Платформа знаний о семейных фермерских хозяйствах

Farming for the Future – with a focus on the Baltic Sea Region

The modernization of Swedish and European agriculture in the past century has increased yields immensely. At the same time, modernization has led to a uniform, biologically depleted agricultural landscape and a number of other negative impacts. Most serious of these impacts are reduced biodiversity, pollution of water and the air, the spread of toxins in the environment, climate-changing emissions, and the loss of cultural capital. Most of the environmental impacts of farming relate to land use and the intensity of that use. Generally speaking, the greater the intensity, the greater the impacts. Agriculture of yesteryear, with its close coupling of crops and animal production, reliance on local resources, small scale and variety was environment-friendly and depleted very little of our planet’s basic natural resources. It was conducted in – and it created – an agricultural landscape that produced important natural and cultural assets. Among these assets were pastures and meadowland with their wealth of species. There is no returning to the agriculture of the past, but older practices have left us a heritage that we can learn from and make use of. In the interests of nature conservation efforts are being made to preserve the remnants of old-time agricultural landscapes, particularly through the extension of environmental compensation to their custodians. Beyond that, there are aspects of the older farming practices that may be adapted and applied to improve farming practices today and in the future. Not least, they can help to reduce the environmental impacts of the larger scale and increasing specialization of farms to produce either crops or animals. Specialization has increased the need for synthetic fertilizers in the one case and imported fodder in the other. The lessons of older practices can reduce that need.

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ISSN: 1652-2877
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Автор: Artur Granstedt
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Организация: BERAS
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Год: 2012
ISBN: 91-975017-2-7
Страна/страны: Sweden
Географический охват: Европейский союз
Категория: Доклад
Язык контента: English
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