Positive Effects of Agriculture on the Environment

 

Historical civilizations and modern life as we know it would not have been possible without agriculture. It was through the cultivation of nutritional food that the structure of early societies could diversify and focus on various tasks.

As time passed, agriculture became the most dominant land use on the planet, feeding a booming population and transforming natural habitats of many species.

Whether the outcome of this change delivers negative or positive consequences depends largely on our approach. You may think it sounds counter-intuitive, but sustainable management of our lands can prevent many problems we are currently facing.

When done right, farmers could actually bring about many positive environmental impacts of agriculture that may enrich local biodiversity and boost vital ecosystem services.

How does agriculture affect the environment in a positive way?

Agriculture creates habitats

Agricultural systems that work in harmony with nature such as organic, permaculture, or biodynamic farming create diverse natural habitats.

For example, open meadow habitats are important for species like waterfowl, amphibians and for pollinators.

Some species even increase in number due to agricultural activities. One such species is the North American White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), which does very well in open farm field habitat.

Maintaining land for agricultural use can also prevent that land from being developed and urbanized, in areas where native species have difficulty finding original habitat.

Agriculture sets back ecological succession

Some species need early successional habitats, such as prairies, to thrive.

These habitats are highly ephemeral and can be identified by vigorously growing grasses, forbs, shrubs and trees but which need disturbance to be maintained .

Open meadow habitats, which fall under this category, and native wildflowers are important for many pollinators like some birds and bees.

Without farmland, succession may need to be deliberately set back by management activities, such as prescribed burning, to help early successional species survive.

Intentional burning was one of the primary ways that native people managed the landscape in North America prior to European settlement in order to provide for their own agricultural and hunting activities .

 Agriculture boosts soil fertility

One of the key features of sustainable agriculture is the focus on the health of soils.

Practices such as crop rotation, cover cropping, no-tillage and the application of compost, improve soil fertility naturally and can even speed up the process of new topsoil formation.

In addition to preventing the exhaustion of soils, and therefore, helping secure stable yields, these practices increase biodiversity of favorable soil fauna and flora.

Soils rich in organic matter and flourishing with life also contain greater concentrations of the natural enemies of pests, thus supporting the growth of more resilient crops.

 Agriculture sequesters carbon

As with any other plants, growing crops – especially perennial polyculture systems used in permaculture farming and agroforestry – add oxygen to the atmosphere, as plants photosynthesize and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The richer the plant cover is, the more it uses carbon dioxide to support its life functions.

Carbon is also sequestered by soils, which have a natural carbon carrying capacity that increases when soils are managed with minimum disturbance.

Interestingly, carbon can be reduced even by a livestock farm.

In rotational grazing systems, animals help to store carbon in the soil. Through grazing for a limited time period in one area, biodiversity of native plants increases because grasses have time to regrow equally without one species taking over and becoming invasive.

Richer and better quality pasture means more organic material entering soils, which makes soils healthy and increases their capacity to sequester carbon from the atmosphere 

 Agriculture retains soil and prevents erosion

Loss of soils is one of the biggest threats to our wellbeing, and intensive agriculture with monoculture fields is known to be one of its main contributors. Farmers, however, have the ability to reverse this damage.

In perennial systems, vegetation with deep roots helps to hold the soil together and prevent erosion. This is especially the case when farmers have constructed swales and other types of earthworks that help to stabilize steep slopes, or when applying techniques with low soil disturbance such as no-tillage.

 Agriculture has a role in the water cycle

Plants and trees in agricultural systems help to retain and add water to underground aquifers. This process is most effective when the crops being grown are perennials that continue to grow every year and have deep, well-established root systems.

A successful strategy that has been applied already by our ancestors is to plant trees, bushes and grasses mixed together. By combining plants of different sizes, soils are evenly covered and can withstand torrential rains without being washed away.

This improves soil structure and enables rainwater infiltration.

Once water enters the soil, it passes through different soil layers all the time getting rid of pollutants until it reaches groundwater reservoirs perfectly clean and safe for us to drink.

Together, they act as an important buffer in the landscape, preventing flooding, reducing water pollution from agricultural runoff and preventing erosion, while providing us with nutritious food at the same time.

 Agriculture can conserve water

Modern farming methods such as strip or no-till, dry farming and planting of cover crops significantly reduce the need to irrigate. Cover crops such as rye on organic farms are able to retain 50% more rainwater and reduce surface runoff by 35%.

The higher the water content in the soil, the less irrigation is needed during dry spells to preserve crops, which saves significant amounts of water over the long term.

In certain forms of agriculture, properly processed sewage, wastewater, and sludge can be used on the landscape instead of disposing it as waste.

In these cases, wisely chosen vegetation acts as a “living filter”, getting rid of pollutants, while utilizing water for growing. This method saves farmers’ money, conserves water, and recycles nutrients.