Alternative Agricultural Systems Research Articles

Accounting of carbon sequestration and tradeoff under various climatic scenarios in alternative agricultural system: a comprehensive framework toward carbon neutrality

IntroductionThe increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration, which mainly is attributed to fossil-fuel combustion and deforestation, is often suggested as one of the prime causative factors toward accelerated global warming. This commends for sequestration of atmospheric carbon under terrestrial systems to partially offset fossil-fuel emissions. Concerning the same, agricultural sector presents an extensive opportunity, especially for countries such as India where over 55% of the population is engaged in the agriculture sector.MethodsSequestering atmospheric carbon in agriculture requires the adoption of climate-resilient alternative agriculture practices without compromising food security. The deliberated study highlights the options of alteration in current conventional farming practices and its economic evaluation for sequestrating carbon under two Climate Change (CC) scenarios, viz., RCP 4.5 and 8.5, over three temporal scales, i.e., 2020, 2030, and 2050. Considering the current land-use pattern and existing growth rate in land-use shifting, three land-use policies, namely, Business as Usual (BaU), Optimistic, and Pessimistic scenario, integrated with CC scenarios were contemplated. Six possible futuristic scenarios were generated for the assessment of carbon sequestration and its valuation following the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoff (InVEST) model.ResultsThe results suggested that across the studied region adopting an optimistic policy over BaU and pessimistic scenario, carbon can sequestrate an additional 0.64 to 1.46 Mt. (2.35 to 5.36 million ton CO2e) having an economic value of 193.4 to 504.8 million USD.ResultsMoreover, the outcomes of the study are advocated for the policy of carbon credit in the agriculture sector, which shall contribute toward meeting various nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) as well.

Whole soil fatty acid lipidic signature discriminates agriculture intensification in no-till systems

Argentinean farmers are adopting alternative agricultural systems based on diversification and intensification of crop rotations in no-till agriculture in order to improve soil health and recover degraded soils after years of monocropping. This is achieved by reducing fallow periods, increasing the intensity of crop rotations with maize and soybean in summer, and establishing different winter crops, including cover crops. We evaluated whole soil fatty acids (WSFA) signature in agricultural cropping systems with different levels of intensification in three on-farm experiments in Argentinean Argiudolls soils, along an on-field 8-year assay and measuring at 5 and 8 years after the beginning of the intensification. Contrasted treatments were: typical rotation, intensified rotation with cereals and intensified rotation with legumes. They were compared to an implanted pasture, and a pasture converted to intensified rotation. Eight years after the beginning of the trial, the intensified crop rotations were separated from the typical rotation by multivariate analysis of WSFA. This technique was able to distinguish between agricultural treatments with subtle differences in management, separating the intensified rotations, which later showed higher crop productivity. Conversion of pasture back to agriculture showed a delay of three years before changing the lipidic signature according to WSFA-based indicators. The outstanding conclusion is that mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) are the most relevant fatty acid functional group for land use discrimination, with a similar potency to the whole lipidic pattern. Within the MUFA group, the fatty acids 16:1w5c and 18:1w5c, appeared as potential biomarkers of these alternative agricultural practices.

Articulating Organic Agriculture and Sustainable Development Goals: Serbia Case Study

With the greening of agriculture, there is a need to better link the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and organic agriculture in developing countries. However, in Serbia, there is a huge gap between the potential of their implementation and the actual situation. This paper assessed the strengths and weaknesses of SDGs and organic agriculture in Serbia and how their relationship can contribute in the development of sustainable agriculture. Key data and indicators of the economic, agricultural and social development of Serbia from international and national databases, as well as recent publications related to the selected topic, were assesed. The results showed that the restricted development of organic agriculture in Serbia stems from the undeveloped awareness of consumers, slower acceptance of alternative agricultural systems and the volatility of mainstream conventional agricultural production. The integration of organic agriculture into the largest conceptual and strategic frameworks, such as the SDGs, can offer a true transformation of local food systems and could result in positive feedback to the environment and society. In the long term, the SDGs framework can help connect various dimensions of sustainable agriculture, stakeholders and policymakers. The future focus should be on how to create entry points for agricultural transformation based on certified organic methodologies and how to integrate agricultural heritage into the realisation of SDGs.

Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation: The Case of Western Province, Sri Lanka


 
 
 Sri Lanka, as an island and developing nation, is highly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. Occurrences of natural disasters due to extreme weather conditions such as prolonged droughts, flash floods and landslides deprive lives and livelihoods of people. Building resilience of vulnerable communities and ecosystems over climate change effects within a broader framework of sustainable development remains the country‘s priority. The Western Province is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka. It is the most densely populated Province in the country and is home to the legislative capital Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte as well as to Colombo, the nation's administrative and business center. The Province is located in the southwest of the country and has an area of 3,684 square kilometres and 5,821,710 people. It comprises of three administrative districts; Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara. The Western Province provides the highest contribution to the Gross Domestic Product contributing 41.2% of the Provincial Gross Domestic Product (PGDP), the highest being the service sector (56.5%) followed by Industrial sector (34.6%) and then agriculture (1.7%). With regards to the climate change impacts, the most significant ones for the Province are recurrent flooding as a result of an increase in average rainfall coupled with heavier rainfall events, increase of the minimum temperature and thus the decrease in the difference between maximum and minimum temperatures and also sea level rise as certain parts of the Province borders the coast. The key vulnerable sectors of the Province are food security which comprise of agriculture (including both crops and livestock) and inland fisheries; water resources which includes both drinking water and irrigation, coastal and marine, ecosystem and biodiversity, human settlement and infrastructure, tourism and health. In addition to these sectors there are cross cutting sectors which includes policy, legal, economic and governance, Institutional development and coordination, International cooperation and partnerships and research and development which have a significant stake to the magnitude of impact. Among the adaptation interventions the following are being implemented/proposed for implementation; Climate Smart agriculture/practice and other alternative agricultural systems, increase storage capacity of water, rational management of water distribution and use, collection of data on the endangered/to be extinct/vulnerable fauna and flora due to climate change and protect them, conduct research including citizen research to identify the changes in biodiversity due to climate change, integration of climate change impacts into new and already prepared development plans and construction of salinity barriers. Most of these interventions had been included in the implementation plans of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) by relevant agencies which is in accordance with the Paris Agreement (2015) and submitted to the and the submission of the revised NDC to the UNFCCC with the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers in the country. However, the full implementation of same requires to improve the capacity in institutions including human resources, finances and technological interventions which needs urgent attention.
 Keywords: Climate change, Adaptation, Western Province, Impact, Vulnerability
 
 

Entisol Chemical Properties In The Organic Agriculture System

Farming systems based on high input energy materials (fossil materials), such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides, can damage soil properties and will ultimately reduce soil productivity in the future. Alternative agricultural systems using low input energy (LEE) are believed to be able to maintain soil fertility and environmental sustainability while at the same time maintaining or increasing soil productivity. Organic farming systems prioritize the use of organic materials and the recycling of waste. This research reveals how changes have occurred in the physical and chemical properties of soils that have carried out organic farming systems several times. The study uses a method of sampling farmers' land that has been studied to treat organic and non-organic farming systems. Two soil samples were taken from 2 different locations to represent organic soil farming systems and 4 soil samples were taken from 4 different locations to represent non-organic farming systems. Soil sampling was carried out at a depth of 20 cm. The results showed significant differences in the chemical properties of the soil (CEC, pH H2O, available P, available K, total N, carbon content, humic acid and fulfat) between the soil with organic and inorganic agriculture systems that showed better values ​​in the organic farming system

Assessing social-ecological connectivity of agricultural landscapes in Spain: Resilience implications amid agricultural intensification trends and urbanization

