Moving Agriculture Toward Sustainability in the 21st Century.

Agriculture is at a critical juncture. To feed a growing world population, producing adequate crop yields is vital but only one of four main goals that must be met for agriculture to be sustainable. The other three are enhancing the environment, making farming financially viable, and contributing to the wellbeing of farmers and their communities. Conventional farming systems have provided increasing supplies of food and other products, but often at the expense of the other three sustainability goals. Several innovative farming systems, such as conservation agriculture, integrated farming, and organic agriculture, have been identified that better balance production, environment, and socio-economic objectives. Organic agriculture is the most rapidly growing and contentious of these systems. With hundreds of papers being published in the past two decades comparing different aspects of organic and conventional farming systems, we can examine the multifunctionality of these two systems. Reviews and meta-analyses have shown that organic agriculture, compared to conventional agriculture, delivers lower yields, greater profits, equal or more nutritious foods with less pesticide residues, and greater environmental benefits. In a time of increasing population growth, climate change, environmental degradation, and rising energy costs, such agricultural systems with a more balanced portfolio of sustainability benefits are needed. Yet, no one agroecosystem alone will produce enough food to safely feed the planet. Rather, a blend of these innovative farming approaches is needed for future global food and ecosystem security. The existence of innovative agricultural systems suggests that technical obstacles are not the greatest barriers. Rather, change is hindered by market structures, policy incentives, political and monetary power, and uneven development and availability of scientific information that guide farmers’ decisions. Consumers also play a vital role in the foods they choose to eat, which in turn can hasten implementation of more sustainable agricultural systems.