Land use sustainability has economic values. Land use policymakers are trying to find a way to balance resource cost and total profits. Economic benefits generate from lowering costs and increasing benefits. As for policymakers, they believe that adjusting measures to local conditions is a significant principle (Ameztegui et al. , 2016). Land use policies prefer to support local food producers, facilities, and distributions. Farmers are familiar with their land and products, so they have more reliable ways to increase production quantities and quality, in low cost, without hurting the land thanks to the development of technology. In addition, local food does not require transportation cost. In the advantage of low price, the sale and profit of local agriculture products would increase. Agriculture sustainability results in many localized benefits.
As for farmers, sustainable agriculture practices benefit them economically. For example, farmers prefer to crop rotation and soil amendment, which helps land to keep fertile and crops to grow healthy. Crop rotation means to grow different types of crops in the same area in different seasons (Dufour, 2015). For example, some legumes are able to fix nitrogen from the soil in nodules on their root. After harvesting, uncollected roots would be left and the nitrogen in their roots would benefit to future crops. Soil amendment, which is also named soil conditioner, is used to improve the soil’s qualities. There will be more nutrients for crops. As a result, farmers could get more profit from high-quality crops with low cost.
The Sustainable Cities Institute (2013) gives some suggestions for farmers on land use sustainability. First of all, dedicating a set of sustainability staff. They are able to give professional advice on identifying needed resources, and setting realistic goals. Secondly, the idea to track performance, because it is good to measure and record data. Then organizer could decide whether to put in additional investments or replace inefficient equipment. Lastly, taking a holistic approach. This means considering economic systems, ecological systems, and societal systems together, so that you can get a plan which won’t hurt one part of a system when benefiting another part.
Sources:
Ameztegui, Aitor. Coll, Lluis. Brotons, Lluis. Ninot, JM (2016). Land-use legacies rather than climate change are driving the recent upward shift of the mountain tree line in the Pyrenees. Retrieved from http://arxiudigital.ctfc.cat/docs/upload/27_520_Ameztegui_et_al-Global_Ecology_and_Biogeography.pdf
Dufour, Rex (July 2015). Crop Rotation in Organic Farming Systems. Retrieved from file:///Users/duchen/Downloads/crop_rotation_organic_systems.pdf
National League of Cities (2013). Land use and planning overview. Retrieved from http://www.sustainablecitiesinstitute.org/Documents/SCI/Topic_Overviews/Land%20Use%20-%20Full%20OverviewNew_NLC.pdf