Keeping yields, profits and water quality high

One of the key questions facing agriculturalists in the 21st century is how to produce adequate amounts of food and farm income while protecting environmental quality. Diversified, low-external-input (LEI) farming systems offer one possible approach for maintaining adequate productivity and profitability while reducing pollution by agrichemicals and still improving water quality. LEI systems rely heavily on ecological processes for soil fertility and pest management, but can include some use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.