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1.
The concept of sustainability is one of the forefront issues in discussions of the challenges facing global agriculture, given the mounting pressure to increase food production in both socially responsible and environmentally friendly ways. From the perspective of Irish agriculture, sustainable intensification is of particular relevance, given ambitious targets to increase milk production in the context of European Union (EU) milk quota removal in 2015. A series of farm-level sustainability indicators are developed here using the Teagasc National Farm Survey FADN (Farm Accountancy Data Network) data for Ireland from 2012. Three dimensions, reflecting the multifaceted nature of sustainability (environmental, economic and social) are considered. Given the environmental challenges inherent in the sustainable intensification of agriculture, it is encouraging to observe that the more intensive, top performing farms (in an economic sense) emit relatively less greenhouse gases when compared to their less intensive counterparts. Conversely, the better performing farms in economic terms tend to have a higher nitrogen surplus per hectare on average. This is consistent with their higher rates of production intensity, but poses a challenge in terms of sustainable intensification and expansion. That said this analysis demonstrates that the nitrogen use efficiency of milk production is positively correlated with economic performance, with more intensive farms producing relatively more milk per kilogram of nitrogen surplus. From the perspective of social sustainability, demographic traits also tend to be positively correlated with economic performance. Given a growing recognition of the need for interconnected policy in the area of sustainability, this research should help inform policy debates and provides a guide for the undertaking of similar assessments elsewhere.  相似文献   

2.
This paper uses a distance function approach to measure and decompose productivity growth of Irish agriculture between 1984 and 2000 for four principal farming systems. The technology used by each system is found to be sufficiently different as to warrant a system‐by‐system approach. The overall rate of productivity growth in Irish agriculture is found to be just over 1% for this period, but there are significant differences between systems. Sheep systems had the highest rate of productivity growth followed by dairy and tillage. Productivity in cattle farms fell during this period although there is evidence that this trend has been reversed in more recent years.  相似文献   

3.
Agrarian systems provide sociocultural and environmental externalities, which contribute to the sustainability of rural areas. The aim of this article is to analyse the sustainability of some Spanish olive oil Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) through multicriteria techniques (Analytical Network Process), taking into consideration different farming systems. The analysis has been made through ten criteria grouped in three clusters: economic, environmental and socio-cultural and asked experts. This was done first to rank the criteria and second in terms of what type of farming system achieves these criteria better. According to the results, there is a high level of consensus regarding the criteria ranking and the way that farming systems contribute to agrarian multifunctionality and sustainable development, despite the different characteristics of PDOs. In all cases, organic farming is the best, followed by integrated farming, when achieving economic, environmental and socio-cultural criteria, except for Estepa (where integrated farming is preferred for the economic and socio-cultural criteria). Conventional farming is placed in third position when achieving all functions, except for the environmental criteria, for which abandonment is preferred to conventional farming in all PDOs. Multifunctionality and sustainability are maximized by a combination of farming systems: about 40% organic, 35% integrated, 20% conventional and 5% crop abandonment.The results of our model regarding the combination of farming systems are similar to the actual situation in the PDOs studied, and, more important, this has been achieved thanks to the PDO institutions. Good local institutions contribute to improve the sustainability of rural areas by encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship (especially in PDOs, triggered by Origin Designation Regulator Councils) and a European level, by paying farmers for externalities.  相似文献   

4.
Land-use change is a phenomenon highlighting significant shifts in human interaction with the natural environment. Different patterns of agriculture and a trend towards non-agricultural land use challenge the sustainability of farming systems. This study aims to identify the causes of changes in land use and cropping patterns, with a special focus on paddy, the staple crop in Asia. In the case of Wayanad, a district in Kerala, South India, we argue for an interdisciplinary analysis of rapid land-use change to unpack the multiple dimensions of sustainability: economic, ecological and social factors, aggregating up to 70% reduction in the area under paddy by 2010. The results rest on empirical field research, participatory rural appraisals and stakeholder workshops conducted during the 4-year period from 2010 to 2013, along with state- and district-level data covering the 1983–2011 period. Reduced economic viability, labour shortages and population pressure on land are the major drivers for the transformation of paddy fields to other land uses. Changes in land use and agrarian structure reflect not only the livelihood strategies adopted by farmers in response to these drivers, but also the impacts of unintended policy idiosyncrasies. At a more fundamental level, they are the consequences of policy conflicts and inadequate sectoral integration of policies and implementation strategies.  相似文献   

