The Concept of Sustainable agriculture

Modern day world, and especially developing societies, faces numerous challenges; among which the progressive increase in the population and thus the increase of food consumption and the expansion of industrial production. These factors require shifting the progress of agriculture toward sustainability.

Agriculture is considered the biggest profession on earth; it provides the world with its need of daily nutrition, which may reach up to 7.3 billion tons of dairy products every year, and around 2.25 billion cups of coffee every day. Plus, agriculture occupies 40% of the Land on which we are living, and consumes 70% of water resources and 30% of green reserves around the globe.

Agricultural sustainability may be reach through three basic factors; firstly, taking into regard ensuring financial income, in other word the profitability, whereas agricultural activity shall be considered as an investment. Secondly, the creation of a new social order benefiting from these agricultural activities, as well as providing work, development, and training for targeted individuals. Thirdly, the preservation of the environment and ensuring its diversity. Such factors could be fulfilled through exploiting each and every available resource, taking into account to protect and develop such resource in order to provide safe nutrition and agricultural produce over the long term. In fact such precautions are able in one hand to achieve sufficiency to agricultural societies that are engaged in these activities, as well as to non agricultural societies and in the other hand to manage profitability for investors. Over the long term sustainable agriculture could preserve the surrounding environment and ensure the bio diversity. If agriculture would not conserve the environment and its diversity therefore there will not be any sustainability or continuity of agricultural investment, and thus there will not be provided any safe nutrition to consume anymore.

 

Steps to Achieve Sustainable Agriculture:

- Developing bio diversity and preserving non harmful environment;
- Preserving land and soil quality;
- Smartly managing water resources and consumption;
- Planning and creating new orders and rural societies, and advancing their health and social conditions;
- Increasing both quantity and quality of agricultural production;
- Smartly exploiting the land;
- Adequately and rationally consuming the energy;
- Considering climate changes.


Original Arabic article may be found on http://blog.ezraa.info/2013/09/blog-post_3012.html