Organic Farming and Agricultural Sustainability

Organic farming is increasingly recognised, by consumers, farmers, environmentalists and policy-makers, as one of a number of possible models for environmental, social and financial sustainability in agriculture. It has taken a long time to get this far. Organic farming’s roots can be traced back more than 100 years, to various individuals and movements concerned about soil conservation, pesticide use, resource use, animal welfare, land stewardship, nature conservation, diet, human health and social justice. Certified organic production dates back nearly 30 years (70 years in the case of Demeter-certified bio-dynamic production), with production standards reflecting the evolving priorities and objectives of organic farming. But the main role of organic production standards and certification has been to define a distinct market for the products, so that consumer willingness to pay for the benefits of organic farming can be harnessed to compensate producers for internalising external costs. As such, the market developed as a means to achieving the ethical objectives of organic farming, not an end in itself. Recent years have seen very rapid growth in organic farming. In 1985, certified and policy-supported organic production accounted for just 100,000 ha in western Europe (EU and EFTA), or less than 0.1% of the total agricultural area. By the end of 1997, this figure had increased to 2.3 million ha, more than 1.6% of the total agricultural area (Foster and Lampkin, 1999). It is likely that by the end of 1998, nearly 3.0 million ha was managed organically, representing a 30-fold increase in 13 years. These figures hide great variability within and between countries. Several countries have now achieved 5-10% of their agricultural area managed organically, and in some cases more than 30% on a regional basis. Countries like Austria, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland, and this year the UK, have seen the fastest rates of growth. But a number of others still languish below the 1% level. Alongside the increase in the supply base, the market for organic produce has also grown, but statistics on the overall size of the market for organic produce in Europe are still very limited. Recent estimates have placed the retail sales value of the European market for organic food at £3-5 billion in 1997. 70% of the expansion in the land area has taken place in the last five years, since the implementation in 1993 of EC Regulation 2092/91 defining organic crop production, and the widespread application of policies to support conversion to and continued organic farming as part of the agri-environment programme (EC Reg. 2078/92). The former has provided a secure basis for the agri-food sector to respond to the rapidly increasing demand for organic food across Europe. The latter has provided the financial basis to overcome perceived and real barriers to conversion. Despite some obvious successes in terms of consumer demand and supply growth, many policy makers, academics and farming leaders are still uncertain about the potential contribution of organic farming to the future development of mainstream agriculture, and to sustainability issues in particular. Organic farming is considered by some to be too idealistic and restrictive. What is needed, they argue, is an intermediate approach, such as integrated crop management that is not as ‘extreme’ as organic farming and is therefore more likely to be acceptable to the majority of farmers. Policy-makers face a difficult choice. Should they encourage more organic farming, which may offer more environmental and other benefits than the intermediate approaches, but will only be adopted by a minority of farmers? Or should they encourage the intermediate approaches, which, although the environmental benefits are more limited, may be adopted by more farmers, with possibly greater overall impact? And if, contrary to expectations, organic farming did become widely adopted, how could we feed a growing global population? This paper seeks to address a number of these questions

FORCES AFFECTING CHANGE IN CROP PRODUCTION AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Competitiveness, Crop Production, Agricultural Biotechnology, Agricultural Sustainability, Agricultural Inputs, Agricultural Profitability, Crop Production/Industries, Q10, Q12, Q13,

Exploring Agricultural Production Systems and Their Fundamental Components with System Dynamics Modelling

Agricultural production in the United States is undergoing marked changes due to rapid shifts in consumer demands, input costs, and concerns for food safety and environmental impact. Agricultural production systems are comprised of multidimensional components and drivers that interact in complex ways to influence production sustainability. In a mixed-methods approach, we combine qualitative and quantitative data to develop and simulate a system dynamics model that explores the systemic interaction of these drivers on the economic, environmental and social sustainability of agricultural production. We then use this model to evaluate the role of each driver in determining the differences in sustainability between three distinct production systems: crops only, livestock only, and an integrated crops and livestock system. The result from these modelling efforts found that the greatest potential for sustainability existed with the crops only production system. While this study presents a stand-alone contribution to sector knowledge and practice, it encourages future research in this sector that employs similar systems-based methods to enable more sustainable practices and policies within agricultural production

The Triple Bottom Line: What is the Impact on the Returns to Agribusiness?

event-study, sustainability, profitability, corporate social responsibility, Dow Jones Sustainability Index, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Financial Economics, Risk and Uncertainty,

Agricultural Sustainability - Progress and Prospects in Crop Research

Agricultural Sustainability: Progress and Prospects in Crop Research, covers different aspects of sustainability in a holistic manner and presents a wide range of subject areas by agricultural experts from across the world. The book offers different points of view including important topics in agrobiodiversity, biotechnology, marginal crops, industrial approaches, resource conservation, nutritional enhancement of crops and crop products, and explores economic and political issues

Exploratory landscape metrics for agricultural sustainability

Socioeconomic growth and urban change have been an increasing concern for decision makers in recent decades. The monitoring, mapping, and analysis of agricultural land use change, especially in areas where urban change has been high, is crucial. The collision between traditional economic activities related to agriculture in tourist areas such as the Algarve and current demand for tourism infrastructures in urban regions is also leading to loss of economic activity. This article uses a combined geographical information system approach with CORINE land cover datasets to perform a Shannon’s diversity index quantifying changes in agricultural areas. The article then expands on the nature of the agricultural changes observed, and offers a multi-temporal assessment by means of landscape metrics in order to understand the shifting land use patterns for the Algarve in land use planning and regional economic equilibrium: a) forest regions become transformed into agricultural areas and agricultural areas become urban; b) areas that are initially agricultural become scattered residential regions created by economic investors; and c) agricultural land use changes have a cyclical nature in which—in the course of the economic recession—such dynamic effects brought about a decrease in tourism and focus on traditional sectors

Soil sustainability in organic agricultural production

Traditionally, the assessment of soil sustainability and the potential impact of cultivation are based upon the application of chemical procedures. In the absence of a biological context, these measurements offer little in understanding longterm changes in soil husbandry. Detailed microcosm investigations were applied as a predictive tool for management change. The microcosms were designed with homogenised soils treated with organic amendments. Key soil functional relationships were quantified using stable isotope techniques, biochemical measurements and traditional approaches

Agricultural carbon sequestration, poverty, and sustainability

This paper explores the potential impacts of payments for agricultural soil carbon sequestration on poverty of farm households and on the sustainability of agricultural systems, using economic theory combined with evidence from three case studies in Kenya, Peru, and Senegal. The case studies indicate that the likely impact of carbon contracts will be to raise rural incomes and reduce the rate of soil carbon loss. In some cases, carbon contracts may be able to stabilize soil carbon stocks at a higher level than would otherwise be economically feasible. These findings suggest that carbon payments could have a positive impact on the sustainability of production systems while also reducing poverty. The analysis indicates that payments for environmental services are most likely to have a positive impact when they are implemented in an enabling economic and institutional environment

An Application of Conjoint Analysis in Agricultural Sustainability Assessment

Increasing public interest in the concept of sustainable agriculture has resulted in the development of a number of methods that could be used for the assessment of sustainability of various agricultural production systems. Because of its complex, multi-dimensional nature, sustainability is most often assessed using numerous indicators, which make aggregate comparisons among systems difficult. In this paper we propose a methodology that could be beneficial in aggregate sustainability assessment. We apply conjoint analysis to identify economic, social, and ecological attributes that are perceived as important for agricultural sustainability by different stakeholders and to assess their relative impact on the overall sustainability measure.Conjoint analysis, choice experiments, sustainability assessment, Environmental Economics and Policy,