Ten Ways to Sustainable Farming
Irrigate Efficiently (1/10)
Irrigation uses three quarters of all the freshwater that humans take from reservoirs, lakes, and rivers. Preserving water is the first step towards sustainable farming.
Drip feed irrigation delivers water direct to the crop, more efficiently than irrigation channels. Alternative systems spray water droplets over the crops, while the most advanced technology monitors soil tension to see if the crop needs water. (Photo: Reuters)
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Irrigate Efficiently (1/10)
Irrigation uses three quarters of all the freshwater that humans take from reservoirs, lakes, and rivers. Preserving water is the first step towards sustainable farming.
Drip feed irrigation delivers water direct to the crop, more efficiently than irrigation channels. Alternative systems spray water droplets over the crops, while the most advanced technology monitors soil tension to see if the crop needs water. (Photo: Reuters)
Ten Ways to Sustainable Farming
Drain and Defend (2/10)
A man works to build a levee to protect a farm in Illinois, the United States. Just as important as irrigation is drainage. Flooded fields drown plants, wash away nutrients, and erode the soil.
Floodwaters often contain saline water, which further degrades farmland. Flood defenses like levees, dikes, and drainage ditches help protect the land. (Photo: Reuters)
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Drain and Defend (2/10)
A man works to build a levee to protect a farm in Illinois, the United States. Just as important as irrigation is drainage. Flooded fields drown plants, wash away nutrients, and erode the soil.
Floodwaters often contain saline water, which further degrades farmland. Flood defenses like levees, dikes, and drainage ditches help protect the land. (Photo: Reuters)
Ten Ways to Sustainable Farming
Harvest Rainwater (3/10)
A resident collects water from a storage tank in China's Sichuan province. Harvesting and storing rainwater is a low-cost alternative source of water for irrigation, particularly in areas of low or unpredictable water supply. Rainwater is generally better than groundwater because groundwater may contain salts that damage farm soils. (Photo: Reuters)
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Harvest Rainwater (3/10)
A resident collects water from a storage tank in China's Sichuan province. Harvesting and storing rainwater is a low-cost alternative source of water for irrigation, particularly in areas of low or unpredictable water supply. Rainwater is generally better than groundwater because groundwater may contain salts that damage farm soils. (Photo: Reuters)
Ten Ways to Sustainable Farming
Conserve the Soil (4/10)
Farmers carry soil up to higher ground near the Three Gorges Dam in China. More than six billion people rely on food grown on just 11 percent of the global land surface. Preserving those soils is critical for future food security. It also helps to mitigate climate change because the world’s soils are massive carbon sinks. (Photo: Reuters)
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Conserve the Soil (4/10)
Farmers carry soil up to higher ground near the Three Gorges Dam in China. More than six billion people rely on food grown on just 11 percent of the global land surface. Preserving those soils is critical for future food security. It also helps to mitigate climate change because the world’s soils are massive carbon sinks. (Photo: Reuters)
Ten Ways to Sustainable Farming
Reduce Tillage (5/10)
Plants take in carbon dioxide and use the carbon to grow. When they die, the carbon is returned to the soil as the plants decompose. Plowing releases that carbon, which contributes to global warming. Repeated deep plowing can also hasten soil erosion.
No-till or low-till farming minimizes plowing. Scientists estimate that U.S. farmlands could store the equivalent of 12 to 14 percent of total U.S. carbon emissions. (Photo: Shutterstock)
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Reduce Tillage (5/10)
Plants take in carbon dioxide and use the carbon to grow. When they die, the carbon is returned to the soil as the plants decompose. Plowing releases that carbon, which contributes to global warming. Repeated deep plowing can also hasten soil erosion.
