Chapter 1: Natural Resources

"Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. He will end by destroying the earth." Albert Schweitzer

• Concern
• The Underlying Resources
• Land and Soil
• Water
• Atmosphere
• Biodiversity
• Forests
• Management of Natural Resources

This Chapter introduces the impact of agriculture on natural resources in general terms. In identifying causes for concern, it highlights the need for knowledge of ecosystems and the impacts of agriculture to form part of agricultural education, and in so doing widen agricultural education to the field of natural resource management.

Concern

The natural environment in which humankind exists is not static. Examples of dynamic systems which have affected the earth with or without interference from humans include global warming and the greenhouse and El Nino effects. While humans have undoubtedly affected the natural environment, the inherently dynamic systems of the earth have hitherto had greater impact on our natural environment than has human action. However, we may now be at the stage of human actions influencing these hitherto wider natural variations. This is today's concern - for both rich and poor countries.

Natural resource management is the term utilized in this book to identify a range of terrestrially-based human practices instituted on the basis of experience. For land systems, the major intervention in natural resource management made by humankind is that of food production.

In seeking to feed itself, the human race has developed sophisticated production systems, commonly termed agriculture, the processes of which are based around modification of the immediate environment in order to increase food output. Environmental modification may be in terms of genetic manipulation of plants and animals through breeding to suit an environment, modification of the environment itself through such mechanisms as greenhouses, or persistent interventions through management techniques as simple as weeding. The increased sophistication of agriculture that has necessarily resulted from increased demand for food, has established an efficient research, education and extension system which effectively supports the industry in those countries in which there is concern for the environment, which have high needs for food production, or which earn high export incomes from agricultural produce. This places scientists involved with agricultural research, education and extension in responsible positions with respect to natural resource management. These scientists include the various branches of agricultural science such as agronomy, animal science, soil science, socio-economics and meteorology. The role of education is pivotal through its functions in; producing future responsible researchers in fields of natural resource management, educating practitioners in natural resource management - which includes agriculture, and providing information to the wider public about the essential compromises and balances in interactions between agriculture and the natural environment.

Natural resource management is a current concern. This is due in part to rapid global information exchange and the clear problems associated with human population pressures. Stable systems, such as paddy rice in Asia and elsewhere have been based on sophisticated management within current technology and levels of knowledge. The city civilizations which agriculture stimulated through its surpluses, have now separated us from a society-wide ethic of land management. Moreover, such separation has led to many urban-based persons being ignorant of the care taken by most informed primary producers when they are allowed to manage land resource themselves under conditions of fair trade. We have much to learn from the historical viewpoint which acknowledges farmers to be responsible custodians under most circumstances rather than seeing them as pillagers of natural resources. Nevertheless, today we must face the dual realization that increased food production is essential and that current practices are potentially damaging to the environment.

What is the answer? One part of the answer is to realize that the issue will not be resolved unless an adequate food supply is guaranteed. It is not currently guaranteed because projections of future food security, such as those of the World Bank, assume continual yield increases. Such increases in the past have relied on high investment in agricultural research, and today's research funding is lower as a proportion of economic activity than during the periods used in such analyses. One reason for such a decline is the separation of investment decision-makers from the primary production base - the cities from the country-side. To increase research funding for resource management will require educating those engaged in production about new techniques and resource-safe practices, and of the rest of us in the practicalities of producing sufficient food from a smaller resource base. Smaller, that is, until a viable breakthrough in harnessing a production base other than soil occurs. The keys to the future of natural resource management may well be; improved general education and the reorientation of agricultural courses to a resource management context One consequence of improved understanding - The Key for the Future - should be increased investment in food production research.
 

This chapter illustrates some of the changes in the natural resource base and the influence of agriculture. The underlying resource base for agriculture is considered in the forms of the land and soil, water, atmosphere and genetic resources.

