Benefits of Sustainable Agriculture |

Sustainable ag. turns farms into thriving biodiverse lands that produce food crops in addition to using plants that increase farms' biodiversity. The increase in plant life on the farm sequesters atmospheric carbon and maintains healthy ecosystems. The health of ecosystems, including maintaining soil nutrition, on the farm, is a top priority when agriculture is managed sustainably.

A few sustainable agriculture practices that increase plant and soil health are:

seasonal use of cover crops
concerted efforts to maintain proper soil nutrition, such as the use of organic farming and organic fertilizer
no-till or low-till farming
crop rotation
polyculture (vs. monoculture)

In conventional farming of the past, a significant amount of nutrients are removed from the soil without being replaced. Major contributing factors to the depletion of healthy soil on farms worldwide are:

over-tilling the land
monoculture (just growing one type of crop on sections of farmland, not implementing crop rotation and planting a variety of crops)
synthetic fertilizers and pesticides

From processes like these, there is constant degradation of soil nutrients, leading to poor fertilization from year to year. On farms that use these unsustainable farming practices, there is an increase in weeds, bugs, and vermin. Basically, the farmer slowly loses control of the farm as a whole when the quality of the soil is not managed over time.

The solution to these ecological problems is sustainable agriculture.

Sustainable ag. involves land-use practices that restore, protect, and maintain ecosystems and biodiversity on farms. Conventional farmlands are thus transformed into ecologically thriving carbon sinks.

Sustainable Ag. Techniques - Cover Crops and Polyculture

It is important for the farmer implementing sustainable agriculture techniques to understand the relationship between all of the farm's organisms and the farm's environment. This understanding is needed in order to create biodiversity on the farm optimally. The sustainable farmer must focus efforts on maintaining nutrients within the farm's soil, water, and air through practices such as organic farming.

Cover crops refer to a variety of crops grown on farmland during off-seasons in order to maintain soil health. Examples of cover crops include legumes like alfalfa, various types of grass, cereal crops like rye, oats, and barley, brassicas like turnips and radishes, and non-legume broadleaves like flax and spinach.

Polyculture is also a practice of introducing a variety of crops on farmland, including multiple species of plants. In the case of polyculture, crops and plants are rotated to different sections on the farmland year-round. Even if polyculture is implemented on a farm, crop rotation and low/ no-till farming should be continually practiced year-round in order to ensure the health of a farm's ecosystems and soil.

Biodiversity of a farm's crops, plants on the farm, and other ecosystems on the farm, as well as proper soil nutrition - deter pests. Polyculture also helps maintain a farmland's healthy ecosystems; also reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

Creating Carbon Sinks

Sustainable agriculture involves farms that work to satisfy human food demand while maintaining biodiversity and healthy ecosystems on the farmland.

Sustainable agriculture transforms otherwise conventional farmland into environmentally-friendly carbon sinks. Sustainable farms enhance environmental quality and agricultural economy through the enhancement of the health of a farmland's natural resources.

For example, carbon farming is a sustainable agriculture practice that maintains healthy soils and is common practice in most organic farming. Practices to maintain soil health are found in regenerative agriculture, as well as permaculture (see the section on permaculture below, and please see Green City Times' article on Regenerative Agriculture).

Project Drawdown recognizes these sustainable ag. practices as top climate solutions, all of which serve to create agricultural carbon sinks:

"Land is a critical component of the climate system, actively engaged in the flows of carbon, nitrogen, water, and oxygen—essential building blocks for life. Carbon is the core of trees and grasses, mammals and birds, lichens and microbes. Linking one atom to the next, and to other elements, it’s the fundamental material of all living organisms." FROM - drawdown.org/sectors/land-sinks

"Plants and healthy ecosystems have an unparalleled capacity to absorb carbon through photosynthesis and store it in living biomass. In addition, soils are, in large part, organic matter—once-living organisms, now decomposing—making them an enormous storehouse of carbon. Land can therefore be a powerful carbon sink, returning atmospheric carbon to living vegetation and soils. While the majority of heat-trapping emissions remain in the atmosphere, land sinks currently return a quarter of human-caused emissions to Earth — literally." FROM - drawdown.org/sectors/land-sinks

"Multistrata agroforestrysystems mimic natural forests in structure. Multiple layers of trees and crops achieve high rates of both carbon sequestration and food production." FROM - drawdown.org/solutions/multistrata-agroforestry

"An agroforestry practice, silvopasture integrates trees, pasture, and forage, into a single system. Incorporating trees improves land health and significantly increases carbon sequestration." FROM - drawdown.org/solutions/silvopasture

"Pumping and distributing water is energy intensive. Drip and sprinkler irrigation, among other practices and technologies, make farm water use more precise and efficient." FROM - drawdown.org/solutions/farm-irrigation-efficiency

"Building on conservation agriculture with additional practices, regenerative annual cropping can include compost application, green manure, and organic production. It reduces emissions, increases soil organic matter, and sequesters carbon." FROM - drawdown.org/solutions/regenerative-annual-cropping

Shropshire Agroforestry Project - Shropshire, England

Soil Nutrition

The degradation of agricultural natural resources is the leading issue in depleting a farm's soil nutrient levels and the health of farmland ecosystems. Sustainable agriculture makes efficient use of non-renewable natural resources. Synthetic pesticides, excessive tilling of the soil, and monoculture (re-planting the same crop, or same type of crop, on the same land season after season, lack of crop rotation) lead to the degradation of a farm's soil health.

A successful sustainable farm must focus a substantial amount of time year-round on healthy soil nutrition to help maintain long-term quality crop and plant growth.

Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, phosphates, and other soil nutrients, are necessary proper for good soil nutrition. A healthy soil PH level, and healthy salt content in soils, as well as proper soil nutrients, can be enhanced in farm soil simply by optimally reusing crop leftovers, farm plant debris, or even some natural fertilization.

Other important techniques to improve soil health on farms include the implementation of polyculture, cover crops (to keep the land productive vs. barren during off-seasons), and no-till or low-till farming. These sustainable agriculture techniques not only improve the health of a farm's ecosystems but help fight climate change by sequestering carbon from the atmosphere; creating both healthy farmland and a healthy planet.

What are easy ways to reduce a farm's carbon footprint?

In focusing on possible, easily overlooked, improvements in farms trying to successfully implement sustainable agriculture - issues with poor irrigation, and other water quality issues can always reduce the quality of agriculture. The use of treated, reclaimed rainwater and greywater, on a farm, are easily implemented sustainable agriculture practices; that also serve to save water resources.

Another example of sustainable farming is the independent production of nitrogen through the Haber process; which uses hydrogen produced from natural gas or possibly created with electricity (ideally from renewable energy) via an electrolyzer. These farming techniques are a part of the emerging regenerative agriculture process.

In sustainable agriculture, it's important to manage long-term crop rotations to improve soil nutrition. Sustainable farming still entails improving the farmer's carbon footprint and the quality of ecosystems in their farmland. Natural fertilizer processes help with creating healthy soil. Natural resources are also an important consideration.

Farmers must manage natural resources (crops, plants, trees, rainwater, etc...), and manage the level of non-renewable energy resources used on the farm. With added efficiency on the farm, certain crops, plant and animal waste, tree, and plant croppings, etc... can also be used as sources for biomass/ biofuel production.

For information on how agricultural renewable resources (i.e. biomass) can be developed and optimally produced on farms, please see the following Green City Times articles:

Cellulosic biofuel – fuel solutions

Anaerobic digestion – a proven solution to our waste problem

Renewable energy: biomass and biofuel

Besides increasing biodiversity on farms (through polyculture and agroforestry techniques, for example), maintaining healthy farm ecosystems, and a focus on soil nutrition; other critical considerations in sustainable agriculture are:

Managing water wisely

Minimizing air, water, and climate pollution

Rotating crops and embracing diversity. Planting a variety of crops can have many benefits, including healthier soil and improved pest control. Crop diversity practices include intercropping (growing a mix of crops in the same area) and complex multi-year crop rotations.