5.
Assessing a farm's sustainability: insights from resilience thinking   总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1  
Research on sustainability in agriculture often focuses on reducing the environmental impacts of production systems. However, environmentally friendly production methods may not be sufficient to ensure the long-term economic and social sustainability of a farm. Taking a systems approach to sustainable farming, we turn to resilience thinking with its focus on the interdependence of social and ecological systems. We apply this approach to farming by conceptualizing a farm as being part of a set of systems spanning several spatial scales and including agro-ecological, economic and political-social domains. These subsystems interact and are subjected to their own complex dynamics. Within such a complex adaptive system, farm sustainability can only be achieved through adaptability and change. To be ready for the inevitable periods of turbulent change, a farmer needs to retain diversity and redundancy to ensure adaptability. Resilience is thus more likely to emerge when farmers hone the capacity to transform the farm, when farm production is attuned to the local ecological carrying capacity, and when learning and innovation are targeted outcomes. This article shows how resilience theory applied to farming may provide a more comprehensive route to achieving sustainability and offers rules of thumb as guides to building farm resilience.  相似文献   

6.
The resilience of family farming is an important feature of the structure of the farming industry in many countries, due largely to the ‘smooth’ succession of farms from one generation to the next. The stability of this structure is now threatened by the widening gap between the income expected from farming when compared with non‐farming occupations in an economy like Ireland, operating at almost full employment. Nominated farm heirs are increasingly unlikely to choose full‐time farming as their preferred occupation. To identify the factors that affect this occupational choice, a multinomial logit model is developed and applied to Irish data to examine the farm, economic and personal characteristics that influence a nominated heir's decision to enter farming as opposed to some non‐farming occupation. The results show a significant negative relationship between higher education and the choice of full‐time farming as an occupation. The interdependence between education and occupational choices is further explored using a bivariate probit model. The main findings are: the occupational choice and the decision to continue with higher education are made jointly; the nominated heirs on more profitable farms are less likely to pursue tertiary education and therefore more likely to enter full‐time farming. The model developed is sufficiently general for studying the phenomenon of succession on farms.  相似文献   

7.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, fish ponds are often an integral part of farming systems but have suffered from a lack of viability and sustainability. The present study aims to understand the strategies used by fish farmers to overcome economic and environmental constraints. In 2008 and 2009, fish farmers were surveyed in Central and Western Cameroon, and the fish production systems were classified by cluster analysis. Four broad types were identified according to the complexity of household operations. The development of extensive systems (large-scale and low-input) in rural areas of central Cameroon is induced mainly by abundant available land. For semi-intensive systems in both regions (small-scale and high-input in the Western Region, large-scale and high-input in peri-urban areas of the Central Region), horizontal integration is not sufficient to make fish production profitable and sustainable. More intensive fish farms tend towards vertical integration, in which farmers establish close links with input suppliers. Main causes of low productivity of semi-intensive systems (1–2?t/ha/yr) are both lack of knowledge of fish farming principles by farmers and lack of technical improvement by extension agents and researchers which need to consider the local complexity of farming systems to develop and intensify fish production. The adaptation of development strategies to socio-economic and environmental contexts is a necessity to hope for an increase in fish pond aquaculture production in Africa.  相似文献   

8.
The 2003 Mid‐Term Review of the CAP sought to refocus the EU's farm support policy to foster a more competitive and market‐orientated agricultural sector. The foundation of this reform comprised the introduction of decoupled payments to farmers, replacing the EU's previous system of supports that were directly linked to production of designated crops and livestock. This paper explores the effect of coupled payments and their subsequent replacement by decoupled support, on the technical efficiency of specialist beef farms in Ireland. Given the high reliance of beef farmers in Ireland on CAP payments, the decoupling of payments has been especially important for the sector. A stochastic production frontier is estimated using a panel dataset comprising detailed accountancy data for Irish beef farms between the years 2000 and 2013. Our results indicate that technical efficiency in the beef farming sector has been consistently poor, with an average efficiency score of only 0.53 during the period analysed. However, we found that direct income received in the form of coupled payments had a positive impact on farm efficiency, and that this positive effect was maintained after their replacement with decoupled income support.  相似文献   