CONTEXTAccelerated intensification/disintensification and urbanization are changing agricultural systems and propel the need for spatial approaches to understand sustainability-enhancing resilience. Landscapes are key to this understanding though little is known of the broad-scale, cross-landscape connectivity of social-ecological factors amid changing agricultural systems. OBJECTIVEThis study's goals are to identify broad-scale types of agricultural landscapes in Spain that are associated with intensification/disintensification and urbanization and then to use case studies to assess the types and extent of cross-landscape connectivity. It examines the social-ecological connectivity of environmental resources, resource users, and governance. The overarching purpose is to improve the understanding of social-ecological connectivity in strengthening the sustainability-enhancing resilience of agricultural landscapes amid global agri-food changes. METHODSTo pursue these goals, we conducted a structured literature review of publications to identify major types of agricultural landscapes in Spain that reflect intensification/disintensification and urbanization trends. Case studies of agricultural landscapes and connectivity were undertaken in the Madrid and Granada regions. These case studies used a structured interview with experienced professional experts in fields of social-ecological sustainability and agricultural landscapes in each region. Analyses including Latent Block Modelling were applied to interview results on types and extent of cross-landscape connectivity in both conventional and alternative agriculture. RESULTS and CONCLUSIONSThe structured literature review identified the predominance of three types of broad-scale agricultural landscapes in Spain: intensive, “traditional” rural, and peri-urban/urban. Analysis of case-study results revealed variation of the extent and structure of connectivity among clusters of landscape interactions and social-ecological factors. Landscape-level connectivity created both negative agricultural impacts (e.g., extensive water transfers and nutrient pollution in conventional agriculture) and positive impacts (e.g., knowledge system and seed exchanges in alternative agriculture). Interactions of alternative agricultural systems in peri-urban/urban and “traditional” rural landscapes have benefitted from cross-landscape connectivity amid accelerated agricultural change. SIGNIFICANCEResearch and policy on the landscape-level connectivity of agricultural systems are needed to strengthen sustainability-enhancing resilience of both conventional and alternative agriculture. This study's approach and results are a strategic complement to existing emphasis on within-landscape cycles of social-ecological factors in alternative agriculture. This study's insights are important in the transition phases of alternative agriculture and associated food systems amid changes due to agricultural intensification/disintensification and urbanization. Understanding selective cross-landscape connectivity is important for spatial approaches to strengthen the sustainability-enhancing resilience of agricultural systems.

A Sustainable Agriculture: Organic Farming: A Review

Agriculture is the backbone of India’s economy and agriculture employs more than 70% of the country’s people. With the continued use of fertilizers and their negative environmental repercussions, the farming community is becoming more aware of alternative agriculture systems, such as organic farming. Organic farming is a natural farming technique that meets society’s food and nutrition demands while not diminishing natural resources. Thus, by combining organic resources with high-yielding varieties and technologies, the country was able to enhance not only its food excess, but also its environmental pollution, pesticide toxicity and agricultural production sustainability. Organic farming also feeds crops with macronutrients and micronutrients, as well as improving the physical, chemical and biological qualities of the soil. In organic farming, pest and disease management alternatives rely mainly on preventive measures rather than curative treatments, which are based on environmentally safer management strategies. The priority has been placed on maintaining the ecosystem’s health, allowing plants to become resistant to insect pests and illnesses.

Organic and conventional sweetpotato production in the Southeastern of United States: a comparative analysis

