Tag: sea buckthorn

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The Trials of Mother Nature

britishseabuckthorn

In June 2017 we were preparing for our potential first harvest of Siberian sea buckthorn. There were berries on almost all bushes, three to four kilos on some varieties – between eight and ten on variety Chuiskaya. Brix measurements started on June 22nd had figures of 6.5 to 10.5, with each variety jumping into double figures by the end of the month. The problem was that we had no means of harvesting the berries fast enough.

A trip to Siberia in September, then Warsaw to the Euroworks conference provided the opportunity to dissect the issues from harvest 2017. It seemed that the evidence was there that we could grow a good crop of berries – all we needed to do was develop a viable harvesting system.

Good fortune struck again with a trials harvesting equipment designer being based no more than 30 miles from our farm. Added to this, a grant application to fund 40% of the costs of the design and build was accepted.

What could possibly go wrong, harvest 2018 looked like being the culmination of nine years of work.

On March 17th the snow began – a storm now called the “Beast from the East”. The following days of snow and bitterly cold weather ran into what was pollination time for the sea buckthorn.

Sea buckthorn are wind pollinated, so male plants release pollen to be carried by the wind to receptive females.

The weather was cold and the wind was bitter. Of course the plants come from Siberia, where the weather is far more extreme. But our Siberian plants have adapted to our mild coastal climate in Britain. In their native environment they would emerge from winter in April/May. Our first plants start to emerge from dormancy in January, developing into full leaf by March. This development process triggers the development of pollination in mid March – just at the time when the Beast struck.

Hence the weather disrupted pollination. There are some berries on varieties Altaiskaya and Klaudia, but Chuiskaya plants– which were heaviest in yield in 2017,  now carry little more than 200 grams each.

This is the nature of farming, but in terms of timing this situation is an unprecedented setback.

Being positive the harvesting system is almost completed and the 200-300kg of what is left of the crop will be enough to test the equipment.

We are trying to irrigate some plants to see if it will improve the berry size. We will also be picking at different stages of ripeness to find the optimum brix measurement for the best taste. Waiting for full ripeness leads to falling vitamin levels and characteristic sharpness. We need to find a taste that is full of balanced flavour.

We have also tried digging up some of the suckers from Altaiskaya variety to pot on and use as replacement plants. Even though we used a mycorrhizal powder the result was a complete failure. The plants once potted died within ten days showing no recovery. It was worth trying, but we will look to buying in 2 year old plants from Siberia again when we expand the orchard.

Although it has been disappointing the vision of the 2017 crop is still firmly in our minds. The purchase of a ladurna cultivator for weeding; a mower and a tractor mounted sprayer for applying foliar feeds, and a harvesting system are all promising success to the future. It will just have to be 2019 not 2018 – learning by experience is often bitter, but are lessons well learnt.

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Soil Nutrients and Berry Nutrients

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The winter of 2018 has been a marked change from the norm of almost all the winters since we planted our first sea buckthorn plants in 2009. The norm up until now has been so mild that the Siberian plants have been emerging from dormancy in January. The variety Klaudia has always taken the lead, with the earliest having been December 31st.

This year however has been characterised not only by a week of dramatic snow this month, but also frosts through January and February. As a consequence even Klaudia decided that this was actually winter and finally only started to emerge on January 22nd. Growing any crop brings with it the issue that we have no control over the weather. It alters each growing season and that has an impact on the crop. Moving a plant from a country like Russia with its continental climate to the maritime environment we have at Devereux farm on the Essex coast was always going to bring with it an issue that the plants would need to adapt.

The principal first major event in the growing calendar is pollination. There were signs that our Siberian male plants where showing movement in the upper buds of the plant on February 23rd. The snow struck all through the following week, then thankfully it cleared, but as if to ensure that we did not forget it had happened a second dose came over the weekend of March 17/18. The relevance of all this is whether it will impact on pollination as some female varieties, particularly Sudarushka and Altaiskaya are not as forward with leaf development as some of the other varieties. As I write this now approximately 60% of the buds on the males are cracking open. This is a significant move from three days ago, so I suspect pollination might start towards the middle of next week.

On the basis that we had a good yield of berries last year the Siberian males (Gnom variety) have proven themselves to pollinate successfully. My concern though is that of all varieties they are susceptible to disease, and even fully mature plants die over a season.

