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The Benefits of Sustainable Agriculture

Explore the benefits of sustainable agriculture in producing affordable, nutritious food without harmful side effects on health and the environment. Learn about the challenges and solutions in implementing sustainable crop production techniques.

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The Benefits of Sustainable Agriculture

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  1. The Benefits of Sustainable Agriculture Wyn Grant University of Warwick

  2. Working with life scientists

  3. Competing or complementary? • We want food security – affordable, nutritious food in sufficient quantities without interruption of supply. • But we want it to be produced in a way that does not have harmful side effects on human health and the environment – sustainable crop production

  4. Retaining trust • The reputation of an industry or firm can easily be damaged, incurring losses of business and substantial financial costs • Any suspicion that food is not being produced in a way compatible with a healthy lifestyle quickly attracts media attention • Food is a product unlike others, e.g., cultural significance

  5. The EU response • The EU has endeavoured to respond to the concerns of its citizens • Thematic Strategy on Integrated Pest Management and Sustainable Use Directive (2009/128/EC) • Basic principles of prevention, monitoring and suppression

  6. Principles of IPM • Prevention: agronomy (e.g., crop rotation), selection of varieties, conservation biocontrol • Monitoring: good warning and early diagnosis systems • Suppression: biological and other non-chemical methods must be preferred to chemical methods if they provide satisfactory control

  7. Biocontrol • Still only 2-3 per cent of global market • But growing rapidly, 12-15 per cent a year compared with 3-5 per cent for synthetics • Forecast to be worth $6bn worldwide by 2019 • Highest growth in Europe, expected to pass North America by 2018 • Big companies move in

  8. Some challenges • Registration of products still taking too long – about 5 years in EU • 5 low risk substances approved • New zonal system in EU (Reg. 1007/2009) not really working • Is more knowledge intensive, requires great input by farmers • Absence of advisory services

  9. Some challenges (2) • Involves managing and working with complexity, products affected by environmental conditions • Good links between industry and academia – even social scientists! • But reliant on back catalogue, cutbacks in basic research could lead to a dip in innovation

  10. The elephant in the room • The CAP • Is it sufficiently targeted on good agronomic practice to back up sustainability programmes like IPM? • Too much still goes in blanket subsidies, ‘greening’ of last reform unsatisfactory • Early abandonment of third pillar on climate change

  11. Thanks for your attention • Visit our website: • http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/research/clusters/cpd/biopesticides

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