Land degradation is a general deterioration of land, decreasing its productivity and biodiversity. The causes of land degradation include the deforestation, cropland agriculture and overgrazing and it affects up to 1/3 of the world’s people. The United States is not freed from the negative impact that overgrazing has on our soil capability to continue supporting crops and livestock. The overgrazing has impacted the semi-arid Midwestern states and ranchers know about the need to rotate livestock from site to site to conserve grass cover and soil fertility. Today, more ranchers are searching for ways to raise livestock more sustainably while taking care of the land. Iowa and Illinois use the soil conservation practices of no-till and cover crops
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Their use of the no-till technique resulting in less degraded soil, allow the Midwestern states to regrow plants to produce enough food for themselves and for the neighboring states population. Yet making the food supply sustainable depends on maintaining a healthy soil to support the food production and the livestock. Whereas, Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular Kenya, is an example of desertification because the grazing exceeds the sustainable supply of grass by 30 percent. To avoid the burden on rangelands, Kenya is feeding the livestock with crop residues. However, the much degraded soil due to the grazing, coupled with an arid climate with more deserts and the scarcity of water supplies reduce the possibilities for sustainable agriculture in the sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, 80 percent of land in Kenya is vulnerable to desertification from overgrazing and deforestation. The population struggle to make a living through agriculture because of the mismanagement of the land increases erosion that destroys the food supply and reduces the food production placing Africa in a bind of severe acute …show more content…
The land is degraded as the desert areas are expanding in western China because of the overgrazing and along the border of Iran and Afghanistan an oasis that supported a million livestock turned barren in just five years. The land degradation in China coupled with a variable climate including arid land endangers food supply and the well-being of the population, China loses 6.5 billion a year from desertification. China has a much degraded soil because of the high population reducing the possibility for a sustainable agriculture. As a solution, China initiated the world’s largest tree planting program or reforestation technique to slow the soil loss to be able to regrow grass, to produce plants and feed the livestock improving the production and supply of food to sustain its population. On the other hand, Brazil’s land shows degradation, but Brazil reduces the impact of conventional cultivation by using strip cropping or intercropping. Non-till farmers intercrop cover crops with food crops such as wheat and soybeans. The climate in Brazil varies from tropical to temperate and therefore over half of all cropland is under no-till cultivation because the heavy rainfall promotes erosion, causing tilled soils to lose organic matter and nutrients and the hot weather can overheat tilled soil, so no-till is very helpful. The results of the use of the
Their use of the no-till technique resulting in less degraded soil, allow the Midwestern states to regrow plants to produce enough food for themselves and for the neighboring states population. Yet making the food supply sustainable depends on maintaining a healthy soil to support the food production and the livestock. Whereas, Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular Kenya, is an example of desertification because the grazing exceeds the sustainable supply of grass by 30 percent. To avoid the burden on rangelands, Kenya is feeding the livestock with crop residues. However, the much degraded soil due to the grazing, coupled with an arid climate with more deserts and the scarcity of water supplies reduce the possibilities for sustainable agriculture in the sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, 80 percent of land in Kenya is vulnerable to desertification from overgrazing and deforestation. The population struggle to make a living through agriculture because of the mismanagement of the land increases erosion that destroys the food supply and reduces the food production placing Africa in a bind of severe acute …show more content…
The land is degraded as the desert areas are expanding in western China because of the overgrazing and along the border of Iran and Afghanistan an oasis that supported a million livestock turned barren in just five years. The land degradation in China coupled with a variable climate including arid land endangers food supply and the well-being of the population, China loses 6.5 billion a year from desertification. China has a much degraded soil because of the high population reducing the possibility for a sustainable agriculture. As a solution, China initiated the world’s largest tree planting program or reforestation technique to slow the soil loss to be able to regrow grass, to produce plants and feed the livestock improving the production and supply of food to sustain its population. On the other hand, Brazil’s land shows degradation, but Brazil reduces the impact of conventional cultivation by using strip cropping or intercropping. Non-till farmers intercrop cover crops with food crops such as wheat and soybeans. The climate in Brazil varies from tropical to temperate and therefore over half of all cropland is under no-till cultivation because the heavy rainfall promotes erosion, causing tilled soils to lose organic matter and nutrients and the hot weather can overheat tilled soil, so no-till is very helpful. The results of the use of the