Sustainable Agriculture
and Organic Farming
Sustainable agriculture encompasses many
different production methods, systems, and
approaches that aim to meet the goals of
profitability, stewardship, and quality of
life. One of those approaches, but by no
means the only one, is organic farming.
Organic agriculture is generally considered
to be under the sustainable agriculture “umbrella.” But
it is not exactly a subset, since organic
practices may conflict with sustainability
goals in certain situations. Opinions differ
on the relative importance of organic agriculture
to sustainable agriculture and on how much
research, education, and extension efforts
on sustainable agriculture should be directed
to organic agriculture.
For more information on CSREES activities
in organic farming, see the Organic
Agriculture program page.
Back to Sustainable Agriculture Home Page |