Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
dairy megafarms with 1000 cattle or more or arable farms of thousands of hectares
with monocultures. Intermediate sizes of family farms represent, next to megafarms,
a viable business proposition for the future that is particularly suitable to satisfy
most recognized ecosystem services and that, therefore, presents a major contribu-
tion to soil security in the future. Whether such security can also be assured when
implementing impersonal and highly industrialized megafarms remains to be seen
and should be considered by Rockstrom et al. (2009) when further developing the
important planetary boundaries paradigm.
2.5
DISCUSSION
2.5.1 S
mallholder
a
griculture
and
the
P
lanetary
B
oundary
of
l
and
u
Se
Rockstrom et al. (2009) have defined land use as one of nine planetary boundaries and
conclude, in a fascinating long-term vision, that feeding 9 billion people in 2050 will
require a drastic increase of agricultural production, in roughly the same area that is
currently used. Enlarging the area is not only impossible because of lack of suitable
land but also undesirable because it would imply a corresponding decrease of nature
areas. The reviewed case studies in this chapter, covering smallholder agriculture in
Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Ghana, show that produc-
tion levels on small farms of just a few hectares are, in many cases, too low to even
support farming families, let alone provide food for fellow citizens. The ecosystem
service of producing food and biomass is therefore inadequate and so is therefore soil
security, which declines because of continued nutrient depletion. However, experi-
ments show that yields can be improved with proper fertilization practices, prefera-
bly to be combined with legumes, although socioeconomic and institutional barriers
remain severe. Rockstrom et al. (2009) express a long-term need for establishing
larger production units near megacities of the future, using modern management
techniques that combine relatively high yields with proper environmental steward-
ship. This transformation has been and is taking place in the developed world during
the past 100 years, and it is hard to see why a similar development would not occur in
the developing world. But how large is large? Such transformation should be gradual,
avoiding social disruption, and this can be achieved by creating job opportunities
in an urban environment. In the short term, the case studies show that smallholder
agriculture and soil security can and should be improved. The two Dutch examples
intend to show that developing very large industrial megafarms may not be the only
future option and that intermediate-sized family farms may offer an additional pos-
sibility that could be particularly attractive to ensure future soil security.
2.5.2 r
ole
of
S
oil
S
cience
The case studies presented in this chapter, focusing on use of fertilizers, show that
different soil types have different potentials requiring different management mea-
sures to achieve them. Results obtained on Nitosols and Luvisols were significantly
better than those on Arenosols, Lixisols, Acrisols, and Ferralsols. Taking this into
account when extrapolating favorable results (acting as “lighthouses”) to identical
