What Do We Need to Know to Enhance the Environmental Sustainability of Agricultural Production? A Prioritisation of Knowledge Needs for the UK Food System

Sustainability

Lynn V. Dicks³⁵  Richard D. Bardgett⁶  Jenny Bell¹⁰  Tim G. Benton¹³  Angela Booth¹⁴  Jan Bouwman²⁹  Chris Brown¹  Ann Bruce¹⁷  Paul J. Burgess⁹  Simon J. Butler^31,35  Ian Crute^35,38  Frances Dixon^18,35  Caroline Drummond^26,35  Robert P. Freckleton^15,35  Maggie Gill^12,35  Andrea Graham^33,35  Rosie S. Hails^4,35  James Hallett^7,35  Beth Hart^32,35  Jon G. Hillier^6,21  John M. Holland^6,28  Jonathan N. Huxley^6,23  John S. I. Ingram^6,19  Vanessa King^6,36  Tom MacMillan^6,16  Daniel F. McGonigle^2,6  Carmel McQuaid^6,24  Tim Nevard^6,11  Steve Norman^6,27  Ken Norris^5,10  Catherine Pazderka^3,10  Inder Poonaji^10,30  Claire H. Quinn^8,10  Stephen J. Ramsden^10,34  Duncan Sinclair^10,22  Gavin M. Siriwardena^10,37  Juliet A. Vickery^10,25  Andrew P. Whitmore^10,39  William Wolmer^10,20 

[1] Asda, Asda House, Southbank, Great Wilson Street, Leeds LS11 5AD, UK; E-Mail:;Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR, UK; E-Mail:;British Retail Consortium, Westminster, SW1H 9BP, UK; E-Mail:;Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BB, UK; E-mail;Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK; E-Mail:;Faculty of Life Science, The University of Manchester, Michael Smith Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK; E-Mail:;British Growers Association Ltd, BGA House, Nottingham Road, Louth, Lincolnshire, LN11 0WB, UK; E-Mail:;Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK; E-Mail:;Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, MK43 0AL, UK; E-Mail:;Pepsico UK and Ireland, Theale Head Office, 1600 Arlington Business Park, Theale, Reading, RG7 4SA, Berkshire, UK; E-Mail:;Conservation Grade, Gransden Park, Abbotsleigh, Cambridgeshire, PE19 6TY, UK; E-Mail:;Department for International Development, 22 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2EG, UK; E-Mail:;Global Food Security Programme, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK; E-Mail:;AB Agri, 64, Innovation Way, Peterborough, PE2 6FL, Canada; E-Mail:;Department of Animal & Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK; E-Mail:;Soil Association, South Plaza, Marlborough Street, Bristol, UK; E-Mail:;Science, Technology and Innovation Studies & Innogen, University of Edinburgh, Old Surgeons’ Hall, High School Yards, Edinburgh, EH1 1LZ, UK; E-Mail:;Welsh Government, Sustainable Land Management, Rhodfa Padarn, Llanbadarn Fawr, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales, SY23 3UR, UK; E-Mail:;Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK; E-Mail:;Blackmoor Estate Ltd, Blackmoor, Liss, Hampshire, GU33 6BS, UK; E-Mail:;School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, 23 St Machar Drive, Aberdeen, Scotland, AB24 3UU, UK; E-Mail:;Waitrose, John Lewis plc, 171 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 5NN, UK; E-Mail:;University of Nottingham, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, UK; E-Mail:;Marks & Spencer, 5 Merchant Square, Paddington Basin, London, W2 1AS, UK; E-Mail:;RSPB, the Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL, UK; E-Mail:;LEAF Chief Executive, Stoneleigh Park, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, CV8 2LG, UK; E-Mail:;Dow AgroSciences, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 4RN, UK; E-Mail:;Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Fordingbridge, Hampshire, SP6 1EF, UK; E-Mail:;Syngenta Crop Protection B.V., Jacob Obrechtlaan 3a, Bergen op Zoom 4600AM, The Netherlands; E-Mail:;Nestle UK Ltd, 1 City Place, Gatwick, RH6 0PA, UK; E-Mail:;School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK; E-Mail:;Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd, 33 Holborn, EC1N 2HT, UK; E-Mail:;National Farmers Union, Agriculture House, Stoneleigh Park, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, CV8 2TZ, UK; E-Mail:;School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, UK; E-Mail:;Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK; E-Mail:;Unilever UK Central Resources Ltd, Unilever House, Blackfriars, London, EC4Y 0DY, UK; E-Mail:;British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU, UK; E-Mail:;Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2TL, UK; E-Mail:;Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, UK; E-Mail:

关键词: agriculture;    environment;    knowledge gaps;    sustainability;    farming;    retail;    food;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su5073095

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Increasing concerns about global environmental change and food security have focused attention on the need for environmentally sustainable agriculture. This is agriculture that makes efficient use of natural resources and does not degrade the environmental systems that underpin it, or deplete natural capital stocks. We convened a group of 29 ‘practitioners’ and 17 environmental scientists with direct involvement or expertise in the environmental sustainability of agriculture. The practitioners included representatives from UK industry, non-government organizations and government agencies. We collaboratively developed a long list of 264 knowledge needs to help enhance the environmental sustainability of agriculture within the UK or for the UK market. We refined and selected the most important knowledge needs through a three-stage process of voting, discussion and scoring. Scientists and practitioners identified similar priorities. We present the 26 highest priority knowledge needs. Many of them demand integration of knowledge from different disciplines to inform policy and practice. The top five are about sustainability of livestock feed, trade-offs between ecosystem services at farm or landscape scale, phosphorus recycling and metrics to measure sustainability. The outcomes will be used to guide on-going knowledge exchange work, future science policy and funding.

【 授权许可】

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© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.