Presentation
“How can we enable sustainable production
and supply of food and water?”
Professor R Jane Rickson
Cranfield Soil and AgriFood Institute
April 27th 2015
The challenge ahead
UK Government Chief Scientific Officer’s Foresight Report (2011)
‘The Future of Food and Farming: Challenges and choices for
global sustainability’
Population growth: 8 billion by 2030; probably >9 billion by 2050.
The Foresight Report,
Chief Scientific Officer, UK Government
Global food production must increase by 3% annually to 2030 (Watts, C.
Agriculture in High Growth Markets, Economist Intelligence Unit., London)
The challenge ahead
Food Security (the 5 ‘As’)
Available
Supply – quantity and reliability
Affordable
Economics
Accessible
Geography and economics
Appropriate
Quality, cultural norms, changing diets
Adequate
Diet, health, nutrition
Food security is defined as a condition in which “all people, at all times, have
physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food which
meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life …
Food insecurity exists when people do not have adequate physical, social or
economic access to food as defined above” (FAO 1996).
The challenge ahead
How to achieve increased food production given finite amount of land?
3%
0%
9%
1450000
13%
75%
1400000
1350000
Whole
apple
%
1300000
¾
¼
75%
Water
25%
1/8
12.5%
1/8
12.5%
9.4%
Land
Uninhabitable to
humans
Habitable
Only suitable for non
arable land
Suitable for arable
Topsoil
1250000
1200000
Global area of arable and permanent crops from 1961 to
2009 (thousands of hectares) (FAOSTAT)
3/32
1/32
1/32
3.1%
peel
Planet earth
The challenge ahead
How to achieve increased food production, given :
•
Finite amount of land
•
Conflicts / competition with other land uses
– biofuels, urban development, infrastructure
•
Increasing competition for water supplies
•
Limited (affordable) energy resources
•
Decreasing labour supplies (urbanisation / rural depopulation)
•
Degradation of land and water quality
•
Climate change and weather variability
– Rising global temperatures
– changing patterns of precipitation
Increasing food production
• Improve yields through plant breeding and GMOs?
• Improve yields by fertilisers and irrigation?
HGCA, 2009. Nitrogen for winter wheat; management
guidelines.
UK national average wheat yields 1980-2011. Knight et
al., 2012.
• So maybe the answer is in the soil?
The importance of soil management
in food production
•
94% of all food originates from terrestrial environments (FAOSTAT, 2011)
•
Healthy soils are able to "sustain plant and animal productivity”...and more
Ecosystem goods and services
delivered by soil
•
Examples
Provisioning of material goods and
services
Agricultural production (food, fibre, fodder, fuel); Water
storage and supplies; Land for development (residential,
industry, infrastructure)
Regulation of ecosystem processes
Flood control (water storage)
Carbon storage (CO2 emissions: mitigate climate change)
Cultural, non-material services
Landscape aesthetic
Recreation / amenity, protection of heritage
Supporting services
Habitats, biodiversity
Soil formation
Healthy soils linked to human health and well-being, and individuals’ and
national economic status (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2006)
The importance of soil management
in food production
Aim: “To maintain a fertile seedbed and root zone, whilst retaining maximum
resistance to soil degradation”
ORGANIC
MATTER
1. Enhance productivity (quantity, quality and reliability of
marketable yield)
–
–
BIOTA
BIOTA
Improve uptake of water and nutrients by roots
Reduce pests / diseases / weeds
NUTRIENTS
2. Control soil degradation
–
WATER
Erosion; diffuse pollution; compaction; losses of C, organic matter
and habitats; salinisation; acidification
STRUCTURE
Soil health: the pivotal 5
3. Concept of “sustainable intensification”
–
Producing more (quantity/ quality/ reliability of marketable yield) with
less environmental impact / damage
It’s simple  1 + 2 = 3!!!
Soil erosion, Bedfordshire
Soil management practices to
achieve sustainable intensification?