9.
This article explores the potential of a farm technology to simultaneously improve farm efficiency and provide wider environmental and social benefits. Identifying these ‘win-win-win’ strategies and encouraging their widespread adoption is critical to achieve sustainable intensification. Using a nationally representative sample of 296 Irish dairy farms from 2015, propensity score matching is applied to measure the impact of milk recording on a broad set of farm sustainability indicators. The findings reveal that the technology enhances economic sustainability by increasing dairy gross margin and milk yield per cow. Furthermore, social sustainability is improved through a reduction in milk bulk tank somatic cell count (an indicator of animal health and welfare status). Conversely, milk recording (as it is currently implemented) does not impact farm environmental sustainability, represented by greenhouse gas emission efficiency. While the study shows that milk recording is a ‘win-win’ strategy, ways of improving current levels of utilisation are discussed so that milk recording achieves its ‘win-win-win’ potential in the future.  相似文献   

10.
While appreciation of the fundamental role biodiversity plays in underpinning the long-term sustainability of agricultural systems is growing, international commitments to preserve and protect this natural resource have not yet been achieved. Loss and degradation of farmland habitats are an important contributor to the continued decline of biodiversity. Despite this, little information is available regarding the diversity and ecological condition of farmland habitats in Europe. Indeed, where habitat data are available, this is usually at a very broad landscape scale rather than farm scale. Coupled with this, strategies to increase agricultural output in response to growing global population, will likely place increasing pressure on farmland biodiversity. Knowledge and ongoing monitoring of farmland habitat type and extent is a prerequisite for the future protection of much of Europe’s biodiversity. Here we report the findings of a national scale survey of farmland habitat diversity in Ireland.Detailed surveys of farm habitats and management practices (system, stocking rate agri-environment scheme participation status and organic N and P inputs) were undertaken on 118 farms in three regions of the Republic of Ireland (RoI). Recorded farm habitats were subsequently digitised on orthophotography. The resulting ground truthed data from the total surveyed area of 3688 ha, were then used, together with satellite imagery, to classify the habitat composition of a further approximately 87,000 ha of the surrounding landscape.Results revealed that at individual farm scale, an average of 73% of the land surveyed comprised agriculturally productive (mainly improved grassland) habitats. Marginally productive habitats (mainly extensively managed grasslands) accounted for an average of 11% of farm area, while other semi-natural habitats (mainly hedgerows) accounted for an average of 13%, with the remaining ca. 3% under build ground. Results from the classification at the wider landscape scale showed a similarly substantial incidence of non-intensively managed habitats. However, at both farm and landscape scales, habitat diversity was found to vary markedly between different regions and farming systems.This study represents one of a very small number that currently exist, where farm scale habitat and management data have been collected. From the few that are available, semi-natural habitat cover has been found to account for an average farm area of 1–12%. Therefore, our data present a relatively positive picture in terms of the intensity, scale and impact of Irish farming on landscape heterogeneity. However, as in other parts of the world, agricultural expansion and intensification to meet increased global food supply will necessitate careful monitoring of the impact of these changes on the structure of farmed landscapes. This study provides a novel approach for the collection of such monitoring data at farm scale, and illustrates how such data can be reliably up-scaled to landscape level.  相似文献   

