by Judith Willson

Created on: August 16, 2010   Last Updated: October 12, 2010

The world’s climate is changing and its population is growing.  Agricultural practices have to change if we are to stand a chance of feeding everybody.  Unsustainable methods lead to deforestation, which speeds up climate change, desertification, which leaves less land available to farm, and the inefficient use of land, which means not as much food is grown as could be.  Some of the major changes that have to be made to address these problems are a move away from monocultures, less dependence on meat production, and choosing crops adapted to climate changes. 

The term 'monoculture' means the modern practice of growing the same crop, in the same place year after year.  Banana plantations consist just of bananas, nothing else.  A corn monoculture is a vast area of the same variety of corn.  This is a popular practice in large-scale commercial agriculture because it is efficient and economical.  It is not however sustainable. 

Monocultures leach the soil of nutrients and contribute to erosion.  They are also a haven for pests and diseases, or would be if it wasn’t for the practice of using huge quantities of artificial chemicals.  Monocrops are also extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change.  If a crop is susceptible to drought for example then unexpectedly low rainfall will destroy it.

The answer to this is not more and more chemicals and newer varieties of crops.  The answer is to farm in a more sustainable way.  Growing a mixture of crops across an area of land replenishes the soil.  It also means that it is less likely that a pest or unseasonable weather will result in all being lost.  Mixing fruit trees in with grains protects the soil against erosion or desertification.

Meat production is a problem when there is an ever-growing population to feed.  One pound of food from plant sources means one pound of food for people.  One pound of beef requires many pounds of food from plant sources to be fed to the cows first.  It takes a lot more land to grow food for livestock than food for people.  This doesn’t mean the world needs to go vegetarian but the consumption and production of meat has to go down if we are to use the land available efficiently.

Certain crops can cope better with climate variations better than others.  Some of the effects of climate change can be predicted to a degree and the farming adapted accordingly.  If an area is getting drier then more drought resistant crops need to be grown.  Choosing hardier varieties helps farmers to survive unseasonable weather.

Changes in infrastructure are also necessary in some place, in particular with regards to the sustainable use of water.  Agriculture needs to make the best possible use of the water available, without using up essential ground water supplies, or depending on a source that may dry up. 

The world is changing and we have to change with it.  Agriculture is the single most important human activity and it will have to adapt to a warming world and an increasing population, in some cases drastically.  This applies to all countries, not just those whose economies depend on agriculture.  Everybody basically depends on agriculture and without sufficient food, economies become meaningless.

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