1. Soil cultivation and tillage
a) Conventional v conservation practices (reduced
tillage, minimum till, strip tillage, zero till – maintain
good seed bed and organic matter)
b) Timeliness of operations – soil moisture content –
erosion and compaction risks?
c) Depth of operations
plough pan formation?
effects on biota?
d) Direction of operations
Soil management practices to
achieve sustainable intensification?
2. Better monitoring and measurement of soil properties
“what gets measured gets managed”
In-field variability of soil properties requires variable soil management
•
•
•
•
•
•
Soil structure
Tillage intensity (e.g. depth, degree of soil disturbance)
Seeding rates
Fertiliser requirements
Pesticide / herbicide requirements
Water (irrigation) requirements
Soil management practices to
achieve sustainable intensification?
2. Better monitoring and measurement of soil properties
“what gets measured gets managed”
In-field variability of soil properties requires variable soil management
•
•
•
•
•
•
Soil structure
Soil
Structure
Challenge
Tillage intensity (e.g.
depth,
degree of
soil disturbance)
Seeding rates
The physical structure of soil affects crop development and
Fertiliser requirements
yields.
Detailed soil structure tests can be performed in
Pesticide / herbicide
requirements
labs, but this is time consuming and costly.
Water (irrigation) requirements
Can we make better in-the-field tool(s) to let allow farmers
to check soil structure and resilience?
Soil management practices to
achieve sustainable intensification?
3. Use of crop agronomy for better soil management
– Rotations
– Cover cropping
– Break crops (deep rooting species)
– Nutrient replenishment (e.g. N fixing legumes)
– Grass waterways (erosion and runoff control)
Soil management practices to
achieve sustainable intensification?
3. Use of crop agronomy for better soil management
– Rotations
– Cover cropping
– Break crops (deep rooting species)
– Nutrient replenishment (e.g. N fixing legumes)
Seed Distribution Challenge
– Grass waterways (erosion and runoff control)
Cover-cropping is a great way to rehabilitate soil and can
provide wide ranging benefits in farming systems. The most
success often comes with mixing multiple species; however,
these species have seeds of different sizes and shapes
which makes it difficult to spread them evenly using current
technology.
Can we create a way to make it practical for farmers to sow
seeds of different sizes?
Soil management practices to
achieve sustainable intensification?
4. Soil (organic) amendments
– Green manures (cover cropping)
– Composts
– Mulches
– Sewage sludge
– Digestate from AD plants
Increase organic matter content, carbon, biota
Improve soils structure and resilience
Effects will be specific to materials used and sites
(weather, soil type, etc)
http://www.biogen.co.uk/The-Biogen-Difference/TheClosed-Loop
Soil management practices to
achieve sustainable intensification?
4. Soil (organic) amendments
– Green manures (cover cropping)
– Composts
– Mulches
– Sewage sludge
Compost Challenge
– Digestate from
AD plants
Studies show that compost use in arable rotations can
improve
yields
and resilience.
Tons of organic, compostable
Increase organic
matter
content,
carbon, biota
material is thrown out in cities every day.
Improve soils structure and resilience
How can we create an economical way to sort and get
organic waste
from cities
to farms?
Effects will be specific
to materials
used
and sites
(weather, soil type, etc)
http://www.biogen.co.uk/The-Biogen-Difference/TheClosed-Loop
Take home messages
•
Food production has to increase by 3% per annum
•
Soils function to deliver multiple goods and services
•
Soils can be irreversibly degraded
•
Soil management can enhance food production
– Quantity, quality and reliability
•
Soil management can control degradation processes
•
Cost effectiveness of practices will be site specific
•
Practices must fit into current farming practices
– socio-economic context
– infrastructure / machinery
– farmer psychology
•
Ultimate goal is sustainable intensification
– economic, social and environmental
ORGANIC
MATTER
BIOTA
BIOTA
NUTRIENTS
WATER
STRUCTURE
In conclusion…..
“The challenge for global agriculture is to grow more food,
on not much more land,
using less water, fertiliser and pesticides
than we have historically done.”
Sir John Beddington
former UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser.
Thank you for your attention
Professor Jane Rickson
 j.rickson@cranfield.ac.uk
 +44 1234 750111 ext. 2705