Farming Systems, Climate & Environment

Whole-farm systems, sustainability, climate impacts and environmental effects.

This field looks at agriculture as a whole system rather than one crop or animal at a time: how farming systems are designed and how they perform economically, socially and environmentally. It compares conventional, integrated, organic and agroecological approaches, as well as agroforestry and mixed crop-livestock systems.

It also covers the relationship between agriculture and the environment in both directions - how climate change affects agricultural production, and how agriculture affects greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity and water and soil quality, including environmental effects of pesticides.

Studying farming systems, climate & environment

Degree programs in this subject often run under these names:

What you typically learn

  • Whole-farm and cropping system design
  • Conventional, integrated, organic and agroecological approaches side by side
  • Climate impacts and adaptation in agriculture
  • Agriculture and biodiversity, water and emissions
  • Sustainability assessment
  • Farm business and policy context

Where graduates typically work

  • Sustainability and certification bodies
  • Farm advisory and extension
  • Environmental and climate programs in agriculture
  • NGOs and development organizations
  • Farm management
  • Research on farming systems

Curricula differ by country and institution - the program pages linked below have the details.

Where to study farming systems, climate & environment

127 programs in 50 countries. See all 127 programs

Where research is heading

Typical research questions

  • How will climate change affect yields in different regions, and how can farming adapt?
  • How do different farming systems compare on yield, income and environmental impact?
  • How can greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture be measured and reduced?
  • What are the environmental effects of pesticides beyond the target organism?

Publications per year

Papers whose main topic belongs to this field, 2010–2025.

0 20k 40k2010: 16,42620102011: 17,3842012: 20,0192013: 19,4842014: 20,9082015: 21,57520152016: 22,0372017: 22,0642018: 23,4742019: 24,5272020: 24,15920202021: 23,3862022: 22,2712023: 23,1922024: 26,3872025: 31,6652025

Research fronts: fastest-growing topics

Papers 2024–2025 compared with 2021–2022, topics with at least 500 recent papers.

Topic2021–20222024–2025Change
Agroforestry and silvopastoral systems[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]2,0223,338+65%
Plant and soil sciences[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]1,3212,036+54%
Climate change impacts on agriculture[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]9,01613,710+52%
Agricultural Systems and Practices[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]614933+52%
Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Agriculture[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]9231,360+47%
Sustainable Agricultural Systems Analysis[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]2,6573,792+43%

Largest topics

By number of papers 2024–2025.

  1. Climate change impacts on agriculture[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 13,710
  2. Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 10,839
  3. Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 6,423
  4. Organic Food and Agriculture[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 5,034
  5. Pesticide Exposure and Toxicity[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 4,647
  6. Pesticide and Herbicide Environmental Studies[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 4,069

Highly cited recent papers

Most-cited articles and reviews published 2024–2025. Citation counts favor reviews and papers published early in the window.

  1. A comprehensive review on environmental and human health impacts of chemical pesticide usage Wei Zhou, Mengmeng Li, Varenyam Achal · Emerging contaminants · 2024 · 648 citations · Open access
  2. RETRACTED: Pesticides impacts on human health and the environment with their mechanisms of action and possible countermeasures Md Faruque Ahmad, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, Abdulrahman Ahmed Alsayegh et al. · Heliyon · 2024 · 637 citations · Open access
  3. Climate change exacerbates the environmental impacts of agriculture Yi Yang, David G. Tilman, Zhenong Jin et al. · Science · 2024 · 566 citations · Open access
  4. The EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy, sustainable, and just food systems Johan Rockström, Shakuntala H. Thilsted, Walter Churchill Willett et al. · The Lancet · 2025 · 503 citations · Open access
  5. Pesticides: An alarming detrimental to health and environment Rajwinder Kaur, Diksha Choudhary, Samriddhi Bali et al. · The Science of The Total Environment · 2024 · 399 citations
  6. Impacts of climate change on global agriculture accounting for adaptation Andrew Hultgren, Tamma A. Carleton, Michael Delgado et al. · Nature · 2025 · 374 citations · Open access

All study programs in farming systems, climate & environment

All study programs