Sustainable agriculture is an alternative to help the environment and prevent further natural and humanitarian disasters. Using sustainable practices could reduce the use of chemicals, and renewable resources could be saved to meet the vital needs of the world’s population.
Crops are the primary source of food production, so sustainable agriculture helps to produce food, fiber, fuel, and other essential products the population needs. In addition, this production method helps protect the environment, making it possible to generate natural resources more frequently. That is why long-term results are sought. However, just as sustainable farming has its advantages, it also has certain disadvantages.
What are the pros of sustainable agriculture?
One of the main advantages of sustainable agriculture is the reduction of prices of vital products and foodstuffs. In addition, it is an excellent aid in preserving the environment and avoiding contamination of water, food, air, and soil erosion. It even promotes equality between social classes.
Good agricultural practice helps reduce food-borne diseases by selling healthy food free of bacteria, germs, and any other factor that can cause damage to the digestive system. Although sustainable agriculture is an excellent practice, its effectiveness is not enough to eliminate all the risks of environmental pollution.
What are the disadvantages of sustainable farming?
Just as sustainable agriculture has its advantages, it also has many disadvantages that must be considered. Mainly, we can name the following drawbacks:
- Limited land use due to the mass production necessary to supply the needs of all the planet’s inhabitants.
- As fewer machines are used (to avoid toxic chemicals), more staffing is needed to take care of the plantations. More time is required to do the job, as a machine can work much faster than labor.
- Production is delayed and, therefore, the cost will be higher.
- Organic foods last less than preserved foods, as they contain no additives or preservatives. It can mean that food also decreases as food increases because of its short shelf life.
- Soil takes a long time to renew itself without the help of chemical fertilizer.
What is the main idea of sustainable agriculture?
Sustainable farming is a method that is needed more than ever because of its advantages. However, it is more complicated to carry out this procedure. Still, some reasons could help to change chemicals for natural and ecological products. Among the challenges ahead of this technique, we can mention the following:
- Producing large quantities of sustainable food due to the inevitable increase in world population.
- Water pollution remains a global concern. We already know that water misuse is leaving us increasingly helpless. However, water is an integral component of agricultural production and other sectors. Their scarcity could be reduced if appropriate investments and technologies are used for each industry.
- Many lands are becoming unusable due to deforestation, fires, or overexploitation. A challenge for the future is revitalizing the soil, so it becomes fertile again.
- One of the main objectives of sustainable agriculture is the reduction of polluting energies, such as coal, oil, gas, nuclear power, fossil fuels, etc. The challenge is to promote the so-called “green energy” with the use of bioenergy, i.e., renewable energy produced by the sun (solar), wind (wind), water (hydro), and all the powers that come from nature necessary to create electricity without pollution.
- Another factor that sustainable farming is expected to reduce is climate change. As we all know, it is caused by the high consumption of toxic products that damage the environment. For example, climate change produces abundant rainfall that leads to flooding and makes the soil infertile. Conversely, there are also fires, which have the same effect on the land.