Facilitating Conservation Farming Practices and Enhancing ...

8
Biotechnology
Enhances
Stewardship
of Soil, Air
and Water
Sustainability is a key concept in agriculture. It is a multi-faceted
term that refers not just to the ability of a field to produce crops, but
to maintain productivity while accomplishing a variety of ecological,
economic and social goals as well. Building on the definition of sustainability
used in the 1990 Farm Bill, and according to Gold (1999), those
goals include:
• Satisfying human food and fiber needs;
• Increasing the resource use efficiency of energy, water, fertilizer,
soil and other natural resources;
• Enhancing environmental quality and the natural resource base
upon which the agricultural economy depends;
• Reducing pressure on habitat, forests and other land uses by
increasing the productivity of farmland;
• Making the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and onfarm
resources;
• Integrating, where appropriate, natural biological systems and
control mechanisms;
• Sustaining the economic viability of farm operations, and
• Enhancing the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.
Ultimately, sustainability is achieved when farmers make choices that
are beneficial both ecologically and economically, and increase the
long-term efficiency of their operations. By increasing yields, making
pest control simpler and more effective, and facilitating the adoption
of no-till or conservation tillage, biotech crops contribute significantly
to agricultural sustainability. The benefits accrue in the improvement of
soil, air and water resources.