Systems, agricultural

Sustainable Agriculture. The third factor that will influence the future of pesticide sales is the emphasis on sustainable agriculture systems that rely on more natural pest control methods and reduced pesticide usage. These are integrated systems that requke nutrients and crop protection chemicals from on-farm natural sources and cultural methods. Many current sustainable farms are site-specific systems that may depend on the soils in a... 

Thirty to 40 percent of the calories in a typical American diet come from animal products. If cvciy person in the world consumed this much meat, all the agricultural systems in the world would be able to support only 2.5 billion people. In 1999 these same systems supported 6 billion people, primarily because the majority of the people living in less developed countries consume fewer animal products. 

All our natural resources must be used carefully to maximize their contributions, not only to sustain the current productivity of world agriculture, but to be able to augment its yields. Both our vast agricultural system and the broader ecosystem must receive greater protection than ever before from all pollutants including pesticides. Certainly this is possible to achieve, if humans work together for the good of society. 

Whole-plant responses to stress in natural and agricultural systems... 

Natural pigment production for food coloration includes the entire spectrum of biotechnologies. For example, biological production of carotenoid pigments has medical implications because carotenoids are nutritive (pro-vitamin A), antioxidant, and photoprotective. Carotenoids are produced alternately in agricultural systems (plants), industrial bioreactors (bacterial and fungi), and marine systems (cyanobacteria and algae). 

Thomassen MA, van Calker KJ, Smiths MCJ, Iepema GL, de Boer IJM. Life Cycle Assessment of Conventional and Organic Milk Production in the Netherlands. Agricultural Systems. 2008 96(l-3) 95-107. DOI 10.1016/j.agsy.2007.06.001... 

Fliefibach A and Mader P (2000). Microbial biomass and size-density fractions differ between soils of organic and conventional agricultural systems . Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 32, 757-768. 

Fluck R C (1992). Energy analysis of agricultural systems . In Fluck R C, Energy in World Agriculture, Vol 6 Elsevier Science Publishing, Amsterdam, 45-52. 

Vogtmann H (1988) From healthy soil to healthy food an analysis of the quality of food produced under contrasting agricultural systems . Nutrition and Health, 6, 21-35. 

The Nafferton Ecological Farming Group (NEFG) is the main research centre for applied agricultural systems research at Newcastle University. 

Blair GJ, Lefroy RDB, Lisle L (1995) Soil carbon fractions based on their degree of oxidation, and the development of a carbon management index for agricultural systems. Aust J Soil Res 46 1459-1466... 

Seidler, J.J., M. Landau, F.E. Dierberg, and R.H. Pierce. 1986. Persistence of pentachlorophenol in a wastewater-estuarine agriculture system. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 36 101-108. 

Liess M (1994) Pesticide impact on macroinvertebrate communities of running waters in agricultural systems. Verh Int Ver Limnol 25 2060-2062... 

As farmers increasingly confront declining per capita return arisen from miniaturizing land holdings caused by steadily growing population, they are required to make additional efforts to increase agricultural production. They will thus adopt an agricultural system only when it is both economically and environmentally suitable (Rasul and Thapa 2003). 

Much of the research effort in adoption of sustainable agriculture has been fragmented, with little coordination and integration. Several issues have not been adequately treated in previous studies. While research on sustainable agriculture systems has produced information on several alternative practices, little substantive research has investigated the structure of belief and motivation that drive farmers decisions about sustainable agriculture systems adoption (Comer et al. 1999). 

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