Is There a Need for a More Sustainable Agriculture?

TLDR

Agriculture faces critical sustainability challenges, including soil erosion, water overuse, agrochemical pollution, biodiversity loss, rising greenhouse gas emissions, and a projected 70–100 % increase in food demand by 2050, requiring technological, socioeconomic, and value‑system changes. The paper reviews the environmental impacts of current agricultural practices and proposes alternative, more sustainable methods to reduce resource use, preserve soil fertility and biodiversity, and evaluates their potential and constraints. The authors conduct a review of current agricultural environmental impacts and outline alternative practices that reduce natural resource use and protect soil and biodiversity.

Abstract

In this paper the environmental impact of current agriculture practices is reviewed. Soil loss (along with soil fertility), increasing water demand from agricultural practices and environmental pollution caused by the intensive use of agrochemicals, are among the most pressing issues concerning agriculture sustainability. Biodiversity loss due to land use change and emission of greenhouse gasses from agricultural activities are also causes for concern. A number of alternative agricultural practices are also presented that can help to make agriculture less environmentally damaging by reducing the use of natural resources, limiting inputs and preserving soil fertility and biodiversity. We think that there is room for a different and more ecological agriculture and that research should be implemented in order to better assess the potential and constraints of the different options. However, notwithstanding the great achievements of the "Green Revolution," the world will need 70 to 100% more food by 2050. So a new challenge lies ahead: how to feed nine billion with less land, water and energy, while at the same time preserving natural resources and soil fertility? Technical advances are important in order to meet the future needs, but addressing key socioeconomic issues, such as the inequality in the access to resources, population growth, and access to education are also a priority if we want to properly deal with sustainability. It may require our society to change some of its paradigms and "values" if we wish to preserve our support system, the soil and its health, for the future generations.