In this article we will discuss about:- 1. Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture 2. Definition of Sustainable Agriculture 3. Sustainable Agriculture in Global Perspective 4. Evolution 5. Principles 6. Objectives of Sustainable Agriculture 7. Components 8. Basic Elements 9. Indicators 10. Steps to a Sustainable Agriculture 11. Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture.
Contents:
- Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture
- Definition of Sustainable Agriculture
- Sustainable Agriculture in Global Perspective
- Evolution of Sustainable Agriculture
- Principles of Sustainable Agriculture
- Objectives of Sustainable Agriculture
- Components of Sustainable Agriculture
- Basic Elements of Sustainable Agriculture
- Indicators of Sustainable Agriculture
- Steps to a Sustainable Agriculture
- Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture
1. Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture:
About 70-72 per cent Indian population is engaged in agricultural occupation. We obtain food, fiber, feed, fodder and fuel from agriculture. There is considerable increase in the Indian population during past years, hence, the demand of food & other requirements have also increased. However, the cultivable land is limited in the country and we need to feed our population from this limited and shrinking land.
Intensive farming approach came in to practice to fulfill these very objectives. Modern agriculture is based on intensive farming. Intensive agriculture is input-based in which several inputs are used to boost the production & productivity of crops. These inputs include the excessive use of agro-chemicals i.e. modern agriculture has become agro-chemical-based agriculture.
Soil fertility & productivity both are either getting deteriorated or abnormalities are being reflected with such type of agriculture. It may be advantageous for time being but, if we look in to the future aspects/concerns, this type of agriculture is not economically viable in long run. The soil is being exploited in improper way in modern agriculture.
Sometimes plant nutrients are either added in excess or in fewer quantities whose ill effects may be seen in soil, water or on environment. Our aim in agriculture should be such that farming should be economically viable, environment friendly, techniques of cultivation should be socially accepted and it should be low input-high production- based. Keeping all this in view, a new concept of agriculture has emerged which we call as sustainable agriculture.
On consequent upon the modern agriculture, the two main resources of agricultural production; water and soil have been negatively affected during 20th century.
Owing to this, the agriculture has been unstable and hence, a new thought of better agriculture was evolved because, the following ill effects were resulted due to indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources:
i. Non-storage of rain water-drying of drinking water resources
ii. Frequent droughts and floods
iii. Loss of forest, vegetation (and bio-diversity)
iv. Reduction in pasture
v. Loss of soil fertility & productivity
vi. Unemployment in urban & rural areas
Because of above ill effects, the concept of sustainable agriculture was evolved. The sustainable agriculture is variously called as; natural farming, organic farming, low input farming, alternative farming, regenerative farming, holistic farming, biodynamic, bio- intensive farming, biological farming system i.e. farming with nature.
2. Definition of Sustainable Agriculture:
Successful management of natural resources for agriculture to satisfy changing human needs while maintaining or enhancing the quality of the environment and conserving natural resources.
Sustainable agriculture is one that produces abundant food without depleting the earth’s resources or polluting its environment.
It is agriculture that follows the principles of nature to develop systems for raising crops & livestock that are, like nature, self-sustaining.
Sustainable agriculture is also the agriculture of social values, one whose success is indistinguishable from vibrant rural communities, rich lives for families on the farm, and wholesome food for everyone.
Sustainable agriculture is an agro-ecology that promotes biodiversity, recycles plant nutrients, protects soil from soil erosion, conserves & protects water, uses minimum tillage and integrates crop and livestock enterprises on the farm.
Modern Definition:
Sustainable agriculture is the use of farming systems and practices which maintain or enhance-
i. The economic viability of agricultural production;
ii. The natural resource base; and
iii. Other ecosystems which are influenced by agricultural activities.
This definition can be supplemented by some fundamental principles of sustainable agriculture:
i. That farm productivity is enhanced over the long term;
ii. That adverse impacts on the natural resource base and associated ecosystems are ameliorated, minimized or avoided;
iii. That residues resulting from the use of chemicals in agriculture are minimized;
iv. That net social benefit (in both monetary and non-monetary terms) from agriculture is maximized; and
v. That farming systems are sufficiently flexible to manage risks associated with the vagaries of climate and markets.
