Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Application of the Ecological Footprint Method for Measuring Sustainability of Agricultural Land use at a Micro Level in Barddhaman District, West Bengal, India


Affiliations
1 Khorad Amena High School, Satgachia, Purba Barddhaman 713 422, India
2 Department of Geography, The University of Burdwan, Purba Barddhaman 713 104, India
 

In the present study we used the ecological footprint method to numerically measure the sustainability of agricultural production at the micro level. For this, two community development blocks of Barddhaman district, West Bengal, India were selected. As a consumption- based method, it is most suitable for measuring cropland footprint, biocapacity of croplands, and their ecological surplus and deficit status of an environmental indicator. The integrated result represents higher sustainability of agricultural system, but crop-wise assessment explores some negative aspects with respect to self-sufficiency of the study area that demand necessary transformation of existing cropping pattern.

Keywords

Agricultural Land Use, Biocapacity, Ecological Footprint, Sustainability.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • FAO, The state of world’s land and water resources for food and agriculture, 2011; http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/i1688e/i1688e.pdf
  • Malthus, T. R., An Essay on the Principle of Population (Sixth Edition, 1826), John Murray, London, 1798, p. 6.
  • Pimentel, D. and Giampetro, M., Global population, food and the environment. Trends Ecol. Evol., 1994, 9(6), 239.
  • Kendall, H. W. and Pimentel, D., Constraints on the expansion of the global food supply. Ambio, 1994, 23(3), 198–205.
  • Matson, P. A., Parton, W. J., Power, A. G. and Swift, M. J., Agricultural intensification and ecosystem properties. Science, 1997, 277, 504–642.
  • Bennett, A. J., Environmental consequences of increasing production: some current perspectives. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ., 2000, 82, 89–95.
  • Stern, P. C., Toward a Working Definition of Consumption: Research Directions, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, USA, 1997, pp. 12–25.
  • Wackernagel, M. and Rees, W. E., Our ecological footprint – reducing human impact on the Earth. Environ. Urbani., 1996, 8(2), 216–216.
  • Ropke, I., Consumption in ecological economics – entry prepared for the Internet Encyclopaedia of Ecological Economics, 2005; http://www.ecoeco.org/pdf/consumption_in_ee.pdf
  • Herendeen, R. A., Ecological footprint as a vivid indicator of indirect effects. Ecol. Econ., 2000, 32, 357–358.
  • Ewing, B., Moore, D., Goldfinger, S., Oursler, A., Reed, A. and Wackernagel, M., The Ecological Footprint Atlas 2010, Global Footprint Network, Oakland, CA, USA, 2010; http://www.footprintnetwork.org
  • Li, M. and Li, B., Assessment of ecological footprint of land use in chongqing, China. Remote Sensing Geosci. Agric. Eng., 2009, 7491, 284–290.
  • Monfreda, C., Wackernagel, M. and Deumling, D., Establishing national natural capital accounts based on detailed ecological footprint and biological capacity accounts. Land Use Policy, 2004, 21(3), 231–246.
  • Simmons, C., Lewis, K. and Barrett, J., Two feet – two approaches: a component-based model of ecological footprinting. Ecol. Econ., 2000, 32, 375–380.
  • Borgström Hansson, C. and Wackernagel, M., Rediscovering place and accounting space: how to re-embed the human economy. Ecol. Econ., 1999, 29(2), 203–213.
  • Wackernagel, M. et al., National natural capital accounting with the ecological footprint concept. Ecol. Econ., 1999, 29(3), 375– 390.
  • Neumayer, E., Weak Versus Strong Sustainability: Exploring the Limits of Two Opposing Paradigms, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, 2nd edn, 2003.
  • Das, N. G., Statistical Method, Combined Edition (Volume I and II), Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited, New Delhi, 2010, p. 230.
  • Food and Agriculture Organization, FAOSTAT–FAO’s corporate database. FAO, Rome, 2016; http://www.fao.org/statistics/databases/en/

Abstract Views: 350

PDF Views: 139




  • Application of the Ecological Footprint Method for Measuring Sustainability of Agricultural Land use at a Micro Level in Barddhaman District, West Bengal, India

Abstract Views: 350  |  PDF Views: 139

Authors

Biswajit Ghosh
Khorad Amena High School, Satgachia, Purba Barddhaman 713 422, India
Namita Chakma
Department of Geography, The University of Burdwan, Purba Barddhaman 713 104, India

Abstract


In the present study we used the ecological footprint method to numerically measure the sustainability of agricultural production at the micro level. For this, two community development blocks of Barddhaman district, West Bengal, India were selected. As a consumption- based method, it is most suitable for measuring cropland footprint, biocapacity of croplands, and their ecological surplus and deficit status of an environmental indicator. The integrated result represents higher sustainability of agricultural system, but crop-wise assessment explores some negative aspects with respect to self-sufficiency of the study area that demand necessary transformation of existing cropping pattern.

Keywords


Agricultural Land Use, Biocapacity, Ecological Footprint, Sustainability.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv115%2Fi10%2F1913-1920