Environmental and energy efficiency as a criterion for sustainable agriculture

Abstract

This chapter studies such characteristics of agriculture as environmental (from the positions of

waste reduction and the contribution to the fight against climate change) and energy (from the

positions of energy efficiency) efficiency; it is also proved that these characteristics are the

criteria of agriculture’s sustainability. Efficiency is treated from the classical point of view – as

the results/costs ratio. Based on the classical formula of efficiency, the authors determine the

environmental and energy efficiency of agriculture for developed (G7) and developing (BRICS)

countries. Based on the results of the evaluation, the authors determine the importance of the

problem of agriculture’s sustainability in developed and developing countries from the positions

of environmental and energy efficiency. The method of regression analysis is used to determine

the impact of the measures of state regulation (e.g., energy efficiency regulation and

environment-related treaties in force) on the environmental and energy efficiency of agriculture

(and, as a result, on its sustainability). For this, the following materials are used: 1) dataset

“Corporate social responsibility, sustainable development and fight against climate change:

imitation modeling and neural network analysis in regions of the world – 2020”

(https://iscvolga.ru/dataset-climate-change) and 2) dataset “Big data for digital monitoring of

biodiversity, agriculture and food security – 2020”. (https://iscvolga.ru/dataset-bioobrazovanie).

Framework recommendations for state regulation of environmental and energy sustainability of

agriculture are developed.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND EFFICIENCY. 2

Keywords: environmental efficiency, efficiency, sustainability of agriculture, dataset modeling,

corporate environmental responsibility, developed countries, developing countries.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND EFFICIENCY. 3

Characteristics of agriculture as environmental from the positions of waste

reduction and the contribution to the fight against climate change.

Agricultural Pesticide Use.

Pesticides have significantly boosted agricultural usefulness and produce quality; yet,

pesticides can accumulate in soil and water once in the environment, hurting greenery as

concentrations in industrialized ways of life become high enough to harm untamed life. Pesticide

accumulations also degrade drinking water quality, contaminate food for human consumption,

and cause adverse health effects when pesticides are applied directly to farm labourers. At the

same time, some pesticides contain bromide intensifiers that, when volatilized, convert to ozone-

depleting gases in the stratosphere. A challenge in defining rules for agricultural pesticide use is

that pesticides differ significantly in their toxicity, persistence, and mobility, depending on the

type and convergence of their dynamic fixes. Thus in the natural danger, they impose ( Brouwer

et al.,1994).

Similarly, when more but less dangerous pesticides are used, an increase in pesticide use

may result in a decrease in ecological impact and vice versa, underscoring the importance of

attempting pesticide use hazard evaluation. Additionally, the amount of pesticides that filter into

soil and water is influenced by soil properties and temperature, waste, yield type, environment,

application technique, and time and recurrence. Additionally, when pesticides are employed in

conjunction with specific vermin, such as coordinated irritation of the board, it may have a

negative effect on the climate, pesticide clients, and food consumers.

Agricultural water use.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND EFFICIENCY. 4

Pesticides have made a substantial contribution to agriculture's high usefulness and

output. Water scarcity can be a significant hindrance to agricultural development and can also

negatively affect marine habitats and wildlife. Horticulture makes use of both surface and

groundwater, as well as precipitation. To incentivize agriculture to better use surface and

groundwater resources, the amount of water extracted from these sources should be reduced per

ton of biomass/domesticated animals produced. Maintaining and re-establishing water assets'

"normal" state is a critical component of water management and acceptable agricultural practices

(Metcalf et al.,1991).

Rural growth has hastened the depletion of limited surface and groundwater resources in

several countries. Similarly, CEOs' poor land practices, such as tree removal on a rural property,

can result in "abundant" water problems, with rising water tables causing salinization and

flooding. Apart from horticulture, the increased rivalry for water assets throughout the economy

is a significant worry for strategy producers in numerous OECD nations quality; however, once

in the environment,

Agriculture and greenhouse gases.

Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide are the most often emitted

ozone-depleting compounds as a result of rural migration (N2O). These gases have a fluctuating

and detrimental deviation potential in the atmosphere, expressed in CO2 reciprocals. Rural CO2

outflows arise when natural soil matter is oxidized and influenced by development or wind

disintegration. CH4 is obtained chiefly from ruminant animals' intestinal maturation and wastes,

paddy rice fields, and biomass consumption. Composting, animal waste, trash capacity

destinations, biomass use, and petroleum derivatives all contribute to N2O emissions.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND EFFICIENCY. 5

Agriculture is also a GHG sink, with soil being a significant sink of CO2 via the

obsession of carbon by harvest and field land. At the same time, soil also has a large capacity for

converting CH4 to the less dynamic CO2, but less attention is paid to soil obsession with N2O.