Sustainable agriculture recommends a range of practices, which addresses many problems that arise due to the problems of modem agriculture such as loss of soil productivity, impacts of agricultural pollution, decreased income due to high production costs, and minimal or uneconomic returns.
Lockets (1988):
Defined sustainable agriculture as a time dimension and the capacity a farming system to endure indefinitely.
Gracet (1990):
Defined sustainable agriculture as a system of agriculture that is committed to maintain and preserve the natural resource base of soil, water and atmosphere ensuring future generations the capacity to feed them with an adequate supply of safe and wholesome food.
Crosson (1992):
A sustainable agriculture system is one that can indefinitely meet demands for food and fiber at socially acceptable economic and environment cost.
Broad and commonly accepted definition of sustainable agriculture as production and distribution system that-
i. Achieves the integration of natural biological cycles
ii. Protects and renews solid fertility and natural resource base
iii. Reduces the use of non-renewable resources and purchased (External and off farm inputs) production inputs
iv. Optimizes the management and use of on-farm inputs
v. Provides an adequate and dependable income
vi. Promotes opportunities in family farming and farm communities
vii. Minimizes adverse impacts on health, safety with life, water quality and the environment
viii. Provides on-farm employment to the rural small and marginal farmers.
3. Sustainable Agriculture in Global Perspective:
i. Agriculture is sustainable when it is ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just, culturally appropriate and based on a holistic scientific approach.
ii. Low-External-Input and Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA) is agriculture which makes optimal use of locally available natural and human resources (such as soil, water, vegetation, local plants and animals, and human labour, knowledge and skill) and which is economically feasible, ecologically sound, culturally adapted and socially just.
iii. Sustainable development is the management and conservation of the natural resource base and the orientation of technological and institutional change in such a manner as to ensure the attainment and continued satisfaction of human needs for present and future generations. Such sustainable development (in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors) conserves land, water, plant and animal genetic resources, is environmentally non-degrading, technically appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable.
4. Evolution of Sustainable Agriculture:
It was about four decades ago environmental activism became vocal worldwide. It is the fact that agriculture and allied activities can also be the cause of environmental degradation. It became evident with the publication of a book “The silent spring” by Rachael Carson. Soil degradation due to erosion, salinization, pesticide pollution, degradation of water bodies, global warming due to methane emission in to the atmosphere are now on focus due to improper agricultural activities.
In 1980s, Wes Jackson of The Land Institute in Salina, K.S., began using the terra sustainable agriculture to describe an alternative system of agriculture based upon resource conservation and quality of rural life. Even before in the year 1980 a committee constituted by the United Nations published a policy document on Sustainable Development.
While sustainable agriculture has become the umbrella under which, many of the alternatives farming systems fall, it is important to note that sustainable agriculture is a concept and not a specific set of farming practices. In temperate zones sustainable agriculture was defined as, Sustainable agriculture is a philosophy based on human goals and on understanding the long term impact of our activities on the environment and on other species.
Use of this philosophy guides our application of prior experience and the latest scientific advances to create integrated, resource-conserving, equitable farming systems. These systems reduce environmental degradation, maintain agricultural productivity, promote economic viability in both the short and long term and maintain stable rural communities and quality of life.
In this context, sustainable agriculture embraces all agricultural systems striving to meet these criteria. Many aspects of modern conventional agriculture are included in sustainable agriculture, just as are many aspects of alternative farming systems.
One aspect of modern agriculture receiving a lot of attention in the sustainable agriculture discussion is the use of chemical inputs to sustain soil fertility and pest control. While agriculture chemicals will continue to play an important role in global agriculture.
Farmers are looking at alternatives due to environmental, economical, or regulatory reasons. In a transition to farming systems more reliance on biological methods of production, low-input farming serves as in intermediary step.
Sustainable agriculture emphasizes the conservation of on-farm resources. For a farm to be sustainable, it must produce adequate amounts of high-quality foods, be environmentally safe, and where appropriate, be profitable. Farmers committed to sustainable agriculture concepts try to minimize purchased inputs and instead use on-farm resources which are renewable.
