In the event of a petroleum shortage, organic agriculture can be more attractive than conventional practices that use petroleum-based pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. Some farmers using modern organic-farming methods have reported yields as high as those available from conventional farming. Organic farming may however be more labor-intensive and would require a shift of the workforce from urban to rural areas. The reconditioning of soil to restore nutrients lost during the use of monoculture techniques also takes time.

It has been suggested that rural communities might obtain fuel from biochar and synfuel process, which uses agricultural waste to provide charcoal fertilizer, some fuel and food, instead of the normal food vs. fuel debate. As the synfuel would be used on-site, the process would be more efficient and might just provide enough fuel for a new organic-agriculture fusion.

It has been suggested that some transgenic plants may someday be developed which would allow for maintaining or increasing yields while requiring fewer fossil-fuel derived inputs than conventional crops. The possibility of success of these programs is questioned by ecologists and economists concerned with unsustainable GMO practices such as terminator seeds.

While there has been some research on sustainability on using GMO crops, at least prominent multi-year attempt by Monsanto Company has been unsuccessful; though during the same period traditional breeding techniques yielded a more sustainable variety of the same crop.