Which of the following is a distinguishing characteristic of sustainable agriculture?

The maintenance and improvement of soil health and agrobiodiversity, with the aim to mitigate climate change impacts, remain the biggest challenges of sustainable agriculture. Organic farming can be considered a valuable solution to reduce the environmental footprint of conventional high external inputs in production systems. The basic distinguishing feature of this method of farming, as commonly understood, is the elimination of chemicals (fertilizers, pesticides and others) from agricultural production. Instead, it is based on management practices that sustain soil fertility and agrobiodiversity. It should be emphasized that organic farming aims to produce food with high nutritional value and in sufficient quantity. For this reason, priority should be given to the development and application of win-win approaches that may maximize the crop yield (notoriously lower than under conventional management practices) and the product quality attributes (often overlooked for some crops) under organic farming, while improving ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling and water saving, biodiversity, soil fertility, etc.

Organic farming is increasing in popularity due to consumer preferences for environmentally friendly practices for food production and negative perceptions of conventional agriculture for both human health and the environment. Although perceived as the paradigm for sustainable production systems, research efforts are needed to explore new agroecological approaches for the application of organic agriculture in practice. Indeed, new technologies and production methods are necessary to reduce the yield gap between organic and conventional agriculture, by also increasing soil fertility, conserving natural resources and improving agrobiodiversity, as well as for obtaining high-quality produce. In this sense, research is also necessary to demonstrate the real health benefits of organic products when compared with those obtained under usual (conventional) management systems.

Experts and researchers are invited to contribute to this Research Topic with high quality and original research articles, reviews, and short communications, covering all issues related to strategies under organic farming that can increase the crop productivity and quality by:
• Maintaining or enriching biodiversity, through sustainable weed and pest management approaches
• Maintaining or improving soil systems
• Preventing or minimizing phenomena such as soil erosion and soil organic carbon loss
• Improving water use efficiency and nutrient cycling
• Finding alternative nutrient resources to replace chemical fertilizers
• Increasing the plants’ tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses
• Adapting the cultivars to the specific requirements of low-input production systems, also through breeding programs of local genotypes and landraces with valuable productive and qualitative traits

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

The maintenance and improvement of soil health and agrobiodiversity, with the aim to mitigate climate change impacts, remain the biggest challenges of sustainable agriculture. Organic farming can be considered a valuable solution to reduce the environmental footprint of conventional high external inputs in production systems. The basic distinguishing feature of this method of farming, as commonly understood, is the elimination of chemicals (fertilizers, pesticides and others) from agricultural production. Instead, it is based on management practices that sustain soil fertility and agrobiodiversity. It should be emphasized that organic farming aims to produce food with high nutritional value and in sufficient quantity. For this reason, priority should be given to the development and application of win-win approaches that may maximize the crop yield (notoriously lower than under conventional management practices) and the product quality attributes (often overlooked for some crops) under organic farming, while improving ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling and water saving, biodiversity, soil fertility, etc.

Organic farming is increasing in popularity due to consumer preferences for environmentally friendly practices for food production and negative perceptions of conventional agriculture for both human health and the environment. Although perceived as the paradigm for sustainable production systems, research efforts are needed to explore new agroecological approaches for the application of organic agriculture in practice. Indeed, new technologies and production methods are necessary to reduce the yield gap between organic and conventional agriculture, by also increasing soil fertility, conserving natural resources and improving agrobiodiversity, as well as for obtaining high-quality produce. In this sense, research is also necessary to demonstrate the real health benefits of organic products when compared with those obtained under usual (conventional) management systems.

Experts and researchers are invited to contribute to this Research Topic with high quality and original research articles, reviews, and short communications, covering all issues related to strategies under organic farming that can increase the crop productivity and quality by:
• Maintaining or enriching biodiversity, through sustainable weed and pest management approaches
• Maintaining or improving soil systems
• Preventing or minimizing phenomena such as soil erosion and soil organic carbon loss
• Improving water use efficiency and nutrient cycling
• Finding alternative nutrient resources to replace chemical fertilizers
• Increasing the plants’ tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses
• Adapting the cultivars to the specific requirements of low-input production systems, also through breeding programs of local genotypes and landraces with valuable productive and qualitative traits

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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