Role of Agronomy in Cultivating a Sustainable Food Future | Doi : 10.37446/edibook092024/92-104

PAID ACCESS | Published on : 31-Oct-2024

Agroecology: Balancing Ecology and Agriculture

  • Kumar Ashutosh
  • Department of Fruit Science and Horticulture Technology, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, India.
  • Pujasmita Behera
  • Department of Agricultural Meteorology, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, India.
  • Sushree Subhankari Dhar
  • Department of Agricultural Meteorology, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, India.
  • Bharat Kumar Pradhan
  • Department of Fruit Science and Horticulture Technology, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, India.

Abstract

Agroecology is a paradigm shift in agricultural techniques that emphasizes the conservation of biodiversity, resilience, and sustainability through the integration of ecological concepts into farming systems. This abstract examines the core ideas and useful applications of agroecology, emphasizing how it may be used to solve urgent global issues including climate change, environmental degradation, and food security. Fundamentally, agroecology recognizes the complex relationships that exist between agriculture and the environment, acknowledging that agricultural practices have the potential to both improve and diminish ecosystem services. Agroecological techniques aim to emulate ecological processes in order to maximize agricultural productivity while reducing adverse environmental effects. They do this by taking inspiration from natural ecosystems. This entails incorporating livestock and crop production, encouraging crop rotation and intercropping, diversifying cropping systems, and improving soil health with techniques like cover crops and less tillage. Three fundamental tenets of agroecology are social justice, resource efficiency, and biodiversity preservation. Agroecology improves natural pest management, lessens the need for synthetic inputs, and increases the resilience of agroecosystems to environmental stressors by fostering biodiversity within them. Moreover, by making the best use of land, water, and nutrients, agroecological techniques like integrated pest management and agroforestry boost resource use efficiency. Agroecology also highlights how critical it is to support social justice and local community empowerment within the food chain. Agroecology encourages food sovereignty and increases farming communities' resilience to outside shocks by prioritizing small-scale farmers, indigenous knowledge systems, and democratic decision-making procedures.

Keywords

Farming systems, Food security, Climate change, Sustainability, Resilience and biodiversity

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