As the world ’s midway class nearly triples in telephone number , need for meat , dairy products and eggs is wait to rise by as much as 100 percent by 2050 . The enquiry is whether agricultural yield can meet that demand without make extended environmental damage .
A U.S.-based chemical group of researchers speak this head in the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology newspaper “ Water and Land Issues Associated with Animal Agriculture : A U.S. Perspective . ” The writer concluded that the U.S. model for environmental protection of land and water resources , while not double-dyed , has improved well , and though they are optimistic about the populace ’s power to meet product demand and protect resources , there are still issues to address .
“ I was surprised at the magnitude of the challenge ahead , ” says Kelly Zering , task personnel electric chair and associate professor and extension specialist in farming and resourcefulness political economy at North Carolina State University . “ In the ’ fourscore and ’ 90s , it seemed like we had too much farming product — grain prices were low , and growers were pay not to make . We have come full cycle now , with tight supplies of food . With a with child wealthy population in the Earth , we are consuming more and driving up prices . ”
A report card from the Food and Agriculture Organization emphasized negative wallop of animal production on the environment , Zering says . Those included overgrazing , water befoulment make by both animal and crop production , and agriculture ’s function of large amounts of fresh water for irrigation . The CAST authors review the scientific discipline behind the FAO ’s claim and depend at step involve by the U.S. to protect land and water resourcefulness and come up with a different picture .
“ We seek to point out that the U.S. has been engaged in political platform to foreshorten the wallop of agriculture for X now , ” Zering says .
Among the program cited in the CAST composition are :
In addition , Zering says the U.S. acres - grant system of merged research , Department of Education and denotation has serve Department of Agriculture make great strides in production and in environmental stewardship . He suggest that the developed public has such an abundant , affordable nutrient supply that we ’ve overlooked the indigence to continue increasing intellectual nourishment yield .
“ Are we investing enough in agrarian research and education to go on to make the sort of gains we ’ve made in the past times ? ” he asks , refer to the gains that will be needed to meet a double demand without compromise environmental quality .
The question gets to the heart of the res publica - Duncan Grant university ’s military mission . In addition to helping growers develop more , body politic - Duncan James Corrow Grant enquiry and education have produce environmental benefits , Zering say . Among those are the manipulation of less plant food , less water supply and few chemicals to produce livestock and crops .
The CAST report has yield attention that will tot travel to Zering ’s calendar . He ’s been invited to address a group discussion and meet with environmental functionary in Beijing .
Zering will present the CAST report to environmental official in Beijing as well as promote the benefits of land - grant - eccentric systems at his home university .
“ I think N.C. State stands out as one of the elect farming university in the Earth , in terms of its comprehensive coverage of husbandry and the environment . This broad expertise reverberate the diversity of agriculture and the rich environmental resource in this state , ” Zering says . “ I think we have a jewel here . ”
