Assessing the sustainability of crop production systems: Toward a common framework?

Angevin, Frédérique; Fortino, Gabriele; Bockstaller, Christian; Pelzer, Elise; Messéan, Antoine

doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2016.11.018

Cited by 29 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, quantifying and measuring sustainability through indicators is a complex issue [76]. This is essentially due to the heterogeneous nature of the different cropping production systems; different space-time contexts; several crop systems; possible current or future evaluations of scenarios [77].…”

Section: Selection Of Indicators (Basic Aggregated and Index)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability Assessment of Annual and Permanent Crops: The Inspia Model

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Initiative for Sustainable Productive Agriculture (INSPIA) project promotes best management practices for agriculture, to enhance the provision of ecosystem services through better stewardship of soil and water resources while ensuring high levels of productivity. This paper presents the INSPIA methodology for the assessment of sustainability and for guiding farmers on strategic decision-making at farm level, applicable to any kind of cropland. The methodology is based on the application of 15 best management practices, which are assessed through a set of 31 basic sustainability indicators that cover the economic, social and environmental dimensions both agreed by a panel of experts. Basic indicators are then grouped into 12 aggregated indicators, to build the final INSPIA composite index. The INSPIA methodology provides farmers and advisers with a tool to understand sustainability and which, to a certain extent, serves to improve performance toward sustainability. Results are presented in three different ways: a bar diagram with the whole set of basic indicator-values; a pie chart representing the sustainability split in the aggregated indicators; and a final sustainability index. In the medium and long term, the INSPIA methodology can help to monitor and assess agricultural and environmental policy implementation, as well as help improve its decision-making processes in the future.

show abstract

Section: Selection Of Indicators (Basic Aggregated and Index)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability Assessment of Annual and Permanent Crops: The Inspia Model

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Sustainability has become a high priority, both in scientific research and in policy agendas [1]. Despite the existence of many studies examining particular dimensions, the need for an integrated assessment of sustainability at the farm level has been widely recognized in scholarly research [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. This realization is a result of the sustainability concerns of citizens, as well as frequent policy changes, which create new information needs for all sustainability dimensions at the farm scale [10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Sustainability Performance at the Farm Level: Examples from Greek Agricultural Systems

Tzouramani¹,

Mantziaris

Karanikolas

2020

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In recent years, farmers and policymakers have faced ample challenges and have struggled to support the sustainability of the agricultural sector. Sustainable agriculture encompasses multiple concepts, and its performance produces extensive debate about data requirements, appropriate indicators, evaluation methods, and tools. Under the European Union (EU) financed project FLINT (Farm Level Indicators for New Topics in policy evaluation), detailed data have been collected at the farm level to provide broader coverage of sustainability indicators on a wide range of relevant topics to facilitate the assessment of sustainability performance. The approach has been applied in a pilot network of representative farms at the EU level, considering the heterogeneity of the EU farming sector to provide data infrastructure with up to date information for sustainability indicators. This study aims to assess sustainability performance at the farm level in Greece. Representative and dominant agricultural systems, such as permanent crops, olive trees, arable crops, and livestock (sheep) farms, comprise the Greek sample. It uses the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) methodology and attempts to gain insights into the sustainability performance of agricultural systems. The outcome of the sustainability assessment reveals knowledge and develops support for strategic farm choices in order to support both farmers and policymakers towards more sustainable development plans. The results indicate that three typical Mediterranean farming systems, namely permanent crops, olive trees, and extensive livestock systems (sheep farms), are more sustainable in contrast to intensive and arable crop farms.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Sustainability Performance at the Farm Level: Examples from Greek Agricultural Systems

Tzouramani¹,

Mantziaris²,

Karanikolas³

2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In recent years, farmers and policymakers have faced ample challenges and have struggled to support the sustainability of the agricultural sector. Sustainable agriculture encompasses multiple concepts, and its performance produces extensive debate about data requirements, appropriate indicators, evaluation methods, and tools. Under the European Union (EU) financed project FLINT (Farm Level Indicators for New Topics in policy evaluation), detailed data have been collected at the farm level to provide broader coverage of sustainability indicators on a wide range of relevant topics to facilitate the assessment of sustainability performance. The approach has been applied in a pilot network of representative farms at the EU level, considering the heterogeneity of the EU farming sector to provide data infrastructure with up to date information for sustainability indicators. This study aims to assess sustainability performance at the farm level in Greece. Representative and dominant agricultural systems, such as permanent crops, olive trees, arable crops, and livestock (sheep) farms, comprise the Greek sample. It uses the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) methodology and attempts to gain insights into the sustainability performance of agricultural systems. The outcome of the sustainability assessment reveals knowledge and develops support for strategic farm choices in order to support both farmers and policymakers towards more sustainable development plans. The results indicate that three typical Mediterranean farming systems, like permanent crops, olive trees, and extensive livestock systems (sheep farms), are more sustainable in contrast to intensive and arable crop farms.

show abstract

Assessing the sustainability of crop production systems: Toward a common framework?

Cited by 29 publications

References 32 publications

Sustainability Assessment of Annual and Permanent Crops: The Inspia Model

Sustainability Assessment of Annual and Permanent Crops: The Inspia Model

Assessing Sustainability Performance at the Farm Level: Examples from Greek Agricultural Systems

Assessing Sustainability Performance at the Farm Level: Examples from Greek Agricultural Systems

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About