Thematic Workshop „Sustainable Agriculture A“
Chairs: Ika Darnhofer (BOKU; Vienna) and Pavel Tlustos (CULS, Prague)
The eight studies that were presented in this workshop spanned a number of countries along the Danube (Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania). But the presentations did not necessarily focus only on local issues: the global dimension was also present. For example how climate change and the increasing frequency of extreme events require mitigation measures (e.g. reduce flooding through retention basins managed through appropriate farming); or how the increasing consumption of meat is responsible for substantial emissions of greenhouse gasses.
Most presentations focused on sustainability issues related to crop production, but there were also two studies on animal production (e.g. beekeeping, which secures family income, provides important ecological services through pollination, and offers nutritious food for consumers). The scale of analysis in the studies spanned the field level (e.g. soil compaction and how it can be reduced through GPS guidance systems), the farm level (e.g. a ‘green point’ whole-farm assessment system to provide feedback to farmers), and the landscape level (e.g. how changes in prices and direct payments induce structural changes, which become visible at the landscape level).
To address the sustainability issues various approaches were identified, such as technical measures (e.g. reducing the energy used in crop production by adopting conservation tillage systems); economic incentives to encourage farmers to adopt environmentally friendly production practices (e.g. by highlighting the relative profitability of conventional and organic crop production); as well as social processes (e.g. how encouraging cooperation between small farms requires not only adequate policies, but also trust building processes and social learning).
We thank all presenters for the insightful presentations and lively discussions!
Presentations: