Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is farming in ways that we can be able to feed a country’s growing population. In sustainable farming, we should enhance environmental quality to make sure that the farming being carried out is not compromising future production. Sustainable farming can be achieved through understanding different ecosystems, integrating livestock and crops, adopting agroforestry practices, reducing tillage rotating crops, applying integrated pest management and integrating weed management practices. Sustainable food systems see that the human population is sustained.
Measures to improve sustainable agriculture
Use of reduced irrigation water if there is no proper drainage to avoid salinization. The water being used must not be more than it is available from the source. This is to avoid making the water source a non-renewable resource.
Practising crop rotation and cultivating diverse crops. Diversity of crops ensures that they do not compete for nutrients with each other. This increases resistance to diseases and it reduces the effects of soil erosion.
Applying integrated weed management and integrated pest management. This helps to reduce the development of herbicide-resistant weeds which are problematic to crops. The pests and weeds affect the crops adversely by reducing the yields and production of low-quality products.
Practising a minimum or no-tillage. This greatly helps in maintaining the desired soil structure. It also reduces the loss of important nutrients from the soil.
Integrating crops and livestock helps in reducing the risk of getting just one product. Most importantly, it helps to reduce soil erosion and it increases the rate of water infiltration. Waste from animals are used as manure in the farm hence increasing yields
Factors affecting sustainable agriculture
Continuous tillage can contribute to soil degradation due to depletion of nutrients available in the soil. Also, when crops are harvested some nutrients are removed from the soil. If they are not replenished, the land suffers from reduced yields
It also leads to soil erosion. When the soil structure is altered through farming it is easily carried away by water or even by the wind.
Intensive farming leads to reduced levels of carbon in the soil. This impairs the soil structure and functioning of the ecosystem
It also contributes to climate changes due to practices like deforestation.
Conclusion
As much as the farmers want to feed a whole population sufficiently, they should take great care of the available resources. This is because, when nonrenewable resources are depleted, they compromise with future production a great deal.
References
Altieri, M.A., 2018. Agroecology: the science of sustainable agriculture. CRC Press.
Burton, C.H. and Turner, C., 2003. Manure management: Treatment strategies for sustainable agriculture. Editions Quae.
Gliessman, S.R., Engles, E. and Krieger, R., 1998. Agroecology: ecological processes in sustainable agriculture. CRC Press.
Horrigan, L., Lawrence, R.S. and Walker, P., 2002. How sustainable agriculture can address the environmental and human health harms of industrial agriculture. Environmental health perspectives, 110(5), pp.445-456.
Khan, M.S., Zaidi, A. and Wani, P.A., 2007. Role of phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms in sustainable agriculture—a review. Agronomy for sustainable development, 27(1), pp.29-43.
Power, J.F. and Prasad, R., 1997. Soil fertility management for sustainable agriculture. CRC press.
Pretty, J.N., 1995. Participatory learning for sustainable agriculture. World Development, 23(8), pp.1247-1263.
Reganold, J.P., Papendick, R.I. and Parr, J.F., 1990. Sustainable agriculture. Scientific American, 262(6), pp.112-121.