Towards Sustainable Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities

Man, despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication and many accomplishments, owes the fact of his existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains. (Anon.) Nothing is more important to humanity than sustainable land and reliable food production. Agriculture is an essential occupation needed to feed the world’s population. It often, however, has negative impacts when practiced without regard for the condition of the soil it depends on. The environmental impact of agriculture cannot be ignored. In many countries, as much as 70 per cent of the land area is in agricultural use. Over a third of the global agricultural land area is in high-intensity, continuous cropping systems that use high levels of agrochemicals and reshape land and waterways. The rest is under such a farming system that uses far fewer inputs, but requires relatively large expanses of land to compensate for low crop and livestock yields. Both systems have had negative impacts on soil, water, and air quality, global climate, wildlife and biodiversity that, in turn, affect food security and livelihoods of people in the long run. Conservation agriculture (CA) emphasizes that the soil is a living body, essential to sustain the quality of life on the planet. It recognizes, in particular, the importance of the upper 0-20cm of soil as the most active zone, but also the zone most vulnerable to erosion and degradation. It is the zone where land management activities have the most immediate, and potentially the greatest impact. By protecting this critical soil zone, we ensure the health, vitality, and sustainability of life on this planet. CA seeks to preserve soil composition, structure, natural biodiversity and the sustainability of food production by moving the crop production process closer to that of natural vegetation. In most parts of the world, CA can be expected to use less fossil fuel, be more productive than traditional agriculture, and to contribute to sustainable agriculture and climate change mitigation