Comparing the ecological sustainability performance of organic farms and conventional production in Austria using the SMART farm tool and Monte Carlo simulation

Organic Agriculture - Tập 13 Số 2 - Trang 173-191 - 2023
Leitgeb, Friedrich1,2, Petrasek, Richard1, Drapela, Thomas1, Lindenthal, Thomas1
1Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Vienna, Austria
2Division of Organic Farming (IFÖL), Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria

Tóm tắt

Sustainability assessment of agri-food-systems is becoming increasingly important due to growing negative environmental, social, and economic impacts of food production. Organic agriculture is often considered to play a key role in improving the sustainability of agri-food systems. This study contrasts the results of a comprehensive sustainability assessment of Austrian organic farms with those predicted by a sustainability assessment model of conventional production. A stratified random sampling procedure was applied to select 245 organic farms for sustainability assessment using the SMART farm tool based on the SAFA guidelines of the FAO. Comparison data from conventional production were based on expert interviews, statistical data, and scientific literature and calculated using a Monte Carlo uncertainty simulation. The achievement of the sustainability goals was measured in percentages—between 0 and 100%. The results highlight the consistently good ecological sustainability performance of organic farms in the areas of atmosphere, water, soil, biodiversity, materials and energy, and animal welfare. For the relevant sub-themes, 85.3% of the median values were rated above 60% of goal achievement. Conversely, results from the comparison highlight the significantly lower ecological sustainability performance of conventional farms in most of the ecological sub-themes. The most significant differences were evident for poultry production, pig fattening production, and storable vegetable production. The consistently better ecological sustainability performance of the surveyed organic farms in Austria points to their potential for reducing the negative ecological impacts of agriculture and food production while enhancing ecological sustainability.

Tài liệu tham khảo

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