Yesterday I attended a Soil Health seminar run by the Head of Horticulture at the Soil Association, Ben Raskin. As the sea buckthorn is registered as organic there are limitations to what one can and cannot use when controlling pests and diseases. One of the options discussed was biochar. This is charcoal enriched with beneficial fungi, bacteria and trace elements gained from seaweeds.

Part of the issue of growing trials is the need to find solutions to problems, and I need to find a way of supporting the health of my males. If the males are failing because of soil based pathogenic fungi then Biochar might help – so this will go on the list of work for this year.

The soil health seminar also focused on the use of different composts and woodchip mulches. The woodchip trials being both with composted and un-composted chip. Woodchip for our soil at Devereux will provide a great source of organic matter in a form that should improve the soil ecology, structure and nutrient content. Better soil will reduce stress on the plants and reduce the risk of disease. The other half of the reason to improve the soil is the hope that we can improve the availability of nutrients available to the plant that might increase the quality of the berries.

The nutrient quality of our berries is important as sea buckthorn is recognised as a “super fruit”. With this label it needs to maintain its capacity to contain higher than normal levels of vitamins, carotenoids and myriad of polyphenols that are the basis of its potential to deliver benefits. Omega 3 comes into this category – an important nutrient so often associated with fish oil, but now being increasingly provided through plant sources.

We always have to remember that like all crops, sea buckthorn is a natural product that is a product of the environment it grows in. Every year the weather is different and that will impact on both the yield and quality of the fruit. Soil management can help to reduce the variability of a crop and that is something we need to work on to deliver a consistent quality, good tasting fruit to customers.

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Investing in machines – benefits and challenges

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This week as a pair of hares came looping down the sea buckthorn rows it was clear that spring is coming. Varieties Jessel, Klaudia, Etna and others are showing leaf. The year is already underway and it is a crucial year when we have to pull all the knowledge we have accumulated since 2009 into focus to deliver our first harvest and take it to market.

Time is always a precious commodity. Weeding has stolen many days each year. Our first 2018 investment in a Landini tractor and ladurner cultivator will buy back this time. First trials show an excellent job, rotovating the weeds in the area close to the plants creating an organic mulch of the top soil. The first pass of the machine has cut the shallow lateral roots of the plants and we will have to wait to see if this creates any detrimental impacts. It may be the plants compensate by establishing deeper roots, which could be positive in the long run to help sourcing a deeper water table in dry summers.

ladurner cultivator

Adopting the Ladurner cultivator raises some thoughts regarding the sea buckthorn fly (Rhagoletis batava). It can destroy up to 50% of the crop, and although not seen in the UK yet has expanded across Asia and Europe. As we are determined to maintain our organic form of growing sea buckthorn, the option of using chemicals is not available to us. Netting all the plants offers a first line of defence, but over a large area can netting offer a 100% option?

The sea buckthorn fly lay eggs which become larva which overwinter in the soil beneath the plants. One suggestion is to create a barrier on top of the soil preventing the larvae from penetrating the soil and leaving them exposed to the elements and insect predators. The Landini will create a soft open soil under the plants for these larvae to burrow into, so our mechanical solution to weeding may solve one problem and create a worse one. As part of our trials we will look at increased autumn cultivations after the egg hatching season as this might kill fragile larvae in the soil.

Moving away from the farm, this week has revealed research on the potential hazards of consuming ultra-processed foods. Consumer demand for convenience and the food industry response needs to always focus on the fact that food is a primary means of maintaining health. The quality of ingredients and how they are treated impacts on the nutritional value of any food to benefit the end consumer.

Ultra-food processing is extreme but the issue of nutritional quality is something we need to focus on in developing our sea buckthorn crop, harvesting and how it reaches our consumers.

Our field management must cross check on sustainability. How we can reduce bought in inputs, reduce our impact on the environment – but more than that, maintain and improve the biodiversity around us. This will provide a good soil. A good soil will deliver a healthy plant and the necessary nutrients and trace elements that improve fruit quality.

Harvest needs to be fast and clean. The concept is simple but ensuring quality comes from being continually critical of the process. With 2018 being our first harvest quality is both our vision and our challenge.

