Future agricultural production systems must deliver benefits responding to multiple societal challenges, says Syngenta's Head, Environmental Policy

Hippocrates, the father of human medicine, said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” If what goes into our bodies is essential for our health the same surely also applies to soil and crop nutrition? A balance of nutrients and a lack of pollutants being the foundation of good health, the conditions in which we live and their effects on health - human, plant and mineral – should also be considered.

Soil/crop nutrition is essential for food security throughout the world as is restoring degraded soils and maximising yields sustainably in strategies looking to the long term in the context of climate change and variability.

Contributory factors negatively affecting soil health include global climate change as well as local and occasional events such as El Ni?o and La Ni?a, and more consistent micro-climates affecting local conditions requiring human amelioration. Human agency can be a threat as well as a help of course. Injudicious application of old-school chemical fertilisers and pesticides for example. We know nature is a balance, but insist on trying to tilt the balance in our favour, not always successfully.

In the opinion of Romano De Vivo, Head Environmental Policy at Syngenta, “If soil nutrition means mitigation of soil degradation, there’s no short term answer, but only long term sustainable solutions.”

Water is vital for soil/crop health, but can also be an enemy when in the shape of flooding and run-off degrading top-soil. Again, sunlight is vital but, like water, the optimum dosage is required for abundant harvests year on year. Predicting the weather and understanding climate and underlying conditions not only help us to foresee problems before they arrive, but also react swiftly to contingencies as they occur.

Humanity

Farming feeds humanity, but is also affected by human activity and not just by pollution. De Vivo observes, “Under demographic pressures and when lacking sustainable management instruments, soil degradation brings additional tensions as populations migrate away from regions with degraded land towards regions with preserved land or towards urban zones. To be able to respond to future challenges of food security in the context of projected demographic growth it is essential that such processes should be avoided and where possible, reversed.”

Jim Lewis, a trainer at DJL Agronomics points out that the actions of machinery and the conditions of use are also important factors, plus the potential damage that some pesticides have on the important soil microflora. While short term chemicals should be treated with caution, they are useful in certain situations and are needed to boost the requirement of crops where organic supplements are not able to fulfil needs in terms of yield and quality.

Climate change and population increases

“Climate change will have an effect on the crops grown and hence on nutrition applied,” says Lewis. “With more potential degradation of OM and maybe more tilled soil over winter there is a higher potential for loss with its problems so cover crops and changing methods of cultivation will apply.  In addition if we are going to see limited water supplies then the timing and rates of nutrient addition may well alter. We must also remember that the world’s population is growing by roughly a billion every 10-20 years and so pressure on those areas that have water may be to produce more intensively.”

De Vivo adds that climate change, water scarcity, and the limited availability of arable land (while demand continues to rise) reinforce the view that new production methods that address all elements of the agricultural system (such as encompassing better soil and land management, as well as the enhancement of soil health and structure) need to be found:

“Securing food supply requires a coordinated effort with a clear vision of both the challenges and the potential of proposed solutions. New efforts must be to produce more with less, not only with regard to soil and water, but also fertilizers, plant protection products, energy, and labour. The key focus should be on improvements. We need to feed a growing population while coping with an increasingly degraded environment and uncertainties resulting from climate change. This concept provides opportunities for optimizing crop production per unit area, taking into consideration the range of sustainability aspects including potential and/or real social, political, economic and environmental impacts.”

Consumers

Consumers can also be drivers for change, says De Vivo. “Awareness of the challenge and of the possible solution, and willingness to prefer production systems and products that are addressing the challenge in a sustainable way can play an important role. The future will be reserved for production systems that are able to produce multiple benefits responding to more than one societal challenge/expectation.”

Transformation and protection

De Vivo says Syngenta’s R&D, investment in new technologies, as well as capacity-building to put these tools into practice, will help support a competitive farming sector able to balance productivity with the protection of natural resources: “We are anticipating growers’ needs and pain points and use innovation in the chemical innovation cycle, in seed breeding, in biocontrol to help solve them.”

Projects to support the transformation of agricultural systems towards resource-use optimization, ecosystem resilience, knowledge transfer, and climate adaptation have been implemented. De Vivo explains, “Syngenta is in the forefront of integrating these projects, such as: conservation agriculture (CA – minimum soil disturbance, permanent ground cover, crop rotation); multifunctional landscape issues, and, the integration of the protection of biodiversity with that of soil and water through vegetative strips that not only provide valuable habitats, but also capture runoff and prevent erosion from fields, while supporting landscape connectivity.”

The Land Life Company in the Netherlands also favours the use of vegetation to prevent erosion, but has taken it a step further. CEO, Jurriaan Ruys, is proud of the company’s novel and sustainable way of revitalizing and restoring arid soils using - trees: “The Cocoon is a tree planting device to speed up reforestation of denuded dry lands (by increased survival rates and growth vigour),” he reveals. “Once established, trees initiate a suite of processes all aligned to revitalize ecosystem services. On the short run canopy cover of the trees protects the soil against high temperatures and desiccating winds, thus reducing evaporation losses. Trees also promote rainfall infiltration by reducing runoff, especially from short, high intensity rains. As such soil erosion, typically caused by gully formation is mitigated. The moderated temperatures and increased soil moisture content will boost soil life, especially in the presence of leaf litter and plant roots. Introduction of nitrogen-fixing tree species in particular will improve soil fertility. In the longer run organic matter content of the soil increases, enhancing soil water retention and nutrient buffers, so creating conditions amenable to other plant species. Fauna also follows suit in these revegetated areas.”

So, imagination, innovation and a comprehensive understanding of the issues will be key going forward. Plus consumer groups, the public sector and private sector need to be more cohesive in their efforts to re-invigorate soil that has been over farmed, or eroded.

Food for thought

The structure of the modern world in which we live is substantially an artificial construct. This is not a negative as it supports and maintains well-fed and stable populations, but nothing can be out of tune, or out of harmony with nature for long. Two elephants have entered the global room - population growth and climate change - both of which impact on farming methods. Malthusian expectations seem no longer to apply given our highly mobile and technically sophisticated populations fed from afar. However, combined, the two giants threaten ongoing global food and energy security more than ever before. The spectre of shortages or even famine is moved, but not removed by globalisation and without a perpetual revolution in farming methods risks remain even north of the Tropics. One thing is for sure, however, if we feed the earth, the earth will continue to feed us.

David Stradling, Sales Director, Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA). David has 18 years experience in business to business trade fairs and exhibitions. He played a key role over an 11 year period in the launch and subsequent development of Automotive Testing Expo, one of the world’s leading automotive engineering events. He joined Turret Media in 2013, to head GFIA in Abu Dhabi from its launch and subsequent business development, with responsibility for the exhibition and event sponsorship. He is focused now also on the inaugural European Edition of GFIA, to run in Utrecht, the Netherlands, 9-10th May, 2017. In his early career he worked as a journalist for several newspapers, consumer and business to business magazines. A UK citizen, he has lived and worked in Hongkong, Singapore and Thailand and currently resides in Dubai, UAE. GFIA embodies the present and future needs of farmers widely referred to in this article. The event delivers the world's largest dedicated showcase of technologies and solutions in agriculture promising higher yields for farmers for less and with concern for our most precious natural resources. Companies wishing to book stand space at either edition of GFIA can contact him through Linkedin, by email at [email protected] or by calling +971 56 320 9377.