Sustainable intensification in agriculture: the richer shade of green. A review

Abstract

Agricultural intensification is required to feed the growing and increasingly demanding human population. Intensification is associated with increasing use of resources, applied as efficiently as possible, i.e. with a concurrent increase in both resource use and resource use efficiency. Resource use efficiency has agronomic, environmental, economic, social, trans-generational, and global dimensions. Current industrial agriculture privileges economic resource use efficiency over the other dimensions, claiming that that pathway is necessary to feed the world. Current agronomy and the concept of sustainable intensification are contested. Sustainable intensification needs to include clarity about principles and practices for priority setting, an all-inclusive and explicit cost-benefit analysis, and subsequent weighing of trade-offs, based on scientifically acceptable, shared norms, thus making agriculture "green" again. Here, we review different forms of intensification, different principles and concepts underlying them, as well as the norms and values that are needed to guide the search for effective forms of sustainable and ecological intensification. We also address innovations in research and education required to create the necessary knowledge base. We argue that sustainable intensification should be considered as a process of enquiry and analysis for navigating and sorting out the issues and concerns in agronomy. Sustainable intensification is about societal negotiation, institutional innovation, justice, and adaptive management. We also make a plea for at least two alternative framings of sustainable intensification: one referring to the need for "de-intensification" in high-input systems to become more sustainable and one referring to the need to increase inputs and thereby yields where there are currently large yield (and often also efficiency) gaps. Society needs an agriculture that demonstrates resilience under future change, an agronomy that can cope with the diversity of trade-offs across different stakeholders, and a sustainability that is perceived as a dynamic process based on agreed values and shared knowledge, insight, and wisdom.

Review: Make ruminants green again – how can sustainable intensification and agroecology converge for a better future?

“…Moreover, the focus is essentially utilitarian, that is, reducing harmful effects is done to ensure continuing agricultural production while remaining within 'planetary boundaries'. According to Struik and Kuyper (2017), the words 'sustainable' and 'intensification' are often not assigned equal weight. For instance, the Irish grassland-based dairy system developed according to the principles of SI causes biodiversity losses (Sullivan et al, 2010).…”

Plant growth promoting bacteria and humic substances: crop promotion and mechanisms of action

“…We repeat the field experimentation in other place for two consecutive growth season using an Inceptisol also located in North of Rio de Janeiro State with medium level of natural fertility and varying the urea amount used in nitrogen fertilization at coverture (0-200 kg N ha −1 ) [31]. The maize yield increased independently of urea doses in parcels with application of a combination of humic substances isolated from vermicompost at 50 and applied at v6 stage. In the second year of experimentation, the increase of grain yield promoted by co-inoculation was also significant, but only until 75 kg N ha −1 .…”

“…Despite humus is a direct product of microbiological activity, the soil chemistry and soil microbiology have established faint scientific connections around the world. Increase in the sustainable intensification of agriculture is important developments towards new ways of training future scientist [50,51]. Inter-disciplinarily and boundary-crossing in terminology and concepts are needed.…”

Assessing the performance of commercial farms in England and Wales: Lessons for supporting the sustainable intensification of agriculture

“…Social variables were also poorly related to production and profitability. This result is surprising, given that many views of SI involve social factors (Struik & Kuyper, ), and that adoption of best practice can vary with social characteristics of the farmers (Liu, Bruins, & Heberling, ). It is possible that the social variation among these particular farmers was too small to reveal effects that can be found among more diverse groups.…”