Sustainable
Agriculture
Emission of greenhouse gases
from agriculture practice
• The agriculture sector is responsible for the greatest share of
greenhouse gas emissions of any individual sector across the
economy.
• Agriculture uses fossil fuels but what is particularly problematic
for agriculture are emissions of nitrous oxide from nitrogen
fertilizers and emissions of methane from cows and sheep.
Nitrous oxide has 310-times and methane 21-times the global
warming potential of carbon dioxide.
Emission of Ammonia
• Agriculture accounts for most ammonia emissions arising primarily
from animal manure and nitrogen based fertilizers.
• Ammonia emissions in particular conditions lead to acid rain, which in
high concentrations can be harmful:
To health
To water and soil quality
reduce plant growth
Damage forests
NASA Satellite
Identifies Global •https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6779
Ammonia
'Hotspots'
What is Agricultural
Sustainability?
•Farming that makes best
use of nature’s goods and
services while not damaging
the environment.
Key
component
of
Sustainable
agriculture
Why is studying sustainable
agriculture important?
• Avoid Monoculture
• Reduce pollution
• Increase the welfare of
terrestrial and aquatic life
• Stabilize food supply
• …………………….
• …………………….
Relationship between
Agriculture and the Environment
Agricultural production involves biological
processes which are determined by the quality
of seeds as well as environmental factors.
The environmental factors affecting growth and
yield of crops include
Abiotic factors such as solar radiation,
temperature, rainfall, relative humidity, soil
condition, etc. ;
Biotic factors such as beneficial and harmful
micro-organisms (in soil and air), insects and
other plants and animals.
How agriculture changes the
environment?
Agriculture is the world’s oldest and largest
industry. Because the production, processing
and distribution of food all alter the
environment, and because of the size of the
industry, large effects on the environment are
unavoidable.
Agriculture has both primary and secondary
environmental effects.
A primary effect, also called an on-site
effect, is an effect on the area where the
agriculture takes place.
A secondary effect, or off-site effect, is an
effect on an environment away from the
agriculture site, typically downstream and
downwind.
How agriculture changes
the environment?..
The scale of effects of agriculture on the environment may
be local, regional or global:
• Local: Occurs at or near the site of farming, e.g. soil
erosion, increase of sedimentation in downstream
• Regional: Generally results from the combined effects
of farming practices in the same large region, e.g.
desertification, large scale pollution, sedimentation in
rivers, change in the chemical fertility of soils over large
areas.
• Global: Through GHG emission, the effects include
climate change, change of the chemical cycle.
How agriculture
changes the
environment?...
Major environmental problems that result from
agriculture include:
Soil fertility
Soil erosion
Deforestation
Desertification
Degradation of water aquifers
Salinization
On-site pollution from fertilizers and
pesticides
Loss of biodiversity
Emission of GHGs
…………………………..
…………………………..
Why Soil Fertility
is Important?
6%
25% • Provides air, water and
• nutrients to plants
• Soil provides mechanical
• support to plants
• Soil fertility is the capacity of a
44% soil to supply nutrients
25% necessary for plant growth.
• Soils are keys to sustainable
farming.
Soil Erosion
• Farming easily damages soils. When land is cleared of its natural vegetation,
such as forests or grasslands, the soil begins to lose its fertility. Some of this
occurs by physical erosion.
• Once the protection of the vegetative cover is lost, the soils is exposed
directly to water and wind, which remove the loosened soil.
• The use of heavy, earth-moving machinery causes considerable increase in
the compaction of soil and the loss of the proper soil structure for crop
production.
• Farmed soil also loses fertility when chemical elements are dissolved in water
and transported away in streams and subsurface run-off.
How to protect soil erosion?
• Agroforestry
• Vegetative cover
• Multiple cropping
• Sloping Agriculture Land Technology
(SALT)
• …………………………….
• …………………………….
Sloping Agriculture Land
Technology (SALT)
Environmentally Sustainable
Agricultural Practices
• Organic agriculture
• Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
• Crop rotation
• Agro-forestry
• Pollution control from agricultural
landscape
• Water deficiency control in
agricultural landscape
• Management of flood control &
irrigation infrastructure
Organic Farming
Organic farming refers to cultivation of
plants and rearing of animals in natural
ways.
It includes use of organic manures, and
bio-pesticides with complete avoidance of
inorganic chemicals and pesticides. Also
includes Integrated Pest Management.
Principles of Organic Farming
The principal methods of
The principals of organic
farming include- organic farming include-
Biodiversity Crop rotation
Sustainability Cover crops
Natural Plant Nutrition Mulching
Pest Management Green manures and compost
Mechanical cultivation
Biological pest control
Integrated pest Management
Multiple Cropping
Pest
Manage
ment
Advantages of IPM
•We often hear the question “what are the advantages of
IPM?”. Think of this:
• More regular crop quality and quantity
• Healthier plants
• Reduced contamination of the environment
• Reduced use of pesticides
• Reduced input costs
• Better use of natural resources
• Reduced contamination of the crop with chemical
residues
• Reduced risk of farmers from contamination with
chemicals
Water deficiency control in
agricultural landscape
Reducing the Impact of Flood Control Drainage
and Irrigation (FCDI) Infrastructure
In the dry season, Boro rice production is highly
dependent upon irrigation water from dry season
water bodies. Hence, switching to other dry
season crops such as wheat and vegetables could
be introduced.
Greater emphasis on more flood tolerant Aman
rice would also allow for earlier, more frequent
opening of sluice gates for longer periods during
rising flood. This in turn will increase smooth
passage of fish.
Creation of Ecotone Zone for
Controlling Diffuse Pollution
• Loss of nutrients from
agricultural land to surface
waters can cause
environmental harm to fish
and other aquatic organisms.
• Vegetated buffer zones
between agricultural land and
surface waters have proved to
be effective filters for trapping
diffuse pollutants.
Thank you
