Methodology for assessing the environmental, economic and social characteristics of (organic and non-organic) farming systems
This Defra funded project aims to describe the range of current UK farming systems, for example organic, low input, extensive, integrated, intensive, etc. and develop a methodology to characterise their distinctive environmental, economic and social characteristics.
The methodology is based on a life-cycle approach and will consider inputs, products, outputs and impacts, which will be characterised for the different farming systems. Indicators will be chosen to represent those characteristics and combined to produce the methodology, which may subsequently be used to evaluate the productivity and sustainability of different farming systems.
The project began with a review of both published and un-published work to inform the description of a comprehensive range of farming systems. The team is now identifying the characteristics of those systems and developing methods that can be used to assess and quantify the impact of farming systems at appropriate scales. These methods will then be validated using case studies.
Rob Lillywhite of the University of Warwick is leading the project, and Matt Reed and Paul Courtney are providing the CCRI input. The project started in August 2009 and is due to complete in July 2012.
