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When farming typically takes place, the environment as well as the ecosystem that is around the farm is affected by the agricultural activities.  Farming activities are interconnected with two main issues – social-economic and biophysical issues. The latter include such things as use of fertilizers, crop rotation, and the availability of wind, water, and sunlight. The former entails a farmer employing a workforce to assist in farming, the total yield as well as the cost of production. In light of this, sustainable farming is the ability of a farmer to grow and produce food without affecting the environment negatively.

General rules of sustainable farming

1. Planting a single type of crop, known as monoculture shouldn’t be practiced because it will lead to soil erosion and depletion. As such, a farmer has to grow multiple crops in a single field to reduce chances of erosion, loss of nutrients, as well as utilize water resources and climatic conditions.
2. Water used for irrigation should be available on land either through natural rainfall, or irrigation from wells, or creeks on the farm site. To ensure environmental sustainability, irrigation systems have to be utilized properly so that the available water can be utilized. Excessive use of chemicals and water logging ought to be avoided as it will result to salination.
3. Majority of the pesticides shouldn’t be used as they will cause adverse effects not only on the environment but also on the consumers. In place, community sustainability programs encourage the use of recycled crop wastes and cow manure for purposes of crop fertilization.
4. Any farm machine that relies on fossil fuels shouldn’t be used as it depletes natural resources. However, recent environmental sustainability studies about converting vehicles that rely on fossil fuel to use vegetable oils can make this recommendation practicable.
5. Another factor is over-grazing which greatly contributes to soil erosion. The impact of over-grazing can however be reduced by the introduction of a sustainable approach referred to as grazing management which entails diving the grazing area into a number of paddocks that will be easy to manage and of course it is time efficient.
6. Organic farming is equally advocated because even though the yield will be lower and the method itself being expensive, it can be a great alternative to drought-prone areas which will ensure the ever increasing population is supplied with food.

The principles of sustainable farming characterize a step forward in pursuit of a more earth-friendly farming approach. Nonetheless, today, very few farmers can stand tall and claim they are completely practicing sustainable agriculture at this point. As such, through community sustainability programs, some ecologists are proposing models that will develop the villages or the cities where the farmers will reside near other residents so that the dependence on fossil fuels will reduce.

Others propose building community roof gardens in already formed cities that will enhance sustainability. Even though these proposals are yet to be implemented, they give an answer as to how the society will feed the increasing population without further depleting the resources.