Similarly, crop output and wood production on arable land increase CO2 photosynthetic

obsession. However, it will be crucial to distinguish farming's unique employment as both a

source and sink of GHGs concerning environmental change concerns from other sectors of the

economy (Janzen et al.,2006).

Agriculture and water quality.

Agriculture has a significant impact on water quality due to excessive nitrogen and

phosphate, heavy metals, dynamic pesticide fixes, caustic chemicals, and soil residue. Excess

nitrogen and phosphorus levels in compost contribute to eutrophication, which can negatively

affect fish populations. Unbelievably high heavy metals in water derived from composts can

permeate the human evolved way of life via fish consumption. Pesticide-related water

contamination may arise as a result of filtration or may enter directly when showering near-

surface water. The usage of manure and petroleum compounds, as well as the consumption of

biomass, could initiate water fermentation.

Wind and rain-borne soil residue from agriculture and overgrazed fields can contaminate

turbidity water, restrict sunshine, and deplete the oxygen available to aquatic plants and fish,

lowering fish and shellfish populations. Additionally, residue runoff reduces the capacity of lakes

and reservoirs to store water, clogs streams and seepage channels, increases the frequency and

severity of flooding, and deteriorates water conveyance frameworks.

Characteristics of energy from the positions of energy efficiency.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND EFFICIENCY. 6

Efficient feeding strategies.

Stockpiling feed components in creatures' feeding regimens accounts for a large portion

of the energy requirements of domestic animal production. The site conditions heavily influence

the energy contribution of feed. Increased asset effectiveness in feed production translates into

increased energy productivity in animal production. As a result, it is vital to consider the board of

feed creation when showing it. Because nutrition affects the energy efficiency of domesticated

animals food production, ensure that supplements are replaced with an exhibition-focused eating

regimen for the creatures to increase the energy productivity of domestic animals further food

production.

Increased animal execution results in increased energy productivity; however, this effect

is only temporary; for example, in dairy farming, this effect declines as milk production

increases due to the higher energy inputs required in the higher-performing animals. To produce

a product from the energy spent on the homestead, straightforward management procedures must

be created that take a holistic picture of the individual animal's behaviour.

Additionally, the capacity to expand alternatives for an animal's activities affects energy

effectiveness. With fewer useful lives, the energy requirements for replacement animals grow,

which affects the energy productivity of the animals farming framework. Changes in creature

husbandry and care, as well as explicit reproduction processes, can be utilized to increase the

useful life of dairy cows, hence increasing energy efficiency.

Waste Stream Valorization.

The usage of agro-deposits for compound, feed, material, or energy generation can help

to improve energy efficiency throughout the horticultural interaction. Straws, for instance, can be

used to bio-energize raw materials for the synthesis of a variety of polymers (Antle and
ENVIRONMENTAL AND EFFICIENCY. 7

Capalbo,1991). Additionally, waste generated during animal cultivation can be used to generate

biogas or materials for non-food purposes. A critical feature of this group of models is the ability

to reuse additives, leading to increased energy efficiency in arable farming.

Priority Setting.

Energy efficiency is a political objective based on two rules: limited access to petroleum

derivative assets and consideration of environmental effects. As a result, needs should be led by

the potential of alternative techniques for reducing both energy use and the associated adverse

environmental impacts. Additionally, energy usage accounts for a sizable portion of a ranch's

entire expense budget. Increased energy costs will have diverse consequences on various farming

frameworks, and those that are energy efficient will benefit accordingly, which may also affect

the development of agrarian creation.

Energy proficiency measures, farmers believe, should be desirable enough to be

considered when selecting whether or not to pursue a particular invention. This means that

energy efficiency measures must be financially viable to be effective. Financial assistance or

guidance should be considered to assist the action initially as aptitude. The market for a

particular step grows, and economies of scale reduce the cost of those actions.

The importance of agriculture's sustainability in developed and developing countries from

the positions of environmental and energy efficiency.

GHG emissions that endanger the ozone layer, biodiversity loss, overuse of nitrogen and

phosphorus, and marine fermentation have all reached alarming levels. These factors, in

combination with declining access to new water, increased land corruption and deforestation, and

a lack of remedies to these problems, are undermining the jobs of millions of genuinely

developing people, particularly those living in severe poverty.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND EFFICIENCY. 8

These problems are exacerbated further by the continuous population rise. It has

significantly outpaced the seven billion-person footprint and is predicted to exceed 9 billion by

the middle of this century. To fulfil the food needs of 9 billion people, rural yields must be

increased by 60% or food loss, and waste must be reduced by 60%. (Godfray et al.,2010).

