DANISH AGRICULTURE AND ITS SUSTAINABILITY - A PROFILE

Since 1950, Danish agriculture has increased its production, and has b ecome very specialized and highly and consistenly productive both per unit area and per unit resource. The negative effects of agriculture a re starting to weigh too heavily on the environment, e.g. fertilizer r esidues in water, pesticides in food and water, and resource use. In o rder to reduce the loss of nutrients and change the landscape to facil itate higher biodiversity, several national programs have been set up between 1980 and 1990. In 1987, the first Danish law to introduce orga nic farming was approved. Sustainable development has two sides, the w ell-being of human society, and that of the natural environment. A thi rd component explicitly includes succeeding generations. We conclude t hat the intentions of sustainable development are more easily formulat ed than the means by which they can be achieved. Our final conclusion is that radical change of direction in Danish agriculture is not appar ent at present nor is such a change likely to happen quickly, even if desired, because of social and economic resistances.