title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Developing sustainable food systems contributes to the sustainability of the human population. For example, one of the best ways to mitigate climate change is to create sustainable food systems based on sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture provides a potential solution to enable agricultural systems to feed a growing population within the changing environmental conditions. Besides sustainable farming practices, dietary shifts to sustainable diets are an intertwined way to substantially reduce environmental impacts. Numerous sustainability standards and certification systems exist, including organic certification, Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade, UTZ Certified, GlobalGAP, Bird Friendly, and the Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C).


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: The term "sustainable agriculture" was defined in 1977 by the USDA as an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term:


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: A common consensus is that sustainable farming is the most realistic way to feed growing populations. In order to successfully feed the population of the planet, farming practices must consider future costs–to both the environment and the communities they fuel.  The fear of not being able to provide enough resources for everyone led to the adoption of technology within the sustainability field to increase farm productivity. The ideal end result of this advancement is the ability to feed ever-growing populations across the world. The growing popularity of sustainable agriculture is connected to the wide-reaching fear that the planet's carrying capacity (or planetary boundaries), in terms of the ability to feed humanity, has been reached or even exceeded.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: It "considers long-term as well as short-term economics because sustainability is readily defined as forever, that is, agricultural environments that are designed to promote endless regeneration". It balances the need for resource conservation with the needs of farmers pursuing their livelihood.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Oftentimes the execution of sustainable practices within farming comes through the adoption of technology and environmentally-focused appropriate technology.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Practices that can cause long-term damage to soil include excessive tilling of the soil (leading to erosion) and irrigation without adequate drainage (leading to salinization).


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: The most important factors for a farming site are climate, soil, nutrients and water resources. Of the four, water and soil conservation are the most amenable to human intervention. When farmers grow and harvest crops, they remove some nutrients from the soil. Without replenishment, the land suffers from nutrient depletion and becomes either unusable or suffers from reduced yields. Sustainable agriculture depends on replenishing the soil while minimizing the use or need of non-renewable resources, such as natural gas or mineral ores.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: A farm that can "produce perpetually", yet has negative effects on environmental quality elsewhere is not sustainable agriculture. An example of a case in which a global view may be warranted is the application of fertilizer or manure, which can improve the productivity of a farm but can pollute nearby rivers and coastal waters (eutrophication). The other extreme can also be undesirable, as the problem of low crop yields due to exhaustion of nutrients in the soil has been related to rainforest destruction. In Asia, the specific amount of land needed for sustainable farming is about 12.5 acres which include land for animal fodder, cereal production as a cash crop, and other food crops. In some cases, a small unit of aquaculture is included (AARI-1996).


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: The last option was proposed in the 1970s, but is only gradually becoming feasible. Sustainable options for replacing other nutrient inputs such as phosphorus and potassium are more limited.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Other options include long-term crop rotations, returning to natural cycles that annually flood cultivated lands (returning lost nutrients) such as the flooding of the Nile, the long-term use of biochar, and use of crop and livestock landraces that are adapted to less than ideal conditions such as pests, drought, or lack of nutrients. Crops that require high levels of soil nutrients can be cultivated in a more sustainable manner with appropriate fertilizer management practices.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Phosphate is a primary component in fertilizer. It is the second most important nutrient for plants after nitrogen, and is often a limiting factor. It is important for sustainable agriculture as it can improve soil fertility and crop yields. Phosphorus is involved in all major metabolic processes including photosynthesis, energy transfer, signal transduction, macromolecular biosynthesis, and respiration. It is needed for root ramification and strength and seed formation, and can increase disease resistance.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Phosphorus is found in the soil in both inorganic and organic forms and makes up approximately 0.05% of soil biomass. Phosphorus fertilizers are the main input of inorganic phosphorus in agricultural soils and approximately 70%–80% of phosphorus in cultivated soils is inorganic. Long-term use of phosphate-containing chemical fertilizers causes eutrophication and deplete soil microbial life, so people have looked to other sources.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Phosphorus fertilizers are manufactured from rock phosphate. However, rock phosphate is a non-renewable resource and it is being depleted by mining for agricultural use: peak phosphorus will occur within the next few hundred years, or perhaps earlier.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Potassium is a macronutrient very important for plant development and is commonly sought in fertilizers. This nutrient is essential for agriculture because it improves water retention, nutrient value, yield, taste, color, texture and disease resistance of crops. It is often used in the cultivation of grains, fruits, vegetables, rice, wheat, millets, sugar, corn, soybeans, palm oil and coffee.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Potassium chloride (KCl) represents the most widely source of K used in agriculture, accounting for 90% of all potassium produced for agricultural use.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: The use of KCl leads to high concentrations of chloride (Clˉ) in soil harming its health due to the increase in soil salinity, imbalance in nutrient availability and this ion's biocidal effect for soil organisms. In consequences the development of plants and soil organisms is affected, putting at risk soil biodiversity and agricultural productivity. A sustainable option for replacing KCl are chloride-free fertilizers, its use should take into account plants' nutrition needs, and the promotion of soil health.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Land degradation is becoming a severe global problem. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: "About a quarter of the Earth's ice-free land area is subject to human-induced degradation (medium confidence). Soil erosion from agricultural fields is estimated to be currently 10 to 20 times (no tillage) to more than 100 times (conventional tillage) higher than the soil formation rate (medium confidence)." Over a billion tonnes of southern Africa's soil are being lost to erosion annually, which if continued will result in halving of crop yields within thirty to fifty years. Improper soil management is threatening the ability to grow sufficient food. Intensive agriculture reduces the carbon level in soil, impairing soil structure, crop growth and ecosystem functioning, and accelerating climate change. Modification of agricultural practices is a recognized method of carbon sequestration as soil can act as an effective carbon sink.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Soil management techniques include no-till farming, keyline design and windbreaks to reduce wind erosion, reincorporation of organic matter into the soil, reducing soil salinization, and preventing water run-off.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: As the global population increases and demand for food increases, there is pressure on land as a resource. In land-use planning and management, considering the impacts of land-use changes on factors such as soil erosion can support long-term agricultural sustainability, as shown by a study of Wadi Ziqlab, a dry area in the Middle East where farmers graze livestock and grow olives, vegetables, and grains.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Looking back over the 20th century shows that for people in poverty, following environmentally sound land practices has not always been a viable option due to many complex and challenging life circumstances. Currently, increased land degradation in developing countries may be connected with rural poverty among smallholder farmers when forced into unsustainable agricultural practices out of necessity.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Converting big parts of the land surface to agriculture have severe environmental and health consequences. For example, it leads to rise in zoonotic disease like the Coronavirus disease 2019, by degrading natural buffers between humans and animals, reducing biodiversity and creating big groups of genetically similar animals.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Land is a finite resource on Earth. Although expansion of agricultural land can decrease biodiversity and contribute to deforestation, the picture is complex; for instance, a study examining the introduction of sheep by Norse settlers (Vikings) to the Faroe Islands of the North Atlantic concluded that, over time, the fine partitioning of land plots contributed more to soil erosion and degradation than grazing itself.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that in coming decades, cropland will continue to be lost to industrial and urban development, along with reclamation of wetlands, and conversion of forest to cultivation, resulting in the loss of biodiversity and increased soil erosion.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: In modern agriculture, energy is used in on-farm mechanisation, food processing, storage, and transportation processes. It has therefore been found that energy prices are closely linked to food prices. Oil is also used as an input in agricultural chemicals. The International Energy Agency projects higher prices of non-renewable energy resources as a result of fossil fuel resources being depleted. It may therefore decrease global food security unless action is taken to 'decouple' fossil fuel energy from food production, with a move towards 'energy-smart' agricultural systems including renewable energy.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: The use of solar powered irrigation in Pakistan is said to be a closed system for agricultural water irrigation.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: In some areas sufficient rainfall is available for crop growth, but many other areas require irrigation. For irrigation systems to be sustainable, they require proper management (to avoid salinization) and must not use more water from their source than is naturally replenishable. Otherwise, the water source effectively becomes a non-renewable resource. Improvements in water well drilling technology and submersible pumps, combined with the development of drip irrigation and low-pressure pivots, have made it possible to regularly achieve high crop yields in areas where reliance on rainfall alone had previously made successful agriculture unpredictable. However, this progress has come at a price. In many areas, such as the Ogallala Aquifer, the water is being used faster than it can be replenished.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: According to the UC Davis Agricultural Sustainability Institute, several steps must be taken to develop drought-resistant farming systems even in "normal" years with average rainfall. These measures include both policy and management actions:


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Indicators for sustainable water resource development include the average annual flow of rivers from rainfall, flows from outside a country, the percentage of water coming from outside a country, and gross water withdrawal.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Sustainable agriculture attempts to solve multiple problems with one broad solution. The goal of sustainable agricultural practices is to decrease environmental degradation due to farming while increasing crop–and thus food–output. There are many varying strategies attempting to use sustainable farming practices in order to increase rural economic development within small-scale farming communities. Two of the most popular and opposing strategies within the modern discourse are allowing unrestricted markets to determine food production and deeming food a human right. Neither of these approaches have been proven to work without fail. A promising proposal to rural poverty reduction within agricultural communities is sustainable economic growth; the most important aspect of this policy is to regularly include the poorest farmers in the economy-wide development through the stabilization of small-scale agricultural economies.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: In 2007, the United Nations reported on "Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa", stating that using sustainable agriculture could be a tool in reaching global food security without expanding land usage and reducing environmental impacts. There has been evidence provided by developing nations from the early 2000s stating that when people in their communities are not factored into the agricultural process that serious harm is done. The social scientist Charles Kellogg has stated that, "In a final effort, exploited people pass their suffering to the land." Sustainable agriculture mean the ability to permanently and continuously "feed its constituent populations".