Planting cover crops. Cover crops, like clover or hairy vetch, are planted during off-season times when soils might otherwise be left bare. These crops protect and build soil health by preventing erosion, replenishing soil nutrients, and keeping weeds in check, reducing the need for herbicides.

Reducing or eliminating tillage. Traditional plowing (tillage) prepares fields for planting and prevents weed problems, but can cause a lot of soil loss. No-till or reduced till methods, which involve inserting seeds directly into undisturbed soil, can reduce erosion and improve soil health.

Applying integrated pest management (IPM). A range of methods, including mechanical and biological controls, can be applied systematically to keep pest populations under control while minimizing use of chemical pesticides.

Integrating livestock and crops. Industrial agriculture tends to keep plant and animal production separate, with animals living far from the areas where their feed is produced, and crops growing far away from abundant manure fertilizers. A growing body of evidence shows that a smart integration of crop and animal production can be a recipe for more efficient, profitable farms. [BULLET POINTS FROM - ucsusa.org/what-sustainable-agriculture]

[As noted above, regenerative agriculture techniques and sustainable agriculture practices are key to reversing the global effects and negative trends of unsustainable ag. practices. Sustainable agriculture practices include increasing the use of permaculture; as well as urban and community gardening.]

Permaculture

The simulation of natural ecosystems, both in agriculture and green urban planning, has the potential to help reduce man’s carbon footprint on the earth.

Some fields of permaculture and urban gardening include Ecological Design, Ecological Engineering, Environmental Design, Integrated Water Resource Management, and Sustainable Architecture. All of these professions work with nature rather than against; working toward the goal of sustaining both nature and society for future generations.

The depletion of the earth's resources due to the processes of mass production and consumption, inefficient waste management, and the destruction wrought on nature due to fossil fuel infrastructure development are reasons for the need for permaculture and urban gardening techniques in agriculture.

The need to work with existing resources in order to save the environment, and people alike, is a goal that has many nations working toward carbon neutrality in agriculture, as well as eco-conscious techniques in agriculture to preserve biodiversity. Chemical fertilizers and other environmentally hazardous methods like pesticides are the way of the past in agriculture. The future of gardening/ agriculture lies in sustainable methods like urban gardening (techniques that can easily be applied to larger-scale agriculture/ farms).

Urban gardening

Urban gardening, or urban agriculture, includes elements of the following practices:

Gardening for your residence
Rain gardening
Community, school, and rooftop gardens
Indoor gardening
Vertical farming

Here is a handy guide to urban gardening:

"City gardens need not be limited to growing just a few plants on the windowsill. Whether it’s an apartment balcony garden or a rooftop garden, you can still enjoy growing all your favorite plants and veggies. In this Beginner’s Guide to Urban Gardening, you will find the basics of city gardening for beginners and tips for handling any issues you may come across along the way."

Read more at Gardening Know How: Urban Gardening: The Ultimate Guide To City Gardening

Other sustainable solutions for the global conservationist community; carbon offsets

In addition to sustainable agriculture practices by farmers, steps that can be taken by individuals to help with environmental sustainability include: going paperless, going vegetarian (or at least eating less red meat), recycling and buying recycled products, and using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood products.

Other personal lifestyle solutions to help with global sustainability efforts include using more cloth and alternative products (like bamboo products for sustainable lifestyles), eating less fast food, and eating vegan meals as often as possible instead of meat.

Going with a more sustainable diet is a way of supporting the use of agricultural land for regenerative farming ultimately used in diet and manufacturing of consumer products. Regenerative ag. produces organic foods sold at farmer's markets. Another easy way to support sustainability efforts is by shopping at, and supporting, farmer's markets.

Paper products were once trees, so reducing your use of paper products in your daily life will really translate into saving trees. Additionally, meat, and fast-food restaurants, contribute to deforestation because deforested land is often land used for cattle grazing.

In many cases, carbon offsets are purchased by international companies in industries running polluting factories, using carbon-intensive fuel for energy, and manufacturing fossil fuel-intensive products; and this often includes companies involved in deforestation. However, carbon offsets can also be purchased by individuals - online, at retail outlets, gas stations, etc...