A tentative list of ecological attributes; diversity, cycling, stability and capacity, is proposed for quantification and ranking of farming systems along a hypothetical scale of increasing ecological sustainability. The modelling and preliminary analysis of four rice-based systems from the Philippines, two on-station experimental systems and two smallholder farms, confirms our intuitive percep...

This paper describes how the social capital of rice farmers of the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, as manifested in the tradition of collective farming practice, has changed. Collective rice farming persisted for decades, irrespective of critical events that challenged its continuation, due to two key factors: the high need for collective farming to ensure subsistence, and the availability of a closel...

Building on existing work evaluating food-attribute labels, we use data collected in 2010 from a national web-based survey of 1,002 households to examine consumer inferences and valuations of food products promoted as “sustainably produced.” A best-worst scale framework was implemented to identify how consumers de ine “sustainably produced” and their preferences for each of the sustainable farm...

conventional agriculture systems of production often lead to environmental degradation, economic problems and even social conflict. the efficacy of agriculture systems conducive to the economic, environmental and social sustainability of farming operations has been demonstrated, yet the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices is not widespread. this study evaluates the barriers of sustai...

Insect-proof net cultivation (IPN), rice-duck farming (RD), and organic matter return (OM) are important methods to realize sustainable development of rice production. A split-plot field experiment was performed to study the effects of IPN, RD, and OM on the rice yield, dry matter accumulation and N utilization. Results showed that compared to inorganic N fertilizer (IN), wheat straw return, an...

> Agricultural biodiversity is used by rural communities worldwide in many time-tested practices that can confer increased resilience to farms, communities and landscapes. Using it more effectively and more sustainably can help to maintain and increase the flow of services and benefits agricultural biodiversity provides to communities. Using biodiversity to provide multiple services in sustaina...

It is an essential goal of conservation biology to find a way to sustainably meet the food needs of an exponentially increasing population without damaging the environment and the ecosystem services it provides us. The difficulty with “sustainable agriculture” is that there is much disagreement as to what it entails and how to approach it. Thus far, the organic movement has dominated practices ...

If diversified farming systems (DFS) are to thrive again in the United States, policies and preferences must evolve to reward the environmental and social benefits of sustainable farming and landscape management. Compared with conventional agricultural policies, policies aiding ecological diversification are underdeveloped and fragmented. We consider several examples of obstacles to the adoptio...