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: There are a lot of opportunities that can increase farmers' profits, improve communities, and continue sustainable practices. For example, in Uganda Genetically Modified Organisms were originally illegal, however, with the stress of banana crisis in Uganda where Banana Bacterial Wilt had the potential to wipe out 90% of yield they decided to explore GMOs as a possible solution. The government issued the National Biotechnology and Biosafety bill which will allow scientists that are part of the National Banana Research Program to start experimenting with genetically modified organisms. This effort has the potential to help local communities because a significant portion live off the food they grow themselves and it will be profitable because the yield of their main produce will remain stable.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Not all regions are suitable for agriculture. The technological advancement of the past few decades has allowed agriculture to develop in some of these regions. For example, Nepal has built greenhouses to deal with its high altitude and mountainous regions. Greenhouses allow for greater crop production and also use less water since they are closed systems.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Desalination techniques can turn salt water into fresh water which allows greater access to water for areas with a limited supply. This allows the irrigation of crops without decreasing natural fresh water sources. While desalination can be a tool to provide water to areas that need it to sustain agriculture, it requires money and resources. Regions of China have been considering large scale desalination in order to increase access to water, but the current cost of the desalination process makes it impractical.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Women working in sustainable agriculture come from numerous backgrounds, ranging from academia to labour. From 1978-2007, in the United States, the number of women farm operators has tripled. In 2007, women operated 14 percent of farms, compared to five percent in 1978. Much of the growth is due to women farming outside of the "male dominated field of conventional agriculture".


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: The practice of growing food in the backyard of houses, schools, etc., by families or by communities became widespread in the US at the time of World War I, the Great Recession and World War II, so that in one point of time 40% of the vegetables of the USA was produced in this way. The practice became more popular again in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. This method permits to grow food in a relatively sustainable way and at the same time make easier for poor people to obtain food.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Costs, such as environmental problems, not covered in traditional accounting systems (which take into account only the direct costs of production incurred by the farmer) are known as externalities.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: There are several studies incorporating externalities such as ecosystem services, biodiversity, land degradation, and sustainable land management in economic analysis. These include The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity study and the Economics of Land Degradation Initiative which seek to establish an economic cost-benefit analysis on the practice of sustainable land management and sustainable agriculture.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Triple bottom line frameworks include social and environmental alongside a financial bottom line. A sustainable future can be feasible if growth in material consumption and population is slowed down and if there is a drastic increase in the efficiency of material and energy use. To make that transition, long- and short-term goals will need to be balanced enhancing equity and quality of life.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: A major barrier to the adoption of sustainable agriculture is its appearance of a lack of benefits. Many benefits are not visible or immediately evident, and affecting changes such as lower rates of soil and nutrient loss, improved soil structure and higher levels of beneficial microorganisms takes time. In conventional agriculture the benefits are easily visible with no weeds, pests, etc. and the costs to soil and ecosystems around it are hidden and "externalized".


