Can agriculture be sustainable in its present industrial and high tech form or must it "return to the past"?

Scientific Essay from the year 2007 in the subject Agrarian Studies, grade: Distinctio, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, language: English, abstract: There are many environmental and social costs associated with conventional agriculture or what may be termed as industrial or high tech agriculture. There is now general agreement that conventional agriculture is not sustainable. The paper considers the way agriculture can produce enough food for the rising global population and at the same time maintain environmental quality. Effects of agriculture on the environment and issues which affect agriculture are considered. The paper concludes that sustainable agriculture probably relies on a combination of farming systems - both organic and a more sustainable form of conventional agriculture relying on green technologies. Certification systems play an important role in achieving sustainability objectives as do ecological taxes. The issue of trade liberalisation and North-South relations is likely to remain much more contentious and harder to resolve in the future, particularly equitable food distribution.