Let’s start off with explaining what is sustainable agriculture. As its name implies, it’s farming in a sustainable way. For decades industrial agriculture has been the mode of producing food in bulk for everyone. This systems consists of farms growing the same crops every year, utilizing fertilizers and pesticides which are bad for the environment in order to get the greatest yield. This system isn’t sustainable because it’s only using up the resources (depletion and contamination of water and soil) it needs to grow.
Sustainable Agriculture is a system that aims to mimic natural ecological processes to meet society’s food needs in the present without impacting the ability for future generations to meet their requirements as well. Practices of sustainable agriculture promotes soil health by minimizing tilling while planting fields of various crops year after year. It lowers pollution levels by nurturing the organisms that control crop destroying pests instead of using chemical pesticides.
Sustainable agriculture is the way of the future because of its contribution to environmental conservation. This practice helps to replenish the land and its natural resources all while suppling us with the food we need to survive. It betters public safety as this practice avoids the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers to produce food that is safer to eat. In addition to this sustainable farming results in farmers receiving a fair wage for their produce potentially reducing farmers reliance on government subsidies. The money the government saves from providing less subsides can be used elsewhere, for example in funding social programs to make foods produced through sustainable methods more accessible and affordable to lower income individuals.
With all the benefits sustainable farming has to offer still critics say that these methods results in lowered crop yields while using more land, and that this would lead to inevitable food shortages as the human population exceeds 8 billion by 2030. But to combat this many individuals advocating for this sustainable practice suggest that with increased efficiency these lands can produce as much as these conventionally farmed lands.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 