What causes soil degradation?
Historians have developed the idea that society became a civilization with the dawn of agriculture. When humans learnt agricultural techniques and became sedentary — turning away from the hunter gatherer societies — people began to have specified roles in society. With the invention of agriculture suddenly land became property, leading to the need for governments and social contracts.
Before agriculture natural vegetation was anarchic. Crops would grow sporadically in different environments and at different times of the year. Early forms of agriculture were seasonal, small and local. However, once agriculture became industrialized to tailor to our highly consumerist demands of constant food availability then the hazards of soil degradation began.
“It is estimated that nearly 2 billion ha of soil resources in the world have been degraded, namely approximately 22% of the total cropland, pasture, forest, and woodland.
— Journal of Geographical Sciences
What is soil degradation?
Soil degradation is the decline in the soil condition caused by the improper use or management of the land. Soil is the basis of all terrestrial life. It is the Earth’s upper skin that gives fertility to trees and crops. It is also one of the world’s largest carbon sinks.
Soil degradation is the physical, chemical, and biological decline in soil quality that can lead to:
- Infertility
- Water or wind erosion
- Soil and water contamination
- Changes in salinity, acidity, and alkalinity.
*All of these changes can cause natural disasters, such as flooding.
Soil degradation can turn into soil erosion
Soil erosion costs European farmers €1.25 billion a year — European Commission
Soil erosion is a process that occurs when the upper layer of soil is displaced. When this happens, soil fertility is weakened, increasing river pollution which is followed by a decline in fish species, and more flooding. Some crops that increase soil erosion are: coffee, cotton, palm oil, soybean, and wheat.
“When agriculture fields replace natural vegetation, topsoil is exposed and can dry out. The diversity and quantity of microorganisms that help to keep the soil fertile can decrease, and nutrients may wash out. Soil can be blown away by the winds or washed away by rains.” — World Wildlife.org
The leading causes that drive soil degradation/erosion are:
Deforestation
Commonly, agricultural landscapes come from forest lands that have been all torn down to allow farmers to harvest the area. Some of these territories that used to be forests can’t suffice the fertility of crops that can worsen soil erosion. Once the agricultural landfill loses its fertility, the agricultural industry will move and find other forests to cut down the trees and continue with this cycle.
Overgazing
The fact of changing the usage of the land, from being a natural ecosystem to pasture land, can lead to high rates of erosion in which plants will not be able to grow any longer.
Agrochemicals
Pesticides change the composition of soil and disrupt the balance of microorganisms that help keep soil fertility. Also, agrochemicals can stimulate the growth of harmful bacteria. Often times these end up in our waterways and into rivers and seas, contaminating our fish and damaging entire marine ecosystems.
Soil degradation and erosion makes agriculture less productive and decreases arable land. The expansion of industrial agriculture has increased desertification and deforestation, polluted waterways, and heightened the chances of flooding. Deforestation to make space for cultivation means that the arable land will only last a short while before its top soil loses its fertility. Then the area will become an infertile desert, and more forest areas will be lost to make space for more crops — a clearly unsustainable model.
Solutions
Thankfully, there are alternatives to mainstream agriculture, such as biodynamic farms, regenerative agriculture, the permaculture movement, and organic certifications. All four methods espouse ethical farming techniques, they build upon the precedent of understanding nature and its processes. All four techniques heavily focus on nurturing the soil first.
