La fonction nourricière de l'agriculture reste primordiale face aux besoins d'une population mondiale en croissance. Mais en plus d'une demande quantitative, elle doit de plus en plus répondre à des exigences sanitaires et qualitatives... L'agriculture ne doit être ni intensive partout, ni extensive en tous les cas. L'agriculture raisonnée est la réponse des agriculteurs à la nécessité de concilier les exigences de productivité, de qualité et de respect de l'environnement. Elle est adaptée aux conditions locales et prend en compte la biodiversité. Farming today is multi-faceted. The food provision function is of course of primary importance : farming must increase production to meet the needs of an increasing global population. This is possible by improving crop productivity and by reducing losses, either before harvesting (crop protection), or after (protection of stored foodstuffs). The quality of foodstuffs is a further demand.
Furthermore, farming uses and shapes the environment; it can preserve, maintain and alter the environment. Such is its social role. It is important that the maintenance and alteration do not conflict with the productivity demands, nor be paid for as a service rendered to the collectivity. In particular, certain elements of the agricultural aid policies which tend towards environmental damage (e.g. fertilisation aimed at maximum productivity but not taking into account the local conditions and the resulting nitrate problems). They must be, and are currently being changed. Farming must not be exclusively intensive nor extensive.
Integrated farming is the farmers' reply to the need to bridge the divide between productivity, quality and environmental demands. It is adapted to local conditions and takes full account of biological diversity.