This system of farming is appropriate for adoption in developing countries where production cost are escalating due to non-availability or high-cost of inputs such as fertilizers, plant protection chemicals, seeds and other inputs. Agricultural ecosystems, unlike the natural ecosystems, are subjected to intense pressure by human interference though considered to be economically viable and profitable.
5. Principles of Sustainable Agriculture:
The core principle of sustainable agriculture is the equity i.e. equal opportunities to all farmers (small, marginal & large) to raise income with environment protection.
The various principles of sustainable agriculture pertaining to its resources and operations are given below:
i. Soil:
It is a prime natural resource and its conservation for future generations is essential. Now-a-days, agricultural land is being used for other purposes; hence, it is essential to make the regulatory mechanism that agricultural land should not be used for other purposes.
Principles relating to make the soil sustainable are as follows:
a. Constant watch on soil health
b. Wastelands should be corrected and be made fertile,
c. Biodiversity rich soils
d. Soil conservation and make it fertile forever.
ii. Water:
Water is a priceless natural resources for agriculture.
In context of sustainable agriculture, the principles pertaining to water are as follows:
a. Appropriate conservation of water
b. Equal distribution of water
c. Increasing efficiency in conveyance of water by reducing the losses
d. Tactful utilization of rain water and ground water
e. Sewage water purification and reuse.
iii. Nutrients:
For successful crop production, nutrients need to be in sufficient quantities & in proper proportion. From sustainable crop production point of view, following are the principles related to nutrients.
a. Balanced use of nutrients; 4:2:1 in case of cereals & 1:2:1 in pulses
b. Integrated Nutrient Management (INM); adoption of crop rotation, use of green manuring, compost, FYM, Biofertilizers, fertilizers etc.
iv. Genetic Variability:
a. Use of local suitable crop varieties
b. Preservation of local land races
c. Development of new varieties with farmers
Under the situation of outbreak of a disease or insect, the whole crop may be failed if a similar crop and its variety is being grown in a particular region. To avoid this situation, several crops and varieties should be in vogue in a particular region.
v. Crop Protection measures:
In tropical and sub-tropical regions, pests are the major challenge for agriculture. Several chemicals are used for controlling these pests; however, various negative consequences are noticed in environment, water, soil and even in agricultural products, hence, following principles of plant protection measures have been advocated in sustainable agriculture.
a. Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
b. Minimal usage of pesticides
c. Conservation of natural predators
vi. Energy:
a. Combination of conventional and non-conventional energy sources for obtaining the more yields
vii. Post-harvest Technology:
a. Processing and value addition of produce
b. Use of technologies of drying, storage and marketing
viii. Agricultural System:
One should not fully rely on crop production alone for sustainable agriculture. Integrated Farming System (IFS); animal husbandry, agro-forestry, fish rearing or other allied enterprises should be adopted in addition to crop production for achieving the sustainability. This may help not only in increasing income but, it may create more opportunities for employments as well.
Apart from the above, other basic principles of sustainable agriculture are as follows:
i. The inter relatedness of all the farming systems including the farmer and the family
ii. The importance of biological balances in the system
iii. The need to maximize desired biological relationships in the system and minimizes the use of materials and practices that disrupt these relations
iv. The application of prior experience and the latest scientific advances to create integrated, resource conserving, equitable farming systems
v. Reduce environmental degradation, maintain agricultural productivity, promote economic viability in both the short and long term and maintain stable rural communities and quality of life
vi. Not overburden on natural resource base and its carrying capacity.
6. Objectives of Sustainable Agriculture:
The ultimate objective of sustainable agriculture is to maximize the benefits from the existing agricultural assets and minimize the threats to the environment from the current practices of technology intensive agriculture directed only towards production maximization and profits.
Some of the other objectives of sustainable agriculture are listed below:
i. Make best use of the resources available
ii. Minimize use of non-renewable resources
iii. Protect the health and safety of farm workers, local communities and society
iv. Protect and enhance the environment and natural resources
v. Protect the economic viability of farming operations
vi. Provide sufficient financial reward to the farmer to enable continued production and contribute to the well-being of the community
vii. Produce sufficient high-quality and safe food
viii. Build on available technology, knowledge and skills in ways that suit local conditions and capacity.
ix. An incorporation of natural processes such as nutrient cycling, biological nitrogen fixation and pest predator relationships into agricultural production processes
x. A reduction in the use of off – farm, external and non-renewable inputs (synthetic) with the greatest potential to harm the environment or the health of farmers and consumers and a more targeted use of remaining inputs used with a view to minimize variable costs
xi. Profitable and efficient production with an emphasis on integrated farm management and conservation of soil, water, energy and biological resources.