 

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The importance of standards and nutrition

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UK farming and the rural economy has seen many changes over the past 35 years. The global market, the growth of the retail food giants and technological improvement has driven agriculture forward. Farms have grown in size and scale – developing businesses where enterprise seizes every opportunity to grow. Alongside this, smaller farms have changed through innovative diversification, driven by passion and belief in great product. Behind this though is the stark fact that all these farms – whether large or small are responding to the need to remain viable.

At Devereux farm we started to grow sea buckthorn as a means of looking for future viability. In 2002 our dairy herd was sold in a falling milk price market. It is sad to see this trend has increased with numbers of UK herds dropping by half to less than 10,000. The loss of our milking herd left a vacuum that we needed to fill and as farmers the desire to fill it with a natural, wholesome food product was desirable.

2005 saw the introduction of exotic fruits such as noni, gogi, and acai into the US consumer market. These fruits had by analysis high levels of nutrients and traditional medicinal use associated with health benefit.  Sea buckthorn at that time was a northern hemisphere version of these exotic fruits.

The subject of high nutrient content is difficult. Nutrient content is variable based on climate and the environment where the food is grown. The sea buckthorn that we grow is not grown in the extreme climate of its native Siberia. It is however of a genetic ecotype that has a capacity to produce a fruit with higher than normal levels of nutrients.

Harnessing genetic ecotype and providing growing conditions to provide a healthy plant is the basis for the success of our 2018 harvest.

Sea buckthorn has been widely studied and many research papers are published through a great series of books edited by Prof. Virendra Singh. Volume 2 of this series, on biochemistry and pharmacology exposes the nutrient diversity within sea buckthorn from around the globe. High levels of vitamins A, B, C, E; omega fatty acids; flavonoids; sterols, polyphenols alongside minerals are all present, but what we need to find is what is typical in our fruit.

All fruit has a capacity to add to a healthy diet. None provide an all-encompassing health silver bullet, but it is helpful to understand nutritional strengths, and to the grower these can be used to create credible standards of quality for consumers to judge on their merits.

With this in mind, this year we are developing crop trials alongside a highly respected UK horticultural institute to analyse our methods and fruit to start to move towards being able to create those credible standards.

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David’s February Sea Buckthorn Field Update

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January as usual is the month when we start to see some of our sea buckthorn plants breaking bud. Practically at the moment we are focusing on pruning all of the plants and we are aiming to complete this by the end of February. Alongside this the youngest plantation is being weeded and all plants that have been windblown will be given a stake to straighten them up. Wind has been a problem for smaller and younger plants that have not fully established roots. I think this also results from strong gusting winds that we have on the coast. Although it is not a big problem it is now important that these plants are straightened so they do not snag on the tractor and Ladurna cultivator – which excitingly should be arriving next week.

Pruning also allows a focus on which varieties are best suited to our farm. This year we will be ordering some more plants from Siberia (also exciting). Of the ten varieties on site we need to be focusing on those that yield best; have the right taste and size of berry; and have a more compact shape for ease of management. Interestingly our first discussions with buyers indicate that varieties with different distinctive taste may have different culinary uses, so our selection of varieties will need to be concentrating on best product suitability.

Product suitability was flagged up this week in articles from a French company – Superfruiticals, who have been working with sea buckthorn for ten years. Sea buckthorn’s anti-oxidant properties are often quoted. Superfruiticals are showing how the amino acids, fatty acids and vitamins all combine to produce a real anti-microbial activity that can be used as a natural preservative often doubling the shelf life of products. They have developed products for use as meat preservatives that replace E number ingredients that are also more cost effective than other natural alternatives such as rosemary. Sea buckthorn is so often quoted for its use in cosmetics and supplements but this shows another example of its versatility as a natural replacement for formulated ingredients used in food production.

Superfruiticals also mentions the potential in sea buckthorn leaf. The harvesting system that we are designing will create sea buckthorn leaf as a by-product. Its nutrient content is different to the berry but just as complex. Research has indicated its potential in animal feeds and this will be a subject for investigation this year.

 

David

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Technology and people power solutions

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February is here and finally pruning 3000  Siberian plants was finished. Removing dead twig; low branches; and bringing plants down to a manageable height has resulted in a mountain of prunings. Each variety showed its character. Klaudia demanded more pruning as its habit to grow squat and sprawling makes mowing difficult without damaging low branches. The opposite is Inya, growing tall and straight without bushiness. Then Chuiskaya, whose size now bulks out ahead of all others. Elizaveta, whose fast growing habits in our different climate resulted in branch die back leaving plants tall but thin. Time to experiment and practice has resulted in developing management techniques so each of these varieties are adapting to our climate and soils. All of these developments come from simple observations of the characteristics of each variety. Observation is important but recording this monitoring so information can be used to develop management systems is another.

