Sustainable Farming Practices: Cultivating a Greener Future

Introduction

The current technological advancement in agriculture has created a high environmental and nature degradation in search of high yields and profits.  We cannot ignore the ever-growing demand for food but we cannot keep producing the food while neglecting the lands that we shall need for the future generations. To ensure sustainability, organic farming is one of the main directions that we should be taking, to take care of health and the environment. This is because, the high use of inorganic farming practices is causing harm to both our bodies and our environment. Sustainable farming methods avoid the use chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, use of hormones and antibiotics as well as chemical additives for food preservation that has seen the rise in loss of biodiversity, air, water and soil pollution and increases a holistic approach to farming that utilizes the use organic fertilizers enhance good health, soil fertility, environmental preservations for both the current and future generation.

However, becoming an organic farmer today is quite challenging as it is challenged by the high yields and profits received from conventional farming. With this in mind, how do we therefore identify sustainable farming practices that protects the economic wellbeing of the farmer? First, I believe we need to have the challenges that inorganic farming put the environment and our health through and start picturing a world in which everything in nature is in harmony. You see, if let nature take the lead, it will take care of us. Picture a world, where all livestock are let out to grave as they should, crops are grown as they should and soil fertility is maintained as it should. If we take care of the animals, their droppings provide the soil with its nutrients and the soils through the crops provide us with beautiful harvests and the cycle repeats itself eventually restoring the natural environment.

So, what are the sustainable agricultural best practices that will propel us to a greener future?

1. Knowledge and Information. Ensuring there is availability of information to farmers empowers them with the best practices in agriculture. It enables them to combine ancient farming methods with innovative ways and new findings with sustainability as the leading interest. Moreover, information through trainings and workshops, enhances collaborations between farmers, agriculture professionals, the government and other stakeholders to promote a better and greener future.
2. Agroforestry. This is one of the best practices that can ensure sustainability in agriculture. Combing forests and agriculture promotes soil fertility, attracts rainfall necessary for crops, soil and animals, as well as air purification. It as well enhances growth of vegetations that retains soil fertility
3. Crop rotation and pest management. Crop rotation is the process of growing different crops in one field one after the other. This helps in control of pest and diseases and ensuring the soil retains its fertility. It thus helps improve the soil’s biodiversity and its health thus leading to high yield.
4. Organic farming. Organic farming focuses on the natural fertilizers like use of animal waste and biological pest control measures to enhance the soil and protect the environment as opposed to synthetic or chemical fertilizers.
5. Livestock integration. This is where farmers keep animals to ensure they promote the process and cycles of nature. For example, animal waste is used as organic fertilizer and their urine like rabbit urine is used as a pesticide.
6. Water management. Water management and conservation is one of the best practices for a greener future as farming cannot happen without water. Incorporating such ways as water harvesting, and drip irrigations ensures that farmers do not face drought and can keep agricultural activities sustainably.

Benefits of sustainable agriculture

1. Improved health. Today, there are numerous diseases associated with the type of foods that we feed on as they are genetically modified, grown with harmful fertilizers and pesticides and others added harmful preservatives. Once, we feed on these foods, we increase the likelihood of these diseases like cancer, diabetes and obesity. Having a change of diet to organic foods reduces the likelihood of these diseases, hence improving our health.
2. It preserves the environment. Following sustainable methods of agriculture promotes environmental health by increasing air purification, soil fertility, clean water and biodiversity.
3. Increases soil fertility and longevity, use of natural fertilizers promotes soil fertility as opposed to use of chemicals which increases soil inefficiency.
4. Increases food security. Indigenous methods of farming promote quality food which reduces hunger. It also increases resilient food production and as a result increasing food security.
5. It improves livelihood. Farming is one of the major sources of livelihood in both rural and semi-urban areas. Most people cannot engage in large scale farming as it requires large capital among other things. Therefore, organic farming or sustainable farming can host a number of induvial and empower individuals economically.

Challenges

Despite its many benefits, sustainable farming faces a number of challenges

1. Market and competition. The convectional methods of farming easily gained popularity and concurred the market price. They offered cheap prices of their products which makes it hard for organic products to get to entry market level.
2. Lack of knowledge. Many farmers have limited access to information and skills to adopt sustainable farming. For example, there is limited information on organic or natural ways to control pest and diseases and this becomes a challenge to many farmers.

Steps to transition to sustainable Farming.

Some of the steps required to transition to sustainable agriculture is first by educating the masses the benefits of sustainability and dangers of conventional farming. Secondly ensuring that embrace the small-scale farmers that fight for a space in the market will encourage the growth of sustainable farming. In adopting this, we will be headed to a greener future.

Conclusion

Sustainable agriculture plays an important role in maintaining ecological and environmental balance. It also plays a major role in elevating food insecurity and creating rural livelihood. Therefore, by adopting the above measures towards sustainable farming practices, we shall be moving towards a greener future.