No-till or low-till farming minimizes plowing. Scientists estimate that U.S. farmlands could store the equivalent of 12 to 14 percent of total U.S. carbon emissions. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Ten Ways to Sustainable Farming
Rotate Crops (6/10)
Corn and soybeans fields are seen side by side in Brazil. Conventional agriculture relies on intensive mono-cropping. Rotating crop types—alternating legumes with cereal crops for example—helps the soil to recover its nutrients naturally by absorbing decomposing leaves. Leaving fields fallow also allows the soil to replenish nutrients between harvests. (Photo: Reuters)
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Rotate Crops (6/10)
Corn and soybeans fields are seen side by side in Brazil. Conventional agriculture relies on intensive mono-cropping. Rotating crop types—alternating legumes with cereal crops for example—helps the soil to recover its nutrients naturally by absorbing decomposing leaves. Leaving fields fallow also allows the soil to replenish nutrients between harvests. (Photo: Reuters)
Ten Ways to Sustainable Farming
Build Windbreaks (7/10)
In dry areas the wind can blow away soil, taking nutrients and fertilizer with it and leaving nothing for the crops. Windbreaks prevent wind erosion. In China, the government is planting a 2,800 mile band of trees across the north of the country. It is hoped this green wall of China will slow down the winds that are causing desertification. (Photo: Shutterstock)
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Build Windbreaks (7/10)
In dry areas the wind can blow away soil, taking nutrients and fertilizer with it and leaving nothing for the crops. Windbreaks prevent wind erosion. In China, the government is planting a 2,800 mile band of trees across the north of the country. It is hoped this green wall of China will slow down the winds that are causing desertification. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Ten Ways to Sustainable Farming
Plant Trees (8/10)
Agroforestry integrates trees into farmers’ fields. The tree roots help bind the soil together and capture water for the fields. Falling leaves also provide food for the soil.
The trees protect crops from sun, wind, and rain and provide farmers with livestock feeds and wood for cooking. In Niger a program of tree and shrub planting has successfully reclaimed millions of hectares of previously degraded land. (Photo: Reuters)
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Plant Trees (8/10)
Agroforestry integrates trees into farmers’ fields. The tree roots help bind the soil together and capture water for the fields. Falling leaves also provide food for the soil.
The trees protect crops from sun, wind, and rain and provide farmers with livestock feeds and wood for cooking. In Niger a program of tree and shrub planting has successfully reclaimed millions of hectares of previously degraded land. (Photo: Reuters)
Ten Ways to Sustainable Farming
Use Fewer Chemicals (9/10)
Conventional agriculture relies heavily on crude oil and natural gas in the form of fertilizers and pesticides. This releases climate warming nitrous oxides and makes farming fossil fuels reliant.
Organic agriculture avoids chemicals, using animal manure or ‘green manures’—crops grown for their nutrients and then plowed into the soil. To keep pests away organic farmers often cover their crops with sheeting or use greenhouses. (Photo: Reuters)
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Use Fewer Chemicals (9/10)
Conventional agriculture relies heavily on crude oil and natural gas in the form of fertilizers and pesticides. This releases climate warming nitrous oxides and makes farming fossil fuels reliant.
Organic agriculture avoids chemicals, using animal manure or ‘green manures’—crops grown for their nutrients and then plowed into the soil. To keep pests away organic farmers often cover their crops with sheeting or use greenhouses. (Photo: Reuters)
Ten Ways to Sustainable Farming
Capture Cow Burps (10/10)
A cow with a plastic tank full of methane in Argentina. Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and livestock produce enormous quantities of the gas. Argentine scientists say cows could be generating thirty percent of Argentina’s greenhouse gas emissions.
If livestock methane can be captured it could reduce farming emissions and provide a renewable source of power. Cow dung in septic tanks already provides methane for domestic energy. (Photo: Reuters)
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Capture Cow Burps (10/10)
A cow with a plastic tank full of methane in Argentina. Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and livestock produce enormous quantities of the gas. Argentine scientists say cows could be generating thirty percent of Argentina’s greenhouse gas emissions.
If livestock methane can be captured it could reduce farming emissions and provide a renewable source of power. Cow dung in septic tanks already provides methane for domestic energy. (Photo: Reuters)
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