Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
negative interactions between cultivated and uncultivated areas in organic farming
systems.
• Only very scarce research is available on the interrelationships with climate (change) and
air pollution. Studies are needed which analyse CO
2
emissions and accumulations of
different farming systems in a net balance approach.
• The development of methodologies for evaluating landscape quality has just begun and
quantitative research investigating the impacts of different farming systems on landscapes
is scarce. Clearly, the development of methodologies that deal with landscape quality in
an integral way deserves greater attention in order to assist the evaluation of environmental
impacts (Hansen
et
al
. 2001). Particularly little is known about the influence of organic
agriculture to aesthetical attributes of the farming landscape. At the same time, the
assessment of landscape in terms of an area's visual character is likely to become
increasingly important as public money is used to support delivery of 'social goods'. How
an organic farm can contribute to the landscape should be a main area of interest for
further indicator development (Shepherd
et
al
. 2003).
• There is an urgent need for a commonly agreed standard methodology for calculating
energy use efficiency. Critical questions include the setting of system boundaries, the
methods used for calculating the energy values of inputs and the methods used for
calculating energy use efficiencies (Shepherd
et
al
. 2003).
• As for the development of agrienvironmental indicators, there has been substantial
progress since 1990. Particularly useful are the schemes developed by OECD, Eurostat
and the European Environmental Agency (EEA). The main challenge is to apply these
schemes in practice, because in many areas and in most parts of the world, an
environmental monitoring that is sufficiently disaggregated in temporal and spatial terms
is still rudimentary.
References
Alföldi, T. and Niggli, U. 1994. Input and output of energy for different crops in bio-dynamic,
bio-organic and conventional production systems in a long-term field trial in Switzerland.
In: Borin, M. and Sattin, M. (eds)
Proceedings
of
the
Third
Congress
of
the
European
Society
for
Agronomy
, Padova University, Padova. pp. 650-651.
Alföldi, T., Stauffer, W., Mäder, P., Niggli, U. and Besson, J.-M. 1993. DOK-Versuch: ver-
gleichende Langzeituntersuchungen in den drei Anbausystemen Biologisch-dynamisch,
Organisch-biologisch und Konventionell. III: Boden: Physikalische Untersuchungen, 1.
und 2. Fruchtfolgeperiode.
Schweizerische
Landwirtschaftliche
Forschung
32(4): 465-477.
Alföldi, T., Spiess, E., Niggli, U. and Besson, J.M. 1995. Energy input and output for winter
wheat in biodynamic, bio-organic and conventional production systems. In:
Soil
Management
in
Sustainable
Agriculture
.
Proceedings
of
the
First
Meeting
of
the
Concerted
Action
AIR3-CT94-1940,
Fertilisation
Systems
in
Organic
Farming
. Institute of Biodynamic
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Alföldi, .T, Fließbach, A., Geier, U., Kilcher, L., Niggli, U., Pfiffner, L., Stolze, M. and Willer, H.
2002. Organic agriculture and the environment. In: Scialabba, N. E.-H. and Hattam, C.
(eds)
Organic
Agriculture,
Environment
and
Food
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. Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nation, Rome.
Alger, K. 1998. The reproduction of the cocoa industry and biodiversity in Southern Bahia,
Brazil.
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30-April
2
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. Smithsonian Migratory Bird
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