Environmental limits to growth in world agriculture

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5676630

Harris, J M

Studies of the world agricultural system have generally focused on supplies of land and non-land inputs, and the role of technical change, to assess the balance between food supply and population-driven demand. Here these factors are integrated with a consideration of the impacts of intensive and extensive growth in agricultural production on soil quality, water supply, and agricultural ecosystems. Projections are made for medium and long-term time horizons to analyze the long-term sustainability of agricultural expansion. The empirical evidence is placed in the context of different paradigms of analysis, drawing on economic theory, ecological analysis, and political economy. Rapid growth in agricultural output is projected to continue through the year 2000, with increasing per capita consumption levels. But this growth places increasing stresses on the world soil base, water supplies, and environment. By the first decade of the twenty-first century, resource limitations, erosion and degradation of soils, environmental damage, and diminishing returns to non-land inputs are projected to impose increasingly severe constraints on agricultural growth. The regional and global impacts of these constraints are assessed, and market and public policy responses are evaluated. Policies to anticipate these problems, limit environmental damage, and promote a sustainable world agricultural system are discussed.

• Research Organization: Boston Univ., MA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5676630
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290300* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
290400 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Energy Resources
AGRICULTURE
CONSTRAINTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
FORECASTING
GLOBAL ASPECTS
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
GROWTH
INDUSTRY
LAND USE
RECOMMENDATIONS