scholarly journals Organic Vegetable Crops Managed with Agro-Ecological Practices: Environmental Sustainability Assessment by DEXi-met Decision Support System

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (19) ◽  
pp. 4148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Montemurro ◽  
Alessandro Persiani ◽  
Mariangela Diacono
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Production Capacity ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Vegetable Crops ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Organic System ◽  
Ex Post

In the last decade, there has been an increasing interest in sustainable agricultural techniques and the environmental evaluation of the effects of agricultural practices. In the present study, we evaluated both the production capacity of organic horticultural systems, and the ex-post sustainability through a new multi-attribute decision model named “DEXi-met”. This qualitative model is able to estimate the environmental sustainability of cropping systems managed with different agro-ecological approaches. In particular, we compared the following three horticultural systems: (i) ECO, an organic system with full implementation of agro-ecological strategies (agro-ecological services crops (ASC), strip cultivation, and organic amendment); (ii) GM, an organic system with the introduction of the ASC; (iii) NO ASC, an organic system without ASC. The treatments with ASC presence (ECO and GM) showed similar total energy outputs (substantially higher than the NO ASC), indicating the positive effect of this agro-ecological practice. The findings pointed out that the ECO system, which followed the principles of natural ecosystems, can contribute to building up more complex agro-ecosystems, increasing both resilience and biodiversity. This management strategy reached a good compromise between the production of vegetable cropping systems and environmental sustainability achievement. Then, it is possible to optimize the use of natural resources, support climate adaptation, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

scholarly journals Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Agricultural Practices in the Malagos Watershed, Davao City, Philippines

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hector B. Cadena
Keyword(s):  
Waste Disposal ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Harvesting Method ◽  
Product Disposal ◽  
Vegetables And Fruits

This study describes the agricultural production practices of the farmers in the Malagos Watershed, Davao City, Philippines. This was done given the new trends in Ecoagriculture and Permaculture principles. The different Agricultural practices were described and assessed in terms of sustainability. Sustainable Agriculture is the production of food and other farm products in ways that protect the environment, public health and animal welfare. Practices need to be modified if they are causing damage to these factors instead.  As to crops planted, which included cereals, vegetables and fruits, sustainability was rated fair. Tools and equipment used together with the method of cultivation were rated highly sustainable.  Fertilizers used and method of fertilizer application which was mostly (40%) commercial fertilizers applied through basal and broadcast method, were rated sustainable.  The method of irrigation, which was mostly rainfed, was assessed as highly sustainable. The method of pests and disease control was the only practice rated poor since commercial chemical spray were commonly used and one potentially harmful to people and the environment.  Harvesting method, which was mostly by handpicking, was rated highly sustainable.  Their methods of storage, product disposal and waste disposal were all classified as fairly sustainable. Concerning livestock production, almost all of their practices, including, type of animal raised, method of animal housing, feeds used, method of watering, method of product disposal and method of waste disposal, all rated fairly sustainable.  Only the method of feeding, which mostly used dry feeds instead of free grazing, was graded sustainable. Crop production and livestock production in the Malagos Watershed averaged quite acceptable. It is, therefore, recommended that these practices be improved, maintained and monitored so that the agricultural practices in the Malagos Watershed would remain viable in the future. This study is the first attempt at assessing the sustainability of Agricultural practices of Indigenous peoples habituating the Malagos Watershed.

scholarly journals Global Dimensions of Plant Virus Diseases: Current Status and Future Perspectives

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 387-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger A.C. Jones ◽  
Rayapati A. Naidu
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Viral Disease ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Epidemiological Characteristics

Viral diseases provide a major challenge to twenty-first century agriculture worldwide. Climate change and human population pressures are driving rapid alterations in agricultural practices and cropping systems that favor destructive viral disease outbreaks. Such outbreaks are strikingly apparent in subsistence agriculture in food-insecure regions. Agricultural globalization and international trade are spreading viruses and their vectors to new geographical regions with unexpected consequences for food production and natural ecosystems. Due to the varying epidemiological characteristics of diverent viral pathosystems, there is no one-size-fits-all approach toward mitigating negative viral disease impacts on diverse agroecological production systems. Advances in scientific understanding of virus pathosystems, rapid technological innovation, innovative communication strategies, and global scientific networks provide opportunities to build epidemiologic intelligence of virus threats to crop production and global food security. A paradigm shift toward deploying integrated, smart, and eco-friendly strategies is required to advance virus disease management in diverse agricultural cropping systems.

scholarly journals Economic evaluation of cereal cropping systems under semiarid conditions: minimum input, organic and conventional

2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (5) ◽  
pp. 615-621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Pardo ◽  
Joaquín Aibar ◽  
José Cavero ◽  
Carlos Zaragoza
Keyword(s):  
Economic Evaluation ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Mineral Fertilizer ◽  
Organic System ◽  
Input System ◽  
Cereal Grain ◽  
Conventional Systems ◽  
Mechanical Weed Control ◽  
Semiarid Conditions

Cropping systems like organic farming, selling products at a higher price and promoting environmental sustainability by reducing fertilizer and pesticides, can be more profitable than conventional systems. An economic evaluation of three cropping systems in a seven year period experiment was performed, using a common rotation (fallow-barley-vetch-durum wheat) in a semi-arid rainfed field of Spain. The minimum input system included mouldboard ploughing, cultivator preparation, sowing and harvest. The conventional system involved mineral fertilizer and herbicide treatments, while the organic system involved composted manure and mechanical weed control. The resulting economic margins were highest with the minimum input system, followed by the organic and conventional systems. If the cereal grain from the minimum input system was sold at a higher price on the organic market, this system was the most profitable. Without the price difference, the organic system was as profitable as the conventional one.

scholarly journals Accounting for Regional Heterogeneity of Agricultural Sustainability in Spain

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samir Mili ◽  
Javier Martínez-Vega
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Agricultural Sustainability ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Policy Coherence ◽  
Regional Variability

Agriculture is increasingly facing major challenges such as climate change, scarcity of natural resources and changing societal demands. To tackle these challenges there is a pressing need to evolve towards more sustainable agricultural practices. As a result, sustainability stands among the most relevant topics in agricultural research worldwide, and Spain is no exception. Agricultural sustainability has been analysed in Spain mainly at a national and farm scale. This contribution aims at assessing agricultural sustainability in Spain at a provincial scale, allowing the scrutiny of regional variability induced by the existing differences in extension, relevance and policies of the agricultural activity at this level. The sustainability assessment performed is based on a selection of twenty-two indicators covering the three classical dimensions of sustainability—environmental, economic and social. The methodology implemented is based on normalising and aggregating selected indicators according to three composite indicators for the fifty Spanish provinces. Numerous statistical and cartographic sources are used. Cluster analysis establishes four different groups of provinces according to their performance in terms of agricultural sustainability. Higher economic sustainability in provincial agriculture seems to be mostly associated with more intensive use of agricultural labour and agricultural machinery and faster wealth growth. Social sustainability seems to be linked to greater diversification of economic activities and to quality productions under Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indications (PGI). Best environmental sustainability is achieved where extension of agricultural land is larger, less agricultural area is burned, and carbon stock and sequestration by agricultural ecosystems is better. It is expected that the results could improve the policy coherence and decision-making for more sustainable agricultural systems in Spanish regions.

scholarly journals Influence of agro-ecological conditions and foliar fertilization on yield and yield components of buckwheat in conventional and organic cropping system

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Popovic ◽  
V. Sikora ◽  
Dj. Glamoclija ◽  
J. Ikanovic ◽  
V. Filipovic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Grain Weight ◽  
Vegetable Crops ◽  
Organic System ◽  
Foliar Fertilization ◽  
1000 Grain Weight

Forgotten or neglected arable land plants, such as buckwheat, are becoming increasingly important in crop production. Grain and one seed nuts are in the usage for humans and domestic animals diet. On the fields of the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Backi Petrovac, researches were conducted in terms of conventional (2010-2012) and organic cropping systems, 2012. Analysis of the average yields showed that Novosadska buckwheat variety achieved a statistically significantly higher yield in 2010th (2,996 kg ha-1) compared to the 2011th and 2012th (p <0.01). The year showed statistical significance based on the analysis of variance. The average yields of Novosadska buckwheat variety, the variant with foliar fertilization in the conventional cropping system, were significantly higher compared with the control. The average yields amounted 1.395 kg ha-1 and were higher by 214 kg ha-1, or 18.12% compared to the control. The average plants height was 144 cm. 1000 grain weight was on the average of 23.72 g for the entire experiment. Average yields in the organic cropping system were higher in variants with foliar fertilization (1322 kg ha-1) by 7% compared to the control and plants were higher by 7.28%. Plants were higher in the organic system of cultivation by 13 cm, or 9% compared with plants grown in conventional cropping system, while the yields fell for 73 kg ha-1, respectively by 5.52%. Foliar fertilizers proved to be a possible method for yield, 1000 grain weight and plant height increasing in conventional and organic cropping systems.

