Agricultural Development and Environmental Research American and Czechoslovak Perspectives: Proceedings of a Bilateral Workshop (1987) / Chapter Skim
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'LOW-INPUT SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS'
'LOW-INPUT SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS'
Pages 80-88
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From page 80... ...
These terms and practices have come into use because many farmers, scientists, and policymakers have realized that many current agricultural practices are not sustainable due to economic, environmental, biological, chemical, and human problems related to contemporary agricultural systems. Agriculture as practiced today is a broad continuum ranging from pure organic farming to the use of hydroponics in an almost totally synthetic system.
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From page 81... ...
In contrast, sustainable systems are characterized as agriculture which maximizes the use of internal resources on the farm and consequently minimizes to the extent possible the use of external inputs. In sustainable agriculture the effective system boundary is usually extended to include an entire farm or management unit, its crop or animal enterprise mix, the crop rotation or sequence, and the flow of materials through the system over time.
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From page 82... ...
It also suggested that considerable reduction in chemical use was realistically possible on mixed-grain livestock farms of the western cornbelt. A further systems comparison in the eastern United States compared conventional with sustainable corn and wheat (Triticurn aesitivum L.)
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From page 83... ...
The conventional farm was under a winter wheat/spring pea rotation in which commercial nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers were used. Soil test data showed increasing levels for organic matter, extractable phosphorus, and potassium for the sustainable farm when compared to the conventional farm.
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From page 84... ...
Average long-term changes calculated in soil nitrogen and phosphorus pools resulted in substantial deficits of 44 and 14 kg/ha/yr, respectively, on the sustainable farm and 23 and 5 kg/ha/yr on the conventional farm. However, nutrient deficits were not reflected in lower soil nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the plot areas tested on the sustainable farm, indicating that reduced soil erosion and greater efficiency of nutrient cycling more than compensated for the outflow from crop harvest.
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From page 85... ...
Conventional farmers using repeated sprays of sevin, parathion, diazinon, and malathion experienced higher levels of onion fly for much of the season than did sustainable farmers. It has been reported that sustainable farms experienced fewer pest problems, but this is only preliminary evidence taken from a very pest-susceptible crop.
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From page 86... ...
This work also showed that a diverse cash grain rotation utilizing corn, soybeans, small grain, and legume cover crops resulted in excellent internal weed control and nitrogen production. The low-input sustainable system had lower production costs and higher net return than the
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From page 87... ...
Reductionist research creates many undetected problems for the producer as well as the consumer. Reductionist approaches to research in the areas of soil fertility and pest control have led to nutrient runoff and leaching, resistant species of insects and weeds, environmental contamination, and unbalanced production systems with significant soil, health, and economic costs.
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From page 88... ...
1986. Organic farming: 1986 technology public policy and the changing structure of American agriculture.
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