Environmental consequences of increasing food production

Abstract

The success of agriculture in the technologically-advanced countries has been accompanied by a number of environmental problems. These problems have arisen because of the need for insecticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, and the local accumulation of large quantities of animal wastes. The less-developed nations have not achieved the same success in food production, and yet it is prudent for them to give attention even now to the environmental consequences of agricultural activities. They must initiate courses of action, so that there will be the least possible environmental perturbation as they come to rely more and more on pesticides and fertilizers. Both the advanced and the less-developed countries, however, must now devote considerable effort to minimizing salinization, erosion, and soil deterioration.