New data spanning two decades shows that while most OECD countries increased their agricultural production, the environmental performance of the sector has seen mixed results. Read more Access the complete database , or browse by theme:. All of the country data for agri-environmental indicators can be accessed in our statistical database. All of our food, agriculture and fisheries research and analysis is available to read online for free on the OECD iLibrary. Sign-up to our agriculture newsletter to receive periodic e-mail updates on new publications, videos and analysis.
If you have questions about OECD research and analysis on agriculture, please feel free to contact us directly. However improved management practices and emerging technologies may permit a reduction in emissions per unit of food produced.
In Slovakia, due to decrease number of livestock also decreasing trend in GHG and ammonia emissions were observed since Figure 7. Intensive management practices in agriculture escalating rates of land degradation threatens most crop and pasture land throughout the world. Worldwide, more than 12 million hectares of productive arable land are severely degraded and abandoned annually. Increased pressure is connected with deterioration of the state of environment, mainly soil and water.
Soil is the most fundamental asset on farms. Its quality that directly affects provisioning ecosystem services is strongly affected by management practices. The state of soils can be assessed by the help of indicators on soil contamination, erosion, and compaction.
Soil contamination implies that the concentration of a substance in soil is higher than would naturally occur. Agricultural activities contribute to soil contamination by introducing pollutants or toxic substances such as cadmium by application of mineral phosphate fertilizers or organic pollutants by pesticide application.
Comprehensive inventories and databases on local and diffuse soil contamination are lacking on the global or regional extent. In Slovakia, data from the soil monitoring showed that only 0. The loss of soil from land surfaces by soil erosion has been significantly increased by human activities.
Each year about 10 million ha of cropland are lost due to soil erosion [ 39 ]. Since the s, pressure on agricultural land has increased considerably also owing to agricultural modernization and mechanization what caused next serious environmental problem—soil compaction. Overuse of machinery, intensive cropping, short crop rotations, intensive grazing, and inappropriate soil management leads to compaction [ 40 ].
Soil compaction problems, in various degrees, are found in virtually all cropping systems throughout the world. They are of particular significance where intensive mechanization has been adopted on soils subject to high rainfall or irrigation [ 41 ]. According to estimation approximately , ha of agricultural land is compacted in Slovakia [ 42 ].
The different land use and practices reflected in different PR values Figure 9a — d. The highest mean PR value was measured in AL 1. Measured values show at compaction in arable land. Such situation can be observed when the measurement is done immediately after some technological operation, e. Agriculture is both cause and victim of water pollution. Evidence for elevated nitrate and phosphate contents on farm, in drains, streams and rivers, and lakes is partial and tends to be specific to a given location and circumstance.
Nitrate is the most common chemical contaminant in the world's aquifers. Pesticides contaminate surface water and groundwater. They can reach surface water through runoff from treated plants and soil. Contamination of water by pesticides is widespread, and groundwater pollution due to pesticides is a worldwide problem [ 45 ].
Impacts are commonly the result of multiple stressors. Agriculture exerts pressure on the environment that is both beneficial and harmful and can result in both positive and negative environmental impacts. The disappearance of traditional agricultural landscape is an ongoing process, accompanying the general trend of agricultural abandonment in Europe [ 46 ]. Important parts of such landscape are linear landscape elements hedges, tree lines, stone walls.
In Slovakia, traditional extensive farming with individual farmer attitude to landscape was transformed to collectivization with overall interest in land exploitation [ 48 ]. In addition, the management of traditional agricultural landscapes structures decreased rapidly after collectivization. Nowadays the main barriers in ideal management are unfavorable subsidies in agriculture and the financial inaccessibility of modern tools and machinery together with inadequate market and the weak support of local government [ 49 ].
The highest mean soil temperature was recorded in AL in 5 cm depth 4. Measured values show how plant cover and its microclimate functions are important and can affect soil temperature.
Agriculture is unique among economic sectors releasing GHG emissions and thus contributing to climate change. Agricultural activities lead, in fact, not only to sources but also to important sinks of CO 2. Agricultural contribution to greenhouse gases accounts for At the same time, agricultural production is fully climate and several further natural conditions dependent.
Climate change brings an increase in risk and unpredictability for farmers—from warming and related aridity, from shifts in rainfall patterns, and from the growing incidence of extreme weather events. On the other hand, agriculture can also positively contribute to climate change mitigation.
