The Effects of Agriculture on the Environment
Agriculture is obviously beneficial for farmers as it gives them opportunities to get food and earn money for living. However, agriculture also has an impact over the surrounding and on the environment that we live in. To get to know more about this, here are the ways on how agriculture affects the environment:
1. Land Degradation
Landslides are one of the examples of land degradation which is generally caused by rains and flowing of water over the hills and deforestation. Moreover, some soil becomes unsuitable for cultivation especially those within the river areas because of waterlogging. At the same time, waterlogging comes out due to increasing water level.
2. Deforestation
Agriculture also results in the reduction of forest wealth. And, primarily, here are some of the other reasons why deforestation occurs:
- High demand for wood fuel and timber due to rise in population
- Forest fires
- Either more or less compensation of forest area diversion through afforestation
3. Biodiversity
Actually, in relation to the advancement of technology, agriculture tends to get more commercialized. Having this, the extinction of numbers of plants and animal species is increasing.
4. Pest Problem
The severity of the pest problem also increases together with alteration in the crop pattern, elevation of irrigation area and high levels of cropping.
5. Waste Disposal
There are some products and by-products that are not used and disposed of properly. The result is that the burning of those by-products produces high levels of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide present in the atmosphere. This will eventually lead to problems of the respiratory tract of both animals and humans.