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: The author James Howard Kunstler claims almost all modern technology is bad and that there cannot be sustainability unless agriculture is done in ancient traditional ways. Efforts toward more sustainable agriculture are supported in the sustainability community, however, these are often viewed only as incremental steps and not as an end. Some foresee a true sustainable steady state economy that may be very different from today's: greatly reduced energy usage, minimal ecological footprint, fewer consumer packaged goods, local purchasing with short food supply chains, little processed foods, more home and community gardens, etc.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: There is a debate on the definition of sustainability regarding agriculture. The definition could be characterized by two different approaches: an ecocentric approach and a technocentric approach. The ecocentric approach emphasizes no- or low-growth levels of human development, and focuses on organic and biodynamic farming techniques with the goal of changing consumption patterns, and resource allocation and usage. The technocentric approach argues that sustainability can be attained through a variety of strategies, from the view that state-led modification of the industrial system like conservation-oriented farming systems should be implemented, to the argument that biotechnology is the best way to meet the increasing demand for food.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: One can look at the topic of sustainable agriculture through two different lenses: multifunctional agriculture and ecosystem services. Both of approaches are similar, but look at the function of agriculture differently. Those that employ the multifunctional agriculture philosophy focus on farm-centered approaches, and define function as being the outputs of agricultural activity. The central argument of multifunctionality is that agriculture is a multifunctional enterprise with other functions aside from the production of food and fiber. These functions include renewable resource management, landscape conservation and biodiversity. The ecosystem service-centered approach posits that individuals and society as a whole receive benefits from ecosystems, which are called "ecosystem services". In sustainable agriculture, the services that ecosystems provide include pollination, soil formation, and nutrient cycling, all of which are necessary functions for the production of food.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: It is also claimed sustainable agriculture is best considered as an ecosystem approach to agriculture, called agroecology.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Most agricultural professionals agree that there is a "moral obligation to pursue [the] goal [of] sustainability." The major debate comes from what system will provide a path to that goal because if an unsustainable method is used on a large scale it will have a massive negative effect on the environment and human population.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Other practices include growing a diverse number of perennial crops in a single field, each of which would grow in separate season so as not to compete with each other for natural resources. This system would result in increased resistance to diseases and decreased effects of erosion and loss of nutrients in soil. Nitrogen fixation from legumes, for example, used in conjunction with plants that rely on nitrate from soil for growth, helps to allow the land to be reused annually. Legumes will grow for a season and replenish the soil with ammonium and nitrate, and the next season other plants can be seeded and grown in the field in preparation for harvest.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Sustainable methods of weed management may help reduce the development of herbicide-resistant weeds. Crop rotation may also replenish nitrogen if legumes are used in the rotations and may also use resources more efficiently.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: There are also many ways to practice sustainable animal husbandry. Some of the tools to grazing management include fencing off the grazing area into smaller areas called paddocks, lowering stock density, and moving the stock between paddocks frequently.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: An increased production is a goal of intensification. Sustainable intensification encompasses specific agriculture methods that increase production and at the same time help improve environmental outcomes. The desired outcomes of the farm are achieved without the need for more land cultivation or destruction of natural habitat; the system performance is upgraded with no net environmental cost. Sustainable Intensification has become a priority for the United Nations. Sustainable intensification differs from prior intensification methods by specifically placing importance on broader environmental outcomes. By 2018; it was predicted in 100 nations a combined total of 163 million farms used sustainable intensification. The amount of agricultural land covered by this is 453 million ha of land. That amount of land is equal to 29% of farms worldwide. In light of concerns about food security, human population growth and dwindling land suitable for agriculture, sustainable intensive farming practises are needed to maintain high crop yields, while maintaining soil health and ecosystem services. The capacity for ecosystem services to be strong enough to allow a reduction in use of non-renewable inputs whilst maintaining or boosting yields has been the subject of much debate. Recent work in irrigated rice production system of east Asia has suggested that – in relation to pest management at least – promoting the ecosystem service of biological control using nectar plants can reduce the need for insecticides by 70% whilst delivering a 5% yield advantage compared with standard practice.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Vertical farming is a concept with the potential advantages of year-round production, isolation from pests and diseases, controllable resource recycling and reduced transportation costs.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Water efficiency can be improved by reducing the need for irrigation and using alternative methods. Such methods include: researching on drought resistant crops, monitoring plant transpiration and reducing soil evaporation.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Drought resistant crops have been researched extensively as a means to overcome the issue of water shortage. They are modified genetically so they can adapt in an environment with little water. This is beneficial as it reduces the need for irrigation and helps conserve water. Although they have been extensively researched, significant results have not been achieved as most of the successful species will have no overall impact on water conservation. However, some grains like rice, for example, have been successfully genetically modified to be drought resistant.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Soil amendments include using compost from recycling centers. Using compost from yard and kitchen waste uses available resources in the area.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Abstinence from soil tillage before planting and leaving the plant residue after harvesting reduces soil water evaporation; It also serves to prevent soil erosion.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Crop residues left covering the surface of the soil may result in reduced evaporation of water, a lower surface soil temperature, and reduction of wind effects.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: A way to make rock phosphate more effective is to add microbial inoculates such as phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms, known as PSMs, to the soil. These solubilize phosphorus already in the soil and use processes like organic acid production and ion exchange reactions to make that phosphorus available for plants. Experimentally, these PSMs have been shown to increase crop growth in terms of shoot height, dry biomass and grain yield.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Phosphorus uptake is even more efficient with the presence of mycorrhizae in the soil. Mycorrhiza is a type of mutualistic symbiotic association between plants and fungi, which are well-equipped to absorb nutrients, including phosphorus, in soil. These fungi can increase nutrient uptake in soil where phosphorus has been fixed by aluminum, calcium, and iron. Mycorrhizae can also release organic acids that solubilize otherwise unavailable phosphorus.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Soil steaming can be used as an alternative to chemicals for soil sterilization. Different methods are available to induce steam into the soil to kill pests and increase soil health.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Solarizing is based on the same principle, used to increase the temperature of the soil to kill pathogens and pests.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Certain plants can be cropped for use as "biofumigants", "natural" fumigants, releasing pest suppressing compounds when crushed, ploughed into the soil, and covered in plastic for four weeks. Plants in the Brassicaceae family release large amounts of toxic compounds such as methyl isothiocyanates.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Relocating current croplands to environmentally more optimal locations, whilst allowing ecosystems in then-abandoned areas to regenerate could substantially decrease the current carbon, biodiversity, and irrigation water footprint of global crop production, with relocation only within national borders also having substantial potential.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Sustainability may also involve crop rotation. Crop rotation and cover crops prevent soil erosion, by protecting topsoil from wind and water. Effective crop rotation can reduce pest pressure on crops, provides weed control, reduces disease build up, and improves the efficiency of soil nutrients and nutrient cycling. This reduces the need for fertilizers and pesticides. Increasing the diversity of crops by introducing new genetic resources can increase yields by 10 to 15 percent compared to when they are grown in monoculture. Perennial crops reduce the need for tillage and thus help mitigate soil erosion, and may sometimes tolerate drought better, increase water quality and help increase soil organic matter. There are research programs attempting to develop perennial substitutes for existing annual crops, such as replacing wheat with the wild grass "Thinopyrum intermedium", or possible experimental hybrids of it and wheat. Being able to do all of this without the use of chemicals is one of the main goals of sustainability which is why crop rotation is a very central method of sustainable agriculture.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Some claim organic agriculture may produce the most sustainable products available for consumers in the US, where no other alternatives exist, although the focus of the organics industry is not sustainability.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: In 2018 the sales of organic products in USA reach $52.5 billion According to a USDA survey two-thirds of Americans consume organic products at least occasionally.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Ecological farming is a concept that focused on the environmental aspects of sustainable agriculture. Ecological farming includes all methods, including organic, which regenerate ecosystem services like: prevention of soil erosion, water infiltration and retention, carbon sequestration in the form of humus, and increased biodiversity. Many techniques are used including no-till farming, multispecies cover crops, strip cropping, terrace cultivation, shelter belts, pasture cropping etc.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: There are a plethora of methods and techniques that are employed when practicing ecological farming, all having their own unique benefits and implementations that lead to more sustainable agriculture. Crop genetic diversity is one method that is used to reduce the risks associated with monoculture crops, which can be susceptible to a changing climate. This form of biodiversity causes crops to be more resilient, increasing food security and enhancing the productivity of the field on a long-term scale. The use of biodigestors is another method which converts organic waste into a combustible gas, which can provide several benefits to an ecological farm: it can be used as a fuel source, fertilizer for crops and fish ponds, and serves as a method for removing wastes that are rich in organic matter. Because biodigestors can be used as fertilizer, it reduces the amount of industrial fertilizers that are needed to sustain the yields of the farm. Another technique used is aquaculture integration, which combines fish farming with agricultural farming, using the wastes from animals and crops and diverting them towards the fish farms to be used up instead of being leeched into the environment. Mud from the fish ponds can also be used to fertilize crops.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Organic Fertilizers can also be employed in an ecological farm, such as animal and green manure. This allows soil fertility to be improved and well-maintained, leads to reduced costs and increased yields, reduces the usage of non-renewable resources in industrial fertilizers (Nitrogen and Phosphorus), and reduces the environmental pressures that are posed by intensive agricultural systems. Precision Agriculture can also be used, which focuses on efficient removal of pests using non-chemical techniques and minimizes the amount of tilling needed to sustain the farm. An example of a precision machine is the false seedbed tiller, which can remove a great majority of small weeds while only tilling one centimeter deep. This minimized tilling reduces the amount of new weeds that germinate from soil disturbance. Other methods that reduce soil erosion include contour farming, strip cropping, and terrace cultivation.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: The challenge for ecological farming science is to be able to achieve a mainstream productive food system that is sustainable or even regenerative. To enter the field of ecological farming, location relative to the consumer, can reduce the food miles factor to help minimise damage to the biosphere by combustion engine emissions involved in current food transportation.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Design of the ecological farm is initially constrained by the same limitations as conventional farming: local climate, the soil's physical properties, budget for beneficial soil supplements, manpower and available automatons; however long-term water management by ecological farming methods is likely to conserve and increase water availability for the location, and require far fewer inputs to maintain fertility.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Often thought of as inherently destructive, slash-and-burn or slash-and-char shifting cultivation have been practiced in the Amazon for thousands of years.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Some traditional systems combine polyculture with sustainability. In South-East Asia, rice-fish systems on rice paddies have raised freshwater fish as well as rice, producing an additional product and reducing eutrophication of neighboring rivers. A variant in Indonesia combines rice, fish, ducks and water fern; the ducks eat the weeds that would otherwise limit rice growth, saving labour and herbicides, while the duck and fish manure substitute for fertilizer.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Raised field agriculture has been recently revived in certain areas of the world, such as the Altiplano region in Bolivia and Peru. This has resurged in the form of traditional Waru Waru raised fields, which create nutrient-rich soil in regions where such soil is scarce. This method is extremely productive and has recently been utilized by indigenous groups in the area and the nearby Amazon Basin to make use of lands that have been historically hard to cultivate.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Other forms of traditional agriculture include agro forestry, crop rotations, and water harvesting. Water harvesting is one of the largest and most common practices, particularly used in dry areas and seasons. In Ethiopia, over half of their GDP and over 80 percent of their exports are attributed to agriculture; yet, it is known for its intense droughts and dry periods. Rain water harvesting is considered to be a low-cost alternative. This type of harvesting collects and stores water from roof tops during high-rain periods for use during droughts. Rainwater harvesting has been a large practice to help the country survive by focusing on runoff irrigation, roof water harvesting, and flood spreading.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Native Americans in the United States practiced sustainable agriculture through their subsistence farming techniques. Many tribes grew or harvested their own food from plants that thrived in their local ecosystems. Native American farming practices are specific to local environments and work with natural processes. This is a practice called Permaculture, and it involves a deep understanding of the local environment. Native American farming techniques also incorporate local biodiversity into many of their practices, which helps the land remain healthy.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Many indigenous tribes incorporated Intercropping into their agriculture, which is a practice where multiple crops are planted together in the same area. This strategy allows crops to help one another grow through exchanged nutrients, maintained soil moisture, and physical supports for one another. The crops that are paired in intercropping often do not heavily compete for resources, which helps them to each be successful. For example, many tribes utilized intercropping in ways such as the Three Sisters Garden. This gardening technique consists of corn, beans, and squash. These crops grow in unity as the corn stalk supports the beans, the beans produce nitrogen, and the squash retain moisture. Intercropping also provides a natural strategy for pest management and the prevention of weed growth. Intercropping is a natural agricultural practice that often improves the overall health of the soil and plants, increases crop yield, and is sustainable.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: One of the most significant aspects of indigenous sustainable agriculture is their traditional ecological knowledge of harvesting. The Anishinaabe tribes follow an ideology known as "the Honorable Harvest". The Honorable Harvest is a set of practices that emphasize the idea that people should "take only what you need and use everything you take." Resources are conserved through this practice because several rules are followed when harvesting a plant. These rules are to never take the first plant, never take more than half of the plants, and never take the last plant. This encourages future growth of the plant and therefore leads to a sustainable use of the plants in the area.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Native Americans practiced agroforestry by managing the forest, animals, and crops together. They also helped promote tree growth through controlled burns and silviculture. Often, the remaining ash from these burns would be used to fertilize their crops. By improving the conditions of the forest, the local wildlife populations also increased. Native Americans allowed their livestock to graze in the forest, which provided natural fertilizer for the trees as well.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: There is limited evidence polyculture may contribute to sustainable agriculture. A meta-analysis of a number of polycrop studies found that predator insect biodiversity was higher at comparable yields than conventional in certain two-crop systems with a single cash crop combined with a cover crop.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: One approach to sustainability is to develop polyculture systems using perennial crop varieties. Such varieties are being developed for rice, wheat, sorghum, barley, and sunflowers. If these can be combined in polyculture with a leguminous cover crop such as alfalfa, fixation of nitrogen will be added to the system, reducing the need for fertilizer and pesticides.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: The use of available city space (e.g., rooftop gardens, community gardens, garden sharing, organopónicos, and other forms of urban agriculture) may be able to contribute to sustainability. Some consider "guerrilla gardening" an example of sustainability in action – in some cases seeds of edible plants have been sown in local rural areas.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration, increasing resilience to climate change, and strengthening the health and vitality of farm soil. Practices include, recycling as much farm waste as possible, and adding composted material from sources outside the farm.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Certification systems are important to the agriculture community and to consumers as these standards determine the sustainability of produce. Numerous sustainability standards and certification systems exist, including organic certification, Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade, UTZ Certified, GlobalGAP, Bird Friendly, and the Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C). These standards specify rules that producers, manufacturers and traders need to follow so that the things they do, make, or grow do not hurt people and the environment. These standards are also known as Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) that are private standards that require products to meet specific economic, social or environmental sustainability metrics. The requirements can refer to product quality or attributes, but also to production and processing methods, as well as transportation. VSS are mostly designed and marketed by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or private firms and they are adopted by actors up and down the value chain, from farmers to retailers. Certifications and labels are used to signal the successful implementation of a VSS. According to the ITC standards map the mostly covered products by standards are agricultural products. Around 500 VSS today apply to key exports of many developing countries, such as coffee, tea, bananas, cocoa, palm oil, timber, cotton, and organic agri-foods. VSS are found to reduce eutrophication, water use, greenhouse gas emissions, and natural ecosystem conversion. And thus are considered as a potential tool for sustainable agriculture.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: The USDA produces an organic label that is supported by nationalized standards of farmers and facilities. The steps for certification consist of creating an organic system plan, which determines how produce will be tilled, grazed, harvested, stored, and transported. This plan also manages and monitors the substances used around the produce, the maintenance needed to protect the produce, and any nonorganic products that may come in contact with the produce. The organic system plan is then reviewed and inspected by the USDA certifying agent. Once the certification is granted, the produce receives an approval sticker from the USDA and the produce is distributed across the U.S. In order to hold farmers accountable and ensure that Americans are receiving organic produce, these inspections are done at least once a year. This is just one example of sustainable certification systems through produce maintenance.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Sustainable agriculture is a topic in international policy concerning its potential to reduce environmental risks. In 2011, the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change, as part of its recommendations for policymakers on achieving food security in the face of climate change, urged that sustainable agriculture must be integrated into national and international policy. The Commission stressed that increasing weather variability and climate shocks will negatively affect agricultural yields, necessitating early action to drive change in agricultural production systems towards increasing resilience. It also called for dramatically increased investments in sustainable agriculture in the next decade, including in national research and development budgets, land rehabilitation, economic incentives, and infrastructure improvement.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: During 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, 45 countries pledged to give more than 4 billion dollars for transition to sustainable agriculture. The organization "Slow Food" expressed concern about the effectivity of the spendings, as they concentrate on technological solutions and reforestation en place of "a holistic agroecology that transforms food from a mass-produced commodity into part of a sustainable system that works within natural boundaries."