scholarly journals Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability Assessment of Queensland Industries

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Alisher Ergashev
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Post Impact ◽  
The Government ◽  
Policy Proposals

In ‘Our Future State: Advancing Queensland’s Priorities’ the Queensland Government outlined how industries and government should contribute to community well-being. Agriculture’s contribution lies in generating economic activity, job creation and the Great Barrier Reef protection. While lack of data prevents the measurement of some attributes in the government plan, composite sustainability indices have been used worldwide to represent the wider objectives of “triple bottom line” economics (growth and throughput), social justice (fair and equitable distribution of the wealth) and environment-friendliness (compatibility with the preservation of natural ecosystems). One such approach is an innovative self-designed iSENSE index—indicators of Sustainability: ENvironmental, Social, and Economic—that is based on 15 indicators with a maximum overall score of 30. The featured indicators are based on a literature review and represent commonly accepted parameters. In this study, iSENSE indicators have been enumerated for the analysis of three Queensland sectors: Agriculture, Mining, and Manufacturing. The results show that while Mining leads the group in terms of economic indicators, it is Agriculture that is the most socially oriented and environment-friendly. Overall, iSENSE score is equal 16 for both Agriculture and Mining, whilst Manufacturing stands at 13. While these results should be taken with caution, they can be used as a guidance for prospective policy proposals in conjunction with the sound ex post impact assessments around Queensland industries. Applying composite assessment tools can help to identify challenges related to environmental, economic and social impact, in the course of developing sustainable agriculture.

scholarly journals Climate Vulnerability and Adaptation Challenges in Szekszárd Wine Region, Hungary

Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Attila Buzási
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
Intrinsic Factors ◽  
Vulnerability Assessments ◽  
The Future ◽  
Climate Vulnerability ◽  
High Level ◽  
Wine Region ◽  
Lock In

Wine producers face several challenges regarding climate change, which will affect this industry both in the present and the future. Vulnerability assessments are at the forefront of current climate research, therefore, the present paper has two main aims. First, to assess two components of climate vulnerability regarding the Szekszárd wine region, Hungary; second, to collect and analyze adaptation farming techniques in terms of environmental sustainability aspects. Exposure analyses revealed that the study area will face several challenges regarding intensive drought periods in the future. Sensitivity indicators show the climate-related characteristics of the most popular grapevines and their relatively high level of susceptibility regarding changing climatic patterns. Since both external and intrinsic factors of vulnerability show deteriorating trends, the development of adaptation actions is needed. Adaptation interventions often provide unsustainable solutions or entail maladaptation issues, therefore, an environmental-focused sustainability assessment of collected interventions was performed to avoid long-term negative path dependencies. The applied evaluation methodology pointed out that nature-based adaptation actions are preferred in comparison to using additional machines or resource-intensive solutions. This study can fill the scientific gap by analyzing this wine region for the first time, via performing an ex-ante lock-in analysis of available and widely used adaptation interventions in the viticulture sector.

Ecoagriculture for a Sustainable Food Future

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Chalmer
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Cultural Sensitivity ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Constant Input ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
European Farming

Global food security is dependent on ecologically viable production systems, but current agricultural practices are often at odds with environmental sustainability. Resolving this disparity is a huge task, but there is much that can be learned from traditional food production systems that persisted for thousands of years. Ecoagriculture for a Sustainable Food Future describes the ecological history of food production systems in Australia, showing how Aboriginal food systems collapsed when European farming methods were imposed on bushlands. The industrialised agricultural systems that are now prevalent across the world require constant input of finite resources, and continue to cause destructive environmental change. This book explores the damage that has arisen from farming systems unsuited to their environment, and presents compelling evidence that producing food is an ecological process that needs to be rethought in order to ensure resilient food production into the future. Cultural sensitivity Readers are warned that there may be words, descriptions and terms used in this book that are culturally sensitive, and which might not normally be used in certain public or community contexts. While this information may not reflect current understanding, it is provided by the author in a historical context.

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