Food is essential to the human life and it being something so important, we should be able to find better ways of producing it. The reason for eating daily is to be able to survive and like most of us, we want to live life and see what the world has to offer. Producing food that damages our environment makes the whole idea of looking forward to the future pointless. What is sustainable agriculture exactly? It an environmental friendly system or way of producing food without damaging the world and at the same time, it is healthier for us. The objective of sustainable agriculture is to gratify human food and fiber needs, improve environmental value and the natural resource base that agriculture economy depends on, make the most resourceful use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources, and increase the excellence of life for farmers and society as a whole. Sustainable agriculture is efficiently workable where if it is not profitable then it is not sustainable, it is publicly encouraging where the quality of farm life is significant, and it is cost-effectively sound where we must conserve the resource base that maintain us all.

Sustainable agriculture seeks to accomplish three key goals which are economic effectiveness, environmental excellence, and community accountability. The growing global demand for food at the lowest price needs to be met while responding to the economy. This also requires farmers to please the demand of improvement by minimizing pollution from agriculture, protecting and preserving the natural resource base, and producing environmental benefits. Sustainable agriculture also incorporates environmental stewardship, farm profitability and prosperous farming communities. Stewardship of natural and human resources are both very important. Stewardship of natural resources embraces concerns of social responsibilities, consumer health and security for the past and the future. Stewardship of human resources connects with preserving or improving the resource base for the long term. Casing long term damage to the soil leads to erosion and without the proper attention this leads to buildup of salt in the soil. When farmers cultivate and produce crops they remove plenty of nutrients from the soil and without replacement the land will suffer from nutrient reduction. The production of agriculture depends on the soil’s nutrients and the accessibility of water and sustainable agriculture depends on the replacement of soil while reducing the use of non-renewable resources.

Water is a prime resource that has assisted agriculture and society to do well, but it has been a major restrictive factor when mismanaged. Water preservation and storage actions needs to be improved, motivation for selections of drought tolerant crop species need s to be provided, reduced-volume irrigation system need to be used, and crops need to be managed to reduce water loss. Current agriculture is greatly reliant on non-renewable energy sources, particularly petroleum. In sustainable agricultural systems, there is reduced dependency on non-renewable energy resources and a substitution of it is economically realistic. Almost all agriculture activities deal with affecting air quality. These can include smoke from nitrous oxide emissions from the use of nitrogen fertilizer to agricultural burning, dust from tillage, traffic and harvest, to pesticide drift from spraying. To improve the air quality we have the alternatives to crop remains into the soil, use suitable levels of tillage, planting wind breaks, covering crops or strips of native constant grasses to reduce dust. Soil erosion keeps on being a serious threat to our capability to produce sufficient food. Healthy soil is an important factor of sustainability.

What are some things that can be done to achieve sustainable agriculture? There can be less water pollution as all sources of contamination that include pesticides and fertilizers, sediment, waste water, garbage, fuel, etc. are controlled. There can also be less soil erosion as farms put into practice soil maintenance practices. Reducing threats to the environment and human health where farmers are using new methods and ways in order to reduce the toxicity and quantity of chemicals used. There can be a reduction of waste like grapefruit peels, banana stems, plastics, glass and metals. Less water is used when water conservation measures are applied and correctly used. More proficient farm management where farmers organize, plan, schedule improvements, implement better practices, identify problems and monitor progress. There can be improved conditions for farm workers that include getting acceptable wages, proper housing, clean drinking water, services that are safe, healthy work areas, and those with families can receive the help needed. Also improved profitability and competitiveness for farmers boosts production, better quality and more work effectiveness.

Sustainable agriculture requires dedication to altering public policies, economic institutions, and social principles. Consumers have an important part when it comes to the creation of a sustainable food system. When consumers buy, return, exchange products, they are sending strong messages to the producer, retailers and others in the system about what they think is essential or not. The cost of food and nutritional quality has always influenced consumer choices. The most important factors for an individual are sun, air, soil and water. Two main practices of sustainable agriculture are crop rotation and soil amendments which are intended to guarantee that crops that are being cultivated can obtain the necessary nutrient s for a healthy growth and living. Many scientist, farmers, businesses and people have debate on how make agriculture farming sustainable. They can vary from techniques of farming to widespread practice and more. There is no single exact and accurate approach to sustainable agriculture. Something else that must be measured is the impact of sustainability in the overall population. If the population continues expanding, then more food and fiber will be needed. Since land and space is always needed, the use of available city space for cooperative food production is another way to achieve better sustainability. Sustainable agriculture involves shifting the production of food plants from major factory farming operations to vertical farms which are large, urban, technical facilities. The advantage of vertical framing is that it’s a year round production, it is secluded for pests and diseases, it has a manageable resource recycling, and on site production that eliminated the need for transportation costs. These farms are not real yet and we might have to spend a lot of money on it, but in the long run it will have a good turnout.

I do not think sustainable agriculture can be achieved completely, but we can get close to it. As the society, we need to focus on what we can do as an individual or as a whole in order to reach the sustainable agriculture goal. We want to find better techniques and methods so we can stop producing, cultivating, etc. in ways that damage our environment and our ecosystem. The objective of sustainable agriculture is to improve agriculture so it makes our environment green and what I think is the most important is that it is going to be healthier for us. The world should be an object, thing, or however you see it in your eyes, that we want to protect and make it a better place to live for ourselves and our future generations. It is important that we remember that when we are reaching towards the goal of sustainable agriculture, this means that it is the responsibility of all participants in the system. This includes children, teachers, lawyers, doctor as, etc and every group or person has its own part to play and its own unique input to strengthen the sustainable agriculture community.