S. K. Guru
6.2 Industrial agriculture and the climate change In the twenty-first century, climate change is one of the most
serious and extensive challenges faced by the modern world and, as per the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it is mainly caused by the upsurge of the greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are constituents of the atmosphere (both natural and anthropogenic) that absorb and emit radiations at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of infrared radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface, the atmo- sphere and clouds (IPCC, 2007). The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere include water vapour (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and ozone (O3). Certain man-made greenhouse gases such as the halocar- bons and other chlorine and bromine containing substances are also present in the atmosphere besides sulphur hexafluo- ride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons. Infrared opacity of the atmosphere increases with increased levels of the greenhouse gases, an imbalance that can only be remunerated by an increase in the temperature of the surface–troposphere system. This phenomenon is termed as the greenhouse effect (IPCC, 2007). With the modernisation of the society, the level of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere has increased, leading to an increase in anthropogenic changes in the climate.
According to Yohe and Tol (2007), due to the increase in green- house gas emissions, global temperatures could rise by 2–3°C by 2050, resulting in the rise of sea levels and a change in the prototype of vegetation and animal migration.
Agriculture, the world’s largest industry, is one of the big- gest contributors in these greenhouse gas emissions and sub- sequently the changes in the climate, with maximum impact coming from the use of industrialised inputs such as machinery and fertilisers. Hence, before examining the effect of climatic change on agriculture, it is imperative to understand the current industrial agricultural system and its effect on climate change.
‘Industrial agriculture’ describes the agricultural methods used post-green revolution and the term ‘green revolution’ refers to the introduction of scientific technology into agriculture, espe- cially hybrid seeds and chemical inputs such as fertilisers, pes- ticides and herbicides. Green revolution changed the scenario of world agriculture from a primary ecological process to one of the technological developments, revolutionising the world’s food system. Before the 1900s, animals and human power were used instead of machinery to manage agricultural crops, and fer- tilisers comprised animal waste, crop residue and local organic matter. Agricultural yields obtained from these low-input and labour-intensive methods were low but stable. Pest outburst or severe weather was avoided by growing more than one crop or variety in the field, with farmers relying more prominently on natural process of earth instead of industrial inputs. Hence, in this system the relations between the agriculture and ecology were very strong and the farmer’s understanding of the ecologi- cal process played a major role in the success of the crops. This early agrarian system soon started shifting away from the eco- logical methods toward mechanised farming due to the industrial revolution, which formed a part of green revolution. Because of an increase in population and subsequently the fear of food shortages in the future, alternative systems of agriculture based on modern machinery and technology became a vital part of government policy by reducing the human input and increasing the technological input. Hence, this industrial technology boom changed the agrarian system and the face of society.
In the 1960s and 1970s, green revolution based on increased use of technology further revolutionised the agricultural sys- tem. Norman Borlaug, the father of green revolution allowed Mexico’s green revolution to spread worldwide by developing high yielding hybrid semi-dwarf wheat in 1940s, which were able to produce higher yields when combined with chemical inputs such as pesticides and fertilisers. Soon with the help of various funding agencies like Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), hybrid technology succeeded in making its way to India, Asia and across Europe. Hence, with the green revolution
came the miracle of the twentieth century, which was the huge amount (doubled and tripled) of food produced from the same amount of land.
To produce high yields using hybrid seeds, chemical fertilisers were required, which were specific to a single crop and, hence, encouraged monocultures giving further rise to pest problems, which were then tackled with another chemical, that is, pesticides.
Hence, with the increase of hybrid seeds, dependence on chemical inputs grew and the technological progress in agriculture, which appeared to be favourable at first glance, resulted in the explo- sion of many problems and complications over time, particularly greenhouse gas emissions. Agricultural practices, including defor- estation, cattle feed lots, chemical use (fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides), use of fuels and manufacturing of on-farm machines and harvesting methods accounted for 25% of greenhouse gas emission (FAO, 2007), making agriculture the second largest industrial sector contributing to greenhouse gases. Looking at such a large impact of technological advancement in agriculture on climate change, it becomes imperative to limit all the aspects of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. The agricultural aspect of climate change is primarily a technological problem, but is also influenced by political and social factors. However, despite politi- cal and social limitations, there are immediate benefits of bio- technology in agriculture that can be seen working in the current agricultural system. It is these benefits that hold the promise for reducing the immediate impact of agriculture on climate change and addressing the urgent problem of greenhouse gas emissions.
While it is important for alternate movements, like the Polyface and similar sustainable farms, to continue growing and support- ing the entire systematic agricultural change, it is also essential to immediately change the current system of industrial agriculture which accounts for the majority of the agricultural causes of cli- mate change. It is therefore essential to find ways to immediately tackle the greenhouse gas emissions from large-scale industrial farms, and biotechnology holds one such immediate solution. The FAO says ‘agriculture can be part of the solution by contribut- ing to climate change mitigation, through carbon conservation, sequestration and substitutions and establishing agricultural sys- tems that can buffer extreme events’ (FAO, 2007).
Current and forecasted climatic conditions such as tem- perature extremes (hot and cold), drought, heat waves and the changing pattern of rainfall pose a serious challenge for agricul- tural production worldwide, affecting plant growth and yield, and causing billions of dollars in losses (Boyer, 1982). Hence, the global climate change is associated with the problem of
food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition, particularly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (Nelson et al., 2009; Parry et al., 2009). For example, the global temperature increased between 1981 and 2002, reducing the yields of major cereals by cost- ing as much as $5 billion per year (Lobell and Field, 2007).
The productivity of maize was drastically reduced by heat waves and drought in Italy (Ciais et al., 2005). Heat waves also affected wheat production in Central Asia and extreme flood- ing in South Asia in 2009–2010. In addition to the challenges associated with the climate change like extreme temperatures, drought and flooding, the biotic stresses such as pests, diseases and alien weed species also affect the current cropping systems (Hyman et al., 2008; Wassmann et al., 2009).
6.3 Biotechnology for climate change mitigation