The Underlying Resources

Land and Soil

Consideration of land use necessarily focuses on modern agricultural practices. It has become popular to consider the relatively benign influence of earlier human civilizations on the soil resource as a function of low population density. However, such generalizations ignore the land degradation that has resulted from the actions of early civilizations. Exploitation of soils and related resources was a major factor in the demise of the Mayan civilization according to many analysts. Detailed analysis of the influence of humans on the degradation of soil and land resources, such as that of Carter and Dale (1974) imply not only ignorance, but unwillingness to introduce an ethic of care for the environment. Today, the emotional aspects of this movement are evident in the titles of publications about the extent of human negligence, for example Rape of the Earth (Jacks and Whyte, 1939). Pimental et al (1995) up-date such emotion, and while perhaps overstating some aspects, they highlight the need to better manage land and soil. They claim that soil erosion poses one of the world's major environmental threats, particularly to sustainable agriculture. It is claimed that in the last 40 years, approximately one-third of the world's arable land has been lost through erosion and continues to be lost at a rate of more than 10 million hectares per year. Roberts (1995) presents the various types of soil degradation which can occur as a result of human actions and usefully places estimates on the periods of time necessary to restore soil to its initial capacity (Figure 1.1). Such analyses are inherently subjective and are mostly oriented to the use of soil as a substrate for agriculture. They also may include natural variations which humans may seek to influence to suit their own continued production requirements. Nevertheless, they serve to focus our attention on the knowledge base which is essential for any intervention in the natural resources of the earth.

Figure 1.1 - Restoration Periods for Various Forms of Land and Soil Degradation (after Roberts, 1995). 

Traditionally, expansion of agriculture has been based on expansion of the cultivated area. It is now clear that such expansion of land for agriculture can no longer continue to be assumed in any predictions of future food production. Large global losses of land are not countered by minor Creation of New Lands, such as in Africa where increased human population appears to assist the opening of hitherto uninhabitable areas to livestock which are an integral part of subsistence African agriculture. Land availability is indicated starkly in figures of the World Resources Institute (1995) which postulates that the year 2000 will bring a reduction of cropland per person in industrialized economies to 0.5 hectares compared with 0.25 hectares for centrally planned economies and 0.1 hectares for some developing countries. These trends are related to increasing demand for food production as a function of rising population and affluence, coupled with declining availability of land associated with soil degradation and the utilization of land for urban and industrial purposes.
 

New lands brought into agriculture are of marginal potential and, in some cases, fragile and subject to high risk; they require informed and sensitive management to avoid degradation. Fragile soils include those of steep areas, shallow and skeletal soils, or those with limited nutrients or moisture. Soils which are fertile, deep, relatively flat with a high natural organic matter content and are well-drained are considered to be the most resilient to mis-management (IFAP, 1991). Chemical and physical fertility interact to determine soil productivity thus highlighting management interventions such as cultivation, fertilizer and irrigation as means of maintaining aspects of natural resources.

Greater food production forces the poor to Farm at the Margin. This is of significant concern as our techniques for management of such natural resources are still evolving. Even where knowledge exists of appropriate management, the imperatives of population and poverty may subvert those of natural resource management.
 

Chemical herbicides utilized in agriculture are of rising public concern which is already leading to the introduction of stricter controls. While their residues in food are a major issue, contamination of soil and water and the rate of chemical mobility are the primary natural resource impacts. Roberts (1995) presents National Research Council information (Table 1.1) which indicates that seven of ten commonly used chemicals presently critical to our food production systems can be expected to be found moving through soil and water.

Table 1.1 - Relative Mobility of Ten Herbicides
(after Roberts, 1995 and NRC, 1989)  

Water

Fresh water, as with soil, is associated mainly with agriculture. Common thought associates agriculture and water through run-off leading to both erosion and chemical fertilizer contamination of waterways. Yet, it is the large scale utilization of water for irrigation which should command a major focus. Irrigation utilizes an estimated 3,300 cubic kilometers of water per year - approximately six times the requirements of industry and households. Within this huge volume of water used for agriculture, it is estimated that less than half actually reaches the crops for which it was destined due to large inefficiencies in management and design of irrigation schemes (Clarke, 1991).

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI, 1995) estimates that about 30 countries are presently water stressed. These countries have major difficulties in food production during drought years. Twenty of these countries are designated as water scarce - a situation in which annual renewable water resources do not meet requirements for socio-economic development and environmental quality. In IFPRI's assessment of the future of food production and its relation to natural resources, it is noted that in water scarce countries competition for water could become a source of conflict between sectors and countries. The need for increased management of this natural resource is highlighted in the Box - Water - the Universal Solution?

