CBC: Feeding the future
Article by By Amanda Buckiewicz and Amy Husser. Source
Our global population is expected to hit 10 billion by 2050. Feeding the world without destroying the planet will mean farming smarter.
On a farm just south of Winnipeg, a massive, long-term science experiment is playing out.
Rows of wheat, flax and peas are interspersed with alfalfa on the 10-hectare research farm, run in part by Martin Entz, a farmer, researcher and professor of cropping and natural systems agriculture at the University of Manitoba.
Entz and his team have spent the past 30 years exploring alternative ways of growing crops at the site in Glenlea, Man., comparing organic agriculture to conventional, chemically intensive practices. It’s the longest-running organic farming study in Canada.
The use of a forage crop like alfalfa infuses the soil with nitrogen, so it ends up needing less than half of the usual amount of fertilizer to remain healthy. Alfalfa also has deep taproots, which can improve soil drainage and suppresses weed growth, again resulting in fewer chemicals needed to maximize yields.
The focus at Glenlea is getting the most out of crops while trying to minimize the chemical inputs that modern industrial agriculture has come to rely on, such as fossil fuel-derived synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides.
Such practices will be key if we are to keep greenhouse gas emissions in check while feeding the world’s expanding population, which is expected to hit 10 billion by 2050 and increase the demand for food by 56 per cent.
'The status quo can't continue'
Some experts say our food systems are already at a breaking point and the need to feed many more people will create tremendous pressure on a structure that’s been pushed to — and perhaps even past — its environmental limits.
Agriculture is already facing its fair share of challenges, including an aging and shrinking workforce, a loss of arable land and unpredictability brought on by climate change.
And farming is not only being affected by climate change but is also a contributing cause of it.
Agricultural activity around the world is a major contributor to global warming, responsible for about one-third of greenhouse gases. It’s also the world’s leading driver of biodiversity loss, our largest source of water pollution and the biggest single user of freshwater.
“You put all those things together, and the status quo can’t continue,” said Evan Fraser, director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph.
”We cannot feed 10 billion people in a sustainable way using the current production systems. We can’t. We need to be much more thrifty with our land, and we need to boost our productivity.”
