No progress is without its problems but more food is produced per capita now than before the Green Revolution.
By:
Martin Geake (Scientific Alliance, Cambridge)
Dr. Tina Barsby (Tunbridge Wells, Kent)
Barrie Bain (National Institute of Agricultural Botany, Cambridge)
Martin Livermore (Send a Caw, Bath)
Since the green revolution started, more food is produced and more land is being used. Artificial fertilizers are being used for a faster and greater productivity, but that is not part of the green revolution. If only natural fertilizers would be used, more than half of the world's population would starve.
Agricultural production increased the use of chemical fertilizers, which helps farmers make more money. By 2050 the world's population will increase to 9 billion people from 6.7 billion now. This will make the agriculture production to double in the next 40 years. There is a limited available land for agriculture and available water for irrigation.
We, humans have to reduce the environmental foot print of agriculture and increase the efficiency of production based on natural fertilizers.
The new technology helps crop growing but the carbon emitions are greater. The large productivity of agriculture absorbs the carbon from the atmosphere while the ground is still affected by the chemicals. Without the contribution of inorganic nitrogen, agriculture would not be able to feed more than 4 billion people.
The alternatives in agriculture that prove an effective way out of poverty, is not the usage of chemical fertilizers but to find solutions to use and increase the farmer's local natural resources to increase substantially yields of crops and vegetables.
Farmers need to find a long term strategy to double the agriculture productivity and also address concerns of environmental protection and water availability and the change in climate. The usage of natural fertilizers and increasing human working will have a better result and less poverty results made by the agricultural productivity.
Times UK
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article6835855.ece
Thea,
ReplyDeleteGreat information. But think about your writing style. This feels like reading a list. Try using appropriate transitions to make your writing flow.
Mr. Doubt