7. Components of Sustainable Agriculture:
Sustainable Agriculture consists of elements, which are common in many regions. But the methods to improve their sustainability may vary from one Agro-ecological region to another. However, there are some common sets of practices among farmers trying to take a more sustainable approach by use of on – farm or local resources. However each of them contributes to a greater extent to realize long term farm profitability, environmental stewardship and quality of life.
i) Soil Conservation:
Soil conservation methods including contour cultivation, contour bunding, graded bunding, vegetative barriers, strip cropping, cover cropping, reduced tillage etc. help in preventing the loss of soil due to wind and water erosion.
ii) Crop Diversity:
Increased crop or Bio-diversity on farm can help in reducing risks from extremes in weather, marketing conditions, and pest disease incidences. The increased diversity of crop and other plants such as trees, shrubs and pastures also can contribute to soil conservation habitat protection and increased populations of beneficial insects.
iii) Nutrient Management:
Integrated management of essential nutrients can improve and sustain soil fertility and protect environment. Increased use of on farm low cost inputs such as organic manures, composts, green manures and crop residues not only reduce cost of production but also rejuvenate soil health.
iv) Integrated Pest Management (IPM):
It is a sustainable approach to manage pests by suitably integrating the available plant protection methods like cultural, physical, mechanical biological and chemical methods, which optimizes the production costs besides maintaining environmental balance.
v) Water Quality & Water Conservation:
Practices like zero tillage, deep ploughing and mulching and micro irrigation techniques and mulching can help to optimize the water consumption or requirement besides conserving and augmenting the soil moisture on long – term basis. It is also helpful in protecting the quality of drinking water and surface water.
vi) Agro-Forestry:
A combination of Silvi-pastoral, Agri-Silvi-Pastoral, Agri-Horticulture, Horti-Silvi Pastoral, Alley cropping, Ley farming etc. that can help in conserving soil and water and profitability. This also leads to supply of fuel wood, horticultural products and in achieving balanced nutrition to rural people.
vii) Marketing:
Improved marketing facilities can ensure remunerative and sustainable returns to farmers. Direct marketing of produce can exclude intermediaries and ensures higher returns and malpractices.
8. Basic Elements of Sustainable Agriculture:
Sustainable agriculture’s benefit to farm and community economies is grounded in four well-established economic development principles and a fifth, concern for the community:
i. Input Optimization:
Sustainable production practices maximize on-farm resources. Internally derived inputs, such as family labour, intensive grazing systems, recycled nutrients, legume nitrogen, crop rotations, use of renewable solar energy, and improved management of pests, soils and woodlands are a few examples of substituted resources. Studies have shown that these substitutions can be made while maintaining yields and often result in increased net farm earnings. These earnings can benefit the community by increasing local retail sales and providing a stronger tax base.
ii. Diversification:
To develop healthy soils and reduce purchased inputs, sustainable agriculture emphasizes diverse cropping and livestock systems. Diversification can lead to more stable farm income by lowering economic risk from climate, pests, and fluctuating agriculture markets. This helps to keep farmers on the land and helps buffer the local economy from the shock of a dramatic decline in a single commodity/industry.
iii. Conservation of Natural Capital:
It is standard accounting practice to depreciate capital assets. It has not been standard practice for farmers to depreciate natural capital that is depleted by farming methods that do not conserve resources. Nevertheless, the loss is real, eventually affecting yields, farm profitability, and sustainability. In sustainable agriculture, economic value is created by maintaining the productivity of land and water resources while enhancing human health and the environment.
iv. Capturing Value-Added:
The marketing of crops and products grown is by far the weakest link in the farmers’ role in the ‘field to table’ food system. To create and maintain a truly sustainable agriculture, farmers will have to develop ways of retaining a higher percentage of value-added on the farm.