11.
Karnataka is one of the south-western Indian states where agrarian distress as a major problem. Crop yields have been stagnant in the last decade, and coupled with increased input costs, this has led to reduced incomes and debts. There is an urgent need to study options to improve the sustainability of farming systems in Karnataka. One adopted strategy to stabilize agriculture in the state is organic farming, which is less dependent on external inputs. In this paper, we assess the sustainability of conventional and organic farming practices using the model TechnoGIN. TechnoGIN calculates inputs and outputs of farming practices, allowing assessment of its impacts on economic and environmental indicators. Data on inputs and yields have been collected in two districts in 2009 from farms with conventional and organic cultivation at the same time. Additional data were collected from literature and experts. Next, the current situation was assessed and projections were made towards 2015 for two scenarios per village, using either conventional or organic practices.Modeling results show that for the study site situated in a dry region, Chitradurga, profits with organic farming are higher than in conventional farming, except for rotations that include onion. Input costs are lower resulting in lower financial risks with organic farming. Nutrient balances in organic agriculture were however found to be negative for all crop rotations indicating imbalanced supply of nutrients. This suggests it may not be possible to sustain current yields in the long term with current nutrient applications.In the second site situated in a transition zone with intensive cultivation of commercial crops, Mysore, yields and profits are similar in organic farming compared to those under conventional practice, except for commercial crops like cotton and coconut where the profits are lower. The debt risk in case of crop failure appears to be practically similar for both types of farming practices in Mysore. Nutrient balances are generally positive, indicating that NPK supplies are not the main yield limiting factor.It is concluded that organic farming can be a sustainable farming practice in Karnataka depending on regional conditions and the crops cultivated. Policies stimulating organic farming should therefore consider the regional differences and farmer's preferences.  相似文献   

12.
The FLINT project (Farm Level Indicators for New Topics in policy evaluation) was aimed at testing the feasibility of collecting data on the sustainability performance of farms through the European Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). The project defined a list of sustainability themes based on an assessment of policy needs, the existing literature and a review of national initiatives to measure sustainability. Data were collected in nine Member States (Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain) from 1,100 farms of different types. Although some problems were encountered, mainly due to the initial pilot project character of FLINT, we conclude that data collection is feasible, whatever the way a Member State has organised its data collection for FADN. The FLINT project has investigated options for upscaling the results from 9 to 28 Member States to create a representative panel with farm‐level sustainability data. This leads to the conclusion that the most attractive option is to reduce the current FADN sample in order to provide the sustainability data that are urgently needed for improved policy evaluation. This could be done without sacrificing information on other important indicators, such as income from farming.  相似文献   

13.
Urban planners are increasingly interested in agriculture around cities and have to decide whether to maintain or not areas of agricultural land use within and close to growing cities. There is therefore a need for researchers to design tools to guide public decision-making on land use. Various approaches, originating from different disciplines, may be adopted in this respect. We designed an interdisciplinary research program in order to test two related concepts: the “sustainability” and the “multi-functionality” of agriculture. We show that these concepts provide a useful framework for obtaining appropriate knowledge about urban agriculture, which urban planners could apply in real situations. In close collaboration with urban planners, we applied an interdisciplinary research methodology, based on common farm surveys and territorial approaches, to the Antananarivo area (Madagascar). The main functions analyzed were the food production and environmental roles of urban agriculture. Two aspects of sustainability were assessed: the farm sustainability and the territorial sustainability, with expert scores. This approach identified a wide diversity of farming systems that performed differently, depending on their intra- or suburban location. The food supply function appeared to be important not only for fresh produce but also for rice consumption. The function of protection against flooding is now important and this importance will increase with climate change. A diagnosis of sustainability was made and discussed with urban planners: several farming systems and zones were identified in which agriculture was considered important as a means of maintaining or developing the food supply, employment and incomes, and even landscape or environmental quality. We also identified other areas in which poor production conditions and/or the negative effects of urbanization on agriculture jeopardized its sustainability. This methodology appeared to be useful for determining the most appropriate role of urban agriculture in the land-use planning of this city. Our study raises new questions on the subject and should lead to more focused research programmes. We discuss several points of interest and the limitations and possible extension of this method.  相似文献   

