Report Covers the Good and Bad in Agriculture Trends
An overview of agricultural concerns warns about what issues need to be focused on today and in the future.
Changing diets around the world, loss of farmable land and water shortages are some of the main agricultural concerns highlighted in a new report from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
The group explains current and future issues in "Agricultural Ecosystems: Facts & Trends," written in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The challenges facing agricultural ecosystems can have worldwide effects on food production and availability. The report acts a primer of what the main issues are, and what industry, businesses, government and organizations can do or support.
Around the world, soil and farmland is being lost or restricted as populations grow and through erosion and desertification. While some damage is irreversible, other areas can be revived with erosion control, terracing and physical and vegetation barriers.
Better crop and water management techniques have also been developed that reduce water needs and lower carbon dioxide emissions from agriculture. Conservation tillage is one method for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from soil being farmed, but the largest agricultural CO2 emissions come from converting forests and long-term grasslands to agriculture, a practice that has been linked to making room for more food crops as well as biofuel crops.
Most other agricultural greenhouse gas emissions are from fertilizer and livestock, which produce methane. A variety of companies have been integrating recovered methane from agriculture or landfills into their operations, turning the gas into power.
The report's authors include some tidbits about food choices for readers to mull over, pointing out the production of meat, milk, sugar, oils and vegetables uses more water than production of cereals. As countries get wealthier, their per capita calorie intake also increases. Along with that, as richer countries consume more fruits and vegetable, that leads to fewer calories being produced per hectare of land.
The group explains current and future issues in "Agricultural Ecosystems: Facts & Trends," written in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The challenges facing agricultural ecosystems can have worldwide effects on food production and availability. The report acts a primer of what the main issues are, and what industry, businesses, government and organizations can do or support.
Around the world, soil and farmland is being lost or restricted as populations grow and through erosion and desertification. While some damage is irreversible, other areas can be revived with erosion control, terracing and physical and vegetation barriers.
Better crop and water management techniques have also been developed that reduce water needs and lower carbon dioxide emissions from agriculture. Conservation tillage is one method for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from soil being farmed, but the largest agricultural CO2 emissions come from converting forests and long-term grasslands to agriculture, a practice that has been linked to making room for more food crops as well as biofuel crops.
Most other agricultural greenhouse gas emissions are from fertilizer and livestock, which produce methane. A variety of companies have been integrating recovered methane from agriculture or landfills into their operations, turning the gas into power.
The report's authors include some tidbits about food choices for readers to mull over, pointing out the production of meat, milk, sugar, oils and vegetables uses more water than production of cereals. As countries get wealthier, their per capita calorie intake also increases. Along with that, as richer countries consume more fruits and vegetable, that leads to fewer calories being produced per hectare of land.
