The connection between chemical reduction and sustainability – optional farming strategies

Takácsné György, Katalin – Kis, Sándor

Keywords: chemical usage, sustainable farming, strategies

In this study we surveyed the development of Hungary’s chemical usage (chemical fertiliser, plant protection remedies) in plant production and evaluated the possibilities of sustainable agriculture from the viewpoint of environmental burden. We determined that the sector’s chemical use has by now significantly decreased from the levels measured in the 1980s; partly due to financing issues, the technological development of plant protection remedies, and to a lesser degree due to environmental protection viewpoints. Among the trends to reduce the environmental burden and realise sustainability, one of the solutions may be precision farming, which means rational chemical use. However, not every farmer is capable of shouldering the additional burdens of this technology (investment requirements, higher production costs). The other extreme is artificial-chemical-free farming. Organic farming has spread to ever greater areas over the past decade, in parallel with the processes above, although based on the data of recent years its growth appears to have stalled, which is suggestive of the effects of supply and demand and profitability.