Towards Sustainable Agriculture: A Comparative Analysis of Organic Crop Area in Czechia, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary

Recently, environmental consciousness and demand of healthy food have increased rapidly. In this context, organic agriculture has been used in all countries. In addition, production area and producers have increased each passing days. “Organic agriculture” also known as “ecological agriculture or biological agriculture” is a production method that aims eco-friendly production, development of plant resistance, and conservations of agriculture soil. Besides, organic agriculture aims to reconstruct of lost natural balance. Organic agriculture bans use of pesticides, hormones, and chemical fertilizers. Especially, organic agriculture gained a commercial dimension with the increasing of consumer demands in 1980s. In organic cotton agriculture, genetically modified cotton seeds are not used. The fundamental of organic cotton agriculture is that cotton seeds are not treated microwave energy and radiation. Organic cotton agriculture consists of all agriculture systems that encourage eco-friendly fiber production. Furthermore, it causes to remove use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. For this reason, organic agriculture causes to increase the fertility of soil. In this chapter, organic agriculture, organic cotton agriculture, comparison conventional cotton agriculture with organic cotton agriculture, environmental impacts of organic cotton agriculture, and use of organic cotton products were investigated.KeywordsOrganic cottonOrganic agricultureEnvironmental impacts

There is an increasing demand for education in organic and sustainable agriculture from undergraduates, graduate students and extension agents. In this paper, we discuss highlights and evaluations of a multilevel approach to education currently being developed at North Carolina State University (NCSU) that integrates interdisciplinary training in organic and sustainable agriculture and the related discipline of agroecology through a variety of programs for undergraduate students, graduate students, and extension agents. These educational programs are possible because of a committed interdisciplinary faculty team and the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, a facility dedicated to sustainable and organic agriculture research, education, and outreach. Undergraduate programs include an inquiry-based sustainable agriculture summer internship program, a sustainable agriculture apprenticeship program, and an interdisciplinary agroecology minor that includes two newly developed courses in agroecology and a web-based agroecology course. Research projects and a diversity of courses focusing on aspects of sustainable and organic agriculture are available at NCSU for graduate students and a PhD sustainable agriculture minor is under development. A series of workshops on organic systems training offered as a graduate-level course at NCSU for extension agents is also described. Connecting experiential training to a strong interdisciplinary academic curriculum in organic and sustainable agriculture was a primary objective and a common element across all programs. We believe the NCSU educational approach and programs described here may offer insights for other land grant universities considering developing multilevel sustainable agriculture educational programs.

Background: In recent years, there has been growing interest in sustainable and organic farming practices due to concern about environmental impacts and food quality associated with conventional agriculture. Organic farming (OF) has gained popularity for its emphasis on natural inputs and ecological balance. Subhash Palekar natural farming (SPNF), an innovative approach developed in India, promotes low-cost, chemical-free farming using locally available resources. Methods: This study investigated the effects of three cultivation methods - Organic farming (OF), Subhash Palekar natural farming (SPNF) and conventional farming (CF) on the quality characteristics of strawberry cv. Camarosa grown in Punjab conditions. Field trials were conducted in Lovely Professional University, Punjab from 2022 to 2024 to evaluate physicochemical properties, bioactive compound levels and antioxidant activity. Result: Results revealed that OF and SPNF practices yielded higher quality fruits compared to CF. Organically grown strawberries exhibited significantly higher total sugars (7.56%), reducing sugars (6.04%), non-reducing sugars (1.51%), total phenolics (266.54 mg/100 g), total flavonoids (167.46 mg/100 g), ascorbic acid (38.78 mg/100 g), total anthocyanins (53.42 mg/100 g) and total antioxidant capacity (86.58%). SPNF produced results comparable to OF in most parameters, consistently outperforming CF. These findings suggest that organic and natural farming methods can intensify the nutritional quality along with bioactive compound content of strawberries while potentially offering more sustainable cultivation practices.