One of the presentations at the Oxford Real farming conference was by a vine grower, using a plant monitor system – sectormentor. Giving selected plants an electronic tag and using an old iphone to record plant condition traits provided a simple system that looked ideal for my sea buckthorn. This will build up a concept of which varieties are performing best and where problems need to be managed. It will remove the problem of observations being subjective and kept in a record system which is easy to analyse.

February is still cold with temperatures fluctuating from freezing to up to 8 deg C. Our old friend Klaudia has again been the first to show some leaves. Over a month later than last year Klaudia buds are breaking open across the field. It has started the process of planning the first application of compost tea. It needs a good showing of young leaf to make it worthwhile. Last year, the males plants that are essential for pollination, came into the spring in really poor condition. Poor pollination resulted in few berries, something I had to address for 2017. With pollination starting in April, being able to boost the plants to optimum health is essential. Once enough leaf is present across the field then first compost tea feed will be applied and each month until before harvest.

With thoughts of pollination, come thoughts about harvest – and how to solve the problem of birds. The old traditional method would have been to shoot them. Last year I bought a netting system which will cover two blocks of the plants. But hungry birds still find a way in under the netting. I have now tried kites, rockets, scare crops, flashing tapes, CDs on strings – all to no avail.

Technology is changing our lives daily and it is to technology that i have turned for a solution for birds eating my precious sea buckthorn berries.

The manufacturer of my compost tea brewer, Martin Lishman and developed an electronic bird scarer. It can be programmed to scare different bird species and provides cover for an area of around 300m. This farm scale tool has three directional speakers that emit warning sounds to pest birds to make them believe they are being threatened by a predator. A large investment, but a practical more ethical solution to keep the birds off the sea buckthorn crop . A tool that along with the timing of the  compost tea provides confidence for a good 2017 berry harvest.

Confidence is essential, but the future is never certain. On Tuesday I went to a Climate change meeting at Westminster Hall, London. When I go to these events I have to ask myself why. Is it simple interest or will something real come out of it? With Brexit and Trump creating uncertainty, focus on climate change may slip down the political agenda. The elections in EU States in 2017 add to the uncertainty. Understanding where these arguments are going has a material impact on the farm.

The farm has 5 kilometres of sea wall protecting it from sea flooding. The walls, rebuilt after the 1953 flood, have seen two serious surge tides recently – 2013 and January 2017. Whether it is global warming or climate change means little. What is important is unpredictable events are becoming more frequent. The surge tides threaten the very existence of my family’s farm. The impact of our emissions into the atmosphere has been tracked by science for decades. Every year since the millenium year we have had major flood events in the UK. Something is changing and it’s not for the better. The farm is at risk from this change and maybe politicians are key to regulating our lives to slow the process.

I came away from Westminster with some confidence – but not from hearing about political decision making. The message was that major international businesses are changing their operations to reduce environmental impact. This is not driven by regulation but by their customers demanding change and the fear they might buy from some one else – real people power. The second message was that clean technology in  energy, transport construction, and appliances is becoming a reality. Third, whereas mature economies have to change their old technologies, new growing economies will invest directly into efficient energy systems. Economics not politics is finally driving change – and I for one felt more confident that our world has a chance to manage the climate on which we rely to live.

 

having heard all four speakers at the event more buoyant than I expected. Business opportunity from green issues and new, non carbon based technology was moving ahead fast and seen soon to become a reality. It was also interesting to hear that Africa was in a strong position as having the potential to adopt new clean technology without having invested deeply in old carbon based alternatives  . What will happen in China we will have to see but their commitment in Paris made a powerful statement.

Our UK farming industry is seriously turning to putting soil health at the heart of its workings. An industry that has been a target of criticism for not caring for the environment painted a broad picture ignoring the many, many farmers who feel they are custodians of their land.

 

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A chill New Year warmed by global research.