About one-third of arable land in Asia is irrigated. Developed countries in general contain some 50 percent of the world's irrigated land. In Pakistan, irrigation has expanded rapidly to cover some 77 percent of arable land; figures for Korea, China and Indonesia are 58, 46 and 34 percent respectively. With some exceptions (Lao-PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines), South and South East Asian countries irrigate at least 20 percent of their arable land. In the 1980s, there were an estimated 20,000 irrigation dams compared to some 400 in 1950 (Falvey et al, 1991). Further expansion of irrigation is increasingly difficult. It should be anticipated that future gains will be made in improved management and efficiency of existing systems rather than the construction of new large schemes. This is indicated by the mounting evidence of poor maintenance, sedimentation and low system and farm-use efficiency in many Asian irrigation systems. It is estimated that irrigation efficiency is as low as 20 to 25 percent in Java, the Philippines and Thailand. In Pakistan, some 50 percent of the command area of the huge Indus Basin canal system is water- logged or salinized while in India water-logging has led to the abandonment of some 10 million hectares of once productive cropland.
 

Agriculture must accept its responsibility for improved water management consummate with its use as a scarce and problematic resource. In Asia, agriculture utilizes some 86 percent of total annual water withdrawal, while in North and Central America this represents some 49 percent, and in Europe some 38 percent. The main cereal crop of Asia, irrigated rice, has a high water requirement - some 5,000 liters to produce one kilogram of rice according to present production techniques. By way of comparison, wheat consumes less than 4,000 cubic meters of water per hectare compared to the requirement of rice of some 7,650. Water use by irrigated agriculture is one function in the water equation - distribution of rainfall across regions and between and within years are other parts.

The Green Revolution allowed food production to meet rising food demand against significant odds through the use of irrigation, high-yielding crop varieties, and chemical inputs. The environmental cost may be assessed in terms of the chemical load added to different parts of the environment and evidenced through stream eutrophication and groundwater contamination. The increased rate of run-off and associated erosion has also had its impact on coastal marine life. All of these factors should cause us to focus greater education and research efforts on water management. Refer to the Box - When the Well Runs Dry.
 

The impact of water mis-management in terms of water-logging and salination has already been introduced. Once these processes become evident they are difficult to reverse and require major investments, such as drainage facilities. For example, the left bank canal of the Tungabhadra Irrigation Project in India now has some 33,000 hectares of water-logged saline cropland with some 20,000 hectares being abandoned through lack of productivity.

Pumping of groundwater represents exploitation of a natural resource in a clearer form than that of mis-management of surface water. Underground storage is, for most intents, a finite resource. In India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, over-pumping has produced shortages of drinking water and pollution of aquifers when they are recharged from irrigation water contaminated with chemicals. The use of shallow wells provided cheap irrigation sources for rice and wheat rotation-based systems in the Indo-Gangetic Plain of India. Such pumping of groundwater also temporarily reduced the effects of rising water-tables and associated salination. Further tube wells were therefore developed until the situation has now been reached whereby rates of replenishment of groundwater are below rates of groundwater use. If we improve education about means of exploiting such resources, surely we must improve education about means of responsibly managing the natural resource at the same time.

According to IRRI (1995), the groundwater table in Punjab may be receding at around 20 cubic meters per year over two-thirds of the area of the State. The question is now whether rice should be the major cereal crop of the region given its high demands for water. On a wider scale the challenge is to modify food production systems and varieties to utilize water more efficiently. An International Rice Research Institute (IRRI, 1995) publication illustrates this point through the Box - Slipping Between The Cracks.
 

Traditional management of water for rice production is not simply a matter of carelessness and convenience. Flooded rice fields provide enhanced nutrient benefits to rice through floral interactions in that environment and suppress growth of weeds which would otherwise need to be controlled by chemical herbicides. The alternative of hand weeding becomes less acceptable as time passes.

