Modern agriculture is heavily dependent on fossil resources. Both direct energy use for crop management and indirect energy use for fertilizers, pesticides and machinery production have contributed to the major increases in food production seen since the 1960s. However, the relationship between energy inputs and yields is not linear. Low-energy inputs can lead to lower yields and perversely to ...

Proponents of genetically engineered (GE) crops often assume that the risk management used in the industrial world is appropriate for small-scale, traditionally based agriculture in the Third World. Opponents of GE crops often assume that risk management is inappropriate for the Third World, because it is inherently biased in favor of the industrial world. We examine both of these assumptions, ...

The countries' economy is basically dependent on both human and the natural resources so that social development of each country depends on them directly or indirectly. Nonetheless, some problems including the rapid growth of the population, unsustainable and unplanned exploitation, and lack of public awareness of development and reclamation rules have given an increase to the degradation proce...

The global demand for agricultural products is surging due to population growth, more meat-based diets, and the increasing role of bioenergy. Three strategies can increase agricultural production: (1) expanding agriculture into natural ecosystems; (2) intensifying existing farmland; or (3) recultivating abandoned farmland. Because agricultural expansion entails substantial environmental trade-o...

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) represent technological developments used for precision agriculture. They provide high-resolution images taken from crops and when specific indices are applied, useful outputs for farm management decision-making are produced. The current paper provides a literature review on the use of UAVs in agriculture and specific applications are presented.

ATTRA—National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service is managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and is funded under a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service. Visit the NCAT Web site (www.ncat.org/agri. html) for more information on our sustainable agriculture projects. Funding for the development of this publica...