Sustainability

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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Agriculture is a major contributor to climate change. However, adopting the proper agricultural practices can make a difference. Organic agriculture is a sustainable form of agriculture that promotes and improves the health of agroecosystems. Organic farming practices can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while preserving biodiversity, enhancing soil carbon sequestration, and contributing to adaptation by making agricultural systems more resilient to climate change's effects.

Organic agriculture continues to expand as the demand for organic products rises. There is an obvious need to expand knowledge so that organic agriculture can become even more productive and sustainable. To make organic agricultural systems more resistant to the effects of climate change, new or improved strategies and techniques are required. In the context of climate change, this issue will focus on the application and/or development of the most effective strategies, techniques, and materials that will enhance the contribution of organic farming systems to sustainability and environmental challenges, as well as their capacity to provide ecosystem services. The following are some of the primary focuses of this issue:

-Impacts of organic farming systems on soil properties, plant growth and yield, and nutritional components. Diffusion of pollutants into soil and water resources

-Best practices, innovations, and approaches that:

enhance genetic biodiversity and boost organic yields.

promote the use of alternative plant protection products (such as those containing biologically active substances).

improve the effective and sustainable use of resources (water, organic inputs, and sustainable biodegradable materials).

improve soil biodiversity and soil quality, reduce the pressure from the diffuse pollution of nutrients, heavy metals, and pesticides, reduce waste and carbon emissions; and reduce the environmental footprint in general.

Consideration for these issues can be incorporated into local and regional policy measures to increase the effectiveness of organic action plans and their contribution to sustainable development.

Dr. Victor Kavvadias
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

organic agriculture
climate change

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 10444 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Spatial Distribution and Impacts of Organic Certificates in Southwest China

by Haixia Guo, Yike Li, Meiting Hou and Xie Wang

Sustainability 2023, 15(20), 14663; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su152014663 - 10 Oct 2023

Viewed by 660

Abstract

Organic farming is a good choice for agricultural development in southwest China under the trade-off between environmental protection and agricultural development. However, no researcher has investigated the current state and development of organic agriculture in southwest China. As a result, this paper explored the spatial structure of organic agriculture in southwest China by examining the distribution of organic certificates, as well as the environmental and socioeconomic impacts. The results show a dramatically uneven distribution of certified organics among different provinces, cities, and organic certificate types. On the province scale, Guizhou has the highest number (1174) and density (73.40 per 10¹⁰ m²) of organic certificates. On the city scale, Zunyi and Chengdu have the highest densities (218.77 and 342.52 per 10¹⁰ m², respectively). Most of the certified organics are plants, accounting for 76.95%. The spatial distribution of organic farming is influenced by the interaction of several factors, including precipitation, temperature, GDP, highway density, gross agriculture output, agriculture machinery, and rural employed persons. However, the related and determinant factors of organic certificate distribution vary greatly across different regions, spatial scales, economic development levels, and agricultural development statuses. For the entirety of southwestern China, the factors significantly related to the distribution of organic certificates are GDP, highway density, gross agriculture output, agriculture machinery, and rural employed persons. However, these factors are GDP, gross agriculture output, agriculture machinery, and rural employed persons for Sichuan, and gross agriculture output and rural employed persons for Guizhou. Factors constraining the development of organic agriculture in regions with better economic and agricultural conditions are much fewer than in poorer regions. All of the nine selected variables, except global radiation, are significantly related to organic certificate distribution in regions with better economic conditions, while none of them had a significant correlation with organic certificate distribution in poorer regions. Furthermore, climate is no longer a constraint in regions with better agricultural conditions. These findings are of great significance for the development and research of organic agriculture in southwest China. The development of organic agriculture in southwest China requires consideration of both the combination of multiple factors and the stage of regional economic and agricultural development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation—Organic Farming Systems)

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Review

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15 pages, 1038 KiB

Open AccessReview

Articulating Organic Agriculture and Sustainable Development Goals: Serbia Case Study

by Srdjan Šeremešić, Željko Dolijanović, Mirela Tomaš Simin, Marija Milašinović Šeremešić, Bojan Vojnov, Tatjana Brankov and Miloš Rajković

Sustainability 2024, 16(5), 1842; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su16051842 - 23 Feb 2024

Viewed by 770

Abstract

With the greening of agriculture, there is a need to better link the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and organic agriculture in developing countries. However, in Serbia, there is a huge gap between the potential of their implementation and the actual situation. This paper assessed the strengths and weaknesses of SDGs and organic agriculture in Serbia and how their relationship can contribute in the development of sustainable agriculture. Key data and indicators of the economic, agricultural and social development of Serbia from international and national databases, as well as recent publications related to the selected topic, were assesed. The results showed that the restricted development of organic agriculture in Serbia stems from the undeveloped awareness of consumers, slower acceptance of alternative agricultural systems and the volatility of mainstream conventional agricultural production. The integration of organic agriculture into the largest conceptual and strategic frameworks, such as the SDGs, can offer a true transformation of local food systems and could result in positive feedback to the environment and society. In the long term, the SDGs framework can help connect various dimensions of sustainable agriculture, stakeholders and policymakers. The future focus should be on how to create entry points for agricultural transformation based on certified organic methodologies and how to integrate agricultural heritage into the realisation of SDGs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation—Organic Farming Systems)

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