14.
Agriculture sector of Pakistan has traditionally followed an unsustainable path due to degradation of agricultural resources. Therefore, this study was carried out to find environmental, economic and social sustainability of agriculture in Punjab, Sindh, KPK and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. Based mainly on secondary data, covering the period of 2005/06–2012/13, each dimension of sustainability was analyzed using selected indicators. Crop diversification, soil salinity, and the use of organic and inorganic fertilizers and pesticides were the indicators considered for environmental sustainability analysis. For economic sustainability analysis, change in overall crop production and stability of crop production were the indicators used. Employment of rural labor force and food security were indicators used for social sustainability analysis. The findings from the analyses revealed a tendency towards unsustainable agricultural production in all provinces. This was caused by overuse of inorganic fertilizer, pesticides and groundwater for irrigation in Sindh and Punjab. The lack of sustainable agricultural production in KPK and Balochistan was due to limited use of fertilizer and pesticides in some areas and altogether no use in other areas. Use of groundwater for irrigation in the coastal areas of Balochistan further reinforced agricultural unsustainability. Thus, it was deduced from the findings of this research that there are regional differences in agricultural sustainability in Pakistan. Therefore, it is recommended to formulate effective regional agricultural policies based on local level research and revise agricultural extension structure in order to incorporate need-based services with better dissemination of information and farm level trainings. In addition, broad policy recommendations are made for sustainable agricultural development in each province under the scope of the study.  相似文献   

15.
Improving the sustainability of farms often incurs additional costs for farmers. These costs come from allocating land to the maintenance of the ecological processes (energy and material flows, natural population regulation) required for the agroecosystem to function. Since these costs are not recovered on the markets, farmers see a fall in profits, the financial viability of their farms is compromised, and they suffer the consequences of the environmental services they are providing. All this makes it essential to implement government policies designed to compensate farmers for their efforts. The issue of how to assess sustainability has generated widespread debate within ecological economics, specifically as to whether it is possible to place a monetary value on it and if so, how this should be done. In a previous article we showed that agrarian sustainability involves a land cost, therefore this cost can be translated into monetary values. The purpose of this study is to develop this concept in practical terms by applying it to organic farming. We calculated the land cost of agrarian sustainability (LACAS) in order to compare organic versus conventional management in olive farming, as this crop is grown extensively in Spain and other Mediterranean countries. The results show that the agro-environmental subsidy is not enough to encourage olive growers to make the conversion from conventional to organic methods, because the land cost of sustainability is not adequately offset. They also show that improving agroecosystems can allow the land to take on more functions without increasing the land cost. In our case, encouraging the multifunctionality of the land has permitted a reduction in this cost. The LACAS could be a useful tool, not only for drawing up government policies designed to support organic farming, but also for improving the sustainability of the agrarian sector.  相似文献   

16.
In the literature on sustainability of agriculture, both labourers and workers are conspicuously absent. Here, the sustainability of agriculture has been defined in terms of whether the farm household in question is able to yield an energy surplus when its members and the animals in its possession are obtaining an adequate ‘energy income’ or Calorie intake. To evaluate the sustainability of 590 farming households in the state of West Bengal, India, during 2004–5, four progressively stricter definitions of sustainability have been proposed, defined and applied. The method of energy balance analysis was followed. A negative surplus was found to be near‐universal across size‐groups in terms of the net area sown (NAS), the gross cultivated area (GCA) and agro‐climatic zones. The threshold output for a non‐negative surplus during the cultivating period was 700,000 megajoules (MJ); in terms of the GCA for a positive ‘full and final’ annual surplus, it was 3 hectares, and in NAS terms it was 2.5 hectares; against NAS per household size, it was 0.6 hectares, for ensuring a positive surplus beyond the annual sustainability. No evidence could be found in favour of household size as an explanation for the negative surplus.  相似文献   

17.
This paper addresses the question of farmer responses to agri-environmental programming in light of the Single Farm Payment, focusing on the role of environmental regulations and grant schemes in strategic farm decision-making. Utilising Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour in a qualitative case study of farmers in Upper Deeside, Scotland, it was found that farmer respondents actively consider environmental regulations and grant opportunities as part of their decision rationale in making investments in farm development, such as agro-industrial building construction or securing additional land. Fulfilling agri-environmental regulations is constructed by respondents as being part of ensuring farm viability, while eligibility for agri-environmental schemes is impacting on how tenanted land is valued. The author identifies three mechanisms facilitating farmer up-take of environmental schemes, and makes a case for consideration of farmers as experts in producing environmental outcomes while maintaining economic sustainability of farming operations.  相似文献   

