Sustainable agriculture is a developing practice with the purpose of expanding the earth’s natural resources and conserving the environment. Aside from preserving the earth’s natural resources, sustainable farming helps the environment by reducing soil erosion, preserving water, and maintaining the quality of the soil. There is also increasing awareness about chemicals used in farming practices that lead to unsustainable agricultural environments. This article will explain the advantages of sustainable agriculture.

ADVANTAGES

Protecting Against GMOs

Organic agriculture is incredibly sustainable and can guarantee that the agricultural produce is GMO free. During any stage of organic food production, the use of GMOs is firmly prohibited. This also assures that the products grown are completely free of chemicals and pesticides, which can have serious long-term effects on the environment and human health. The use of natural techniques such as green manure, crop rotation, and pasture grazing promotes safer and healthier living. 

Making Better Use of Soil & Land

Both runoff and erosion are greatly reduced in sustainable agriculture because crops can be rotated throughout the year, which provides the soil with various nutrients from the different plants, increasing its quality. Runoff from fertilizer is usually decreased and provides healthier soil that is less susceptible to erosion. Sustainable agriculture also promotes growth of natural bacteria in the soil that gives the crops more nutrients. Sustainable farming utilizes all the plots of land on the farm, by placing multiple crops such as tall, sun loving plants next to the shorter, shade-loving plants. The advantage here is that there are more crops being produced per acre; allowing farmers to use the free land for the preservation process. It also helps keep the crops healthy. Regular industrial farming takes up vast amounts of land, but since most plots only have single crops, it is harder to utilize the entire space.

Increasing the Welfare of Animals

Sustainable agriculture is eliminating the cruelty in factory farming by decreasing the mistreatment of farm animals. Industrial factory farming is known for its’ poor treatment of animals during their process due to the fact that farmers in the industry save money by squeezing as many animals as they can into a small space. This creates an inhumane way of life for the animals. Not only are the animals mistreated, but being squished together contributes to the spread of diseases which can often result in infections and death. Sustainable agriculture produces a healthy quality of life for animals by mixing a small number of them with a plant-based farm. This allows the animals an appropriate space to roam around in and creates a humane environment for farm animals that implements a healthy plant-based diet.

Reducing Pollution

Industrial plant farms use fertilizers to stimulate plant growth. However, a great deal of the methane that is in the Earth’s atmosphere comes from industrial cattle farming. Industrial animal farming also creates waste that can pollute waters that are nearby. Sustainable agriculture fixes these problems by using natural fertilizers like crop rotation to minimize the number of animals on a farm. It limits the reliance on non-renewable energy use as well by reducing chemical needs, which usually demand high amounts of fossil fuel when manufactured. Although this process still involves some pollution, it is combined with recycling and water recuperation efforts to eliminate the problem.

Benefiting Long Term

The measures and practices observed in sustainable agriculture are meant to provide for the needs of generations to come, centrally aiming to produce food while creating an environmental balance to avoid pest problems and soil fertility. The practices thus reflect the long-term effects of agricultural involvements on the ecosystem which directly contributes to environmental sustainability. Not to mention, sustainable agriculture is also a lower cost farming method. Farmers don’t have to spend money on artificial fertilizers because the soil is healthy and replaces itself. They don’t have to invest in expensive chemical pesticides since the farm is a healthier environment that can tolerate disturbances by disruptive or competing species.

Conclusion

Overall, sustainable agriculture uses healthier methods that are restorative and require low inputs. This does not destroy the natural resources and land for the future generations. Properly managed sustainable farming benefits organic produce and could be a part of a solution in the long-term.