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Additionally, the Summit consisted of negotiations that led to heavily reducing CO emissions, becoming carbon neutral, ending deforestation and reliance on coal, and limiting methane emissions.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: In November, the Climate Action Tracker reported that global efforts are on track to for a 2.7 °C temperature increase with current policies, finding that the current targets will not meet global needs as coal and natural gas consumption are primarily responsible for the gap in progress. Since, like-minded developing countries asked for an addendum to the agreement that removed the obligation for developing countries to meet the same requirements of wealthy nations.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: In May 2020 the European Union published a program, named "From Farm to Fork" for making its agriculture more sustainable. In the official page of the program From Farm to Fork is cited Frans Timmermans the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, saying that:


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: The New Deal implemented policies and programs that promoted sustainable agriculture. Under the Agriculture Adjustment Act of 1933, it provided farmers payments to create a supply management regime that capped production of important crops. This allowed farmers to focus on growing food and not competing in the market based system. The New Deal also provided a monetary incentive for farmers that left some of their fields unsown or ungrazed to order to improve the soil conditions. The Cooperative Extension Service was also established that set up sharing funding responsibilities amongst the USDA, land-grant universities, and local communities.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: The 1950s to 1990s was when the government switched its stance on agriculture policy which halted sustainable agriculture. The Agricultural Act of 1954 passed which supported farmers with flexible price supports, but only to commodity programs. The Food and Agricultural Act of 1965 had new income support payments and continued supply controls but reduced priced supports. Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 removed price supports and instead introduced target prices and deficiency payments. It continued to promote commodity crops by lowering interest rates. Food Security Act of 1985 continued commodity loan programs. These policies incentivized profit over sustainability because the US government was promoting farms to maximize their production output instead of placing checks. This meant that farms were being turned into food factories as they became bigger in size and grew more commodity crops like corn, wheat, and cotton. From 1900 to 2002, the number of farms in the US decreased significantly while the average size of a farm went up after 1950.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: In the United States, the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA) provides technical and financial assistance for those interested in pursuing natural resource conservation along with production agriculture. With programs like SARE and China-UK SAIN to help promote research on sustainable agriculture practices and a framework for agriculture and climate change respectively.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: Currently, there are policies on the table that could move the US agriculture system into a more sustainable direction with the Green New Deal. This policy promotes decentralizing agrarian governance by breaking up large commodity farms that were created in the 1950s to 1980s. Decentralized governance within the farming community would allow for more adaptive management at local levels to help focus on climate change mitigation, food security, and landscape-scale ecological stewardship. The Green New Deal would invest in public infrastructure to support farmers transition from industrial food regime and acquire agroecological skills. Just like in the New Deal, it would invest in cooperatives and commons to share and redistribute resources like land, food, equipment, research facilities, personnel, and training programs. All of these policies and programs would break down barriers that have prevented sustainable farmers and agriculture from taking place in the United States.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: In 2016, the Chinese government adopted a plan to reduce China's meat consumption by 50%, for achieving more sustainable and healthy food system.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: In 2019, the National Basic Research Program or Program 973 funded research into Science and Technology Backyard (STB). STBs are hubs often created in rural areas with significant rates of small-scale farming that combine knowledge of traditional practices with new innovations and technology implementation. The purpose of this program was to invest in sustainable farming throughout the country and increase food production while achieving few negative environmental effects. The program was ultimately proven to be successful, and the study found that the merging of traditional practices and appropriate technology was instrumental in higher crop yields.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: In collaboration with the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU), CEEW (council for energy, environment and water), has given an overview of the current state of sustainable agriculture practices and systems (SAPSs) in India. India is aiming to scale-up SAPs, through policymakers, administrators, philanthropists, and other which represent a vital alternative to conventional, input-intensive agriculture. In idea these efforts identify 16 SAPSs – including agroforestry, crop rotation, rainwater harvesting, organic farming and natural farming – using agroecology as an investigative lens. In a conclusive understanding it is realised that sustainable agriculture is far from mainstream in India. Further proposals for several measures for promoting SAPSs, including restructured government support and rigorous evidence generation for benefits and implementation of sustainable farming are ongoing progress in Indian Agriculture.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: An example of initiatives in India towards exploring the world of sustainable farming has been set by the Sowgood foundation. It started by teaching primary school children about sustainable farming by helping them farm on small farm strips in suburban farmhouses and gardens. Today many government and private schools in Delhi, India have adopted the sowgood foundation curriculum for sustainable farming for their students.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: In 2012, the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture found itself at the height of the Israeli commitment to sustainable agriculture policy. A large factor of this policy was funding programs that made sustainable agriculture accessible to smaller Palestinian-Arab communities. The program was meant to create biodiversity, train farmers in sustainable agriculture methods, and hold regular meetings for agriculture stakeholders. This plan was not well-accepted by all as opposers argue that the plan creates a new social construct and a tool for the government to hold more power.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: In 1907, the American author Franklin H. King discussed in his book "Farmers of Forty Centuries" the advantages of sustainable agriculture and warned that such practices would be vital to farming in the future. The phrase 'sustainable agriculture' was reportedly coined by the Australian agronomist Gordon McClymont. The term became popular in the late 1980s. There was an international symposium on sustainability in horticulture by the International Society of Horticultural Science at the International Horticultural Congress in Toronto in 2002. At the following conference at Seoul in 2006, the principles were discussed further.


title: Sustainable agriculture

text: This potential future inability to feed the world's population has been a concern since the English political economist Thomas Malthus in the early 1800s, but has become increasingly important recently. Starting at the very end of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, this issue became widely discussed in the U.S. because of growing anxieties of a rapidly increasing global population. Agriculture has long been the biggest industry worldwide and requires significant land, water, and labor inputs. At the turn of the twenty-first century, experts questioned the industry's ability to keep up with population growth. This debate led to concerns over global food insecurity and "solving hunger".