The natural resource of water is largely utilized and managed with respect to its impact on food production. Other factors influencing water quality include forestry or deforestation, and urbanization. One critical measure of the success of water resource management is the quality of water in drainage streams as indicated in Figure 1.2.

Figure 1.2 Water Quality and Land Management (after Castles, 1992) 

Atmosphere

Impacts on atmospheric quality are commonly associated with high population and industrial activity. Impact of the major natural resource manager, agriculture, on the atmosphere is only peripherally recognized by many persons through occasional dust storms, pesticide-drift or offensive odors. Nevertheless, the impact of agriculture on the atmosphere through the production of potential greenhouse gases and pollutants and, the potential effects of changes in the atmosphere on agriculture and its subsequent environmental impact, are beginning to be recognized.

Volatile organic chemicals such as pesticides are suspected of being transported through the atmosphere (Atlas and Giam, 1988) and recent studies of the levels of herbicides in spring rainfall in Iowa (Nations and Hallberg, 1992) appear to confirm such movement. Atrazine, which showed the largest concentrations in rainfall in that Iowa example, could be related to chemical application times. Hatfield and Karlen (1993) note that it is not yet clear whether such organic chemicals are bound to small dust particles which escaped during cultivation of fields or whether they are associated with direct volatilization.

Perhaps the association between agriculture and the atmosphere which is most potentially emotive today is that of greenhouse gas emissions and their effect. Destruction of tropical rainforests for agricultural and livestock purposes, for example, is said to release large quantities of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide which further amplifies the impact of deforestation on greenhouse gas emissions by enhancing atmospheric methane concentrations (Arrhenius and Waltz, 1990). However, they also note that the vast majority of greenhouse gases are produced in the highly industrialized areas of the world and that the impact of deforestation or reforestation should be kept in that perspective.

The concept of carbon sequestration through trees relies on keeping of wood in its original form and ideally, the growth of new trees in areas from which trees are harvested. Attempts to increase carbon sinks through agricultural techniques may be best focused, according to Arrhenius and Waltz (1990), on utilizing the inherent capacity of soils to store carbon through progressive increases in organic soil components. Recent research (Fisher et al, 1995) indicates that high root-density pastures and crops may also act as major carbon sinks. Such an approach removes one apparent element of competition for efficient use of productive lands.

The production of the second most important greenhouse gas, methane, is associated with agriculture through ruminant digestion and rice production. Gibbs and Lewis (1989) estimate that ruminant emissions could be reduced by 25 to 75 percent through modified feeding management and breeding approaches. While such reductions should be made where viable, the overall methane production of agriculture should be kept in context. It is estimated that the contribution of livestock to global methane production of about 15 percent is, according to the model commonly used, associated with about three percent of total global warming forecasts (Arrhenius and Waltz, 1990).

Regardless of the proportional contribution of agriculture to greenhouse gas emissions, the imperative of food production will require that agriculture adapt to any environmental changes associated with the Greenhouse Effect. Current reliance on a narrow gene pool in agriculture, a risk in itself (Rosenberg, 1987), also threatens biodiversity. Climate change could further reduce the availability of wild gene pools while necessitating modifications to the genetic make-up of major food crops. Such predictions imply a wider range of interactions between agriculture and the natural environment and require a responsible response to biodiversity initiatives by agricultural educators and researchers.

The relative importance of industrial and agricultural sources of greenhouse gases has been summarized in Falvey et al (1991). Estimates of the production of the two major greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane, from various sources are increasing in accuracy, although the impact of these gases on environmental change remains a matter of speculation. Nevertheless, several countries, have accepted the responsibility to participate in a global program of the United Nations to monitor greenhouse gas levels and emissions. The possibility of future impacts supports responsible action today (Pittock, 1989).

Figure 1.3 Methane Emission and Uptakes in Australia (Castles, 1992) 

The impact on the atmosphere by agriculture is placed in context in Figure 1.3 which indicates that agriculture is not the villain it is sometimes portrayed to be. In terms of carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas, it is estimated that, for Australia at least, agriculture emits only about two percent of the total compared to emissions of around 20, 27 and 38 percent for the residential, transport and industrial sectors respectively (Castles, 1992).

