The Study of the Affects of Long Term Agruculture on the Soils of Europ

The Study of the Effects of Long boundary Agruculture on the grounds of Europe 1. Introduction Soil, like iron, is a natural resource. honorable as iron is mined from the earth, footing is mined for its nutrients by farmers crosswise the globe. What most people dont realize is that like iron, landed estate is a non-renewable resource. Soils path naturally at tempos of 0.5-0.02 mm/yr, whereas the average human-induced erosion rate is 2.0 mm/yr in the U.S.(Yassoglou, 1987). These numbers reflect the dire quandary of soils around the world, and demand answers to questions such as What causes the degradation of soils? What role perk up humans played in the deterioration of soils? How much more debauch can the soil withstand? Due to the lengthy history of factory farm in Europe and the Mediterranean, these areas might provide insight into the answers of these questions. 2. Is there a problem of soil degradation in Europe? 2.1 Factors that degrade soils Soil degradation as it per tains to agriculture, refers to a deterioration in at least one of the five soil qualities volume, structure, organic matter and/or biologic activity, chemical composition, and fertility. Of the many processes that lead to the deterioration of these qualities, erosion is the most predominate and pernicious. Erosion contributes directly to the degradation of all five qualities, and is indirectly knobbed in other processes of soil deterioration (Yassoglou, 1987) . Due to its importance as a factor of degradation, and the limited scope of this paper, erosion will be the focus of this inquiry. 2.2 Variables that affect soil sensitivity to erosion Soil sensitivity is dependent upon the initial state of the soil following pedogenesis, influxes of material, and the... ...(Morgan,1987). Further read could be pursued in the effect of degrading influxes on maven soil properties. A complete study of soil degradation in spite of appearance the European Community as a whole should be done , as well as adopting a set of universal standards for measuring soil loss (Yassoglou, 1987). An interesting question to pose at this point is If soil degradation is such a problem, why hasnt productivity been adversely modify? The irony is that the same technological advances that sum up soil degradation , increase actual productivity of the farm. Fertilizers, pesticides, and machinery all increase yields per a given area, and it is these factors that afford prevented an agricultural crisis in Europe. In essence, we are running our own test on the soil, to see if our technology can outrace its destruction of the very footing upon which it is built.