Question

Describe how biotechnology helps farming operations.

Answer 1

Role of biotechnology in sustainable agriculture and rural development.

April 17, 2015 • 20 Likes • 1 Comment

The word “sustainable” comes from the word “sustain” which means to maintain, support, or to endure. People involved in sustainable agriculture are trying to identify and solve the problems in our current agricultural system in order to provide food and fiber in a healthy environment for people over the long term. At least for now, no one has developed a fully sustainable agriculture, and for the foreseeable future there will always be room for improvement.

The Three Legs of Sustainability:

Imagine a 3-legged stool . What happens if one of the legs breaks, or one leg is missing entirely? The whole stool falls over. The 3-legged stool has become a metaphor for the need to consider the economic, environmental, and social impacts of agriculture (or any of our actions). If our agricultural system has unacceptable impacts in any one of these spheres, it can't support producers and contribute to the community over the long term.

In order to be sustainable, three areas must be addressed by our agriculture, food, and natural resource systems. These three areas are economics, environment, and community . A sustainable agriculture must provide a fair and reasonably secure living for farm families. It should minimize harm to the natural environment. It should maintain basic natural resources such as healthy soil, clean water, and clean air. And it should support viable rural communities and fair treatment of all people involved in the food system, from farm workers to consumers.

The 1990 Farm Bill defines sustainable agriculture as:

“an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term:

satisfy human food and fiber needsenhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy dependsmake the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controlssustain the economic viability of farm operationsenhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.”

Let's take a look at each individual “leg” of the sustainability stool.

Sustainable agriculture is “economically sustainable.” Agriculture should provide a secure living to farm families and others employed in food production and processing. An economically sustainable approach also provides access to good food for all people.

Sustainable agriculture is “environmentally sound.” It preserves the quality of basic natural resources that the farms, businesses and the surrounding environment rely on, including soil, water, and air. Agriculture affects natural resources. Cooperating with natural resource systems instead of trying to overpower them can offer benefits to food production as well as the natural environment .

Answer 2

to increase their crop prodyction