18.
Soil is a natural resource essential to human welfare by virtue of its numerous crucial functions. In the past, soil has been taken for granted because of its widespread, albeit finite, availability. However, now that world's population is projected to exceed ten billion before the end of this century, soil is increasingly perceived as a precious commodity. Consequently, soil is increasingly under pressure by rich private investors and governments within the poorest countries to satisfy appetites for food production and biofuel. A case study is used to explore the plausibility of soil being considered as ‘brown gold’. Based on the comparison of land use maps, we estimated the value in terms of resource from raw material, carbon sink and virtual calories of the productive soil lost during the period 2003–2008 in the Emilia-Romagna Plain, one of the most productive areas of Italy. More than fifteen thousand hectares of cropland underwent land use change – in particular urbanization – over the 6-year period with an implied loss of crop production potential equivalent to the daily calorific requirement of more than 440,000 people. Taking into account that Italy is no longer self-sufficient in food production, such a loss appears to be strategically significant. Perhaps more importantly, urbanization and soil sealing has had negative ramifications on environmental sustainability, on both local and broad scales, with increased consumption of public funds. A logical framework of the socio-economic impact of land use change has been compiled and is presented as a possible example of a policy relevant approach to managing productive soils as a finite resource.  相似文献   

19.
The Republic of Ireland possesses a land market that is constrained by minimal sales each year, less than 1%. In an effort to capitalise on milk quota abolition and to increase dairy production, a suite of tax incentives has recently been introduced in the Republic of Ireland to encourage land mobility and long-term leasing among Irish dairy farmers. Using Irish Farm Accountancy Database Network (FADN) data from 2011–2017 to examine this, a Heckman sample selection model explores two aspects; (i) the factors that influence a farmer’s decision to rent, or continue renting, land and (ii) the profitability of dairy farmers renting in land. We find self-selection into the rental market is driven by farm traits that include a high level of hired labour, the presence of a successor, intensive farming practices and dairy discussion group membership. The results show that rental agreements assist farms in achieving economies of scale. The findings provide evidence to support government intervention such as tax incentives for renting out land and knowledge sharing discussion groups.  相似文献   

20.
Agricultural intensification and abandonment have been identified as two of the more prominent and polarizing drivers of landscape change in Europe. These transitions may induce deterioration in landscape functioning and character, particularly in cultural landscapes demonstrative of evolving human-environment dynamics that have sustained environmental benefits through time. Cultural and behavioral motives are important root influences to such landscape transitions, yet efforts to address landscape degradation are often hampered by a failure to account for the heterogeneous decision-making nature of its agents of change and the inherent complexity of socio-ecological systems. Novel techniques are required to further disentangle responses to multi-level drivers and discuss alternative landscape development trajectories. Agent-based models constructed by means of participatory approaches present increasingly applied tools in this context. This study sought to capture and model the future perspectives emerging from presently occurring farming discourses in the region of Gera (Lesvos, Greece), characterized by persistent abandonment of its traditionally managed olive plantations. We constructed an agent-based model iteratively in collaboration with the local farming community and experts in landscape research. Empirical findings informed the model through the construction of a farmer typology, revealing a heavy reliance of the farming community upon sectorial profitability, prevalent cultural farming motives and emerging landscape initiatives. The model examined the de-coupled role of agricultural profitability and landscapes initiatives in shaping the behavior of land managers, mapping alternative landscape futures over a period of 25 years. Model results illustrate both increased profitability and action by landscape initiatives are required to reverse abandonment trends within the simulated time frame. The hypothesized ability of landscape initiatives to maintain and promote a cultural drive amongst adhering farmers is crucial for securing behavioral transformations towards professionalism. This study confirmed agent-based modelling to be intuitively received by stakeholders who significantly contributed to model structure refinement and the rejection of a status quo scenario.  相似文献   

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