Little quantitative information is available to assess the impacts, both harmful and beneficial, of agriculture on the environment and to measure how different policy measures affect the environment. To help fill these gaps, a major effort is underway in the OECD to develop a set of policy-relevant agri-environmental indicators.

This first volume, of the series Environmental Indicators for Agriculture, outlines an analytical framework to further the analysis of agri-environmental linkages and sustainable agriculture. It describes the main environmental concepts in agriculture of relevance to OECD policy-makers and the indicators that need to be calculated: the use of nutrients, pesticides, and water; land conservation; water and soil quality; greenhouse gases; biodiversity; wildlife habitats; landscape; and environmental impacts related to farm management practices, the availability of farm financial resources, and rural socio-cultural issues.