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: Bunnings was founded in Perth, Western Australia in 1886, by two brothers who had emigrated from England. Initially, a limited company focused on sawmilling, it became a public company in 1952 and subsequently expanded into the retail sector, purchasing several hardware stores. Bunnings began to expand into other states in the 1990s and opened its first warehouse-style store in Melbourne in 1994. As of 2020, the chain has 375 stores and over 30,000 employees.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: Bunnings has a market share of around 50 percent in the Australian Do-It-Yourself hardware market, with competing chains including Mitre 10, Home Hardware and various independent retailers such as Agora Marketplace and Total Tools around Australia.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: Bunnings runs community events outside or in its stores, including sausage sizzles and do it yourself workshops.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: Michael Scneider was appointed Managing Director, Bunnings Group in May 2017 following his appointment as Managing Director, Bunnings Australia & New Zealand in March 2016. Prior to this, he led the store operations teams across Bunnings Australia and New Zealand, after joining Bunnings in 2005.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: In 1886, brothers Arthur and Robert Bunning left London to settle in Perth, and soon gained a government building contract, which led to the founding of a group of building companies which later became Bunning Bros Pty Ltd. They purchased their first sawmill the following year in the south west of Western Australia, and over the next few years, they concentrated more on sawmilling and timber distribution and less on building.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: The company expanded to include several new mills around Western Australia. In 1952, Bunnings became a public company, expanded into retailing and purchased several hardware stores. In 1970, Bunnings bought the merchandising and sawmilling operations of Hawker Siddeley. In 1983, it bought out Millars Timber & Trading Company and, in 1990, the Alco Handyman hardware operations. In 1993, Bunnings bought a company that operated Harry's and Lloyd's in South Australia, Campbell's in Queensland, and McEwans in Victoria and New South Wales. (This company had been spun off from Harris Scarfe in 1989). Many of the stores acquired were subsequently closed, with only the best-performing sites being retained.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: Bunnings Limited was bought out by Wesfarmers in 1994. In late-1995, the 'Red Hammer' symbol was introduced and is still in use today. In June 1996, the company's trademark slogan "Lowest Prices Are Just The Beginning" was introduced. In February 2020, the company discontinued the use of the slogan.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: After the acquisition, the first Bunnings Warehouse was opened in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine by Victorian premier Jeff Kennett and Joe Boros, the managing director of Bunnings. This was quickly followed by three other Melbourne stores. Subsequently, new warehouses have been opened, on average, every three months across Australia. Development in Sydney and Brisbane proved more difficult than in other areas, as large blocks of land in the metropolitan area were limited.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: In August 2001, Wesfarmers bought the Howard Smith Group, including BBC Hardware (previously Nock & Kirby) and big-box offshoot Hardwarehouse. This supplemented the Bunnings national network by several dozen stores, many of them large Hardwarehouse stores in Sydney, Brisbane and New Zealand. Hardwarehouse had been dominant in New South Wales and Queensland, but the purchase complemented Bunnings' prior domination in Victoria, where Hardwarehouse had only seven stores to Bunnings' twenty at the time of the buy-out. At the time of purchase, the market leader was Mitre 10 with a 12% market share, but the inclusion of the Hardwarehouse and BBC Hardware stores brought Bunnings market share to 13.5%.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: Hardwarehouse and BBC Hardware stores retained their branding for a year, while television advertisements were tagged with each of Bunnings Warehouse, Hardwarehouse and BBC Hardware during this transition period. Lower-volume stores were closed and, in 2002, the remaining Hardwarehouses were renamed Bunnings Warehouse.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: The Howard Smith Group purchase also included Benchmark Building Supplies, a New Zealand chain of 32 stores, including nine Auckland stores. These were also closed or rebranded as Bunnings by 2003. Until then, Bunnings had just three New Zealand stores. By 2008, it had 14 large warehouse stores in the country.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: From 2004 to 2008, Bunnings purchased and re-branded Mitre 10 stores in Griffith, Kempsey, Randwick and Wodonga, Magnet Mart in Griffith and a Mitre 10 Mega store in Modbury. In 2008 the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) looked into its acquisitions of five Mitre 10 stores, as it deemed the purchases would be anti-competitive. In February 2009, the ACCC allowed the purchases, finding that the acquisition of the Mitre 10 stores did not significantly alter the level of competition in the relevant market.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: Over time, some smaller-format Bunnings stores have gradually been closed. However, six new stores were opened in Victoria in 2015, mainly in smaller regional markets and inner-suburban areas.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: In mid-May 2020, Bunnings announced it would close seven stores in New Zealand in Ashburton, Hornby, Hastings, Cambridge, Rangiora, Te Awamutu, and Putāruru with the loss of 145 jobs as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. This left Bunnings with 41 New Zealand stores, including 12 in Auckland.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: In Australia, Bunnings unsuccessfully lobbied the Victorian state government to exempt its 168 stores from closure during the second Melbourne lockdown. However the company was allowed to continue fulfilling online orders, and subsequently its online business expanded and grew due to continuing demand despite various periods of restrictions around the country.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: In 2021 the ACCC ruled that the purchase of Beaumont Tiles outlets would not reduce competition as Bunnings was not currently in the field in a big way. Bunnings has said it will continue to run Beaumont Tiles the way it has been and with the same management team.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: In November 2021, both Bunnings and Officeworks partnered with the Flybuys Loyalty program to allow customers to collect points at both stores.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: Since the development of the Bunnings Warehouse stores, three general operational formats exist Bunnings Small-format Store (SFS), Bunnings Warehouse (WH) and Bunnings Trade Centre (TC). The smaller "Bunnings" stores stock a more limited range of hardware, whereas the larger "Bunnings Warehouses" contain a more comprehensive hardware range and garden supplies, including plants. The big box format accounts for 167 stores of the network of 280.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: Bunnings Warehouse offers a variety of additional services, both in-home and in-store. The in-home services are mainly installations, assembling, quotes and consultancy for multiple products. The in-store services include a hire shop, spare parts enquiry, colour matching, key cutting, pool water testing and gas swapping.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: Bunnings also provides gardening, craft, and woodwork do it yourself (DIY) workshops for children in-store, as well as for other groups in schools, nursing homes, and hospitals. The Bunnings staff are available to community groups for assistance with DIY projects.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: On weekends (and weekdays at some sites), Bunnings outlets regularly host sausage sizzles and cake stalls for community groups and causes. It has become an intrinsic part of the Bunnings Warehouse brand, and iconic in Australian culture.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: In 2018, chief operating officer Debbie Poole sparked a public debate when she suggested "onion be placed underneath sausages to help prevent the onion from falling out and creating a slipping hazard”. She insisted it would not "impact the delicious taste or great feeling you get when supporting your local community group".


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: Bunnings reported AU$16.871 billion in revenue for the fiscal year 2020–2021, which was a 12.5% revenue growth from the 2019–2020 fiscal year, where Bunnings reported AU$14.999 billion in revenue.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: In February 2016, Bunnings' parent company Wesfarmers bought the United Kingdom-based hardware chain Homebase for £340 million. The chain's 265 stores in the UK and 15 in Ireland were intended to be rebranded with the Bunnings name within five years. The first Bunnings store in the UK was opened at the end of January 2017 in St Albans, four months later than planned to ensure the adopted format was suited to the UK public. The company planned to use that store as a test model prior to fine-tuning and expanding in that region. In April 2017, they bought a former B&Q store in Folkestone to be the fifth Bunnings store in the UK.


title: Bunnings Warehouse

text: On 25 May 2018, after mounting losses, Wesfarmers sold the UK and Ireland Bunnings/Homebase operation to Hilco for a nominal sum of £1. The 24 stores already rebranded as Bunnings reverted to the Homebase name, with some later closing under an agreed company voluntary arrangement. The failure of Bunnings in the UK and Ireland has been called "the most disastrous retail acquisition in the UK ever".


title: Ferrari F355

text: The Ferrari F355 (Type F129) is a sports car manufactured by Italian car manufacturer Ferrari produced from May 1994 to 1999. The car is a heavily revised Ferrari 348 with notable exterior and performance changes. The F355 was succeeded by the all-new Ferrari 360 in 1999.


title: Ferrari F355

text: Design emphasis for the F355 was placed on significantly improved performance, as well as drivability across a wider range of speeds and in different environments (such as low-speed city traffic).


title: Ferrari F355

text: Apart from the displacement increase from to , the major difference between the V8 engine in the 348 and F355 is the introduction of a 5-valve cylinder head. This new head design allowed for better intake permeability and resulted in an engine that was considerably more powerful, generating a maximum power output at 8,250 rpm and of at 6,000 rpm. The longitudinally mounted 90° V8 engine was stroked by 2 mm over the 348's engine (77 mm rather than 75 mm), resulting in the small increase in displacement. Engine internals are produced using lightweight materials; the connecting rods are forged in Ti6-Al-4V titanium alloy. The engine's compression ratio is 11:1 and employs the Bosch Motronic 2.7 engine control unit in the 1995 model year, later changed to the M5.2 in 1996 through end of production. The Motronic system controls the electronic fuel injection and ignition systems, with a single spark plug per cylinder. Engine lubrication is via a dry sump oiling system. The engine was designed by Paolo Martinelli.


title: Ferrari F355

text: The F355 addressed transmission issues that plagued the earlier models. A coolant heat-exchanger was installed which upon startup, warmed the gearbox oil quicker. A rod-driven actuation system, which replaces the 348's cable operated system, was also added for precise gear shifts.


title: Ferrari F355

text: The frame is a steel monocoque with tubular steel rear sub-frame with front and rear suspensions using independent, unequal-length wishbones, coil springs over gas-filled telescopic shock absorbers with electronic control servos and anti-roll bars. The car allows selection between two damper settings, "Comfort" and "Sport". The road-going models came with Pirelli tyres, size 225/40ZR 18 at the front and 265/40 ZR 18 at the rear. Although the F355 was equipped with power-assisted steering (intended to improve low-speed drivability relative to the outgoing 348), this could optionally be replaced with a manual steering rack setup by special order.


