Low Greenhouse Gas Agriculture: Mitigation and Adaptation Potential of Sustainable Farming Systems

Is low greenhouse gas emission (GHG) agriculture possible? Is it, in fact, desirable? In seeking answers to these two basic but extremely relevant questions, this study examines current farming practices, and incorporates scientific databases from longterm field experiments as case studies for low GHG agriculture. Further, the study examines the changes that will be needed for low greenhouse gas agriculture systems to become a reality. It also elucidates the adaptive capacity of agro-ecological farming system approaches, using organic system case studies from the scientific literature. Each year, agriculture emits 10 to 12 percent of the total estimated GHG emissions, some 5.1 to 6.1 Gt CO2 equivalents per year. Smith, et al. (2007) and Bellarby, et al. (2008) have proposed mitigation options for GHG emissions, finding that both farmers and policymakers will face challenges from the GHG-related changes needed in agriculture. Areas for improvement include increased use of no-till cropping, agro-forestry, and integrated crop and animal farming, and decreased use of external inputs in food and agriculture. The techniques offered by organic agriculture are valuable for consideration in these efforts

Organic Agriculture can norish the world: Eco-internsification and productivity devvelopment

FAO and Agriculture leaders recognize the contribution of Organic Agriculture to environmental and social issues, but they question that organic could produce enough affordable food for the growing demand of the population if it were a global agriculture strategy. Ecological and social intensification has been the concept of IFOAM and the Organic Movement to address these doubts. While the IAASTD report stated in 2008 that "business as usual is not an option anymore", industrial, strategies reminiscent of the so-called Green Revolution are still pushed in the concept for the UN Year of Family Farming (2014). The benefits of Organic agriculture over the present conventional paradigm, with regard to providing nourishment to all, are not yet universally accepted

Reducing Global Warming and Adapting to Climate Change: The Potential of Organic Agriculture

Climate change mitigation is urgent and adaptation to climate change is crucial, particularly in agriculture, where food security is at stake. Agriculture, currently responsible for 20-30% of global greenhouse gas emissions counting direct and indirect agricultural emissions), can however contribute to both climate change mitigation and adaptation. The main mitigation potential lies in the capacity of agricultural soils to sequester CO2 through building organic matter. This potential can be realized by employing sustainable agricultural practices, such as those commonly found within organic farming systems. Examples of these practices are the use of organic fertilizers and crop rotations including legumes leys and cover crops. Mitigation is also achieved in organic agriculture through the avoidance of open biomass burning and the avoidance of synthetic fertilizers and the related production emissions from fossil fuels. Common organic practices also contribute to adaptation. Building soil organic matter increases water retention capacity, and creates more stabile, fertile soils, thus reducing vulnerability to drought, extreme precipitation events, floods and water logging. Adaptation is further supported by increased agro-ecosystem diversity of organic farms, due to reduced nitrogen inputs and the absence of chemical pesticides. The high diversity together with the lower input costs of organic agriculture is key in reducing production risks associated with extreme weather events. All these advantageous practices are not exclusive to organic agriculture. However, they are core parts of the organic production system, in contrast to most non-organic agriculture, where they play a minor role only. Mitigation in agriculture cannot be restricted to the agricultural sector alone, though. Consumer behaviour strongly influences agricultural production systems, and thus their mitigation potential. Significant factors are meat consumption and food wastage. Any discussion on mitigation climate change in agriculture needs to address the entire food chain and needs to be linked to general sustainable development strategies. The main challenges to climate change mitigation and adaptation in organic agriculture and agriculture in general concern a)the understanding of some of the basic processes, such as the interaction of N2O emissions and soil carbon sequestration, contributions of roots to soil carbon sequestration and the life-cycle emissions of organic fertilizers such as compost; b) approaches for emissions accounting that adequately represent agricultural production systems with multiple and diverse outputs and that also encompass ecosystem services; c) the identification and implementation of most adequate policy frameworks for supporting mitigation and adaptation in agriculture, i.e: not putting systemic approaches at a disadvantage due to difficulties in the quantification of emissions, and in their allocation to single products; d) how to assure that the current focus on mitigation does not lead to neglect of the other sustainability aspects of agriculture, such as pesticide loads, eutrophication, acidification or soil erosion and e) the question how to address consumer behaviour and how to utilize the mitigation potential of changes in consumption patterns

