RESEARCH PAPER
Sustainable agriculture for the future
Introduction
This essay focuses on critically evaluating the views of different scholars on the research topic of “Sustainable agriculture for the future.” It will support in determining the scope of sustainable practices to be followed in the business sectors of agriculture for maintaining productivity in the future. The thesis statement for this research essay is, to identify the significance of implementing sustainable strategies for agriculture for preserving future productivity. This study will contribute to examining the concept of sustainable agriculture and its impact on the future.
In essence, sustainable agriculture aims to protect farmers, commodities, and populations by supporting lucrative, ecologically sound, and community-friendly farming practices and methods. Current agriculture is supplemented and improved by sustainable agriculture. It recognises and compensates producers' and their goods' genuine worth. It is influenced by organic farming and learns from it. It works on large and small farms and ranches alike, combining cutting-edge technology with tried-and-true methods. Sustainable agriculture offers the potential to sustain the world's rising population while also reducing climate change's negative effects.
Body
According to the World Bank, agriculture currently accounts for up to 30% of carbon dioxide emissions. Agriculture infrastructure contributes to greenhouse gas emissions through transportation, agricultural planting, processing, and processing, as well as livestock rearing. Not to mention the toxins in the water from pesticides, insecticides, and detergents (Zulfiqar, et al., 2019). Clearly, agriculture's environmental effect must be reduced but productivity must be increased to feed the world's rising population. Those who are keen to know more about the benefits of environmental farming might consider pursuing a sustainable development certification.
According to DeLonge, et al., (2016), the global population would increase from 7.7 billion to 9 billion people by 2050, while farm production will be lost due to rapid urbanization and climate change. To close the gap, the World Bank estimates that food production will need to expand by 70% by 2050. This is when the importance of sustainable agriculture is realised. The United States Department of Agriculture defines it as practices aimed at protecting the environment, developing the Earth's natural resource base, and sustaining soil fertility. The aims of sustainable agriculture are to meet human livestock and crop consumption while simultaneously enhancing environmental quality and the environment at large upon which the agro-economy is founded. It also optimises the utilisation of dispatchable and on-farm resources and combines them whenever possible. It fosters natural biological cycles and controls, as well as farming production's commercial feasibility and general quality of life for landowners and society.
Certain key sustainable farming practices can aid in reducing farming's environmental effect. No-till farming keeps carbon in the soil rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. After harvest, no-till farming requires the farmer to leave crop waste in the field rather than ploughing it under. It can also include sowing when the operator scatters seed so instead of burying it beneath the soil covering. It also cuts down on the amount of times machinery has to pass through a field. Creating a varied spectrum of nutrients, intercropping, or the technique of rotating various crops in the same area keeps the soil healthy (Velten, et al., 2015). This may aid in reducing the quantity of fertiliser and insecticides required to control weeds and insects. Cattle grazing from one area to the next develops soil from the beasts' excrement, increasing the resilience of numerous pastures by preventing one patch of grass from being stripped. It also increases the soil's potential to store carbon. Planting annual perennial crops cut down on the number of times farmers must carry machinery into the field to plant and apply pesticides. These key agricultural practices are critical for long-term sustainability since they may be applied on small farms in both wealthy and impoverished countries. The initial investment is little, and the return is rapid.
Harwood (2020), stated that nowadays systems are being used to plough fields, sensors are used to collect soil data, and sophisticated software is used to manage operations. Farmhouse technology helps farmers produce more by delivering more precise and accurate field and weather data, reducing the need for pesticides and herbicides, increasing efficiency, and reducing fuel usage.