BackgroundThere has been a piqued interest in alternative agricultural production systems that are environmentally friendly due to concerns on how sustainable it is to grow conventionally. However, in the producer’s point of view, economic returns are an important issue in decision-making in adaptation. The purpose of this study is to assess the economic risk of conventional and organic sweetpotato production in the Southeastern US. The primary and secondary data were used for the analysis. We identified risk variables in stochastic profit function and performed Monte Carlo simulation in analyzing profitability and economic risk of conventional and organic production systems.ResultsFindings from the meta-analysis suggest lower sweetpotato yields and higher selling prices, are to be expected in the organic sweetpotato production systems compared with the conventional. A higher probability of having positive net return from organically grown sweetpotato compared to conventional production systems was observed.ConclusionsIncrease in unit cost leads to a decrease in net profit in both conventional and organic production systems. Sweetpotato price has more effect on net return compared to its yield in conventional production systems. The higher selling price, lower yield and lower unit costs provide a higher net profit return for the organic sweetpotato production systems. Unit cost in conventional production was noted to be higher in general, inferring conventional sweetpotato production could potentially experience a higher variability in net farm income. Despite the high production cost, however, farmers are encouraged to go into sweetpotato production as it appears to be profitable. Further studies should be conducted on conventional treatments without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers as these systems perhaps, may display lower external input costs that might make them more profitable similar to organic systems.

Kale (Brassica oleraceaL. var acephala) production in soilless systems in the Mediterranean region

The challenges faced by traditional agriculture led to the development of alternative agricultural systems such as soilless systems. This work aimed to assess the growth and yield components of kale under three soilless growing systems: Nutrient film technique set up vertically (T-vertical); Nutrient film technique set up horizontally (T-horizontal), and substrate coco bags (T-coco). The trials were conducted for two consecutive growing seasons (S1: Spring 2018 and S2: Fall 2019) in an unheated greenhouse. Irrigation supply, maximum plant uptake of water, and radiation use efficiency were evaluated for both seasons. The quantitative and qualitative parameters of the production were assessed in terms of yield ( kg per plant and kg per m²), number of leaves per plant, dry matter, protein content, nitrate level and leaf mineral composition. The main results showed that the maximum plant uptake was 0.30, 0.30 and 0.20 L m^-2 day^-1 respectively for T-vertical, T-horizontal and T-coco while the actual supply of water was 62.4, 32.28 and 3.27 L m^-2 day^-1, respectively. A significant difference was recorded for the number of leaves, yield components, dry matter, protein level, Radiation Use Efficiency and mineral composition of kale leaves was higher during fall than in the spring season. However, the nitrates level was much higher in spring than in fall. The T-vertical soilless system showed better yield (6.83±2.27 kg per m²), more proteins (2.53±0.31 g per100 g FW), and higher amounts of calcium (Ca), total nitrogen (N), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe) than the other systems. The study demonstrated the potential of soilless production technologies in the coastal Mediterranean areas.

Rooftop garden an organic farming to grow uncontaminated vegetable improved food quality and food security in Bhubaneswar City, India

The trend of growing vegetables on rooftop promotes agricultural aspects in Bhubaneswar city of India. Rooftop gardens become an important part of urban agriculture are recent recurrent and alternative establishments to grow vegetables. Rooftops create spaces to vegetable production and thereby create opportunities for agricultural incorporation into urban communities, However vegetable production activities on rooftops are limited due to multiple challenges that need to be addressed before widespread implementation takes place. Rooftop agriculture can improve various ecosystem services, enhance the biodiversity of urban areas and reduce food security. Food production from rooftop gardens will help support and sustain food for urban and provide a rare opportunity to grow food efficiencies in typically unused spaces of the building. As human populations become more urbanized and urban consumers become more interested in local food for their families, the use of alternative agricultural production systems, such as rooftop cultivation technologies will increase. Importance of cultivating vegetables on buildings is a key component of making cities more sustainable and habitable. Rooftops are not the total solution to providing food security but they should supplement other sources of food production in urban areas. In covid-19 rooftop gardens play an important role during scarcity of vegetables. It is an alternative method of urban cultivation and people obtain vegetables from doorstep in safe guard from Covid -19.Rooftop garden gives us pure organic vegetables and is pleasant.

Multi-Species Genomics-Enabled Selection for Improving Agroecosystems Across Space and Time.

