Evaluating a technique used to measure environmental performance within agriculture-case studies

Abstract

A methodology has been developed which can be used to assess the environmental performance of a farm. The computer-based system, known as EMA, utilizes a checklist auditing process based on both quantitative and qualitative data and looks, holistically, at the farm assessing a wide range of farming activities including crop production, crop protection, resource and waste management, livestock husbandry and conservation. The system relies on the use of eco-ratings which are activity based performance indices derived by comparing actual farm practices with what is perceived to be site specific best practice. The system utilizes a similar approach to that used in standard environmental management systems, such as ISO 14001, by providing a scale for performance measurement to allow monitoring of improvements and progress, and to permit performance highs and lows to be identified.The system has recently undergone piloting and evaluation in house, on farm and in collaboration with a major UK retailer, Safeway Stores plc. This paper describes this process and presents the findings in the form of case studies. A brief description of the system is included for completeness.

Estimating pesticide environmental risk scores with land use data and fugacity equilibrium models in Misiones, Argentina

“…This meaning departs to a certain extent from the usually accepted definition of risk as an expression of the probability of occurrence of some adverse outcome to some organism (Warren-Hicks and Moore, 1998, p. 25), although it has been widely adopted (Reus and Leendertse, 2000;Sánchez-Bayo et al, 2002). It is also important to note that consequent to the procedures used to estimate ADI/RfDs, pesticide and diet intake scores based on risk-ratios tend to span over several orders of magnitude, as contrasting with scores based on relative rankings (Lewis and Tzilivakis, 1998), combined decision rules including fuzzy parameters (van der Werf and Zimmer, 1998), or combinations of chemical properties and application practices (Brüggeman and Halfon, 1995). This has several implications.…”

ChemCatChem: Cluster Issue on Chemoenzymatic Synthesis

“…Environmental Management for Agriculture (EMA) is the product of an on‐going research and development programme which aims to produce a unified software package to help farmers and their advisers manage the environmental impacts arising from farming practices across the whole farm. The software has been described in detail elsewhere1–3 and only a brief summary is provided here. Principally, the software package is an exercise in technology transfer.…”