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies – Organic Agriculture

This psoter presents information on the following - The concept of organic farming in the context of climate change - Carbon sequestration on organic farms - Consequences of an area-wide conversion to organic agricultur

A call for innovations tht change the (organic) world

Recent developments in organic farming and consumption show dynamic growth in markets; new uptake of Organic Agriculture by farmers, however, has been slow. Hindrances appear to be production problems or lack of trust by the farmers that organic methods can solve farming problems, such as fertilization, plant protection, animal health, efficient use of workforce, marketing diversity etc. While in some cases those problems can be solved through learning existing and regionally practiced methods, innovations are imperative to make organic farming competitive and a viable alternative farming system. OFIA, the Organic Farming Innovation Award, part of the Organic World Congress, highlights outstanding innovations and publishes priorities for innovative research

Erhöhte Trockenstresstoleranz von Kleegras nach reduzierter Bodenbearbeitung

Grass-clover leys are an integral part of organic rotations. We performed an experiment with reduced tillage (RT) and conventional tillage (CT) using mouldboard ploughing in a rotation in Frick (Switzerland) on a heavy soil and 1000 mm mean annual precipitation. The grass-clover mixture was sawn in autumn 2005 after uniform seed bed preparation with a rotary hoe in both tillage systems without ploughing. After emergence most of the clover seedlings collapsed in the CT plots due to draught, while they survived in the RT plots. This led to a much higher share of clover in the mixture under RT. Grass-clover yields were 29 and 23% higher in RT than in CT plots in the first and second year of cultivation in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Grass grown in RT plots was higher in nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg) content than in CT plots; clover contained solely more P in RT plots. Over all grass-clover had better growing conditions in RT compared to CT plots in our experiment, reflecting after-effects of the differentiated tillage schemes applied for the preceding arable crops. It is suggested that reduced tillage has a high potential to improve water stress tolerance of cropping systems

EHEC – kein spezifisches Problem nachhaltiger Landwirtschaft - [EHEC – A problem not specific to sustainable agriculture] [La EHEC – no es un problema específico de la agricultura sostenible] - [EHEC – Non è un problema specifi-co dell’agricoltura biologica] - [ECEH n’est pas un problème dû à l’agriculture durable] - [EHEC – nem speciálisan a fenntartható mezőgazdaság gondja] - [ECEH n’est pas un problème dû à l’agriculture durable]

