Sustainable agriculture defined

Attitudes are defined as a disposition to respond favorably or unfavorably to an object, person, institution, or event. An attitude is (a) directed toward an object, person, institution, or event (b) has evaluative, positive or negative, elements (c) is based on cognitive sustainable agricultural attitudes and behaviors beliefs toward the attitude object (i.e., the balancing between positive and negative attributes of an object leads to an attitude) and (d) has consequences for behavior when confronted with the attitude object (Bergevoet et al. 2004 Karami and Mansoorabadi 2008). 

Stolton, S. and Geier, B. 2002. The relationship between biodiversity and organic agriculture defining appropriate policies and approaches for sustainable agriculture. IFOAM, Tholey-Theley, Germany. 

Sustainable agriculture, as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, means an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term ... 

This subject is more complicated than it at first seems. This requirement may be defined as the lowest cost to society per unit of high quality agricultural product over several years. By requiring a period of several years, we take into account the possibility that the chemical may affect the potential productivity or quality through a sustained effect on the host plant or its environment. It must be calculated on the basis of the... 

In the light of what has been discussed, pursuing sustainability in agricultural systems appears as a still ill-defined but inescapable task, to be based as far as possible on a global approach to farming systems, harmoniously combining all the resources offered by science and technology. 

It is only comparatively recently that we have become acutely aware of the need to utilize resources in a sustainable manner. The concept of sustainability began to receive attention during the 1970s and was first formalized internationally in the World Conservation Strategy of 1980. The initial concepts were taken from the idea of sustainable yield, as applied in forestry and agriculture. This is defined as the amount of crop that can be harvested without compromising the capacity of future harvests to produce an equal crop. The level of consumption of a resource to support an activity should meet the needs of the present, whilst ensuring that sufficient resources are available to meet the needs of the future. The concepts of sustainability include social, economic and environmental factors. All three must be taken into account if the absolute sustainability of a process is to be determined. 

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