Sustainable Agriculture
Agriculture can be described as the cultivation of animals, plants and fungi and other life forms for the purpose of enhancing and sustaining the human life. Nowadays, agriculture depends largely on innovative techniques to expand and maintain lands that are suitable for raising domesticated species and for the development of farming. Therefore, modern farming supports industrial agriculture which involves large scale monoculture. However, this type of agriculture is characterized for the increased use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. The solution is sustainable agriculture, which encourages organic farming.
To begin with, it is important to examine the features of industrial agriculture and to decide whether it is beneficial as it is assumed for the environment. One major feature of this type of agriculture is that large quantities of food can be potentially produced due to the various farming methods that exist. Production is driven by large machines that are characterised for being considerably powerful and working harder and faster. Despite the high efficiency in everyday operations, there are disadvantages associated with the mode of production. Firstly, the application of fossil fuels on industrial farms is a serious issue. Formation of fossil fuels includes various natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The main concern surrounding fossil fuels is that concentration of carbon dioxide rises in the atmosphere contributing to global warming. Therefore, global greenhouse gas emissions must be controlled. Another feature of industrial agriculture is that there is high application of chemical fertilisers to the soil for the purpose of increasing yield and plant size. On the one hand, pesticides increase yield by killing pests, but on the other hand the natural ecosystems are considerably damaged. Moreover, biodiversity, nitrogen fixation and pollinators are threatened to extinctions.
The second method of production that is encouraged is the sustainable mode of production. Sustainability is a process that targets the preservation of the environment without dependance on toxic chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilisers and genetically modified seeds. Sustainable agriculture aims the development and maintenance of of healthy ecosystems through techniques that don't alter the balance in the nature such as crop rotation, conservation tillage and pasture based livestock husbandry. In addition to this, animals are raised without dangerous practices such as use of non therapeutic antibiotics and arsenic based growth promoters.
To sum up, it is important that the natural sources would be maintained, otherwise quality would be affected seriously along with the local and regional economies. The most crucial in our days is the ability to remain economically viable and to promote health practices.
