Written by Patrick Mulvany, MEA student In the US, our agricultural practices are often not very sustainable, and will cause problems in the long run. However, there are easy solutions for the majority of these problems. The Problem: Erosion Erosion occurs when land is cleared of native plants for farming. As any farmer can tell you, the topsoil is the soil which contains the nutrients needed to grow crops. Lose the topsoil, and you lose fertile farmland. When the native plants are cleared away, the topsoil is exposed to the elements. It is often then blown away by wind or washed away by rain. It takes approximately 500 years to replace one inch of topsoil, so fertile land is, for all human intents and purposes, a non-renewable resource. The Solutions: Compost and Windbreaks First, lining fields with trees to create a windbreak helps control erosion. Second, using compost in the fields helps prevent erosion as the compost absorbs a lot of the water which would otherwise drain off the fields and take soil along with it. The Problem: Dying Pollinators Pollinators face many problems. One of the biggest is pesticides. Pesticides are designed to kill organisms that feed on the crop plants we grow for food. Unfortunately, pesticides often don’t just kill their intended target, they often kill many pollinators and other organisms as well. Many pesticides don’t naturally break down in the environment and therefore can continue to kill non-target insects for a very long time. In addition, the vast tracts of land used for agriculture and other uses of land by humans has severely degraded many pollinators’ natural habitats. This limits space for pollinators to live, and therefore severely reduces population numbers. The Solution: Organic Agriculture Buying organic foods can help this problem. Organic crops must be grown without use of pesticides. This helps prevent the collapse of pollinators, as no pesticides means fewer dead pollinators. It also means pesticides aren’t on your food. Other forms of less harmful pest control are usually used in organic farming, such as biological controls. This generally means farmers attempt to provide a habitat for and boost the population of natural predators of the pest species. In addition, pheromones and other chemical attractants can be used to trap pests, disrupt their reproduction cycles, and more. The Problem: Infertile Soil Infertile soil due to lack of nutrients is also a problem in unsustainable agriculture. There is a limited amount of nutrients in soil. When crops are planted on the same land over and over and over again, the crops deplete the nutrients in the soil, eventually reaching the point where no more crops can grow because there aren’t enough nutrients available. The Solution: Crop Rotation However, an easy solution is crop rotation. Crop rotation is a system where different plants are planted in the same field each year. This is important because certain crops, like legumes, actually take certain nutrients out of the air and add them to the soil. By rotating in crops that add nutrients back into the soil, a farmer can make sure that his or her fields stay fertile, and therefore keep his land usable for agriculture. The Problem: Nutrient Pollution from Synthetic Fertilizers Synthetic fertilizers are a popular method of boosting crop production, but are a major source of agricultural pollution. However, these fertilizers are like a plant’s version of steroids: they only provide a quick, temporary boost to crops. Their negative effects, however, are massive. Nutrient pollution is a major problem in many rivers and oceans near farmland. Nutrient pollution occurs when fertilizers wash into bodies of water. This stimulates plant growth of algae. When this algae dies, the decomposers breaking it down use vast quantities of oxygen, severely depleting the oxygen levels of the water. With most of the oxygen gone, hypoxia (death from lack of oxygen) occurs for many sea creatures; they literally suffocate. The Solution: Compost Compost is also an answer to nutrient pollution. Compost provides nutrients to the soil without the drawback of nutrient pollution, in contrast with synthetic fertilizers. This is because compost prevents runoff. Compost chemically binds nutrients, so the nutrients stay IN the soil, and aren’t swept away by runoff. Because of this, not only does compost help prevent nutrient pollution, but more of the nutrients actually end up feeding the plants because the nutrients stay in the soil for a longer period of time. The Problem: Air Pollution from Transportation of Crops Transportation of crops is a major source of air pollution. In America, the total cumulative distance traveled by the different items on a typical plate of food (according to Worldwatch Institute) is 1,500 miles. This long-distance transportation of food before it reaches our dinner tables means that large amounts of fossil fuels are being burned simply to bring our food to our tables. The pollution from burning fossil fuels is a major problem in our world, as it contributes to global warming, which 97% or more of scientists agree is not only happening, but also that humans are a cause. The Solution: Local Food Locally sourced food is an answer to air pollution. Many people have access to locally sourced food; almost everyone lives relatively near a farm of some sort, even big cities are rarely devoid. However, large companies are generally the ones who transport their product long distances before selling it. By buying locally sourced foods, people can help reduce pollution from the transportation of food. The same goes for in-season foods. By buying only fruits and vegetables that are in-season, people can cut down on how far something has to travel. If you’re buying bananas in the middle of the winter, chances are that banana traveled a very long way from somewhere where it’s warm enough to actually grow them. Overall, our unsustainable agricultural practices are easily fixed! More farmers simply need to join the ones already using these solutions. Eventually, with the correct farming techniques being used, the US may be able to have a completely sustainable agricultural system. Images via, via, via, via, via.
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