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Some things are predictable, some are less so. Since Christmas, the weather at Devereux farm  has been characterised by regular nightly frosts – up to -5 deg C. This is a 100% reversal of our night weather in 2015/16. Then, following a sustained incredibly mild period the buds on the Devereux farm sea buckthorn plants started to spring to life on December 31st. The reversal to winter weather this year has had an impact on this particular Siberian variety (Klaudia), which possibly should be predictable. The first terminal buds on Klaudia emerged on January 20th 2017.

How this will effect the plants and their potential harvest we will have to wait and see, but each of our 10 different Siberian varieties are developing differently.

The current task is to complete pruning. This is a time consuming job. It can also be disheartening. Our field trials are indicating the importance of soil type. The trials were planted in four blocks – each with different planting parameters. The “A” rows, planted in 2012, cross over ground that used to grow a good crop of wild oat weeds when the field was used purely for arable cropping. This area specifically is proving to be a problem for the sea buckthorn. Rows A11-A15 have had considerable plant losses. This week I have had to cut out six plants in rows A14/A15 that are now maturing to large plants, but have died. After four years this is really frustrating. Even more so as there is little chance of finding out why the plants have died. These are individuals where adjacent plants are fit and healthy. I suspect it is a soil based problem. On Tuesday Ben and I are going to a day course on soil. This will present a chance to take a sample of the soil from around these dead plants and see if it is possible to identify a reason for losing these plants so dramatically.

Developing a depth of knowledge is what science is all about. I do not believe there is such a thing as constant fact, as new research keeps improving on understanding more about the world we live in. This week was highlighted by the publication of a piece of research in the journal “Trends in Food Science and Technology” published by Elsevier on the net.

Sea buckthorn as a natural berry has been accepted in traditional medicines as providing health benefits for centuries across northern Europe and Asia. Every year there are research papers published, but for these works to be accepted in European science journals they have to be of a high, peer reviewed standard. For health benefit research to be accepted as credible it needs to have been centred around working with human patients and with recognised methodology so it can be compared like with like with other studies.

This week an article in “Nutraingredients.com” covered a meta-analysis of over 3000 research papers, reducing down to 11 human studies. Meta-analyses is a comprehensive analysis of research papers to find comparisons that build evidence that there is a consistent result appearing across multiple pieces of research. This is often the first step when assessing whether larger specific studies are going to be worthwhile. In fact British Sea buckthorn sponsored just such an analysis undertaken by the Medical Research Council here in the UK in 2014. Funding research is never easy, particularly in niche fields of study. In Europe sea buckthorn is grown across Europe on a small scale compared with other fruit crops. Funding for research is competitive and available only where it will develop into large scale pharmaceutical benefit. Hence research is centred where there is a tradition of using the crop on a wider scale – China, Russia, India, with Germany and Scandinavia adding to the global pool of knowledge.

The research paper in question is entitled – “Effect of Sea buckthorn on blood lipid profiles: A systematic review and meta-analysis from 11 independent randomised controlled trials”. The work done by Xiao-fei Guo, Bo Yang, Wenwn Cai and Duo Li of Zhejiang University, China. With over 2 million hectares of sea buckthorn, china has a significant interest in sea buckthorn. Its traditional herbal medicine has used the plants for treatment of cardio vascular disease; burns, dry eye, inflammation, and promotion of tissue regeneration amongst others.

What has made this study important is the fact that it has centred on trials looking at 403 healthy subjects and 514 patients with conditions such as hypolipidaemia which can impact on cardio vascular diseases(CVD). It has highlighted connections which, similar to the MRC meta-analysis, indicate that sea buckthorn may impact on the risk of CVD. Having raised the potential possible outcome of taking sea buckthorn extracts/oils, it has to conclude however that these studies need to lead to a conclusive wider study to develop consistent extract quality, optimal dose and duration of course when taking a sea buckthorn supplement.

All this is helpful, and as my family take sea buckthorn we appreciate the benefits it brings. Sea buckthorn is not the only natural supplement that is caught in the catch 22 situation that  to gain market recognition there needs to be full human clinical trials to be accepted, but until the market demands this there are no drivers for the research to be funded.

The fact that sea buckthorn has been used for centuries and continues to be so shows it has stood the test of time. There are other growers of sea buckthorn in the UK and interest is growing. Access to fresh berry will allow a better understanding of this unique fruit – so I look forward to the 2017 crop with ever greater excitement.

