Innovation for Sustainable Crop Production
Policies that promote doing more with less
Sustainable intensification looks at whole landscapes, territories and ecosystems to optimize resource utilization and management. Farmers must produce more from the same area of land and use fewer inputs while producing greater yields. Such a transition is both possible and necessary.FAO provides policy assistance to increase productivity, protect crops sustainably, limit chemical contamination, manage biodiversity and ecosystem services, and strengthen livelihoods.
FAO’s Save and Grow presents a new paradigm that enhances both productivity and sustainability.
The Organization advocates for incentives that reward improved practices, convenes international and regional forums and encourages policies that promote agro-ecological innovation.
Key messages
Recognizing the limits of available arable land, FAO promotes policies that enable farmers to produce more with less - maximizing yields from existing land while minimizing inputs and environmental impact. Through policy assistance, FAO supports countries in increasing productivity, protecting crops sustainably, enhancing biodiversity, and strengthening livelihoods.
Innovation for sustainable crop production produces more from the same area of land, conserves natural resources, reduces negative environmental impacts and enhances the flow of ecosystem services. A sustainable intensification of agriculture is particularly needed in the tropics, where FAO is involved in the Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP).
Efficiency gains can be achieved through policies that promote smart resource linkages and enhanced nutrient flows in integrated farming systems such as rice-fish and other crop-livestock systems; better quality feeds and balanced animal diets; improved energy use throughout the value chain; and use of information and communication technologies to accelerate the diffusion and adoption of innovations.
While promoting more remunerative farming systems, they are also of global importance when it comes to coping with resource scarcity and environmental impact.
Featured resources
Digital excellence in agriculture report. FAO-ITU regional contest on good practices advancing digital agriculture in Europe and Central Asia
2023
This report is the outcome of the Digital Excellence in Agriculture: FAO-ITU regional contest on good practices advancing digital agriculture in Europe...
Proceedings of the FAO Global Conference on Sustainable Plant Production. 2–4 November 2022
2023
FAO organized its first ever Global Conference on Sustainable Plant Production (GPC) (Rome, 2 to 4 November 2022), with a focus on Innovation, Efficiency...
Special Report - 2019 FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to the Republic of South Sudan
2020
An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) visited South Sudan from 15 to 20 December 2019 to estimate the cereal production during...
Sustainable crop production and COVID-19
2020
Even before the pandemic struck, the ambitious path that was laid out by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was going to require a concerted effort...
COVID-19 and the role of local food production in building more resilient local food systems
2020
COVID-19 pandemic has put local food systems at risk of disruptions along the entire agri-food value chain. Cities and local governments are currently...
Evaluation of FAO’s Asia regional integrated pest management and pesticide risk reduction programme in the Greater Mekong Subregion
2020
Chemical production, use and disposal will continue to increase worldwide; assessments and forecasts predict that global chemical sales will grow by...
Agriculture 4.0 – Agricultural robotics and automated equipment for sustainable crop production
2020
This report presents and reflects on the opportunities that new technological developments related to automation and precision agriculture (e.g. robotics)...
Sustainable food production and climate change
2020
The leaflet provides a brief overview of two projects implemented by FAO's Plant Production and Protection Division and when combined create a model...
Mountain agriculture. Opportunities for harnessing Zero Hunger in Asia
2019
Why does mountain agriculture deserve special attention in a Zero Hunger context? Firstly, because hunger remains common in many mountainous areas....
Cropping systems diversification to enhance productivity and adaptation to climate change. Malawi
2019
Widespread maize monocropping in Malawi exposes farmers to significant livelihood risk in the context of increasing climate variability. 36 percent...
Enhancing capacity to control whitefly infestation in the Gambia
2019
The Government of The Gambia faced many difficulties controlling spiralling whitefly infestation in the country, because of insufficient capacity at...
FAO’s work on plant production and protection. Promoting the transition to sustainable crop production intensification and diversification
2019
Meeting the global food demand in 2050 requires increasing the global food production by 50 percent. This intensification will need to be achieved in...
Voluntary Guidelines for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Farmers’ Varieties/Landraces
2019
The cultivation of diverse farmers’ varieties/landraces, which tend to be well-adapted and suited to local production systems, confers increased resilience...
Cropping systems diversification to enhance productivity and adaptation to climate change. Zambia
2019
Spatial disconnect between cropping system diversification and climate risk. In Zambia, farmers residing in areas with low and medium rainfall risk...
Cropping systems diversification to enhance productivity and adaptation to climate change. Mozambique
2019
Farmers in Mozambique are diversified, but subsistence-oriented. Thirty-seven percent of farmers in Mozambique grow a three crop system based on maize,...
Digital technologies in agriculture and rural areas
2019
This report aims to identify the different scenarios where the process of digital transformation is taking place in agriculture. This identifies those...
The multi-faced role of soil in the Near East and North Africa − Policy brief, soil salinity
2019
Salinization is the most severe threat to soils in the NENA region after soil erosion. Indeed, more than 11 percent of the region’s soils are affected...
Enhancing local rice production in Fiji
2019
Rice has been cultivated for many decades in Fiji, and is a major source of food for its population. However, the country’s rice industry has increasingly...
Strengthening pineapple production for farmers in Vanuatu
2019
In the aftermath of the devastating Cyclone Pam in 2015, the Government of Vanuatu intensified its support to the fruit and vegetable sector. Pineapple...
The 10 Elements of Agroecology
2018
Today’s food and agricultural systems have succeeded in supplying large volumes of food to global markets. However, high-external input, resource-intensive...
FAO Policy Series: Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture
07/05/2016
If global population and food consumption trends continue, by 2050 the world will need 60 percent more food than is available today. Matthias Halwart,...
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