Plant breeding has been central to global increases in crop yields. Breeding deserves praise for helping to establish better food security, but also shares the responsibility of unintended consequences. Much work has been done describing alternative agricultural systems that seek to alleviate these externalities, however, breeding methods and breeding programs have largely not focused on these systems. Here we explore breeding and selection strategies that better align with these more diverse spatial and temporal agricultural systems.

Comparative Economics of Conventional, Organic, and Alternative Agricultural Production Systems

Agricultural production systems are a composite of philosophy, adoptability, and careful analysis of risks and rewards. The two dominant typologies include conventional and organics, while biotechnology (GM) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) represent situational modifiers. We conducted a systematic review to weigh the economic merits—as well as intangibles through an economic lens—of each standalone system and system plus modifier, where applicable. Overall, 17,485 articles were found between ScienceDirect and Google Scholar, with 213 initially screened based on putative relevance. Of those, 82 were selected for an in-depth analysis, with 63 ultimately used. Economically, organic generally outperformed conventional systems. This is largely due to their lower production costs and higher market price. However, organic farms face lower yields, especially in the fruit, vegetable, and animal husbandry sectors. With that said, organic farming can provide significant local environmental benefits. Integrated pest management (IPM) is a potentiator of either core system. As a risk reduction and decision-making framework, it is labor intensive. However, this can be offset by input reductions without yield penalty compared to a conventional baseline. Biotechnology is a rapidly emerging production system, notably in developing countries. The use of GM crops results in lower production cost and higher yields. As a conventional modifier, its major advantage is scale-neutrality. Thus, smaller and lower income farmers may achieve higher gross margin. The main source of environmental benefits is reduced pesticide use, which implies a decreased need for fuel and labor. Barring external influences such as subsidies and participation in prescriptive labeling programs, farmers should focus on an a la carte approach (as opposed to discrete system adoption) to optimize their respective enterprises.

Evaluating the climate resilience in terms of profitability and risk for a long-term corn-soybean-wheat rotation under different treatment systems

Increasing climate variability and extreme weather events impose significant challenges to the crop production systems throughout the world. Alternative agricultural treatment systems have been proposed to manage these challenges. However, these treatments have not been sufficiently studied for their ability to improve climate resilience, especially in terms of profitability and risk management, which are important metrics of resilience that determine farm-level adaptation. Hence, we evaluated the climate resilience of three alternative agricultural treatments for a long-term (27-years) rotation of corn-soybean-wheat, cast in the temperate humid climate of Southwest Michigan, United States. The three alternative treatments include no-till, reduced input, and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified organic. These are compared to the conventional treatment along with the same crop rotation. Means and volatility of expected gross margins and risk preferences were used as the evaluation metrics. Results demonstrate that the net revenues from the USDA certified organic are largely expected to exceed the net revenues of conventional treatment. Also, for all commodities, organic treatment may exert greater annual stability in revenues. The no-till treatment dominates conventional and reduced input practices in expected annual net revenues with a relatively lower risk to those revenues in light of climate extremes. Furthermore, the organic and no-till treatments showed appropriateness to cater to a range of farmers with different risk preferences. Therefore, the organic and the no-till treatments were deemed climate-resilient. The conventional and reduced input treatments did not show resilience thus will be vulnerable to the changing climate. Despite the economic support for adopting resilient practices, growers have been slow to adopt new approaches. We suggest future research needs for understanding grower motivations for adopting climate-resilient practices and consider policy implications.

