Modern Industrial like Agriculture activities are creating agriculture pollution, thereby degrading our environment and affecting climate change. Are you shocked, sadly that is a reality?
We have been initiated to think environment degradation, and consequent climate changes, are due to air pollution from factories, vehicular traffic, thermal electric generating plants, air conditioners and refrigerators, deforestation etc. Yet the fact remains industrial agriculture activities of our farmers also pollute and contribute to such changes.
Methane emissions, fertilizer runoff, forests converted to agriculture, reduced tree cover – the agriculture pollution contributes to climate change, knowingly or unknowingly.
The need of hour is
- Recognizing how agriculture pollution happens.
- Farming community to take appropriate effective steps to stop altogether or slow down such pollution.
Recognizing Agriculture Pollution
Livestock pollution:
Animals for consumption as meat and poultry are kept in secure concentrated areas. They poop in those close spaces. This poop waste is disposed of by storing it in heaps over land parcels and using it as fertilizer.
This fertilizer tends to be used in vastly greater quantity than required by earth. This excess, which is beyond the earth’s absorption capacity, runs off into water sources and ground water. Phosphorous and Nitrogen of this poop fertilizer creates havoc with living beings in the water bodies and rivers.
Another way animal pollution is happening is that animal and their poop manure pollute our air. We are familiar how dung heap smell. Ammonia is released and that combines with other air pollutants like nitrogen oxide and sulfur. Breathing this air causes lung and heart problems.
Food crop pollution:
In the earlier days, farmers would take one food crop and then plant cover crops or move to another land. Now that synthetic fertilizers are available, that necessity is removed. Farmers tend to over use nitrogen fertilizer in their zeal for greater production and cost effectiveness. Over fertilization is not absorbed by earth. This sets in motion both water borne and air borne pollution. Nitrogen in air gets converted to nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas or nitrogen oxide which contributes to ground level smog.
Many examples abound of how excess nitrogen run off into ground water and water bodies has caused severe damage to marine ecologies, and significantly to human population who use such polluted water. Again heavy fertilization turns soils acidic and barren. The micro-nutrients so necessary for crops is vastly diminished.
Production of crop is not linear with increasing nutrient usage – explained in this graph.
Chemical Pesticides Pollution:
Farmers use, in fact have to use, chemical pesticides of all types to deal with sucking, cutting creatures, insects, fungi, rats etc. Kept to prescribed safe levels pesticide usage harms only the intended. To achieve results in quickest possible time higher and dangerous levels of such chemical are used unknowingly by some farmers on certain types of crops. This over use exposes farm workers to many types of diseases and infirmities.
Pollinators are also hit by such sprays of pesticides. Absence of pollinators eventually leads to less production of pollinated crops.
Increased acreage agriculture pollution:
The continuously increasing humankind also requires more land to live, farm and work. Farmers tend to increase their holdings to cope with increasing demand for food. Land is being taken away from forests almost continuously. Deforestation is taking place. This leads to reduction in the carbon storage capacity of the forests and to increase in carbon pollution in the air. The carbon balance is tilting towards negative.
How We Can Reduce Agriculture Pollution
Agriculture has always been the interface between natural resources and human activity. It holds the key to solving the two greatest challenges facing humanity: eradicating poverty, and maintaining the stable climatic corridor in which civilization can thrive. It is estimated that by 2050, we would be 10 billion. Feeding 10 billion, and yet maintaining climate balance, is a big challenge.
Steps are needed urgently, now, to reduce agriculture pollution. These steps require active participation of ordinary people, the farmers, the governments, the support groups etc.
- Eat more plant-based foods.
- Ensure there is no wastage of food.
- Support and use organic.
- Buy in bulk to limit your packaging consumption.
- Grow your own food in any small plot or on roofs or pots, can etc. without chemicals. You’ll have a better understanding of regenerative farming and will be able to reward yourself with organic, in-season produce.
- Be more vocal in your support of pro-environment practices.
- Give farmers incentives to use the best practices for reducing nutrient pollution and chemical pesticide pollution.
- Small farmers should adapt to climate change and make their livelihoods resilient by diverting to other rural economic activities. Take up green manuring, nitrogen-fixing cover crops and sustainable soil management. Integration with agro forestry, dairy and animal production needs to be taken up.
- Livelihood diversification in rural households helps in climate risks by combining on-farm activities with seasonal work.
- Farmers need to plant trees around fields or concentrated in one place to compensate for deforestation.
Another type of agriculture pollution is caused by burning of crop residue in several parts of the world. This pollution and ways to deal with will be attempted in a separate blog.
Read also
Modern Technology Boosts Agriculture Farming and SIX STEPS TO MAKE AGRICULTURE AN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
Any suggestions or advice – welcome through this blog.
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Hi ; I have had opportunity to travel widely and have keen watched whatever farming practices the local farmers were engaged in. Back home been growing gerberas mostly in polyhouses, but outside in kitchen garden as well. i love these hardy perennials. good for business too if done in a routine orderly scientific manner. Also engaged in farming of wheat and organic vegetables on a small scale for me and family. My service profile has been that of an electronic and telecom engineer and now am engaged in web site creation and blogging.
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