Effect of organic, sustainable, and conventional management strategies in grower fields on soil physical, chemical, and biological factors and the incidence of Southern blight

An experiment was conducted to study the earthworm diversity and its influence on soil enzyme activities in organic, sustainable and conventional farming systems in the state of Puducherry. A total of five earthworm species namely Drawida willsi, Drawida scandens, Lampito mauritii, Perionyx excavates and Eudrilus eugeniae were present in the study sites. Four species were found in conventional and sustainable farming and five species were found in organic farming. Earthworm species diversity, population, species dominance, and biomass were significantly higher in organic farming systems compared to sustainable and conventional farming systems. In addition, soils from organic farming showed higher activity of urease, alkaline phosphatase, β-glucosidase, cellulase, invertase and xylanase activities and they had a significant positive correlation with earthworm population and biomass. Our results revealed that the presence of earthworms strongly affected enzyme activities in soil. Earthworm casts probably contributed to the enrichment of plant-available nutrients and higher soil enzyme activities in organically managed soils.

The loss of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes has been dramatic over the past few decades with negative trends persisting. Organic farming has received widespread recognition in the scientific and politic fields for its environmental benefits, although the proportion of land cultivated organically is still small and the extent to which organic farming contributes to the promotion of biodiversity is viewed controversially. We present a critical, quantitative review of 98 mainly peer-reviewed papers selected from 801 studies in temperate climate zones published over the period 1990–2017. We quantified differences in the species richness and abundance of selected flora and fauna groups. In total, 474 pairwise comparisons that compared organic and conventional farming systems were considered. Overall, organic farming showed higher species richness or abundance in 58% of the pairs. No differences were found for 38%, 4% indicated negative effects from organic farming. The average (median) species numbers of flora on arable land were 95% higher under organic management as well as 61% higher for seedbank and 21% higher for field margin vegetation. For field birds, the species richness was 35%, and the abundance was 24% higher in organic farming; for insects, the corresponding values are 22% and 36% and for spiders 15% and 55%. Our study underlines that organic farming can play an effective role in acting against the loss of biodiversity. Future research should focus on the combined effects of landscape structures and organic farming, the effect of large-scale organic farming, as well as on the correlation of species diversity and production parameters. To meet the systems’ representativeness, even more strict selection criteria need to be applied in further analysis.

Sustainable development on a regional scale can be accelerated if organic farming management methods are adopted in Indonesia. This research utilized the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture (SAFA) framework due to its comprehensive coverage of sustainability and accessibility for producers and decision-makers. This study compared the sustainability of certified and non-certified organic as well as non-organic farms in Sleman Regency across four dimensions: good governance, environmental integrity, economic resilience, and social welfare, focusing on how different farming practices impact sustainability indicators. A total of 9 farmer groups participated in this study, categorized based on their farming practices and certification. The results unveiled that certified organic rice farming achieved the highest sustainability score. Specifically, certified organic farmer groups excelled in the economic sub-themes of product quality and information (82%) and local economy (90%), as well as the social sub-themes of labor rights (86%) and equality (80%). Meanwhile, non-certified organic farming performed highly in the local economy sub-theme (82%). In contrast, non-organic farming scored the highest in the sub-themes of investment economy (80%) and fair-trade practices (81%) but demonstrated low scores in holistic management (40%) and impact on the atmosphere (36%). Hence, certified organic rice farming outperformed non-certified organic and non-organic practices regarding sustainability. Key factors affecting farm sustainability included organic fertilizers, sustainable water management, local economic improvement, equity, labor conditions, biodiversity preservation, and product quality and information. These findings highlight the significance of adopting certified organic farming to achieve higher sustainability in agriculture.