DEUTSCH Über den EHEC-Erreger, der in Deutschland zu über dreissig tragischen Todesfällen geführt hat, ist viel spekuliert worden. Unterdessen konnten die Verbreitungswege nahezu aufgeklärt werden, während die Entstehung des Krankheitserregers noch weitgehend unklar ist. Im Zusammenhang mit dem EHEC-Ausbruch wurde auch die Frage erörtert, ob bestimmte Landwirtschaftsmethoden (zum Beispiel gemischte Betriebe mit Tierhaltung und Pflanzenbau oder die organische Düngung von Gemüse) oder ob gewisse Hygienisierungsmethoden für frische, konsumfähige Produkte(wie zum Beispiel die Verwendung von schonenden, weniger Rückstände verursachenden organischen Säuren) das Risiko erhöhen könnten. Diese Dokumentation geht nicht auf die aktuellen Fälle von EHEC in Norddeutschland ein, sondern liefert an diesem Beispiel Hintergrundinformationen zur Frage, wie nachhaltige, in Kreisläufen arbeitende Landwirtschaftsmethoden mit vom Tier auf den Menschen übertragbare Krankheitserreger (Zoonosen) umgehen. ENGLISH There has been much speculation about the pathogenic EHEC bacterial strain that has tragically claimed the lives of more than 30 people so far in Germany. Meanwhile, the transmission pathways have for the most part been identified. The origin of the pathogen, however, is largely unclear. In the context of the EHEC outbreak there have been debates as to whether certain agriculturalmethods (e.g. mixed holdings including both livestock and crop production, or the use of organic fertilizers for vegetable production) or certain sanitization methods for fresh consumable products (such as the use of organic acids, a mild treatment that leaves fewer residues) may increase the risk of infection. This document does not address the current epidemiological situation of the outbreak in northern Germany. Its purpose is rather to provide background information on the question of how sustainable agricultural methods based on nutrient cycling deal with pathogens that can be transmitted from animals to humans (zoonoses). CASTELLANO Mucho se ha especulado sobre la bacteria patógena Escherichia coli enterohemorrágica (ECEH), que ha ocasionado más de treinta muertes trágicas en Alemania. Hasta ahora casi se ha podido esclarecer la via de su propagación, mientras que sigue estando poco claro como ha aparecido el agente patógeno. Con el brote de la ECEH se ha cuestionado si determinadas prácticas agrícolas (por ejemplo, mantener explotaciones mixtas con ganado y cultivos, o la fertilización orgánica de los vegetales) o si los métodos de higiene para productos frescos, listos para el consumo (como por ejemplo, el uso de ácidos orgánicos menos agresivos y con menor riesgo de dejar residudos), pudieran incrementar los riesgos. Esta documento no se refiere sólo a los casos actuales de ECEH en el norte de Alemania, sino que proporciona, información básica de fondo, aprovechando este ejemplo, sobre como los métodos de producción agraria de ciclos cerrados con animales evitan forma sostenible que los patógenos generadores de enfermedades contagiosas (zoonosis) trasmisibles al ser humano. ITALIANO A proposito dell’insorgenza di EHEC è stata sollevata la questione se determinati metodi agricoli (per esempio aziende miste con allevamento di animali e produzione vegetale o la concimazione organica di ortaggi) oppure se determinati metodi di igienizzazione per pro-dotti freschi adatti al consumo (come per esempio l’impiego di acidi organici che provocano meno residui) possano aumentare i rischi. La presente documentazione non entra nei particolari degli attuali casi di EHEC nella Ger-mania settentrionale bensì fornisce informazioni d’approfondimento su come i me-todi agri-coli sostenibili basati sui cicli degli elementi nutritivi trattano la questione degli agenti pato-geni trasmissibili dagli animali all’uomo (zoonosi). HUNGARIAN Sok a spekuláció az EHEC kórokozót illetően, amely Németországban harmincnál is több tragikus halálesethez vezetett. Időközben a terjedés útját már csaknem teljesen felderítették, míg a kórokozó létrejöttéről még szinte semmit sem tudunk. Az EHEC fertőzés kitörése kapcsán az a kérdés is felmerült, hogy bizonyos mezőgazdasági módszerek (pl. a vegyes üzemek, melyek egyaránt foglalkoznak növénytermesztéssel és állattenyésztéssel, vagy a zöldségek szerves trágyázása), ill. a friss, fogyasztásra kész termékek egyes fertőtlenítési módszerei (így pl. a kímélőbb, kevesebb hulladékot eredményező szerves savak alkalmazása) nem növelhetik-e a kockázatot. A jelen tanulmány nem a Németország északi részén kialakult aktuális EHEC esetekkel foglalkozik, hanem háttér-információval szolgál arról, hogy a körforgásos működésű, fenntartható mezőgazdasági módszerek milyen kapcsolatban lehetnek az állatról emberre terjedő betegségekkel, az ún. zoonózisokkal. FRANCAIS ECEH n’est pas un problème dû à l’agriculture durabl

Priority themes for swiss sustainability research

With this report, the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences contribute to achieving the SDGs: With a view to meeting Switzerland‘s commitments under the 2030 Agenda as a whole, it identifies our country‘s most urgent research needs

Organic Agriculture

Consumers are increasingly aware of the health- and safety-related implications of the food which they can buy in the market. At the same time, households have become more aware of their environmental responsibilities. Regarding the production of food, a crucial and multifunctional role is played by agriculture. The way vegetables, fruits, and other crops are grown and how livestock is raised has an impact on the environment and landscape. Operations performed by farmers, such as water management, can be dangerous for the soil and the whole ecosystem. Consequently, there is a search for natural ways of sustaining the impact of agriculture on the environment. In this context, one of the most popular ideas is organic agriculture. In the literature on the subject, there are many concepts that some authors consider to be synonymous even as others argue that these terms are not interchangeable. There is, for example, "organic agriculture," "alternative agriculture," "sustainable agriculture," "ecological agriculture," "biological agriculture," "niche farming," "community-supported agriculture," and "integrated pest management." Very often, techniques and products related to organic agriculture are described by marketing experts with the use of abbreviations such as "bio" and "eco." Products with such markings and labels are increasingly popular in stores that often give them separate shelves for their sale. Despite the higher price compared to conventional products, they are increasingly sought by consumers. The entry examines the various impacts of organic agriculture with a view to these trends