Human Dimensions That Drive Soil Degradation - Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems - page 178

resemble the Northern institutions, and therefore encourage energy intensive, mech-
anized agricultural models in the hope of promoting agricultural modernization.
Private property regimes are given preference, in spite of literature showing that
common property regimes may have more durable and economically sustainable
land use regime (Ostrom 1990).
Finally, it should be noted that government policies exhibit strong interaction
effects with poverty. Insufficient social support policies for disadvantaged rural
populations exacerbate poverty (Munasinghe and Cruz 1995), and poverty can have
negative effects on soil as described above (see Section 7.4.2).
7.4.5 t echnoLogy
Technology, or the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, allows
people to advance economically and, in the case of agriculture, increases the capacity
to alter landscapes (Scherr and Yadav 1995). Technologies such as agricultural inten-
sification, irrigation methods, fertilizers and pesticides, and biotechnology hold the
promise of increasing food productivity to feed a rapidly growing population. At the
same time, technologies can increase soil degradation. The theory of induced innova-
tion posits that farmers are driven to intensify by using labor and/or capital such as
chemical inputs, organic matter, equipment, and land conservation infrastructure to
increase yields per hectare of land (Reardon et al. 1998). These same technologies are
capable of degrading soil and natural resources due to improper management prac-
tices such as excessive use of water, overgrazing, and insufficient or untimely applica-
tion of fertilizers (Andersen and Lorch 1994; Hazell and Wood 2007).
Many agricultural technologies are developed with a narrow focus on securing
short-term profits for farmers, without considering the sustainability of these tech-
nologies. For example, pesticides and herbicides can improve productivity, but their
negative effects on the environment, human health, and long-term yields have been
well documented (Hazell and Wood 2007). Also, modern irrigation systems can cre-
ate waterlogging and salinization problems (Hazell and Wood 2007).
Technologies developed for one agroclimatic zone may spread to less suitable
areas, where they may further degrade resources. For example, barley cultivation
techniques became widespread in the Middle East, after they became popular in
high rainfall regions, which led to land degradation (Hazell and Wood 2007). Here
lies the danger of technology transfer between countries without considering the cli-
mate and the suitability of the technology. In a critical examination of the drivers of
technology spread, Biggs (1990) argues that unsuitable technology is often forced on
farmers by scientists who design innovations based on political allocation of funds
for research. These elite researchers, he argues, fail to consider the importance of
knowledge of nonresearchers or suitability to local conditions.
Technology has been used to dramatically alter physical landscapes. In the United
States, for example, terraces, shelterbelts, and hedgerows have been flattened to give
easy access to heavy machinery. This has modified the existing contours of land, which
has intensified the process of soil erosion (Office of Technology Assessment 1982).
Technology interacts with other factors. Market forces such as the prices of agri-
cultural commodities and wages directly influence farmers, with respect to deciding