Philosophy of Agriculture

Philosophy of Agriculture
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Thesis Statement
The global population is rapidly rising. The increase comes with a resultant rise in the demand for food. It therefore, requires that different approaches be undertaken to address the consumption demands of the ever-growing population in an ethical and environmentally friendly manner. Studies in agriculture and agricultural practices have led to the development of a school of agricultural studies known as agricultural philosophy with two schools of thoughts. This paper provides a brief definition of the agricultural philosophy and studies the industrial and agrarian approaches to agriculture. The paper, further, looks into the difference between the two schools of thought in agriculture and analyzes the best approach that addresses the agricultural concerns.
A Philosophy of Agriculture
A philosophy of agriculture is a tentative discipline that critiques the philosophical frameworks used as the basis for decision making in agriculture. It is also referred to as agricultural philosophy whose views are not only used in decision making in agriculture, but also in decisions regarding land use. It involves research in agriculture as a concept of human civilization and as a means of sustaining population increase CITATION Nat101 \l 1033 (National Research Council, 2010).
Differences between an industrial and an agrarian philosophy of agriculture
The differences between the industrial and agrarian philosophies of agriculture can be derived from their definition. The industrial philosophy of agriculture postulates that agriculture is a sector of an industrialized country where products are produced at the cheapest cost possible using methods that provide sufficient food and fiber for the entire society CITATION Nat101 \l 1033 (National Research Council, 2010).
Here, the trend is towards few commercial farms but that are larger in size for commercial purposes. It is proposed as a means of acquiring economies of scale of large-scale production and lowering production costs for food, fiber and energy. The proponents of this approach see the need to use such approaches in other countries to guarantee global food sufficiency and security CITATION Nat101 \l 1033 (National Research Council, 2010). The view is that landscapes are commodities land can produce; therefore, the emphasis is on increasing the yield per acre and or pounds of meat per animal. There are concerns regarding labor fairness, communities' vitality, animal welfare, and the negative environmental impacts. However, the argument is that these concerns can be dealt without overhauling the agricultural industry's structure CITATION Nat101 \l 1033 (National Research Council, 2010).
The agrarian philosophy also known as alternative or multifunctional agriculture, on the other hand, perceives agriculture as having a vital social function beyond food, fiber and biofuel production. Social functions here are provision of positive ecological services and protection of the ecological integrity and functioning CITATION Nat101 \l 1033 (National Research Council, 2010). The ecosystem places limits on the farming methods that can continuously be conducted, therefore, farming should be done in an ecologically friendly manner. Farming restores ecosystems through the recognition of the ecological relationship between plant, soils and livestock. This philosophy focuses on social sustainability which is the ability for agriculture to support and be part of the rural community CITATION Nat101 \l 1033 (National Research Council, 2010).
The agrarian philosophy questions the sustainability of the industrial agriculture's practices due to its heavy reliance on purchased inputs. The agrarian proponents, therefore, propose elimination of such practices CITATION Nat101 \l 1033 (National Research Council, 2010). The agrarian proponents, in addition, argue that large scale agricultural practice is unsustainable for rural communities as it consolidates farms and ranches on diverse family farms. Moreover, concern exists over the impact of the industrial agriculture's effect on the workers and farm animals' welfare. The calls for “fair trade” or consuming local food and animal products that are produced in a humane manner reflect the need for social sustainability CITATION Nat101 \l 1033 (National Research Council, 2010).
Best Approach to Address Environmental and Ethical Challenges
It was projected during the 90s that the world population will be approximately 1 billion and have an additional growth of 1 billion during the first decade of the 20 the century. The medium projection was that the population growth would be approximately 6.2 billion by the year 2000, and about 8.3 billion by 2025 before its stabilization at around 11 billion towards the end of the 21st century CITATION Bor02 \l 1033 (Borlaug, 2002). Even if the per capita income remains constant, population growth requires that the global food production increases by 2.6 billion gross tons (57%) between 1990 and 2025 CITATION Bor02 \l 1033 (Borlaug, 2002).
However, including the consumption increase among the poor and destitute African and Asian community, the required increase in food production could be 100% not 57% CITATION Bor02 \l 1033 (Borlaug, 2002). With such projections, it is difficult if not impossible to utilize the agrarian approach in agriculture to meet the demands of the ever increasing human population. The industrial approach is best suited approach especially since this is a large scale approach. Note that ethics here refer to the ability of the selected approach to meet food demands of each population without harming them. Environment, on the hand, means the abilit...