Report Covers the Good and Bad in Agriculture Trends

July 28, 2008

By GreenBiz Staff

Published July 24, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Changing diets around the world,

loss of farmable land and water shortages are some of the main agricultural

concerns highlighted in a new report from the World Business Council for

Sustainable Development.

The group explains current and future issues in

written in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of

Nature.

The challenges facing agricultural ecosystems can have

worldwide effects on food production and availability. The report acts a primer

of what the main issues are, and what industry, businesses, government and

organizations can do or support.

Around the world, soil and farmland is being lost or

restricted as populations grow and through erosion and desertification. While

some damage is irreversible, other areas can be revived with erosion control,

terracing and physical and vegetation barriers.

Better crop and water management techniques have also been

developed that reduce water needs and lower carbon dioxide emissions from

agriculture. Conservation tillage is one method for reducing greenhouse gas

emissions from soil being farmed, but the largest agricultural CO2 emissions

come from converting forests and long-term grasslands to agriculture, a practice

that has been linked to making room for more food crops as well as biofuel

crops.

Most other agricultural greenhouse gas emissions are from

fertilizer and livestock, which produce methane. A variety of companies have

been integrating recovered methane from agriculture or landfills into their

operations, turning the gas into power.

The report's authors include some tidbits about food choices

for readers to mull over, pointing out the production of meat, milk, sugar,

oils and vegetables uses more water than production of cereals. As countries

get wealthier, their per capita calorie intake also increases. Along with that,

as richer countries consume more fruits and vegetable, that leads to fewer

calories being produced per hectare of land.

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