The Earth has already lost nearly 33 per cent of its high-quality food-producing land at a rate far faster than the natural processes of restoring diminished soil, a new study shows. This could be due to the global scale of erosion or pollution in the past 40 years, which could potentially lead to consequences of food shortage.

The study shows that the constant cultivation of fields and the heavy use of fertilizers have significantly degraded soils across the globe. Erosion has been found to be rapidly occurring up to 100 times greater than the rate of soil formation, which just a 2.5 centimetre of topsoil would take about 500 years.

The loss of food-producing land is “catastrophic,” and could potentially be irretrievable if major changes to agricultural practices were not provided, according to researchers from the University of Sheffield. The findings come from the analysis of various studies published over the past decade.

“We are increasing the rate of loss and we are reducing soils to their bare mineral components,” Duncan Cameron, professor of plant and soil biology at the University of Sheffield, told the Guardian. “We are creating soils that aren’t fit for anything except for holding a plant up.”

Specifically, the loss of structure due to continual disturbance for crop planting and harvesting has caused the vast erosion of soil. These farming activities could expose soil to oxygen and release its carbon into the atmosphere, which could reduce the land’s integrity.

The loss of integrity affects how the soil would store water, which has impacts on its ability to prevent floods and as a fruitful base for plants. Weather events prompted by global warming and deforestation are also potential threats to degraded soils.

However, Cameron said that immediate actions could still prevent the declining health and quality of Earth’s soil. The research has been presented on Wednesday at the ongoing Paris climate conference.

The global demand for food is rapidly increasing, which led the researchers to raise concern over the decline in soil which could significantly affect the production of food, the Guardian reported. Estimates show that there should be 50 percent more food by 2050 for the anticipated population of 9 billion people.

The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation said that developing countries will mostly need the significant increase in food production

The researchers suggest potential interventions to prevent further soil loss. These include recycling nutrients from sewerage, use of biotechnology to halt plants from their dependence upon fertilizers, and rotation of crops with livestock areas to reduce pressure on food-producing lands.

“We need a radical solution, which is to re-engineer our agricultural system,” Cameron said. “We need to take land out of production for a long time to allow soil carbon to rebuild and become stable.”

He added that direct government intervention could also help protect soil by providing funds for farmers and policymaking. Cameron said that providing capitalisation could significantly help farmers.

“We have the technology. We just need the political will to give us a fighting chance of solving this problem,” he stated.

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