Rapid population growth, increasingly complex economies and novel industrial uses of agricultural products call for further intensification of agriculture, particularly in the tropics. How to achieve sustainable intensification of food production systems in tropical regions that are challenged by ongoing climate change, loss of natural resources and biodiversity is a matter of debate. Here we h...

C. JACYN BAKER1*, NORTON MOCK1, KENNETH L. DEAHL2, BRYAN BAILEY3 and DANIEL P. ROBERTS4 Microbiology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, ARS, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705, U.S.A., Vegetable Laboratory, ARS, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705, U.S.A., Alternate Crops and Systems Laboratory, ARS, United States Department of Agriculture, Belt...

The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting the sustainability of production systems in Shushtar township. Since agricultural production cooperatives have special importance in the region economy, identifying factors that threaten the sustainable and continuous production is of great importance. This survey has been conducted in crop year 2011 and the required data have been coll...

Organic agriculture can contribute to meaningful socio-economic and ecologically sustainable development, especially in poorer countries. This is due on the one hand to the application of organic principles, which means efficient management of local resources (e.g. local seed varieties, manure, etc.) and therefore costeffectiveness. On the other hand, the market for organic products – at local ...

In recent decades agriculture has undergone rapid technological and structural changes. This development has raised concerns about the sustainability of modern agriculture and motivated an interest in alternative and, perhaps, more sustainable agricultural systems. Agriculture involves both ecological and social systems, and research in agricultural systems therefore faces the dual challenge of...