While individuals farmers can and do design, process and direct- market their own products, many other value-added strategies require more resources than one farmer can handle financially. Therefore, these value-added strategies will require the formation of a coop of local farmers and a collaborative relationship with the local community.
v. Community:
The elements of sustainable agriculture are integral to all communities. If we are to support sustainable agriculture, we must recognize the rural/urban interconnection, the conflicts and tremendous opportunities. The positives of a sustainable farming system include shared commitment to profitability, food security, food safety, open space for water recharge, natural habitats for flora, fauna and recreation and a cooperative and supportive social and economic community infrastructure.
Currently our urban communities are separated from farming communities not only in philosophy, but also in their mutual understanding, particularly in their knowledge of the entire food production and distribution system. Recognition of the role farming has played in stabilizing our community is critical or we shall continue to disintegrate our rural fabric and preferred standards of living. In other words, we must rekindle a sense of caring about the welfare of our neighbors in order for viable rural and urban communities to survive.
9. Indicators of Sustainable Agriculture:
Sustainability cannot be measured directly; it is too elusive a concept and it operates over too long a time scale. The best we can do is to identify measurable phenomenon that, when put together, suggest how sustainable our system might be. These are called indicators.
Indicators are widely used as benchmarks to help gauge performance in a number of human endeavours. For example, the consumer price index and gross domestic product are indicators, although crude ones, of economic performance.
In Australia, some work has already been done on the development of indicators for sustainable agriculture. In 1992, the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Resource Management (SCARM) established an expert group to develop a set of indicators to be used by decision-makers at the regional and national scales. This led to the establishment of a National Collaborative Project on Indicators of Sustainable Agriculture, which aims to prepare ‘report cards’ on the sustainability of Australian agriculture.
A number of criteria can be used to judge the usefulness of a given indicator:
i. Is it measurable?
ii. Is it relevant and easy to use?
iii. Does it provide a representative picture?
iv. Is it easy to interpret and does it show trends over time?
v. Is it responsive to changes?
vi. Does it have a reference to compare it against so that users are able to assess the significance of its values?
vii. Can it be measured at a reasonable cost, and can it be updated?
Regional/National indicators could be divided into four main areas:
i. Profitability;
ii. Land and water quality to sustain production;
iii. Managerial skills; and
iv. Off-site environmental impacts.
Making Indicators Relevant to Farmers:
The process of consulting with farmers about sustainability indicators was just as informative as the outcomes themselves. Early on, facilitators found it necessary to ‘bring the indicators to life’ by explaining their background and justifying the need for them. Without such justification, say the project coordinators, farmers were profoundly uninterested.
So, why should farmers pay any attention to indicators of sustainability?
1. Indicators can help farmers notice changes at an early stage and seek advice if required;
2. Profitability indicators can highlight strengths and weaknesses and show trends;
3. Land and water quality indicators can highlight natural resource issues which may be ‘sleepers’ and not obvious to the eye until they are well advanced and difficult to address;
4. Managerial skills self-auditing can assist individual business partners to appraise honestly their talents and to plan for professional development; and
5. Off-site impact monitoring can ensure that individual businesses maintain quality standards and do not contribute to problems for the wider community.
Pigs and goats can be used to renovate wooded lands in preparation for sheep pasture. The pigs and goats replace the petrochemical energy that would be consumed in machines, herbicides and fertilizers. As in conventional agricultural systems, the success of sustainable approaches is very dependent on the skills and attitudes of the producers.
The degree to which different models of such farms are sustainable is very variable, and is dependent on the physical resources of the farmer, and the degree deficiencies in support farm, the talents and commitment of the support available. The current from government, universities, and agricultural professionals means that farmers must often rely on their own talents and commitment.
