MUNICH, Germany—Agricultural scientists at the Technische Universität München have given the term “sustainability” a more definite meaning, which will help make the multifaceted concept a benefit to farmers, food manufacturers and consumers.
Seeking to improve the environmental balance of agricultural enterprises without compromising their operating efficiency and social performance, researchers developed indicators and models to analyze, assess and optimize the sustainability of agricultural enterprises. The new indicator model allowed the researchers are now able to describe agricultural enterprises as systems based on their material and energy flows.
TUM Chair for Agricultural Economics, in collaboration with the Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim, developed a second set of indicators that includes relevant economic indicators such as profit or investment rate, as well as social factors such as co-determination, workload and remuneration level. With this extension the sustainability status of an agricultural enterprise is now fully quantifiable.