Organic farming is widely recognized as a promising practice for sustainable agriculture, yet its long-term ecological impacts remain insufficiently investigated. In this study, we evaluated these impacts by comparing heavy metal concentrations, soil invertebrate communities, and microbial profiles between long-term organic and conventional farming systems. A comparative analysis was conducted on 24 plot soils from two paired organic and conventional farm systems in Beijing, each managed continuously for over 20 years. Our results revealed that soils under organic management consistently contained 10.8% to 73.7% lower heavy metals, along with reduced geo-accumulation indices (Igeo, a standardized metric for soil contamination assessment), indicating decreased contamination risks. In terms of soil fauna, while conventional soils showed higher Collembola abundance, organic farming significantly enhanced Collembola richness and diversity by 20.6% to 55.0%. Microbial sequencing likewise revealed enhanced richness and diversity of bacteria and fungi in organic soils. These microbial communities also displayed shifts in dominant taxa and more stable co-occurrence networks under organic management. Principal component analysis and Mantel tests identified soil pH and nutrients as key drivers of soil biodiversity, while heavy metals also imposed negative influences. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that long-term organic farming not only mitigates environmental risks associated with soil contaminants but also promotes belowground ecological integrity by supporting biodiversity of soil fauna and microbiota. This study highlights the ecological significance of sustained organic practices and provides critical insights for advancing sustainable agricultural developments.

There has been an increase in demand for organic products in Indonesia along with the incessant slogan of healthy living. In terms of small farmers, organic farming is proven to provide increased income, unfortunately, there is no clear system and strategy in developing organic agriculture in Indonesia. The purpose of this research was to understand the role of key stakeholders in Cisarua Horticulture Organic Farming. Stakeholder analysis used in this research to get knowledge about the actors, their behavior, relationships and their influence on decision - making processes. The information is used to develop the farm strategies, to reach the farm goals and to assess the feasibility of policy directions. The methodology used is the Soft System Methodology (SSM). SSM is an organizational process modeling method that can be used for general problem resolution and change management. Rich picture, Root definitions, and conceptual model were presented in the paper. Data were taken using focus group discussion and in-depth interviews with the farm staffs, farmers of the sustainable horticulture organic farming farm in Cisarua, Indonesia, and national organic farming association. From Stakeholders analysis, four main results were obtained: identifying the relationship among stakeholders; conflicts among them; the stakeholders’ role in farm; and the stakeholders’ interest towards farm program. In conclusion; focusing on one hauler only, investing in seed horticulture products, improving the quality of horticulture products, and mentoring for small-scale farmers were identified as a critical action for the strategy in the organic farming farm in Cisarua, Indonesia. The policy implications of this research are basically to see the contribution of actors in making a strategy.

This article presents a comparative analysis of organic farming practices and their implications for soil health, crop yield, and environmental sustainability. Organic farming, characterized by the exclusion of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, emphasizes the use of natural resources and processes. The analysis focuses on the impact of these practices on key aspects of agricultural sustainability. For soil health, organic farming has been found to enhance soil fertility and biodiversity through the use of natural compost, green manure, and crop rotations. In terms of crop yield, while organic farming traditionally faces perceptions of lower productivity, advancements in techniques are narrowing the yield gap between organic and conventional farming. Additionally, the quality and resilience of organic produce are often higher, especially under environmental stressors like drought. The environmental sustainability of organic farming is a signi icant bene it, contributing to biodiversity, reducing pollution, and mitigating climate change through lower carbon emissions and enhanced carbon sequestration. However, the transition to and broader adoption of organic farming practices are not without challenges. These include the need for labour-intensive management, comprehensive knowledge of organic methods, and the complexities of certi ication. The article concludes that while organic farming faces certain limitations, its bene its in promoting sustainable agriculture are substantial. Embracing organic farming practices could be crucial in addressing contemporary environmental and food security challenges, paving the way for a more sustainable agricultural future.

Government began to apply the concept of organic farming in order to maintain the sustainability of agriculture. Organic farming is applied to the organic rice farming of Jember Regency. This kind of farming have some risks. The prominent risk in organic rice farming is production. Research conducted at rowosari village aims to know: (1) The amount of production risk overall; (2) The amount of production risk that seen from the length of application organic farming and land area. The location of research in Rowosari, Sumbejambe which was determined intentionally (Purposive Method). The sampling method was total sampling method. The data that used in study were primary and secondary data. The analyze method used was standard deviation (V) and coefficient of variation (CV). The results of the study showed that: (1) Overall risk of production of organic rice farming in Rowosari Village amounted to 468.25 kg or 10.1% of the average production: (2) The risk of production of organic rice farming in Rowosari Village are based on the land area small (0.5 Ha), medium (0,5-2 Ha) and large (> 2 Ha) respectively 17,6%, 6,3% and 1.3% of the average production. The risk of production of organic rice farming in Rowosari Village is based on the period of implementation from 2015 and 2012, respectively 12.1% and 7.8% of the average production. It showed that the period of organic farming implementation will influence the amount of risk production.