AI systems examine data to assist farmers in determining when and where to plant crops, feed livestock, and perhaps even offer at the highest price. Agriculture may be able to use data to more effectively and accurately apply fertiliser. If farmers get more information before planting, they will indeed be able to better distribute resources and use fewer herbicides and fuel. One of the oldest crops enhancing methods accessible to farmers is nanotechnology. Genetic recombination has resulted in hardier plants with higher yields and larger livestock over the years. Sophisticated diagnostic techniques have reduced the time it takes to crossbreed plants and add or remove features in order to adapt to changing conditions. Drones are becoming more popular among farmers as a tool to help them manage their crops more efficiently. Such technologies were initially used to spray pesticides onto fields. Two further key uses are taking overhead images to analyse crops and gathering data from sensors that can be mined to anticipate crop and weed health. Drones have been used to disseminate fruiting trees for natural regeneration in some circumstances (Tian, et al., 2021). Although most people identify blockchain technology with the purchase and trade of cryptocurrency, it also has agricultural uses. Transactions are recorded in a safe and precise manner using blockchain technology. In agriculture, blockchain provides for the monitoring of agricultural goods from farm to consumer. It is already being used by agricultural supply networks to locate the sources of salmonella and other foodborne disease outbreaks.
As per Basu, et al., (2018), sustainable agriculture is a crucial component of feeding more people while also reducing anthropogenic global warming. Both aims may be addressed by shifting food and fibre production to a more sustainable system. Sustainable agriculture aims to safeguard the environment, increase the availability of natural resources, and continuously improve agricultural productivity. Many in the agricultural industry have acquired the feeling of urgency and direction associated with sustainable agriculture. Its genuineness has not been hampered by the absence of a definite definition. Many federal, institutional, and non-profit farm research activities now involve sustainability, and agricultural policy is beginning to embrace it. By incorporating integrated and creative practices into their enterprises, an increasing number of family farmers are forging their own routes to resilience.
Farmers are one of the most important conservation partners we have. They cultivate the crops that nourish, fuel, and outfit the world's growing population while also looking after the lands and waters that support their employment (Raliya, et al., 2017). As the world's population grows, farmers will be under increased pressure to produce more crops while minimising environmental effects. Farmers may apply conservation practices to develop rich, traditional cultivation that supports healthy crops while also preserving water supplies, storing carbon, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and making fields more resilient to extreme weather. For both farmers and the environment, it is indeed a huge victory.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, it can be stated that in the modern and dynamic business environment Agriculture plays a major role towards the contribution to the economy. Sustainable agriculture is in great need to preserve the process of farming for future generations. It majorly benefits in enhancing the quality of farming, better fertilisation of the soil, avoiding degradation of land for agriculture and provides long-term agriculture sustainability. Modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, drones, blockchain and so forth play a major role in the development of the sustainable agriculture process. This leads to a better output of farming practices in an effective manner. This study helps in determining that the implementation of sustainable strategies for agriculture is significant to preserving the future productivity of framing.
References
Basu, S., Rabara, R.C. and Negi, S., 2018. AMF: The future prospect for sustainable agriculture. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology, 102, pp.36-45.
DeLonge, M.S., Miles, A. and Carlisle, L., 2016. Investing in the transition to sustainable agriculture. Environmental Science & Policy, 55, pp.266-273.
Harwood, R.R., 2020. A history of sustainable agriculture. In Sustainable agricultural systems (pp. 3-19). CRC Press.
Raliya, R., Saharan, V., Dimkpa, C. and Biswas, P., 2017. Nano fertilizer for precision and sustainable agriculture: current state and future perspectives. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 66(26), pp.6487-6503.
Tian, Z., Wang, J.W., Li, J. and Han, B., 2021. Designing future crops: challenges and strategies for sustainable agriculture. The Plant Journal, 105(5), pp.1165-1178. Gupta, G., Parihar, S.S., Ahirwar, N.K., Snehi, S.K. and Singh, V., 2015. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR): current and future prospects for development of sustainable agriculture. J Microb Biochem Technol, 7(2), pp.096-102.
Velten, S., Leventon, J., Jager, N. and Newig, J., 2015. What is sustainable agriculture? A systematic review. Sustainability, 7(6), pp.7833-7865.
Zulfiqar, F., Navarro, M., Ashraf, M., Akram, N.A. and Munné-Bosch, S., 2019. Nano fertilizer use for sustainable agriculture: Advantages and limitations. Plant Science, 289, p.110270.
