What is sustainable agriculture?
Sustainable agriculture is more than just a buzzword – it’s a fundamental shift in how we grow food, manage land, and support ecosystems for future generations. While initially driven by environmental concerns, sustainable agriculture is now proving to have significant long-term benefits for farmers, agricultural industries, and the ecosystems and communities they support.
Sustainable agriculture explained
Sustainable agriculture is a farming approach that integrates environmental stewardship, economic viability, and social responsibility to enable long-term food production. A set of principles designed to produce food while improving the resilience of our natural resource base, sustainable agriculture involves the application of practices which enhance soil health, optimise water use efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote biodiversity.
The core principles of sustainable agriculture
- Enhancing soil health and fertility through crop rotation, cover cropping, minimum tillage, and reduced chemical inputs.
- Promoting biodiversity and ecosystem resilience by protecting natural habitats, integrating wildlife corridors, and supporting pollinator populations
- Optimising resource use efficiency with precision water management, and the adoption of renewable energy sources like solar and wind.
- Reducing carbon emissions and increasing carbon sequestration through regenerative practices such as environmental plantings, cover cropping, and time-controlled grazing.
Why is sustainable agriculture essential?
Soil health and longevity:
Soil degradation is a major global concern. Every year, 12 million hectares of agricultural soils are lost globally through soil degradation, threatening food security and environmental sustainability. Sustainable agriculture practices, such as regenerative farming, crop rotation, and reduced tillage, help protect and restore soil health. These methods enhance soil fertility, improve water retention, and reduce erosion, ensuring long-term productivity and safeguarding food production for future generations.
Environmental resilience:
Extreme weather events, soil degradation, and biodiversity loss are accelerating due to climate change, threatening both food security and ecosystem health. Sustainable agriculture counters these challenges through scientifically validated practices, including conservation tillage to maintain soil structure, rotational grazing to boost carbon sequestration, and agroforestry to restore biodiversity. These integrated sustainable farming approaches strengthen the long-term resilience of agricultural ecosystems.
Better output & efficiency:
Sustainable farming improves efficiency and output by optimising natural resources, enhancing soil fertility, and reducing dependency on synthetic inputs. By using sustainable agriculture practices like regenerative farming, precision farming, and integrated pest management, farmers can produce higher yields with fewer chemical inputs – maintaining productivity while decreasing costs.
Key Practices in sustainable agriculture
Regenerative livestock management: practices like rotational grazing, integrating trees into pasture systems, and manure management to improve soil health, promote pasture recovery, and reduce the need for synthetic fertiliser.
Soil health management: techniques like crop rotation, composting, cover cropping, and reduced tillage prevent erosion, break pest cycles, and maintain fertility.
Water conservation: technologies such as drip irrigation, precision watering, rainwater harvesting, and mulching reduce waste by targeting water directly to roots, minimising evaporation, and improving soil moisture retention.
Enhancing biodiversity: practices like integrating tree planting with crops and livestock provide habitat for native fauna and pollinators.
Precision agriculture: using sensors, drones, and AI to track soil moisture, nutrient levels, and plant health – optimising plant growth and yield.
Integrated pest management (IPM): combining biological controls, targeted chemical controls and trap cropping practices to reduce pesticide use.
Renewable energy adoption: using solar, wind, and biofuels to power farm operations and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
RELATED: What is precision agriculture
Sustainable agriculture in Australia
Sustainable agriculture challenges:
- Australia’s arid climate, limited freshwater resources, and susceptibility to climate extremes make sustainable practices crucial.
- Over 50% of Australia’s land is used for agriculture, highlighting the need for eco-friendly farming.
- Agriculture accounted for 74% of water consumption in 2021–22 (9,981 gigalitres).
Government and industry initiatives for sustainable agriculture:
- Programs like the Australian Government’s National Soil Strategy aim to improve soil health and promote sustainable land use.
- Water-saving innovations, such as drip irrigation and water recycling, are increasingly adopted.
- Carbon farming and regenerative agriculture programs help farmers offset emissions and improve land quality.
- Investment in research and development of better farming practices.
4 Sustainable agriculture innovations you should know about
- Redesigning annual cropping practices with Australian perennial wheat
Perennial wheats are being developed to take the pressure off cropping systems, reducing the need for annual soil cultivation, resowing and fertiliser – while delivering improved sustainability, on-farm profitability, and nutritional outcomes.
- A new approach to prawn farming, using macroalgae to purify water
A pioneering bioremediation solution is being used at Pacific Biotechnologies’ prawn farm in the Great Barrier Reef catchment zone – recruiting native macroalgae to strip nutrients from wastewater and enable reuse in the farm system.
- A biodegradable alternative to plastic mulch enables sustainable intensification of food production
CSIRO’s TranspiratiONal is a Sprayable Biodegradable Polymer Membrane (SBPM) technology that replaces the petroleum-based plastic mulch films that are damaging soils, water systems and cropping systems. It retains all the benefits of plastic mulch (moderating soil temperature, maintaining soil moisture and reducing weed competition) but without the microplastics it leaves behind.
- Digital agriculture solutions make livestock production easier, safer, and more productive
Internet-enabled digital agriculture devices such as advanced automation, robotics, and high-definition livestreaming cameras are helping graziers on a remote Western Australian cattle station to save time, increase productivity, and improve health and safety for the family and station staff.
Sustainable agriculture offers vast potential – from improving farm resilience and efficiency to ensuring food security and protecting the environment. The examples highlighted here are just a few of the sustainable farming innovations happening across Australian agriculture.
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