Expanded food production will put every regular asset under growing strain, including scarce

horticultural land, woods, water, and the environment. Indeed, multiple authoritative studies have

determined that horticulture will very certainly be unable to provide enough food to sustain the

growing global population in a healthy and robust state of living.

Simultaneously, farming generally defined – which includes harvesting and domesticated

animal creation, fisheries, and ranger service – offers revenue, employment, food, and other

labour and products to the vast majority of people who are today impoverished. In aggregate,

development in nonfarming areas is twice as effective at alleviating need as development in

farming areas and multiple times more compelling than varied places in resource-scarce low-

income countries. Thus, horticulture's future success will depend on its ability to not only offer

abundant healthful food, a living wage, and appealing work prospects but also on its ability to

address a broad range of ecological challenges. To solve these numerous issues, it is necessary to

migrate to more sustainable forms of horticulture and to provide comprehensive techniques to

facilitate this transition (Gatzweile et al.,2001)

The increase of food production also aided significantly in preserving delicate, minimal,

and primitive handles that would have been developed for food crops spread throughout the

country (Aerts, 2012). A substantial portion of this fall might be linked to horticultural

innovation, particularly in smallholder cultivating frameworks, as well as lower food costs and

increasing country incomes. Simultaneously, it has been associated with high levels of energy
ENVIRONMENTAL AND EFFICIENCY. 9

consumption. In many areas, excessive agrochemical use and reliance on monocropping have

resulted in natural corruption, including inefficient water use and undeniable levels of manure

runoff, pesticide impacts, loss of agrobiodiversity, soil pollution, and land degradation. In this

way, farming intensification has been both a boon and a bane, highlighting the critical

significance of including maintainability into another intensification plan.

In general, growing agribusiness has increased global food production and permitted

increased average per capita food consumption in many parts of the world - notwithstanding

current slowing efficiency growth rates. Simultaneously, agriculture has continued to perform

below its potential in other regions of the world due to a lack of utilization of different sources of

knowledge. This is true in a large portion of Africa, particularly in areas where horticultural

efficiency has advanced slowly or not at all, with a few notable exceptions. Coupled with high

population expansion, low rates of horticultural improvement mean that many African countries

have shifted from net food exporters to net food merchants.

The challenges that agriculture — food production, domesticated animals, fisheries, and

ranger service – will face in the coming decades are mind-boggling. Agricultural frameworks

must become more beneficial and efficient to fulfil expanding demand for food, feed, fuel, and

fibre. They must ensure equal livelihoods for ranchers, especially landless and pursued

agricultural professionals, and establish labour standards in rural areas. They should be more

efficient and viable in their usage of and impact on the traditional asset base. They should be

more resilient to shocks and changes, as well as better equipped to deal with more significant

climate shocks and rising temperatures. They must significantly reduce their GHG emissions.

They must also supply additional critical environmental administrations, such as water

management, fertilization, flood and infection protection, and assistance for soil ripeness. They
 ENVIRONMENTAL AND EFFICIENCY.
10

must decrease their dependency on petroleum products: sustainable horticulture is essentially

dependent on reliable, environmentally friendly, long-term electricity and enhanced energy

efficiency. Finally, there should be less food waste.

Framework recommendations for state regulation of environmental and energy

sustainability of agriculture are developed.

• Locally-based research into the natural and financial effectiveness of best

management techniques is encouraged. Ranchers are often suspicious of projects

that imply public ideals in areas with no history of use. Elective approaches new

to a region should be field-tested locally to demonstrate their immediate

ecological and economic benefits to ranchers.

• Develop a robust data and training program for farmers on nearby natural issues

and the effects of their actions on these issues; make results available to the local

community to improve state-funded education and contribute to future water

quality management that is more compelling. A useful instructional tool would be

to expand the existing agricultural information structure (local horticultural

consultancy office). Suppose ranchers do not recognize a water quality problem or

assume that the problem results from agribusiness. In that case, education

programs must educate them about the issue while also assisting them in

comprehending how their cultivating practices contribute to the problem.

• Provide an extensive array of educational, specialized, and financial assistance.

• There are several barriers to ranchers adopting choice management approaches

that cannot be addressed entirely with a single sort of assistance. Schooling can
 ENVIRONMENTAL AND EFFICIENCY.
11

educate makers about creative practices (Aakkula et al., 2006), specialized help

reduces the private cost of obtaining information about a specific method on a

particular ranch, augments administrative ability that may be lacking, and

monetary assistance overcomes a short planning horizon, enables the rancher to

recognize more severe dangers beyond the short run, and provides a motivator.