Communitarian cooperative organic rice farming in Hongdong District, South Korea

Contents: 1. Society issues, painkiller solutions, dependence and sustainable agriculture; Eric Lichtfouse. 2. Sociology of sustainable agriculture; Ezatollah Karami. 3. Sustainable versus organic agriculture; Vito Sardo. 4. Organic agriculture and food production: ecological, environmental, food safety and nutritional quality issues; Reza Ghorbani. 5. Sustainability of energy crop cultivation in Central Europe; Volkhard Scholz. 6. Phosphorus, plant biodiversity and climate change; Nicole Wrage. 7. Co-evolution and migration of bean and rhizobia in Europe; Paula A. Rodino. 8. Non-isotopic and 13C isotopic approaches to calculate soil organic carbon maintenance requirement; David Clay. 9. Soil solarization and sustainable agriculture; Trifone D'Addabbo. 10. Soil functions and diversity in organic and conventional farming; Supradip Saha. 11. Indigenous soil knowledge for sustainable agriculture; Iin P. Handayani 12. Composting to recycle biowaste; Gyorgy Fuleky 13. Nematodes as biocontrol agents; Tarique Hassan Askary 14. Allelopathy and organic farming; Jana Kalinova 15. Occurrence and physiology of zearalenone as a new plant hormone; Jolanta Biesaga-Kocielniak 16. Homestead agroforestry, a potential resource in Bangladesh; Giashuddin Miah

The agriculture sector faces multiple challenges in meeting the growing food demand of an ever-increasing population. Conventional farming is one of the most widely practiced approach due to its affordability and accessibility, but it is associated with various drawbacks. A resilient and sustainable agriculture system is required to face different environmental challenges. Sustainable agriculture includes different ecofriendly farming techniques that boost crop yield and livestock production without having an adverse effect on the environment. Organic farming is one such approach that should be practiced for attaining the goal of sustainable agriculture. In simple words, organic farming can be defined as the production of plants by avoiding the use of harmful synthetic additives (fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics etc.). Organically cultivated foodstuffs have become increasingly popular due to their numerous health benefits. India has experienced a significant expansion of organic farming and is presently one of the major organic producers in the world. Though there are some difficulties yet to be overcome in order to ensure that organic farming has a beneficial economic and health impact, it can be argued that it has a better prospect in India. This review deliberates the current state of organic farming in India along with its components, advantages, associated constraints and future potential.

In this article I underscore how women organic tea farmers build economic resilience through dual enactments as "organic farmers" and as "entrepreneurs." In substantiating both, women question the limited optics through which Fair Trade type sustainability ventures measure their work for a tea cooperative, as well poorly recognizing their entrepreneurial work in their households and community. Women are deeply aware of the politics of Fair Trade where their productive and reproductive labor is appropriated through the labor of organics, where women not only produce the organic green leaf tea but also produce narratives of Fair Trade's success in its certification and gender audits. Thus, to understand what sustains the new wave of "sustainable agriculture" in the global South, we must explore the intersections of organic farming practices with emerging discourses and practices of gendered entrepreneurialism in organic farming communities. In Darjeeling, India, women provide the labor necessary to sustain organics that should ideally come from the Indian state or international trading partners. They fill the gap through their labor, time, creativity and risk-taking. I contend that the success of organic farming depends on critical maneuvers that entail economic and cultural entrepreneurialism, and demonstrate forms of resilience expressed through which women farmers identify and navigate the inadequacies of alternative agriculture and related Fair Trade practices.Keywords: Women organic tea farmers, women entrepreneurs, Fair Trade, rural Darjeeling, risk-taking, resilience