title: Ferrari F355

text: Aerodynamics for the car included over 1,300 hours of wind tunnel analysis. The car incorporates a nolder profile on the upper portion of the tail and a fairing on the underbody that generates downforce when the car is at speed.


title: Ferrari F355

text: The car's standard seats are upholstered with hides from Connolly leather, and are fitted asymmetrically in the car; this results in the driver being slightly closer to the car's centerline than the passenger.


title: Ferrari F355

text: At launch, the only model available was the Berlinetta. The Spider (convertible version), and the GTS (targa top model) were introduced in 1995. In 1997, the Formula One-style electrohydraulic-operated automated manual paddle-shift transmission was introduced and the cars equipped with this transmission were called 355 F1. The F355 was the last in the series of mid-engine Ferrari models with the Flying Buttress rear window, a lineage going back to the 1965 Dino 206 GT, unveiled at the Paris Auto Show.


title: Ferrari F355

text: The nomenclature does not follow the formula from the previous decades, i.e., engine capacity (in litres) followed by the number of cylinders (e.g. 246 = 2.4 litres, 6 cylinders, 308 = 3.0 litres, 8 cylinders, etc.). In naming the F355, Ferrari used engine capacity followed by the number of valves per cylinder (355 = 3.5 litre engine capacity and 5 valves per cylinder) to bring the performance advances introduced by a 5-valve per cylinder configuration into the forefront.


title: Ferrari F355

text: The Berlinetta was introduced in May 1994, as the first in a successful series of F355 models. Initially, the 6-speed manual was the only transmission available. However, in 1997, the Berlinetta was the first-ever road car to be equipped with the innovative F1-style gearbox management system. Derived directly from Formula 1, where it made its debut in 1989 resulting in a win at the Brazilian Grand Prix, the electro-hydraulic system was operated by paddles behind the steering wheel using the F355's conventional 6-speed manual gearbox. The new transmission guaranteed faster gear changes, with the additional advantage that both of the driver's hands could stay on the wheel at all times.


title: Ferrari F355

text: Ferrari produced 4,871 road-going Berlinetta models during the entire production run, of which 3,829 were equipped with the 6-speed manual and 1,042 with "F1" transmissions.


title: Ferrari F355

text: The F355 Spider debuted in 1995, its Pininfarina-penned lines honed by 1,800 hours in the wind tunnel, resulted in a blend of elegant style and aerodynamic performance. For the first time on a Ferrari automobile, the automated manual soft-top was powered electronically. Initially, the Spider was offered with the 6-speed manual transmission. In 1997, the Spider was offered with the "F1" transmission available as an option. The Spider proved to be the second-most popular F355 model, with a total production of 3,717 units, of which 2,664 were produced with the 6-speed manual transmission and 1,053 were produced with the "F1" transmission.


title: Ferrari F355

text: In 1995, Ferrari introduced the GTS model to the F355 family. The GTS model was based on the Berlinetta but offered a removable "targa-style" hardtop roof, which could be stored behind the seats. Other specifications were identical to the Berlinetta. A total of 2,577 GTS models were produced, with 2,048 delivered with the 6-speed manual transmission and another 529 with the "F1" transmission.


title: Ferrari F355

text: In 1995, Ferrari introduced a race-ready F355 Challenge model for use specifically in the Ferrari Challenge race series. The Ferrari F355 Challenge model was developed by starting with a standard Ferrari F355 Berlinetta and modifying it with a US$30,000 factory-to-dealer supplied kit. The initial 1995 cars came with factory fitted cage mounts and without carpets. Each year, the cars arrived with more and more factory fitted race parts, culminating in 1998 with full-evolution cars which were supplied as virtually complete race cars except for some parts such as the rear wing, which still needed to be fitted by the dealer.


title: Ferrari F355

text: The kit initially was more substantial than the 348 Challenge and the engine, gearbox, and shock-absorbers were sealed with special tags to prevent unauthorized modifications. The kit included the following components/modifications:


title: Ferrari F355

text: The F355 Challenge shares the same engine and physical dimensions as the standard F355 Berlinetta. 108 cars in total were produced, all of which were equipped with the 6-speed manual transmission. Although some sources indicate that over 300 cars were subject to the Challenge conversion, yet this claim remains unproven. There were 18 RHD cars imported by Ferrari UK and modified by MHT. A further 10 were sold to the rest of the RHD markets. Making the total number to only 28 RHD models. These RHD models become extremely rare and valuable. Some of these rare cars are located in Indonesia, Australia, Japan, and only one known example in South Africa. Each F355 Challenge has an emblem on the rear that specifically denotes the "F355 Challenge."


title: Ferrari F355

text: For the 1999 model year, Ferrari introduced a limited production of F355 Spider models designated, "Serie Fiorano". Launched in March 1999, this limited production run of 100 planned units (104 actually produced) included a number of enhancements increasing the track performance much closer to the Challenge versions:


title: Ferrari F355

text: There were 100 Serie Fiorano units delivered to the U.S. market, 74 with the "F1" paddle-shift transmission and 26 with the 6-speed manual. An additional 4 units were produced beyond the planned production for the U.S., with only 3 European models and one unit destined for South Africa. The American units were delivered with a numbered plaque affixed to the dashboard while the 3 Fioranos delivered to Europe had no numbered plaque.


title: Ferrari F355

text: Total production of 11,273 units made the F355 the most-produced Ferrari at the time. This sales record would be surpassed by its successor, the 360 and later, the F430.


title: Ferrari F355

text: In November 2009, Ferrari recalled about 2,400 1995–99 355s and 355F1s in the United States because of improperly placed screw clamps that could damage the fuel-supply pipes and allow fuel to leak into the engine compartment. Ferrari learned of the problem when it was sued over a fire involving an injury to a driver.


title: Ferrari F355

text: In the 1995 James Bond film "Goldeneye", femme fatale Xenia Onatopp races in a Ferrari F355 with James Bond in an Aston Martin DB5 in the hills above Monte Carlo.


title: Ferrari F355

text: In the 1996 action film "The Rock", an FBI agent commandeers a Ferrari F355 and pursues an escaped prisoner driving a stolen Humvee through the streets of San Francisco.


title: Ferrari F355

text: The music video of the single "Araba" by Turkish singer Mustafa Sandal featured a Ferrari F355, racing through Istanbul against a canoe racer on the Bosphorus.


title: Ferrari F355

text: The music video for "Got the Life" by Korn featured the F355 F1 Spider in the opening and throughout the video, ultimately driving it into a water run-off area resulting in its explosion.


title: Ferrari F355

text: The F355's racing variant, the F355 Challenge appears as the main playable car in the Sega video game of the same name, which was developed by Sega AM2 and published for the arcades and later the Dreamcast, and later the PlayStation 2 following Sega's decision to quit making consoles after the Dreamcast's failure to focus on becoming a software company. The Ferrari F355 also appears in a few video games such as "", "Forza", "Supercar Challenge", as well as "Project CARS 2".


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer, as well as certain officials such as some judges and members of the Scottish gentry. These styles are used "by courtesy" in the sense that persons referred to by these titles do not themselves hold substantive titles. There are several different kinds of courtesy titles in the British peerage system.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: If a peer of one of the top three ranks of the peerage (a duke, marquess or earl) has more than one title, his eldest son – himself not a peer – may use one of his father's lesser titles "by courtesy". However, the father continues to be the substantive holder of the peerage title, and the son is only using the title by courtesy, unless issued a writ of acceleration. The eldest son of the eldest son of a duke or marquess may use a still lower title, if one exists. In legal documents, the courtesy title is implied but not used directly, e.g. the name of the person is given then "commonly called [title]".


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: For example, the Duke of Norfolk is also the Earl of Arundel and Baron Maltravers. His eldest son is therefore styled "Earl of Arundel" (without the definite article "The" which indicates a substantive title). Lord Arundel's eldest son (should he have one during his father's lifetime) would be styled "Lord Maltravers". However, only the Duke of Norfolk is actually a peer; his son Lord Arundel and his hypothetical grandson Lord Maltravers are not.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: Courtesy titles are only used by the peer's eldest living son, and the eldest son's eldest living son, and so forth. Other descendants are not permitted to use the peer's subsidiary titles. Only the heir apparent (and heir apparent to the heir apparent, and so on) may use them. An heir presumptive (e.g., a brother, nephew, or cousin) does not use a courtesy title. However, Scottish practice allows the style "Master/Mistress of X" to an heir presumptive as well as to an heir apparent; for example, the brother of the present Marquess of Tweeddale, Lord Alistair Hay, has the title "Master of Tweeddale".


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: Holders of courtesy titles do not, at the Court of St James's, have their title preceded by the definite article "The": e.g., 'Earl of Arundel' rather than 'the Earl of Arundel'.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: Wives are entitled to use the feminine form of their husbands' courtesy titles. Thus, the wife of an Earl of Arundel would be styled "Countess of Arundel" (again, without the article).