10. Steps to a Sustainable Agriculture:
The agro-ecosystem is made up of many interacting components with multiple goals. Soil quality is one important part of sustainable agro-ecosystem management, analogous to water and air quality. Assessing soil quality may help managers identify practices that could be adapted to become more sustainable. Soil quality is one aspect of sustainable agro-ecosystem management.
i. Conserve and Create Healthy Soil:
a. Stop soil erosion by terracing, strip cropping, repairing gullies
b. Add organic matter to soil (with “green manure” cover crops, compost, manures, crop residues, organic fertilizers)
c. Conservation tillage
d. Plant wind breaks
e. Rotate cash crops with hay, pasture, or cover crops
ii. Conserve Water and protect its Quality:
a. Stop soil erosion in field and pasture
b. Reduce use of chemicals
c. Establish conservation buffer areas
d. Grow crops adapted to rainfall received
e. Use efficient irrigation methods
iii. Manage Organic Wastes and Farm Chemicals so they don’t pollute:
Organic Wastes:
a. Test soil and applying manures and litters only when needed
b. Compost dead birds and litters
c. Store litter piles out of the rain and snow
d. Raise pastured or free-range poultry
e. Raise hogs in hoop houses or free-range
f. Farm chemicals and trash:
g. Look for alternatives to chemicals
h. Use the least amount necessary
i. Buy the least toxic chemical
j. Recycle
k. Dispose according to label instructions
iv. Manage Pests with Minimal Environmental Impact Weed Management:
Mechanical Approaches:
a. Mowing
b. Flaming
c. Flooding
d. Tillage
e. Controlled bums
Cultural Approaches:
a. Crop Rotation
b. Smother crops
c. Cover crops
d. Allelopathic plants
e. Close spacing of plants
Biological Approaches:
a. Multi-species grazing
b. Rotational grazing
c. Chemical Approaches
d. Integrated Pest Management
e. Use of narrow spectrum, least-toxic herbicides
f. Properly calibrated sprayers
Application methods that minimize amount used, drift, and farmer contact.
Insect and Disease Management:
a. Introduce or enhance existing populations of natural predators, pathogens, sterile insects, and other biological control agents.
b. Traps
c. Maintain wild areas or areas planted with species attractive to beneficial insects
d. Selective insecticides or botanical insecticides which are less toxic
e. Trap crops
f. Crop rotation (avoid monoculture) Intercropping, strip cropping
g. Maintain healthy soil (prevents soil-based diseases)
h. Keep plants from becoming stressed
v. Select Plants and Animals Adapted to the Environment:
a. Grow crops and crop varieties well-suited to climate
b. Match crops to the soil
c. Experiment with older, open pollinated varieties that do well without chemical inputs
d. Raise hardy breeds of livestock adapted to climate
e. Raise livestock that gain well on grass and native forages
vi. Encourage Bio-diversity:
a. Diversify crops and livestock raised
b. Leave habitat (field margins, unmowed strips, pond and stream borders, etc.,) for wildlife
c. Maintain the health of streams and ponds
d. Provide wildlife corridors rotate row crops with hay crops
e. Domesticate animals, crops, wildlife and native plants, microbial and aquatic life
vii. Conserve Energy Resources:
a. Reduce number of tillage operations
b. Cut use of chemicals and fertilizers
c. Develop production methods that reduce horsepower needs
d. Recycle used oil
e. Use solar-powered fences and machines
f. Use renewable, farm-produced fuels: ethanol, methanol, fuel oils from oil seed cops, methane from manures and crop wastes
viii. Increase Profitability and Reduce Risk:
a. Diversify crops and livestock
b. Substitute management for off-farm inputs
c. Maximize the use of on-farm resources
d. Work with, not against, natural cycles
e. Keep machinery, equipment and building costs down
f. Add value to crops and livestock
g. Try direct marketing
11. Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA):
Low External Input Supply Agriculture (LEISA) is a component of Sustainable Agriculture. It can be defined as production activities which optimize the use of locally available resources by maximizing the complementary and synergetic effects of different components of farming system.
LEISA is based on a preventive approach wherein the problem is tackled at its roots as opposed to the more symptom curing nature of modern/chemical agriculture. LEISA is more labor intensive and often based on local knowledge and production systems.
Criteria for LEISA:
Ecological Criteria:
a. Balanced use of nutrients
b. Efficient use of water, energy and Genetic resources
c. Minimal/need based external inputs
d. Minimal negative environmental impact
Economic Criteria:
a. Sustained farmer livelihood system
b. Competitiveness
c. Efficient use of production factors
d. Low relative value of external inputs
Social Criteria:
a. Widely acceptable and equitable adoption potential especially among small farmers
b. Reduced dependency on external institutions.
c. Respecting & Building ITK, beliefs and value system
d. Contribution to employment generation.