Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
15.1 ADOPTION OF CONSERVATION PRODUCTION
SYSTEMS: SOIL DEGRADATION—A GLOBAL PROBLEM
Erosion of agricultural land occurs in every country on this planet, to some greater or
lesser extent. Some of the highest rates of soil loss occur on cropland in lesser-scale
societies* where subsistence farming is most frequently employed and on soils that can
least sustain such levels of soil loss without serious declines in productivity. Scherr (1999)
discusses soil degradation on a global scale and observes that about 3.2 billion hectares
†
of land are potentially arable and about 1.5 billion hectares of the arable land are used
to produce crops. The remaining 1.7 billion hectares and most of the nonarable lands
are used for pasture and forests. She notes that soil quality has remained basically stable
on about 75% of the world's agricultural lands during the past five decades. However,
productivity has declined on about 16% of cropland in lesser-scale societies, especially
in Africa and Central America. She observes that about 75% of the agricultural land in
Central America has been seriously degraded and about 20% of the cropland in Africa
have been negatively affected by soil erosion.
Scherr (1999) observes that continued degradation of soil resources at present
rates will result in an increase in world food prices from 17% to 30% during the
present decade. This estimate is based on the assumption that global population will
increase about 33% between 1995 and 2020. While global agricultural supplies may
not become a serious problem to the world's population owing to increased food and
fiber production in countries not seriously affected by soil degradation, poor people
living and operating subsistence farms in lesser-scale societies will suffer signifi-
cantly because they will be unable to pay inflated prices for essential commodities.
Poor farmers also will not be able to accumulate sufficient economic resources to
invest in conservation production systems that have the potential to increase farm out-
put while simultaneously protecting soil and water resources. The ultimate outcome of
increased commodity prices will be retarded adoption of soil and water conservation pro-
duction systems in lesser-scale societies where such farming systems are sorely needed.
Scherr (1999) notes that between 5 and 12 million hectares of farmland are lost to
soil degradation every year. Assuming that present trends continue, about 35 million
to 84 million hectares of agricultural land will be lost by the year 2020. Such losses
of cropland will further reduce the opportunities for poor farmers to establish viable
farming operations and will reduce the availability of food and fiber. Flora (2010)
even suggests that soil loss in lesser-scale societies and other regions of the planet
will threaten food security in the future. Scherr's (1999) bleak overview of existing
soil degradation on this planet strongly suggests that adoption of soil and water con-
servation production systems is essential if future productivity of agricultural land in
lesser-scale societies is to be protected (
Figure 15.1
).
*
Lesser-scale societies are defined as countries that are primarily agriculturally based with a major
portion of the population engaged in subsistence agriculture. Industrial production is usually low in
lesser-scale societies, and such societies usually do not have institutional structures to satisfy basic
service needs of resident populations. Marketing and infrastructures of lesser-scale societies are usu-
ally inadequate for the needs of the populace. Production of goods and services tend to rely heavily on
labor-intensive approaches.
†
A hectare of land is equal to approximately 2.47 acres.
