The Shrinking Land Challenge

Abstract

Conceptually, imagine a vice where on one end there is demand for urban expansion (roads, buildings, industry/commerce, neighborhoods, etc.), on the other end there is societal demand for conservation (“listed” species protections, rewilding of farmlands, mitigations, etc.), and in the middle, being increasingly squeezed, exists the agricultural landscape of America. Conceptually, you can frame the shrinking land challenge. America’s farmland is shrinking while the urban landscape is expanding, and calls for preservation are growing increasingly louder. Land is finite, and once crops are converted to concrete the land is irrevocably changed. Technology has manifested an abundance of food; however, technology (e.g., genetically modified crops, pesticides, fertilizers, etc.) is also experiencing enhanced scrutiny as the frontier of agriculture inevitably converges with the aspirational boundaries of conservation. Unfortunately, few people are aware of the delicate policy intersection of food security, conservation, and population growth. Here we feature this conceptual challenge to provoke necessary discussion and debate.

Inventory and Review of Existing Agricultural Best Management Practices for Pesticides in the United States

“…Once productivity meets and ultimately exceeds demand, the agricultural footprint contracts at the behest of urban expansion and conservation; this process is popularly referred to as the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), which is an economic model representing an inverted-U relationship between income per capita and environmental degradation. 2 Consequently, technologies, in the form of fertilizers, pesticides, and genetics, are increasingly being leveraged to produce more food, fuel, and fiber from less land. However, the application of said technologies can pose potential risks to the environment, which can hypothetically be offset by strategies in the form of voluntary-or incentive-based conservation practices, often called best management practices (BMPs).…”

“…Agriculture is the foundation upon which societies are built. Once productivity meets and ultimately exceeds demand, the agricultural footprint contracts at the behest of urban expansion and conservation; this process is popularly referred to as the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), which is an economic model representing an inverted-U relationship between income per capita and environmental degradation . Consequently, technologies, in the form of fertilizers, pesticides, and genetics, are increasingly being leveraged to produce more food, fuel, and fiber from less land.…”

Salinity stress tolerance prediction for biomass‐related traits in maize (Zea mays L.) using genome‐wide markers

“…While global maize production has followed an upward trend (FAO Stat., 2021), rising demands for feed, silage, and ethanol production may potentially expand maize cultivation onto marginal/degraded lands, including those with high salinity. Amid rapidly shrinking agricultural land (Brain et al, 2023), expanding cultivation to areas with degraded soils may be helpful for sustainable agriculture and food security.…”

The Future of Agriculture and Food: Sustainable Approaches to Achieve Zero Hunger

“…Several contributions represent "Views from the Community", or opinion-style papers, ranging from a reflection on the contributions and challenges for chemistry toward Zero Hunger 6 to the need for advanced spatially explicit exposure models in pesticide risk assessment for improved environmental protection 7 and the need to address the global challenge of expanding urban areas on the availability of farmland. 8 While significant advances in crop production and soil fertility management have been made over the past few decades, significant further improvements in the efficiency and sustainability of crop production will be required to meet the SDG 2 challenge. One key to sustainable production is more efficient nutrient utilization by plants to minimize the need for fertilizers.…”

“…This joint Virtual Special Issue includes select Viewpoints, Reviews, and Articles from each of the three journals of the ACS Agricultural and Food Science portfolio. Several contributions represent “Views from the Community”, or opinion-style papers, ranging from a reflection on the contributions and challenges for chemistry toward Zero Hunger to the need for advanced spatially explicit exposure models in pesticide risk assessment for improved environmental protection and the need to address the global challenge of expanding urban areas on the availability of farmland …”