Sustainability of agricultural systems: A comparison between conventional and organic farming

Nikolaos Nikolaou

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

The aim of this thesis ‘Sustainability of agricultural systems: A comparison between conventional and organic farming crop rotation systems’ is to compare organic and conventional crop rotation systems by using scientific literature, scientific articles and books. This thesis is composed of four main chapters, each of them describing different aspects of organic and conventional agricultural systemsThe first chapter is introductory and describes the current state of agriculture along with its main problems and future challenges. Chapter two is a brief description of the objectives of this paper that explains the significance of sustainability in the modern and future agricultural world and highlights the importance of developing sustainable agricultural systems in the future. Chapter three is the main source of information and constitutes the vast majority of the thesis. Firstly, the main production systems of organic and conventional agriculture are presented by using the same outline. A brief history of each system is followed by a characterization of the modern situation based on the advantages, disadvantages and future challenges of both systems. The comparison is made by identification and investigation of the main sustainability indicators of crop rotation systems in order to conclude on which of the two systems is more sustainable. Since sustainability is a broad and multisided term the overall assessment of all sustainability indicators is quite complicated even for experienced authors. Therefore, the different sustainability indicators are presented and assessed individually based on the life cycle assessment of each report and the results are clearly stated in the end of each related subchapter.Conclusions are drawn in chapter 4. In this chapter an overall assessment of the thesis is given and results are demonstrated. The results highlight the importance of agricultural crop management practices. Even though conventional systems are superior in terms of yield and efficiency they are not environmentally sustainable. Organic systems can be sustainable and competitive by implementation of the appropriate agricultural management practices concerning rotation system selection and its crop composition. The system should be designed based on these parameters, taking into account the effect of climatic conditions and the economic environment.

Keywords

conventional agriculture, organic agriculture, sustainability, crop rotation, life cycle assessment

Jazyk práce: English

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 24. 4. 2018

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedúci: Ing. Josef Holec, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources

Bachelor programme / odbor:
Agriculture and Food / Agriculture and Food