• Propose methods for enhancing inter-office collaboration, such as collaboration

between natural insurance organizations, rural consulting offices, rural

directorates, ranchers associations, neighbourhood specialists, and nearby non-

governmental organizations. Neighbourhood groups regularly assess asset statuses

and requirements, identify ecological needs and available assets, solicit proposals

for need areas, and make program strategy suggestions. Utilizing ranchers' site-

specific information to develop territorial-level measures can further establish a

connection between ranch-level activities and provincial goals (Toma, 2003).

• Modify horticultural structures in ways that help to reducing variation in the

consumption and nature of water assets and enhancing the environmental

advantages associated with agribusiness water use.

• Create simple water management strategies that disentangle the financial,

ecological, and social costs and benefits of horticulture's water consumption, as

well as any associated trades between ranchers, citizens, and customers.

• Strengthen the legal structure and institutions to promote more productivity in

water distribution and use; clarify the status of water rights; support ranchers,

water specialist co-ops, and clients in forming affiliations centred on developing

water executives.
 ENVIRONMENTAL AND EFFICIENCY.
12

• Enhance existing data on agri-ecological cycles associated with the connections

between horticulture, water, and climate, for example, by funding innovative

public and private work; amass a superior collection of information at public and

dynamic levels about the hydrological and natural components of water

frameworks, as well as the relationship between water assets and water quality

and policies.
 ENVIRONMENTAL AND EFFICIENCY.
13

References.

Aakkula, J., Kröger, L., Kuokkanen, K., & Vihinen, H. (2006). Implementation of policies for

sustainable development in the context of CAP. New challenges for research. MTT

Economic Research, 1-19.

Adger, W. N., Huq, S., Brown, K., Conway, D., & Hulme, M. (2003). Adaptation to climate

change in the developing world. Progress in development studies, 3(3), 179-195.

Aerts, S. (2012). Agriculture’s 6 Fs and the need for more intensive agriculture. In Climate

change and sustainable development (pp. 192-195). Wageningen Academic Publishers,

Wageningen.

Antle, J. M., & Capalbo, S. M. (1991). Physical and economic model integration for

measurement of the environmental impacts of agricultural chemical use. Northeastern

Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 20(1), 68-82.

Brouwer, F. M., Terluin, I. J., & Godeschalk, F. E. (1994). Pesticides in the EC (No. 121). LEI-

DLO.

Foley, J. A., Ramankutty, N., Brauman, K. A., Cassidy, E. S., Gerber, J. S., Johnston, M., ... &

Zaks, D. P. (2011). Solutions for a cultivated planet. Nature, 478(7369), 337-342.

Gatzweiler, F. W., Backman, S., Sipilainen, T., & Zellei, A. (2001). Analyzing institutions,

policies, & farming systems for sustainable agriculture in central and eastern European

countries in transition (No. 541-2016-38665).

Giovannucci, D., Scherr, S. J., Nierenberg, D., Hebebrand, C., Shapiro, J., Milder, J., & Wheeler,

K. (2012). Food and Agriculture: the future of sustainability. The sustainable

development in the 21st century (SD21) Report for Rio, 20.

 ENVIRONMENTAL AND EFFICIENCY.
14

Godfray, H. C. J., Beddington, J. R., Crute, I. R., Haddad, L., Lawrence, D., Muir, J. F., ... &

Toulmin, C. (2010). Food security: the challenge of feeding 9 billion

people. Science, 327(5967), 812-818.

Janzen, H. H., Angers, D. A., Boehm, M., Bolinder, M., Desjardins, R. L., Dyer, J., ... & Wang,

H. (2006). A proposed approach to estimate and reduce net greenhouse gas emissions

from whole farms. Canadian Journal of soil science, 86(3), 401-418.

Metcalf, L., Eddy, H. P., & Tchobanoglous, G. (1991). Wastewater engineering: treatment,

disposal, and reuse (Vol. 4). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Parfitt, J., Barthel, M., & Macnaughton, S. (2010). Food waste within food supply chains:

quantification and potential for change to 2050. Philosophical transactions of the royal

society B: biological sciences, 365(1554), 3065-3081.

Schmidhuber, J., & Tubiello, F. N. (2007). Global food security under climate

change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(50), 19703-19708.

Tilman, D., Balzer, C., Hill, J., & Befort, B. L. (2011). Global food demand and the sustainable

intensification of agriculture. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 108(50),

20260-20264.

Toma, L. (2003). Policy recommendations for pursuing a sustainable agriculture in a small rural

community in Romania.

Vermeulen, S. J., Campbell, B. M., & Ingram, J. S. (2012). Climate change and food

systems. Annual review of environment and resources, 37, 195-222.