The utilization of agricultural residues as raw materials in a biorefinery is a promising alternative to fossil resources for production of energy carriers and chemicals, thus mitigating climate change and enhancing energy security [ 52 ]. Land use, specifically in agriculture, has great impact on biodiversity. Another aspect contributing to biodiversity decline is that humans today depend for survival on tiny fraction of wild species that has been domesticated.
Yet only 14 of species weighing 45 kg or more were actually domesticated. Similarly, worldwide there are about , wild species of higher plants, of which only about yielded valuable domesticates [ 53 ]. Agriculture plays an important role in these processes and is responsible for biodiversity decline. Over the past 50 years, ecosystems have changed more rapidly than at any other period of human history [ 62 ].
This period is connected with high agricultural intensification in many parts of the world. The earthworms may be used as bioindicator because they are very sensitive to both chemical and physical soil parameters. Earthworm biomass or abundance can offer a valuable tool to assess different environmental impacts such as tillage operations, soil pollution, different agricultural input, trampling, and industrial plant pollution [ 56 ].
Growing emissions from management Since , emissions from farming practices have increased by about 1 percent each year, while emissions from deforestation and other land uses related to agriculture declined.
Agricultural management Deforestation and other land use. Key sources from agricultural management Dominant sources of agricultural greenhouse gases GHGs include carbon dioxide CO 2 from tropical deforestation, methane CH 4 from livestock and rice production, and nitrous oxide N 2 O from fertilizing or burning croplands.
Emissions from agricultural production. Hotspots and hot crops Between and , about half of tropical deforestation occurred in just two countries. Reducing emissions through sustainable intensification While different strategies are appropriate to particular world regions, some promise higher mitigation of agricultural GHGs.
Changing demand for food is just as critical Our best estimates are that global food demand will increase between 60 and percent by mid-century. Carlson, Kimberly M. Curran, Gregory P. Asner, et al. Curran, Dessy Ratnasari, et al. Cohn, Avery et al. DeFries, R. Last accessed on Jun 13th Foley, Jonathan A.
Brauman, Emily S. Cassidy, James S. Gerber, Matt Johnston, Nathaniel D. Ray, and Paul C. Gerber, James S. Carlson, David Makowski, Nathaniel D. Macedo, Marcia N. Scheehle, Elizabeth et al. Smith, Pete et al. Smith, Pete, Daniel Martino, et al. Smith, Pete, David S. Powlson, et al. Tubiello, Francesco N. Vermeulen, Sonja J. Campbell, and John SI Ingram. West, Paul C. Gerber, et al. Crop Yields on Agricultural Land. Cattle and other large grazing animals can even damage soil by trampling on it.
Bare, compacted land can bring about soil erosion and destruction of topsoil quality due to the runoff of nutrients. These and other impacts can destabilize a variety of fragile ecosystems and wildlife habitats.
Chemical Fertilizer Synthetic fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorus have been at the heart of the intensified farming from World War II to the present day. They are particularly effective in the growing of corn, wheat, and rice, and are largely responsible for the explosive growth of cereal cultivation in recent decades.
While these chemicals have helped double the rate of food production, they have also helped bring about a gigantic increase, perhaps as high as percent, of reactive nitrogen levels throughout the environment. The excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorus have caused the once-beneficial nutrients to become pollutants.
Roughly half the nitrogen in synthetic fertilizers escapes from the fields where it is applied, finding its way into the soil, air, water, and rainfall. After soil bacteria convert fertilizer nitrogen into nitrates, rainstorms or irrigation systems carry these toxins into groundwater and river systems. Accumulated nitrogen and phosphorus harm terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems by loading them with too many nutrients, a process known as eutrophication.
Nutrient pollution is a causal factor in toxic algae blooms affecting lakes in China, the United States, and elsewhere. Parts of the Gulf of Mexico are regularly afflicted in this manner. Nitrogen accumulation in water and on land threatens biodiversity and the health of native plant species and natural habitats.
In addition, fertilizer application in soil leads to the formation and release of nitrous oxide, one of the most harmful greenhouse gases.
With the global population continuing to skyrocket, the tension will continue to grow between continued agricultural growth and the ecological health of the land upon which humans depend. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.
The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. Tyson Brown, National Geographic Society. National Geographic Society. For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher.
They will best know the preferred format.
0コメント