies for sustainable development, and thus political strategies aimed at solving health problems or sustainability problems may cause new, undesired and unforeseen environmental or health problems. First, we explore how the relation between health and sustainability is articulated in international policy documents. Next, we develop a model for understanding the relation between health promotion and sustainability. Third, we use examples from agriculture and food production to illustrate that health and sustainability are mutually enabling and constraining. We conclude that while the renewed focus on food security and food inequalities has brought the health and sustainability dimensions of the food system onto the political agenda, the conceptualization of duality between health and sustainability could be a new platform for a critical and theoretical stance towards the market-oriented food system strategy. Thinking along the lines of duality means that the integration of health promotion strategies and sustainable development strategies cannot be based on an approach to integration in which either health or sustainability is given precedence over the other. From a duality perspective, integration means conceiving sustainability from a health perspective and health from a sustainability perspective. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Urban Agriculture: Passing Fad or New Prospects for Agriculture and Cities?

OpenAIRE

Moschitz, Heidrun; Kueffer, Christoph

2016-01-01

While urban agriculture might be considered a passing fad, we argue that it is a vehicle to deal with many urgent topics of societal transformation towards a sustainable future. We discuss the potential of urban agriculture to change agriculture and urban life.

Barriers and opportunities in realising sustainable energy concepts--an analysis of two Swiss case studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pohl, Christian; Gisler, Priska

2003-01-01

What assists and what hinders sustainable energy use in being put into effect? Two case studies of sustainable energy concepts--the Zurich Solarstromboerse, where electricity can be purchased that is produced by solar panels, and the Swiss CO 2 -law, a consensus oriented implementation of the Kyoto-protocol--were analysed in order to investigate this question. In both case studies the unfolding of the sustainable energy concepts is reconstructed as a process starting with an abstract idea moving to a concrete realisation. This process passes through a series of different social worlds and is, in turn, affected by them. These social worlds are e.g. those of the concerned scientists, the professional investors, energy suppliers or governmental agencies. The case studies reveal three neuralgic challenges that have to be met when a concept advances from idea to realisation through the social worlds: Firstly, the translation between social worlds changes the content of the idea. Secondly, the way each social world looks at things (socially) constructs best solutions to problems and hides others. Thirdly, the actual dynamics of the social world within which it is finally implemented must be adopted by the idea. In order to integrate these neuralgic points, scientists as well as other inventors have to retain responsibility for their sustainable energy ideas and are requested to follow them through the social worlds in order to critically survey and eventually influence their 'content in flux'

Environment, Agriculture and Sustainability Relations: From the Environmental Degradation to the Necessity of Conservation of Natural Resources.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flórida Rosa Mali Assêncio

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a brief approach on environmental aspects related to the development of agriculture in the world and especially in Brazil, detaching some historical aspects. Some characteristics of the social and environmental degradation generated by the processes of production of modern agriculture, based on studies of Environmental Sciences, in general, and, more specifically, of Agroecology, are presented, as well as the necessity of searching for new models of development according to the recent paradigm of sustainability (social, economic and environmental, debated in international conferences on 'environment and development'.

SUSTAINABLE DIVERSIFIED AGRICULTURE AND LAND MANAGEMENT IN THE HIMALAYA: IMPLICATIONS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. M. Bajracharya

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The soil and land resources play a vital role in sustaining the local livelihoods of rural communities in the Himalaya. Most of the arable land has already been brought under cultivation, hence the ever-increasing demand for food and fiber has left farmers with no choice but to intensify agriculture. However, producing more crops and greater quantities of food, fiber and other materials on the same parcel of land can to soil fertility and productivity decline with overall degradation of land quality. Therefore, ways and means to intensify agriculture to enhance productivity without degrading the soil and land resource base have become imperative. Agro-forestry, agro-slivi-pastoral systems, and the adoption of a variety of crop, soil and water management and conservation practices offer potential to deliver multiple benefits without sacrificing the very resource upon which the human population depends. Presented herein are findings on approaches to sustainable intensification of agriculture and land management related to soil OM management and C sequestration for multiple benefits, and, agro-forestry as a crop diversification strategy with both livelihood, and climate change adaptation/mitigation benefits. The results indicate that sustainable soil management practices could lead to significant SOC accumulations (4-8 t/ha over 6 yrs. SOC and soil C stocks tend to increase with elevation due to cooler climate and slow decomposition rates. Carbon stocks for the 3 LU types was in the order CF>AF/LH>AG, suggesting that diversified cropping practices including agro-forestry have good potential sequester C while providing livelihood opportunities and climate adaptive capacity for local farming communities. Biochar amendment increased growth of both coffee plants and radish with mixed grass/weed biochar being most effective. Biochar application also significantly decreased emission of GHGs, especially N2O.

Sustainable agriculture: how to make it work? : a modeling approach to support management of a mixed ecological farm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wolfert, S.

2002-01-01

Keywords: sustainable agriculture; organic farming; whole farm management; decision support; farming systems research; designing; modeling; beta-gamma integration

The objective of the research described in this thesis was to develop a model that helps

Innovation in Agriculture - a Way for Romanian Farmers to Adjust Production to Market Requirements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuela Dora Orboi

2017-11-01

Full Text Available One of the main problems of the world in the coming years is food security. The main problem of agriculture in the future is not only to produce more, but to do so in a sustainable way. European Innovation Partnership called "Productivity and sustainability of agriculture" aims to provide a working interface between agriculture, bio-economy, science and other disciplines at national, regional and EU level. European Innovation Partnership is a new concept that was introduced in Strategy Europe 2020 of the European Commission. In this document, the Commission underlines the role of research and innovation as key elements in adapting to future challenges of the European Union. This partnership will also serve as a catalyst to increase the effectiveness of actions related to innovation supported through rural development policy, EU research and innovation. It has been identified two main objectives for the European Innovation Partnership: promoting productivity and efficiency of agriculture and durable agriculture sustainability in all Member States. It aims to create a better cooperation between research and agricultural practice, namely farmers. Through National Program for Rural Development 2014 - 2020, can be financed such initiatives, through Measure 16, sub-16.1 - Support for the establishment and operation of operational groups of the EIP for agricultural productivity and sustainability and sub-16.2 - Support for pilot projects and development of new products, practices, processes and technologies. The purpose of these sub-measures is to support the establishment of operational groups between partners coming from research: research institutes, research stations or centers, higher education institutions that have research in agriculture or which can be applied in agriculture and agricultural producers (farmers, companies, cooperatives and producer groups. Development and innovation activities would enable farmers to capitalize on joint the

Sustainable Food & Sustainable Economics

OpenAIRE

Alvarez, Mavis Dora

2012-01-01

Cuba today is immersed in a very intense process of perfecting its agricultural production structures with the goal of making them more efficient and sustainable in their economic administration and in their social and environmental management. Agricultural cooperatives in Cuba have the responsibility of producing on 73% of the country's farmland. Their contributions are decisive to developing agricultural production and to ensuring more and better food for the population, in addition to redu...

Interactive design of farm conversion : linking agricultural research and farmer learning for sustainable small scale horticulture production in Colombia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lee, R.A.

2002-01-01

Key words: interactive conversion design / vegetable production / small farms / sustainable farming / Colombia / learning processes / facilitation / agricultural research methods