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The children (either male or female) of holders of courtesy titles bear the styles as would be theirs if their fathers actually held the peerages by which they were known: e.g., Serena Stanhope, daughter of Viscount Petersham (heir to the Earl of Harrington) had the style of The Honourable, which is reserved for daughters of viscounts and barons, a title which her father only held by courtesy.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The actual courtesy title which is used is a matter of family tradition. For instance, the eldest son of The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry is styled "Earl of Dalkeith", even though the duke is also The Marquess of Dumfriesshire, a title which outranks the earldom. Similarly, the eldest son of The Marquess of Londonderry is styled "Viscount Castlereagh", even though the marquess is also The Earl Vane.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: Titles with the same name as a peer's main title are not used as courtesy titles. For instance, The Duke of Westminster is also The Marquess of Westminster and The Earl Grosvenor (amongst other titles). The duke's heir apparent (when there is one) is not styled "Marquess of Westminster", which would cause confusion between the son and the father, and so is styled "Earl Grosvenor" instead.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The title used does not have to be exactly equivalent to the actual peerage. For example, the eldest son of The Duke of Wellington is usually styled "Marquess "of" Douro", although the actual peerage possessed by his father is Marquess Douro (not "of" Douro).


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: If a peer of the rank of earl or above does not have any subsidiary titles of a name different from his main title, his eldest son usually uses an invented courtesy title of "Lord [Surname]". For instance, the eldest son of The Earl of Devon is styled "Lord Courtenay", even though the Earl has no barony of that name; similarly, the eldest son of The Earl of Guilford is styled "Lord North". The eldest son of The Earl of Huntingdon, who has no subsidiary titles, is styled "Viscount Hastings" to avoid confusion with The Lord Hastings, a substantive peer. The heir of The Earl Castle Stewart uses the style "Viscount Stewart" in order to avoid confusion with Lord Stewart, the eldest son of Viscount Castlereagh (the eldest son of The Marquess of Londonderry).


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The honorific courtesy style of "Lord" before the given name is accorded to younger sons of dukes and marquesses. The style is always added before the person's given name and surname, as in the example of Lord Randolph Churchill, although conversational usage drops the surname on secondary reference. It is never used before the person's surname alone, and is not considered a 'title' under peerage law.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The title persists after the death of the holder's father, but is not inherited by any of his children. The wife of the holder is entitled to the feminine form of her husband's style, which takes the form of "Lady", followed by her husband's given name and surname, as in the example of Lady Randolph Churchill. The holder is addressed as "Lord Randolph" and his wife as "Lady Randolph".


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The honorific courtesy style of "Lady" is used for the daughters of dukes, marquesses, and earls. The courtesy title is added before the person's given name, as in the examples Lady Diana Spencer and Lady Henrietta Waldegrave. Because it is merely a courtesy with no legal implications, the honorific persists after the death of the holder's father but it is not inherited by her children. The courtesy style is never used immediately before the surname alone.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The honorific "Lady" is also used before the first name of Ladies Companion of the Order of the Garter and Ladies of the Order of the Thistle who do not hold another title or style.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The spouse of a woman with a courtesy style does not hold any courtesy style in right of their spouse; neither does the husband of a person with "any" style or title (including the husband of a peer).


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The younger sons of earls, along with all sons and daughters of viscounts, barons and lords of parliament are accorded the courtesy style of "The Honourable" before their name; one example is Vita Sackville-West. This is usually abbreviated to "The Hon." The style persists after the death of the holder's father, but it may not be inherited by the holder's children. It is used only in third person reference, not in speaking to the person.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The daughter of a duke, marquess, or earl who marries an untitled man becomes "Lady ["Given name"] ["Husband's surname"]"; an example from fiction is Lady Catherine de Bourgh in "Pride and Prejudice", who married the untitled knight (or baronet) Sir Louis de Bourgh and therefore retains her courtesy style. The daughter of a viscount or baron who marries a commoner is styled "The Honourable ["Given name"] ["Husband's surname"]".


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: Any woman who marries a peer uses the feminine version of his peerage title, even if her own precedence is higher than his, as in the case of a duke's daughter marrying a baron, because a peerage is a substantive title, the usage of which is preferred to any courtesy style – unless she marries into the Royal Family. If a woman marries the younger son of a duke or marquess, she becomes "Lady ["Husband's given name"] ["Husband's surname"]." If she marries the younger son of an earl, eldest or younger son of viscount or baron, she becomes "The Hon. Mrs ["Husband's given name"] ["Husband's surname"]."


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: In case of a divorce, she may keep the same style as during marriage or she may choose to assume the style "Mrs ["Given name"] ["Husband's surname"]." Regardless of what she chooses, she loses all precedence acquired from marriage and because of the former option, there can be multiple "Lady John Smiths".


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: Until 2004, children who had been adopted by peers had no right to any courtesy title. Pursuant to a Royal Warrant dated 30 April 2004, these children are now automatically entitled to the same styles and courtesy titles as their siblings. However, unlike biological children, they cannot inherit peerages from their parent (and thus, since they cannot be heirs, if a peer adopts a son and he is the oldest son, he would use the styles of younger sons). For example, actress Nimmy March, the daughter of The Duke and Duchess of Richmond, was immediately elevated to Lady Naomi Gordon-Lennox on 30 April 2004.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: Occasionally, a peer succeeds to a peerage upon the death of a relative who is not one of his or her parents. When this happens, the relatives of the new peer may be allowed to use the courtesy titles or styles which would have been accorded them if the new peer had succeeded a parent or grandparent in the title.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: For instance, Rupert Ponsonby, 7th Baron de Mauley, succeeded his uncle in 2002. His brother George had no title, as their father was only the younger son of a peer and was never actually Baron de Mauley. However, in 2003, George was granted, by Warrant of Precedence from Queen Elizabeth II, the style and precedence that would have been his, had his father survived to inherit the barony, becoming "The Honourable George Ponsonby". Precedence in such circumstances is usually granted but is not automatic.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The wife of a substantive peer is legally entitled to the privileges of peerage: she is said to have a "life estate" in her husband's dignity. Thus a duke's wife is titled a "duchess", a marquess's wife a "marchioness", an earl's wife a "countess", a viscount's wife a "viscountess" and a baron's wife a "baroness". Despite being referred to as a "peeress", she is not a peer in her own right. However, this is considered a legal title, unlike the social titles of a peer's children.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The wives of eldest sons of peers hold their titles on the same basis as their husbands, i.e. by courtesy. Thus the wife of the Marquess of Douro is known as the "Marchioness of Douro".


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: In the case of a woman who is a substantive peer in her own right, by succession or by first creation (i.e. ennoblement, most commonly in recent times under the Life Peerages Act 1958), her husband acquires no distinction in right of his wife. Thus, the husband of The Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone has no courtesy title; he was simply called "Mr Peter Bottomley" until he was knighted and became "Sir Peter Bottomley".


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: In 2012, Conservative MP Oliver Colvile put forward a Ten Minute Rule bill to allow the spouse of a woman who holds an honour, if he or she enters civil partnership or marriage, to assume the title "The Honourable". This bill stalled, and was not passed by the end of the Parliament. In 2013, there was a private member's bill in the House of Lords introduced by Conservative excepted hereditary peer Lord Lucas to the same affect which was similarly not passed.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: If a prince or peer dies, his wife's style does not change unless the new peer is a married man (or a woman, if the succession permits); traditionally the widowed peeress puts "Dowager" in her style, i.e. "The Most Hon. The Marchioness of London" becomes "The Most Hon. The Dowager Marchioness of London."


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: If a widowed peeress's son predeceases her, her daughter-in-law does not use the title of Dowager, but is styled, e.g. "The Most Hon. Mary, Marchioness of London", until her mother-in-law dies, at which point she may use the title of "Dowager Marchioness". In more recent times, some widows choose to be styled with their Christian names, instead of as Dowager, e.g. "Octavia, Lady Baden-Powell" ("Lady Octavia Baden-Powell" would incorrectly imply she was the daughter of a duke, marquess or earl).