Kale (Brassica oleraceaL. var acephala) production in soilless systems in the Mediterranean region

The challenges faced by traditional agriculture led to the development of alternative agricultural systems such as soilless systems. This work aimed to assess the growth and yield components of kale under three soilless growing systems: Nutrient film technique set up vertically (T-vertical); Nutrient film technique set up horizontally (T-horizontal), and substrate coco bags (T-coco). The trials were conducted for two consecutive growing seasons (S1: Spring 2018 and S2: Fall 2019) in an unheated greenhouse. Irrigation supply, maximum plant uptake of water, and radiation use efficiency were evaluated for both seasons. The quantitative and qualitative parameters of the production were assessed in terms of yield ( kg per plant and kg per m²), number of leaves per plant, dry matter, protein content, nitrate level and leaf mineral composition. The main results showed that the maximum plant uptake was 0.30, 0.30 and 0.20 L m^-2 day^-1 respectively for T-vertical, T-horizontal and T-coco while the actual supply of water was 62.4, 32.28 and 3.27 L m^-2 day^-1, respectively. A significant difference was recorded for the number of leaves, yield components, dry matter, protein level, Radiation Use Efficiency and mineral composition of kale leaves was higher during fall than in the spring season. However, the nitrates level was much higher in spring than in fall. The T-vertical soilless system showed better yield (6.83±2.27 kg per m²), more proteins (2.53±0.31 g per100 g FW), and higher amounts of calcium (Ca), total nitrogen (N), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe) than the other systems. The study demonstrated the potential of soilless production technologies in the coastal Mediterranean areas.

Sustainable Agricultural Systems: A Bibliometrics Analysis of Ecological Modernization Approach

Agricultural systems need to be more sustainable. Nowadays, the global food production has a remarkable impact in terms of greenhouse gases production, terrestrial acidification, eutrophication and land consumption. Moreover, one of the effects of unsustainable agriculture is depletion of ecosystem services (ES) on which agricultural systems themselves are dependent. Alternative agricultural systems are possible: the aim of this review was to analyze one of these alternative systems, i.e., strong ecological modernization, to understand relevant topics and current state of the art connected with it. As a result that strong ecological modernization can be considered an ecosystem services-based farming system, we focused on the development of topics related to ecosystem services but also to diversification. The review has been conducted applying a bibliometrics approach to recognize the main papers, authors, organization and countries, as well as trend topics and main themes investigated. The results showed that basic research content involves agrobiodiversity, agroecology and diversified farming systems. At the same time, the review revealed a lack about the social and economic dimensions of sustainability that need to be addressed for promoting a true transition to a strong ecological modernization.

Commoning the seeds: alternative models of collective action and open innovation within French peasant seed groups for recreating local knowledge commons

In this article, we expand the analytical and theoretical foundations of the study of knowledge commons in the context of more classical agrarian commons, such as seed commons. We show that it is possible to overcome a number of criticisms of earlier work by Ostrom (Governing the commons. The evolution of institutions for collective action, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990) on natural commons and its excludability/rivalry matrix in addressing the inclusive social practices of “commoning”, defined as a way of living and acting for the preservation of the commons. Our empirical analysis emphasizes, using the most recent advances in the IAD/SES framework, the distributed and collaborative knowledge governance in a French peasant seed network as a key driver for reintroducing cultivated agrobiodiversity and on-farm seed conservation of ancient and landrace varieties. These inclusive peasant seed groups developed alternative peer-to-peer models of collaborative peasant-led community-based breeding and grassroots innovations in the search for more resilient population varieties. Our results highlight the various models of collective action within the network and discuss the organizational tradeoffs of opting out of peasant seed activities and recreating a shared collective knowledge base on the benefits of restoring cultivated agrobiodiversity. It helps us better understand how modern peasant seed groups function as epistemic communities which contributes to envisioning alternative agricultural systems.

Entisol Chemical Properties on the System Organic Agriculture

Agricultural systems based on high input energy materials (fossil materials) such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides can damage soil properties and will ultimately reduce soil productivity in the future. Alternative agricultural systems that use low input energy (low input energy) are believed to be able to maintain soil fertility and environmental sustainability while at the same time maintaining or increasing soil productivity. Organic farming systems prioritize the use of organic materials and waste recycling. This research reveals how changes have taken place in the physical and chemical properties of soils that have carried out organic farming systems for several times. The study uses a sampling method on farmer’s land that has been studied to treat organic and non-organic farming systems. Two soil samples were taken from 2 different locations to represent soil organic farming systems and 4 soil samples were taken from 4 different locations representing non-organic farming systems. Soil sampling was carried out at a depth of 20 cm. The results showed significant differences in the chemical properties of the soil (CEC, pH H2O, available P, available K, total N, carbon content, humic acid and fulfat) between the soil with organic and inorganic farming systems which showed better values ​​in the agricultural system organic.

