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Sustainable Intensification of AgricultureProf Tilllothy G. Ree\'esDirector General, C/tl'fMYTLisboa 27, Apartado Postal-6-64/, 06600 Mexico D.F., MexicoAbstractThe only way for agriculture to keep pace with population and alleviate world hunger is toincrease the intensity of production in those ecosystems that lend themselves to sustainableintensification while decreasing the intensity of production in the more fragile ecologies. In particular,if we fail to get agriculture moving in the African countries south of the Sahara, poverty will continueto grow. and the impending social upheavals that will ensue will become a global nightmare.Borlaug and Dowswell (1997)IntroductionMuch has been said about the need for sustainable agriculture during the past one or two decades.Hardly a paper is written or a speech given on agriculture which does not now incorporate the word"sustainable." This level of awareness is indeed healthy because agricultural systems that aresustainable are not only desirable, but obligatory and urgently required. However, as Alexander (1992)put it so well, "Everybody wants sustainable agriculture, but few have any idea of what it actuallymeans, let alone how to go about achieving it."This challenge -to turn good ideas into reality- has been a continuing objective of agriculturalscience since its inception. However, the challenge of putting sustainable agricultural systems intoplace has perhaps seen less progress than is desired and indeed, necessary. The concept of sustainableagriculture is difficult to deal with in most countries, particularly in many developing countries, wherefarmers have few resources and little flexibility to change their practices, and where the risks of failureoften have tragic consequences.We have only to re-read Dr. Borlaug's statement above to understand that it is imperative that weas scientists "get real" in our work on agricultural sustainability. It is essential that ideas onsustainability move with appropriate urgency from scientists' and farmers' brains, to real researchprograms and real farmers' fields. It is a challenge being taken up by CIMMYT, with its partners, aswe move into systems-based research, organized in multidisciplinary projects.I believe that scientists and farmers have made real progress in some areas of agriculturalsustainability. I am also highly optimistic that, with continued application and investment, there will bemajor developments in the next ten years or so, as biotechnology and other new tools a.re effectivelyutilized.To achieve this accelerated development, however, new research paradigms are required. Suchparadigms would effectively address whole systems; more effectively combine new technologies andtraditional knowledge; and more effectively integrate farmers and communities into research,development, and extension. This paper first outlines a few important principles of sustainableagriculture and then takes a close look at some practical approaches that we can follow to makesustainable systems a reality in farmers' fields.Sustainable Agriculture: What Is It?SustainabiJity in agriculture is a "moving target." No single method of farming in any regionremains sustainable without continual intervention and change. Agriculture is based on dynamicbiological, physical, and chemical systems, and farmers live in a constantly changing economic, social,and political environment. Given this scenario it is illogical to believe that there is a "magic bullet" todeliver sustainable agriculture to all farming locations. The reality is that sustainable farming systems