The contribution of agriculture and other human activities to the Greenhouse Effect is popularly associated with global warming. It is important that we view such debate in a context history and cyclical variations in climate (see for example, the Box - Long Range Weather).
 

A paper prepared for the National Association of State University and Land Grant Colleges by the Texas Center for Climate studies (Crowley and Nowlin, 1995) indicates three main types of climate variation of relevance. These are:

Inter-annual variations in which climate varies between years and which is most commonly depicted to the public in terms of droughts, floods and severe winters. These variations are associated with changes in tropical sea surface temperatures as measured through the ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation ) Index which is based on the atmospheric surface pressure difference between Tahiti and Darwin. Such information is proving increasingly useful and one input to agricultural planning in areas subject to variations in rainfall which appear to be related to the ENSO effect. Such inter-annual variations are also associated with volcanic activity and it is believed that the very cold spring of 1992 experienced in the north eastern USA was probably associated with the Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines. Decade-scale climate variations such as appears to have occurred over eastern North America in 1958 and 1976. The shift was associated with the jet stream causing more north to south flow over North America which increased the frequency of very cold air outbreaks. Crowley and Nowlin (1995) state that despite progress being made on understanding some aspects of decadal-scale variability, we are not yet at the stage where we can predict future shifts ... Greenhouse changes will probably be the major factor responsible for climate change in the next few decades, largely as a result human activity. Various predictive models exist of which the most considered may be that of a jointly sponsored activity of the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program which produced the Inter-Governmental Panel for Climate Change Report. The report presents information according to categories of; consensus, very probable, probable and uncertain. Consensus that warming increases of about 0.5 C during the twentieth century contrasted with uncertainty of the effect of greenhouse temperatures on global warming. Changes assessed as very probable included an increase in global precipitation, a reduction in northern hemisphere sea, ice and snow cover and a rise in global sea level. The over-riding conclusion from all such conjecture is that we require a greater understanding of these trends and their causes and effects.

Biodiversity Biodiversity, the maintenance of a wide genetic pool in plants and animals, may be a casualty of modern agriculture. In its quest to continue to meet rising food demands, agriculture has focused its plant breeding on varieties which can produce the food outputs required. Srivastava et al (1995) note that the significant advances made in biotechnology research may imply that biodiversity is no longer as important as it once was. This view, which has been documented in Forbes magazine (Huber, 1992), leads to such conclusions as it is not necessary to preserve tropical rainforests or non-commercial species because genes can be created whenever they are needed for future plant breeding. This view is not correct insofar as it implies that current and expected short-term future knowledge of genetic material is sufficient to cover all foreseeable situations. It assumes an omniscient human society with the will to act responsibly on behalf of others - a brave assumption from any viewpoint! The vast majority of genetic material utilized for food production now and for the foreseeable future traces its origins to wild varieties occurring naturally. However, we are relying on an increasingly narrow gene pool for our food supplies. Perhaps One Pair of Genes is Not Enough..
 

The International Plant Genetic Resources Institute has sounded a specific warning that traditional knowledge and genes may be lost forever (IPGRI, 1993). The World Bank has prepared a set of indicators to guide its project lending on means of assessing the impact of agricultural and forestry activities on biodiversity in the following summarized form (Srivastava et al, 1995).
 

Forests Forests engender much emotion with predictions that the world may soon lose its remaining natural forests. Yet Avery (1995) in his inimitable style contrasts such gloomy predictions with the statement of Sedjo (1983) that the world's industrial wood requirements for the next decade could be met from less than 200,000 million hectares of plantation forest which is about seven percent of current forest area. Nevertheless, forest has other benefits such as carbon sequestration, erosion and water runoff and biodiversity and as a natural habitat. From this perspective, deforestation of rainforests is particularly important due to the wide biological diversity supported in the ecosystem as noted by US Vice President, Al Gore (1992). The rate of clearing of forests is difficult to predict; Tribe (1994) notes that estimates differ by as much as 300 percent. However, we do know that two motivators for deforestation, that of commercial exploitation in unpoliced areas and the need to expand food production, are associated with two overriding human factors, greed and poverty. Both may be addressed through development activities which lead to increased acceptance of responsibility for natural resource protection and management and the introduction of agricultural production techniques which allow increased productivity from existing agricultural areas. These factors are recognized in the strategy for collaborative forestry research presented by Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR, 1995) - refer to the Box - Not See the Forest for the Trees.
 

