Developing farm-level sustainability indicators for Ireland using the Teagasc National Farm Survey
Autor: | Thia Hennessy, Mary Ryan, Trevor Donnellan, Cathal Buckley, Kevin Hanrahan, Brian Moran, Emma J. Dillon |
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Rok vydání: | 2016 |
Předmět: |
010501 environmental sciences
01 natural sciences Agricultural economics Environmental Sustainability Index Sustainable agriculture Sustainability organizations lcsh:Agriculture (General) phosphorus intensification agriculture 0105 earth and related environmental sciences sustainability indicators farm survey data Ecology business.industry 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences Terms of trade lcsh:S1-972 livestock Agriculture Greenhouse gas Sustainability 040103 agronomy & agriculture Food processing systems 0401 agriculture forestry and fisheries Animal Science and Zoology business Agronomy and Crop Science Food Science |
Zdroj: | Irish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research, Vol 55, Iss 2, Pp 112-125 (2016) |
ISSN: | 2009-9029 |
Popis: | In the context of an expanding, export-dependent agri-food sector, indicators of sustainable development and intensification are necessary to measure, assess and verify the comparative advantage afforded by Ireland’s natural pastoral-based food production systems. Such indicators are also necessary to ensure that we produce more food with less adverse impacts on the Irish environment, climate and society. This article outlines the development of farm-level indicators that refect the multifaceted nature of sustainability, which is encompassed in economic, environmental and social indicators. The role of innovation in farm sustainability was also examined. A comparison of indicators across Irish farm systems showed that dairy farms, followed by tillage farms, tended to be the most economically and socially sustainable farm systems. In relation to greenhouse gas emissions in particular, the top-performing dairy farms, in an economic sense, also tended to be the best-performing farms from an environmental sustainability perspective. This trend was also evident in relation to the adoption of innovative practices on farm, which was found to be strongly correlated with economic performance. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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