Sustainable Agriculture refers to a system of food production where energy and water are conserved, resources are efficiently utilized, harmful chemicals are not used, and the biodiversity and health of the environment are protected. One of the most fundamental principles of sustainable agriculture is that it must work towards providing food security to people. Providing food security involves enabling people to have affordability and accessibility to food that not only fulfills their daily total calorie needs, but their daily nutritional needs as well. Healthy diets and proper micro-nutrient intakes are essential for people’s long-term health and in preventing malnutrition and stunted development in children. Another key principle of sustainable agriculture is that it aims to help the environment rather than damage it as most conventional agricultural practices usually do. The ways that sustainable agriculture helps the environment are through decreasing runoff, conserving water, preventing the pollution of lakes and rivers, recycling nutrients in the farm to help the soil’s health, promoting carbon sequestration by soils and perennial vegetation, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants, decreasing the usage of harmful chemical fertilizers and pesticides, establishing habitats for pollinators and other beneficial insects, increasing energy efficiency of farming operations and decreasing waste, and enhancing the well-being of farm animals while providing space for coexistence with native wildlife.
There are many methods of sustainable agriculture, and three of these methods are permaculture, biodynamic farming and urban agriculture. Permaculture is a design system that enables humans and nature to coexist in harmony through the application of principles that are found in the natural world in human settlements. Using permaculture for food production involves replicating how plants in the natural ecosystems function. Some examples of permaculture design techniques are sheet mulching, herb spirals, keyhole and mandala gardens and hugelkultur garden beds. Biodynamic farming is a holistic food production system where a farm is managed as one living entity where all of the farm’s components are interconnected and they all support each other’s well-being. The aim is to make the farm into a resilient ecosystem that has a wide biodiversity of plants, animals and beneficial insects. The health and fertility of the soil are enhanced through utilizing animal manure from the farm and composting, planting cover crops and rotating complementary crops. Inputs from outside, such as chemical fertilizers, are not used. Urban agriculture involves growing food in cities and urban areas rather than rural areas. Urban areas have the higher demand for food and this is expected to grow as more and more people are expected to live in cities. Urban agriculture will increase accessibility and affordability of food, and will also decrease pollution caused by transportation. Some examples of urban agricultural practices include using backyard farms and gardens, community gardens, rooftop farms, urban greenhouses and indoor hydroponic farms. Besides these three methods, there are many other ways sustainable agriculture can be done. If implemented, sustainable agricultural practices can go a long way to enable food security and environmental protection.
By Fabbiha Bushra
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 