Entisol Chemical Properties on the System Organic Agriculture

Agricultural systems based on high input energy materials (fossil materials) such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides can damage soil properties and will ultimately reduce soil productivity in the future. Alternative agricultural systems that use low input energy (low input energy) are believed to be able to maintain soil fertility and environmental sustainability while at the same time maintaining or increasing soil productivity. Organic farming systems prioritize the use of organic materials and waste recycling. This research reveals how changes have taken place in the physical and chemical properties of soils that have carried out organic farming systems for several times. The study uses a sampling method on farmer’s land that has been studied to treat organic and non-organic farming systems. Two soil samples were taken from 2 different locations to represent soil organic farming systems and 4 soil samples were taken from 4 different locations representing non-organic farming systems. Soil sampling was carried out at a depth of 20 cm. The results showed significant differences in the chemical properties of the soil (CEC, pH H2O, available P, available K, total N, carbon content, humic acid and fulfat) between the soil with organic and inorganic farming systems which showed better values ​​in the agricultural system organic.

Considering the Role of Life Cycle Analysis in Holistic Food Systems Research Policy and Practice

Researchers use life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impacts of foods, providing useful information to other researchers, policy-makers, consumers, and manufacturers. However, LCA is ill-equipped to account for desirable, often normatively valued, characteristics of food systems, such as redundancy, that could be considered more sustainable from a resilience perspective. LCA’s requirement of a functional unit also causes methodological bias favoring efficiency over resilience and other difficult-to-quantify properties. This efficiency bias results in favorable evaluations of conventional production techniques and plant-based foods since they typically have the lowest impacts per unit of output when compared to alternative agriculture systems and animal-based foods. Such research findings may drive policy-makers as well as consumers to prefer the more efficient options, with the possible outcome of diminishing resilience. This research and policy commentary explains why complementary assessment methodologies are necessary for comprehensive sustainability assessments that support researchers, policy-makers, and other relevant stakeholders in decision-making for food systems sustainability. In addition to LCA, researchers examining food systems sustainability issues should consider integrating other frameworks and methods such as life cycle sustainability assessments, sustainable materialism, backcasting and scenario building, and food systems assessments to help generate a holistic understanding of the systems being analyzed.

Sociological factors influencing the performance of organic activities in Iran

The conventional production model based on extensive use of chemical inputs such as pesticides is increasingly challenged. Organic agriculture is considered as one of the most important alternative agricultural systems to produce healthy food without any chemicals. Current models are not suitable for prediction of environmental behaviors. The current study aims to analyze the diffusion of organic agriculture to produce healthy food with the environmental sociology approach among farmers. The study was conducted using the survey research and multi-stage random sampling in Fars province, in the south of Iran. The samples included 215 farmers. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by conducting a pilot study out of the main sample. The results showed that the farmers have strong attitude to the environment and are for the most part, highly intentioned to perform organic activities. Based on the results, the farmers’ intention toward adoption of organic agriculture, environmental identity, and responsibility of pro-environmental behavior, and their moral norms play an important role to accept organic agricultural activities. There are also some effective factors in implementation of organic agriculture including farmers` increasing awareness about the principles of organic farming, controllability of environmental behaviors as well as their accessibility to the resources and facilities for organic farming. The study emphasized that the attitude and enhancing the knowledge do not lead to pro-environmental behaviors and organic activities directly. Using the models and environmental sociology theories is more efficient to explain pro-environmental behaviors. To this aim, some suggestions were presented to increase the adoption of organic activities and persuade the Iranian farmers to select this kind of cultivation.