 

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Post Brexit autumn organics

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Autumn has peeled away the last vestiges of a long hot summer. Daytime temperatures have dropped almost 10 deg C. Overcast skies are delivering a little rain. It being October field work on the sea buckthorn changes direction away and looks towards preparing for the 2017 crop.

With each delivery of new plants from Siberia I have held a few back. These are potted and kept to be replacements for any plants that die. With soil temperatures still high, day time temperatures at 10-15 deg, and rain is starting to provide natural moisture again,  this seems a good time to plant out some of these plants.

The north end of the main orchard was not planted up with the first plantings in 2011. It is a very dry area with heavy clay. In 2014 I planted it with sea buckthorn varieties Jessel, Inya and Elizaveta. The results have been predicatable. Of the 180  Jessel plants there are 50 that need replacing. It is disappointing but this was always going to be a struggle for young plants. I have replacements but on trying to plant them out I found the ground absolutely solid. How the plants have established I am not sure. As I do not irrigate I pay a penalty in terms of losses of young plants and longer establishment time. Those that have made it have searched out deep water to get them through this very dry summer. Deep roots will stand them in good stead if climate change is going to deliver long hot summers in the future.

With the ground being so hard, planting out has to be shelved. The hard ground does allow for vehicle access without soil compaction so all these young plants are now weeded, pruned of dead wood and given a good dose of compost. The only way of improving thee soil and making it lighter will be introducing organic matter into it and hopefully an autumn and spring top dressing over the next three years will ease the clay into becoming more friable and produce healthy plants.

Soil health is now a key interest in UK agriculture. Nurturing it and feeding the myriad of micro-organisms that make up the soil can have huge benefits. A healthy soil has a greater capacity to hold water and nutrients. It should contain a balance of bugs that can control others that we would see as the root cause of disease. Its structure should allow plant roots to grow through it with ease, accessing plant nutrients and water and allowing more energy to go into crop yield and quality.

Climate change is an issue for us all.  Turning the soil produces a release of CO2. Traditionally fields have been ploughed  burying weeds, organic matter from the old crop and weed seeds. This organic matter helps feed the microbes that live in the soil. In places like the US, if this process is done in dry seasons, the soil dries out and can blow away. Soil loss becomes a real issue. It can be lost to wind, but also in the UK to extreme rain downpours with it being washed off the fields. In China this has become a real issue with up to 40% – 3,500,000 square kilometres of land affected. Poor soils equate to poor crop yields. It threatens the livelihood of 100 million people directly but indirectly poor crop yields impacts on food supplies for a growing population. Ironically, sea buckthorn is being used in dry areas to reverse this as it can establish in  very poor soils. Its roots bind the soil and its leaves provide new organic matter to feed it.

In the UK and US ploughing is giving way to less intrusive deep soil cultivation or even no cultivation at all. This is called no-till cultivation. The process involves a machine that direct drills the seed into the ground with minimum disturbance of the top soil. The problem with this is that the organic matter from the old crop is not buried into the soil. It takes longer to break down and provide the essential nutrients for the soil bugs and the crop plant itself. To get around this a cover crop is grown to provide a green manure for the soil. This has to be either cultivated into the soil or killed with chemical sprays. This comes at both a financial and environmental cost.

I recently attended the Soil Association Farmer Innovation Day. These conferences are as much about networking as knowledge, but this one was particularly valuable. The presentations showed there is a mechanical way of tricking the cover crop into breaking down by crimping it with a series of rollers.

As our farm looks to a new world, post-Brexit government support for farming may well be significantly lower than EU pre- June 23rd payments.  Subsidies in agriculture are an essential to the viability of small farms. All problems need solutions and planning to reduce their potential impact is important.

Registering the Devereux farm sea buckthorn with the Soil Association this summer is a three year process before it can become certified as organic. This was not a reaction to Brexit. It was a recognition that finally our method of growing sea buckthorn is delivering results from an organic process. Organic is only viable if there are processes that provide for crop growing method that delivers an economically sustainable crop yield for the farm. Growing sea buckthorn and using compost tea that is delivering both plant nutrient and health provides confidence that organic might be the way forward for the rest of Devereux farm in the future. This is a long process, but as almost half the farm is into conservation management, focusing the arable enterprise to compliment the rest of the farm will I hope bring biodiversity benefit as well as economic sustainability for the long term.