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Conventional agriculture covers about half of the agricultural land of the EU countries; its negative impacts on the environment and on the basic natural resources are recognised. Growing concerns of society related to environmental deterioration such as soil erosion, CO2 emission, water and food contamination, livestock epidemics, etc. force to explore new ways of improving the sustainability of present farming systems.
Alternative agricultural practices, technologies and approaches to support sustainable agriculture were researched, developed, tested and implemented during the second half of the 20th century in Europe and above all in North and South America and Australia; they concern several million hectares. Learning from the results of this experience and research and sharing lessons will undoubtedly contribute to design pathways and tools that can orient European policy on the development of sustainable agriculture.
KASSA aims at building up a comprehensive knowledge base on sustainable agricultural practices, approaches and systems in support of stakeholders initiatives in different world regions.
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