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: It used to be customary for women with higher titles from one marriage to retain them even on subsequent remarriage. As Lord Macnaughten put it in the case of "Earl Cowley v Countess Cowley" [1901] AC 450: ""...everybody knows that it is a very common practice for peeresses (not being peeresses in their own right) after marrying commoners to retain the title lost by such marriage. It is not a matter of right. It is merely a matter of courtesy, and allowed by the usages of society."" The divorce court, in the above case, granted the earl an injunction preventing his former wife from using his title; however this was overturned by the Court of Appeal, whose decision was confirmed by the House of Lords, on the grounds that ordinary courts of law lacked any jurisdiction in matters of honour.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The same practice was followed by widows who remarried. A prominent example was Catherine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII, who continued to be known as Queen Catherine even after her marriage to The Lord Seymour of Sudeley (and, indeed, she disputed precedence with the wife of her brother-in-law the Duke of Somerset on this basis). This usage died out later in the twentieth century, and women who remarry now ordinarily take a new married name and do not retain their former title.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The College of Arms, acting on an opinion of the Lord Chancellor, holds that divorced peeresses "cannot claim the privileges or status of Peeresses which they derived from their husbands". While a divorced former wife of a peer is no longer a peeress, she may still use the title, styled with her forename prefixed to the title (without the definite article, "the"). Her forename is used primarily to differentiate her from any new wife of her former husband. However, should the former husband remain unmarried, the former wife may continue to use the title without her forename attached. Should a former wife of a peer remarry, she would lose the style of a divorced peeress and take on a style relating to her new husband.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: On 21 August 1996 letters patent changed titles of divorced wives of British princes, depriving their former wives of the style of Royal Highness. For this reason "Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales" after divorce became Diana, Princess of Wales. The same happened to "Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York" who became Sarah, Duchess of York.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: Laird is a courtesy title which applies to the owner of certain long-established Scottish estates; the title being attached to the estate. Traditionally, a laird is formally styled in the manner evident on the 1730 tombstone in a Scottish "kirkyard" (churchyard). It reads: "The Much Honoured ["Forename" (John)] ["Surname" (Grant)] Laird of ["Lairdship" (Glenmoriston)]". The section titled "Scottish Feudal Baronies" in Debrett's states that the use of the prefix "The Much Hon." is "correct", but that "most lairds prefer the unadorned name and territorial designation". The wife of a Laird is traditionally accorded the courtesy title of Lady.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: A form of courtesy title granted is the suffix of "The Younger" (also written as Yr or yr) at the end of the name. This title is granted to the Heir Apparent of a Feudal Baron and is placed at the end of his or her name (example— John Smith of Edinburgh, Younger, or John Smith, Younger of Edinburgh). The wife of a Younger may herself place the title at the end of her name. The holder is addressed as the younger (example—The Younger of Edinburgh).


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The courtesy prefix of "Maid" is granted to the eldest daughter of a Feudal Baron. If the eldest daughter is also the heir presumptive she may either hold the title "Younger" or the title "Maid". The title is customary and not automatically given. The title is placed at the end of the name (example—Miss Alice Joy, Maid of Newcastle). The holder is addressed as "The Maid of Barony".


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The courtesy titles and styles of children of peers are social, not legal. For this reason, in official documents, Lord John Smith is often referred to as "John Smith, Esq., commonly called Lord John Smith"; The Hon. Mrs Smith would be called "Mary Jane, Mrs Smith, commonly called The Hon. Mary Jane Smith". Only peers in attendance at Parliament enjoy statutory precedence. There is, however, official precedence accorded at the Court of St James's that results from being the wife or child of a peer, and to which social styles are attached. The wives of peers, however, are peeresses and legally enjoy their titles in exactly the same manner as peeresses in their own right.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: Children of peers can outrank certain actual peers. For instance, the daughter of a duke outranks a countess. However, if the daughter of a duke marries an earl, she drops to the rank of countess, because her courtesy title is subsumed in his substantive title. But, if that same daughter marries a commoner, she retains her rank. If that daughter marries the eldest son of an earl, though he may be a courtesy peer, she may keep her rank until the son inherits the earldom, when she must drop to the rank of countess.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: Following the creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the first Justices of that Court held life peerages, and continued to hold them. However, the Government has announced that future appointees will not be created peers, and the first non-peer appointed to the Court was Sir John Dyson. In order to avoid any distinction between the Scottish Justices of the Court (who receive a judicial title), by Royal Warrant dated 10 December 2010, all Justices of the Supreme Court not holding a peerage are entitled to a judicial title, and retain the style (a courtesy title) for life. Thus, Sir John Dyson is now styled as "Lord Dyson" (instead of "The Lord Dyson"). Wives of male justices not holding a peerage are styled as if they were wives of peers.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: In Scotland, Senators of the College of Justice (judges who sit in the Court of Session) use the title Lord or Lady along with a surname or a territorial name. All Senators of the College have the honorific The Honourable before their titles, while those who are also Privy Counsellors or peers have the honorific The Right Honourable. Senators are made Privy Counsellors upon promotion to the Inner House. For example, Alexander Wylie is known as "The Honourable Lord Kinclaven", whilst Ronald Mackay is known as "The Right Honourable Lord Eassie". Some Senators also hold peerage titles, such as The Rt Hon. The Lady Clark of Calton, and these would be used in place of judicial titles.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The title of "Doctor" (or the abbreviation "Dr") is used as a courtesy title in a number of fields by professionals who do not hold doctoral degrees. It is commonly used in this manner by qualified medical practitioners (except surgeons) and by qualified dentists. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons also allows the use of "Doctor" as a courtesy title by its members though they must make clear in writing that they are vets and not medical doctors or holders of research degrees to ensure the public are not misled.


title: Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom

text: The title of "Captain" is used as a courtesy title by shipmasters in the merchant navy who do not hold the military rank of captain. It is also used in oral address for naval officers below the rank of captain who are in command of a ship.


title: Top Chef: Houston

text: Top Chef: Houston is the nineteenth season of the American reality television series "Top Chef". It was first announced by Bravo and NBCUniversal on September 21, 2021. The competition was filmed in Houston, Texas, which was not featured during the series' , as well as Galveston Island. The season finale took place in Tucson, Arizona. The winner received .


title: Top Chef: Houston

text: Filming in Houston covered roughly five weeks, beginning in late September 2021 and completing at the end of October. The same COVID-19 protocols used for "" remained in effect, requiring frequent tests for the coronavirus and masks to be worn by production staff. The campaign to promote Houston as the next location for "Top Chef" was led by Houston First, who showed off the city to Magical Elves Productions and helped scout for potential sites to highlight during the season. The set for the show was constructed at the NRG Arena. Filming for the final two episodes in Tucson was completed in November 2021, with Visit Tucson offering to cover production and relocation costs.


title: Top Chef: Houston

text: A variation of "Top Chef: Portland" alumni judging panel was implemented. In each episode, the trio of Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, and Gail Simmons were joined by a former "Top Chef" competitor, along with a local or nationally acclaimed chef as a guest judge. In addition to the returning "Last Chance Kitchen", a new web series titled "Top Recipe" was released each week, which featured "Top Chef" alum Dale Talde demonstrating how to cook winning Quickfire and Elimination Challenge dishes from the season.


title: Top Chef: Houston

text: "Top Chef: Houston" premiered on March 3, 2022, and concluded on June 2, 2022. In the season finale, Buddha Lo was declared the winner over runners-up Evelyn Garcia and Sarah Welch. Damarr Brown was voted Fan Favorite.


title: Top Chef: Houston

text: Fifteen chefs were selected to compete in "Top Chef: Houston". One contestant, Jackson Kalb, was notable for contracting COVID-19 a few weeks before the show began filming. While Kalb did not lose his spot among the cast, he ended up having to compete without his sense of taste or smell.


title: Roland

text: Roland (; ; or "Rotholandus"; or "Rolando"; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was military governor of the Breton March, responsible for defending Francia's frontier against the Bretons. His only historical attestation is in Einhard's "Vita Karoli Magni", which notes he was part of the Frankish rearguard killed in retribution by the Basques in Iberia at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass.


title: Roland

text: The story of Roland's death at Roncevaux Pass was embellished in later medieval and Renaissance literature. The first and most famous of these epic treatments was the Old French "Chanson de Roland" of the 11th century.


title: Roland

text: Two masterpieces of Italian Renaissance poetry, the "Orlando Innamorato" and "Orlando Furioso" (by Matteo Maria Boiardo and Ludovico Ariosto respectively), are even further detached from history than the earlier "Chansons", similarly to the later "Morgante" by Luigi Pulci. Roland is poetically associated with his sword Durendal, his horse Veillantif, and his oliphant horn.


title: Roland

text: In the late 17th century, French Baroque composer Jean-Baptiste Lully wrote an opera titled "Roland", based on the story of the title character.


title: Roland

text: The only historical mention of the actual Roland is in the "Vita Karoli Magni" by Charlemagne's courtier and biographer Einhard. Einhard refers to him as "Hruodlandus Brittannici limitis praefectus" ("Roland, prefect of the borders of Brittany"), indicating that he presided over the Breton March, Francia's border territory against the Bretons. The passage, which appears in Chapter 9, mentions that "Hroudlandus" (a Latinization of the Frankish "*Hrōþiland", from "*hrōþi", "praise"/"fame" and *"land", "country") was among those killed in the Battle of Roncevaux Pass:


title: Roland

text: Roland was evidently the first official appointed to direct Frankish policy in Breton affairs, as local Franks under the Merovingian dynasty had not previously pursued any specific relationship with the Bretons. Their frontier castle districts such as Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine, south of Mont Saint-Michel, are now divided between Normandy and Brittany. The distinctive culture of this region preserves the present-day Gallo language and legends of local heroes such as Roland. Roland's successor in "Brittania Nova" was Guy of Nantes, who like Roland, was unable to exert Frankish expansion over Brittany and merely sustained a Breton presence in the Carolingian Empire.


title: Roland

text: According to legend, Roland was laid to rest in the basilica at Blaye, near Bordeaux, on the site of the citadel.