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The environmental impact of agriculture is the effect that different farming practices have on the ecosystems around them, and how those effects can be traced back to those practices. [1] The environmental impact of agriculture varies widely based on practices employed by farmers and by the scale of practice.
The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a farming methodology that aims to increase the yield of rice while using fewer resources and reducing environmental impacts. The method was developed by a French Jesuit Father Henri de Laulanié in Madagascar [ 1 ] and built upon decades of agricultural experimentation.
A rice paddy. Rice, wheat, corn and potatoes make up more than half the world's food supply. Feeding more than seven billion human bodies takes a heavy toll on the Earth's resources. This begins with the appropriation of about 38% of the Earth's land surface [23] and about 20% of its net primary productivity. [24]
In the context of global GHG emissions, food production within the global food system accounts for approximately 26%. Breaking it down, livestock and fisheries contribute 31%, whereas crop production, land use, and supply chains add 27%, 24%, and 18% respectively to the emissions. [51] A 2023 study found that a vegan diet reduced emissions by ...
The production of all this food also results in more and more agricultural waste. In large quantities, agricultural waste can have a negative impact on the environment and habitat, for example through greenhouse gas emissions , the creation of unpleasant odours, and toxic liquids that can infiltrate water sources.
Furthermore, biopesticides often suffer the same negative impacts as synthetic pesticides. [14] In the United States, biopesticides are subject to fewer environmental regulations. Many biopesticides are permitted under the National Organic Program, United States Department of Agriculture, standards for organic crop production. [13]
Predictions of climate change's effects on rice cultivation vary. Global rice yield has been projected to decrease by around 3.2% with each 1 °C increase in global average temperature [142] while another study predicts global rice cultivation will increase initially, plateauing at about 3 °C warming (2091–2100 relative to 1850–1900). [143]
The production increases can be attributed equal to irrigation, fertilizer, and seed development, at least in the case of Asian rice. [ 81 ] While agricultural output increased as a result of the Green Revolution, the energy input to produce a crop has increased faster, [ 82 ] so that the ratio of crops produced to energy input has decreased ...