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heartland.[1] In Canada, soil degradation has been costing farmers $1 billion a year.[2] In the USSR, the extension of cultivation to the so-called Virgin Lands was a major plank of agricultural policy, but now it is believed that much of this land is marginal.[3] In India, soil erosion affects 25-30 per cent of the total land under cultivation.[4] Without conservation measures, the total area of rainfed cropland in developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America would shrink by 544 million hectares over the long term because of soil erosion and degradation, according to an FAO study.[5]
22. Erosion makes soil less able to retain water. depletes it of nutrients. and reduces the depth available for the roots to take hold. Land productivity declines. Eroded topsoil is carried to rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, silts up ports and waterways, reduces reservoir storage capacity, and increases the incidence and severity of floods.
23. Poorly designed and implemented irrigation systems have caused waterlogging, salinization, and alkalization of soils. FAO and UNESCO estimate that as much as half the world's irrigation schemes suffer in some degree from these problems.[6] These estimates indicate that some 10 million hectares of irrigated land are being abandoned each year.
24. Soil degradation erodes the overall resource base for agriculture. The loss of croplands encourages farmers to overuse the remaining land and to move into forests and onto rangelands. Sustainable agriculture cannot be based on methods that mine and deplete the soil,
3.2 Impact of Chemicals
25. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides have played a large role in production increases since the Second World War, but clear warnings have been raised against over-reliance on them. The run-off of nitrogen and phosphates from excess use of fertilizers damages water resources, and such damage is spreading.
26. Using chemicals to control insects, pests, weeds, and fungi enhances productivity, but overuse threatens the health of humans and the lives of other species. Continuing, long-term exposure to pesticide and chemical residues in food, water, and even in the air is hazardous, particularly to children. A 1983 study estimated that approximately 10,000 people died each year in developing countries from pesticide poisoning and about 400,000 suffered acutely.[7] The effects are not limited to the area where pesticides are used but travel through the food chain.
27. Commercial fisheries have been depleted, bird species endangered, and insects that prey on pests wiped out. The number of pesticide-resistant insect pest species worldwide has increased and many resist even the newest chemicals. The variety and severity of pest infestations multiply, threatening the productivity of agriculture in the areas concerned.
28. The use of agricultural chemicals is not in itself harmful. In fact, the level of use is still quite low in many
- ↑ Brown, op. cit.
- ↑ Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Soil at Risk: Canada's Eroding Future, A Report on Soil Conservation to the Senate of Canada (Ottawa: 1984).
- ↑ Brown, op. cit.
- ↑ Centre for Science and Environment, The State of India's Environment 1984-85 (New Delhi: 1985).
- ↑ FAO, Land, Food and People (Rome: 1984).
- ↑ I. Szabolcs, 'Agrarian Change', prepared for WCED, 1985.
- ↑ Gear, op. cit.