Destruction of forests is likely to continue unless there are some significant breakthroughs in technical and policy areas relating to natural resource management and food production. The development of managed plantations for timber products can reduce pressure on natural forests and, indeed, appropriate management of natural forests can yield timber and other products on a sustainable basis. However, such approaches are most common in more developed countries (MDCs) where the imperatives of poverty are of a vastly lower order. We are at the beginning of a revolution in the cultivation of trees for specific purposes somewhat analogous to the domestication of crops and animals which led to agriculture millennia ago. Future supplies of timber and some non-timber products are likely to be generated from managed natural forests and domesticated sources and should be viewed as part of natural resource management in the same manner as agriculture.

Management of Natural Resources

While our attention focuses primarily on land-based systems, it is of interest to note that the fishing sector is also at crisis point. Estimates that more than 25 percent of world fish stocks are overexploited, that species loss is already occurring in freshwater and anadromous species, and the rising incidence of international disputes over fish-stock ownership, are indicators of this growing concern. Lack of coordination and mis- management of natural fish resources creates everyday international conflict in this area. There is an imperative to introduce management of existing natural stocks, protecting endangered species and fishing areas as well as those areas which have not yet been exploited. Aquaculture will continue to rise in importance from its current low level of significance; marine fish management continues to require international monitoring, the application of known and development of new scientific information is essential, and their remains an overriding need for consideration of the livelihoods of fishers to minimize their necessity to overfish. The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, 1995) notes that a multidisciplinary approach to management of land resources is a process which: identifies human and environmental needs identifies the potential for change and improvement identifies and evaluates relevant physical, social, economic and policy factors develops a series of actions necessary to permit and facilitate change This requires the addressing of the cross sectoral issues: creation of productive employment eradication of poverty responses to poverty, unsustainable consumption and production, population growth and changing demographic patterns security of land rights The statement on Poor Resource Management suggests that it is inappropriate to treat management of natural resources from the perspective of the wishes and desires of the affluent in MDCs to the exclusion of the residents and food production needs of less developed countries (LDCs). Neither can we assume that the principles by which MDCs manage their own affairs have been accepted in LDCs. Also implied in this statement is the fact that much of the lifestyle of residents of MDCs is based on policies in LDCs decried as exploitive by residents in MDCs. The subject of natural resource management is all embracing and indicates the inter-connected nature of technical, environmental, economic and moral factors.
 

We must acknowledge difficulty in implementing natural resource management principles in those areas where we believe we have sufficient knowledge. However, in the vast majority of cases, our knowledge is inadequate and the most common outcomes from these debates must be identification of the need for an improved knowledge base. This has implications for knowledge generation through research, the imparting of knowledge to those who will utilize the information through education, and wider educational outreach activities through technology and other information transfer. The need for education continues to increase. Simply generating technical solutions, while essential at this stage and into the future, will not lead to major changes in human behavior unless educational levels and awareness of natural resource management principles are raised significantly. As agriculture is the major source of impacts on terrestrial natural resources, education must include both an acknowledgment of this fact and a context in which such impacts can be minimized through sound management. This provides the context for agricultural education in the future. In order to better understand the compromises which must be accommodated and understood, it is necessary to understand the origins of agriculture and the overriding imperative for food production in the world today. The food production imperative is considered in the following Chapter.

The Tree of Life

Through the eons knowledge grew, was lost, regained and built anew, But at best was partial only, Seen in Paul's mirror dimly.    

The Tree of Knowledge

Management targeting requisite product, Not just food, but greed, unconscionable conduct, Focused not on balance or reduced impact, Our knowledge lacks awareness of what we know not.

Sustain, nurture, foster, protect; bridge the rift! These remaining seeds of poor Eve's Pandoric gift, can release, when does their dormant phase expire, True management knowledge to which man must aspire.