Sustainable Agriculture
An attempt to explain this from an Engineer’s mind 🧠
What comes to mind when you think of farming? Let me guess: dirt, soil, stress, plants, food, farm animals, etc.
It is common knowledge that farming entails a whole lot of processes, methods, practices, and efforts. But what makes it all worth it? The farm provides high yields in the end.
Farming has been a major source of livelihood for many. With the stress that comes with farming, easier methods and larger results will put farming in an easily accessible spot where it becomes even more relevant and adaptable.
Sustainable agriculture, simply put, is farming in ways presented as effective resource management and utilization, maximum productivity, profit, and high environmental quality.
Sustainable agriculture encourages the conservation of resources. It prevents losses that are avoidable. It helps maintain large productivity capacity by minimizing the harmful effects and losses that come with farming activities.
Why Do We Need Sustainable Agriculture?
Farming sustainably can be described as the instance where you protect your crops from pests without the use of pesticides. This act preserves the crops health, it saves the farmer the cost of pesticide, and also maintains the population of the pests vital for the ecosystem.
When performed properly, sustainable agriculture makes possible the prevention of water pollution and erosion, loss of food and farm products, and optimizes resource use.
Now let’s talk about the use of industrial fertilizers and pesticides, the practice of monoculture, and other practices that despite being bad for the environment continue to scale. Because of profit, bad farming practices are accelerating problems not limited to pollution, erosion and climate change.
Practicing sustainable agriculture results in healthier food for society, and a healthier lifestyle for the general and the farm workers. We can avoid the incidence of farm workers suffering from cancer due to harmful pesticide chemicals as was seen by the class action suit against Monsanto.
5 Best Practices For Sustainable Agriculture
In order to make sure that we are able to feed the world, we need to make our agricultural practices more sustainable.
Compiled below are five easy and most effective practices to maintain sustainable agriculture;
- Organic Farming.
This is a method that uses natural control of pests and biological fertilizers (manure) to grow farm crops without the use of pesticides or industrial fertilizers.
Organic farming promotes nutritious soil suitable for crops and also maintains the ecosystem without exposing the environment to harmful chemicals.
2. Crop Rotation And Diversity.
This is another method that sustains agriculture effectively. Crop rotation involves the cultivation of different crops at different seasons on the same farmland.
Crop diversity involves cultivating different types of crops on the same farmland during the same season.
This farming method reduces the occurrence of plant diseases and pests of a type of crop. It also reduces the use of fertilizers and pesticides
3. Implementing Crops And Livestock Farming.
This method is a simultaneous process that enhances easier and faster production. It reduces the use of industrial fertilizers.
Wastes from livestock are used as manure and biological fertilizers to grow crops. And the crops are also used to feed the livestock. All on the same farmland.
4. Planting Cover Crops.
This method includes planting cover crops and longer-growing crops such as perennials. This helps retain soil nutrients.
The farmland will not be exposed after harvesting the cover crops, as the perennial crops will continue to grow. This replenishes the soil and prevents the loss of important soil constituents.
5. Small Scale Agriculture.
Practicing small-scale farming helps improve sustainability. Farming on a small scale can be properly monitored and controlled. It makes it easier to manage resources, and more of this helps create a balance.
Creating a garden and farming in homes also foster healthier crops, a better environment, and a good standard of economic quality.
Making farming easier with advanced methods and tools
It’s become quite regular to have farm crops available even in their off-seasons. With regulation the practice of producing during seasons only can be scaled thus ensuring produce lifecyscle fits into its ecosystem.
Final Thoughts
Sustainable agriculture increases productivity conserves and enhances natural resources. It improves livelihoods, increases employment, and adds value to the food system in society.
Overall, it maintains the ecosystem, enhances the standard of living in society, and fosters economic growth.
