Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems

Keywords: Sustainability, Sustainable agriculture, Integrated farming, Fertilisers, Pesticides.

This paper considers how the concept of sustainability can be applied to agriculture and suggests the principles and practices which should be incorporated. Key principles are economic efficiency, the requirement for conservation of resources (renewable and non-renewable), the need for flexibility in both enterprise and land use, and the importance of an underpinning value system. It is suggested that Integrated Farming currently provides the best practical approach. Agriculture must also become a stakeholder based industry rather than one based solely on a production ethic and this requires much improved lines of communication and the development of new management attributes within the agricultural industry.

Dr M Kerry Garrett, Budapest, Hungary.

26 pages, 7 tables, 25 refs.