Yield gap necessitates more agricultural land

Growing demand for food has increased pressure on land and its biodiversity. In order to increase food production while preserving nature, various environmentally friendly agricultural practices have been developed. As these practices tend to produce lower yields, more land is needed to compensate for the loss in food production, leading to a greater need for agricultural land.

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Yield gap necessitates more agricultural land

Growing demand for food has increased pressure on land and its biodiversity. In order to increase food production while preserving nature, various environmentally friendly agricultural practices have been developed. As these practices tend to produce lower yields, more land is needed to compensate for the loss in food production, leading to a greater need for agricultural land.

Organic farming is becoming more widespread in many places. However, there is a significant yield gap between conventional and low-input organic agriculture. A meta-analysis shows that the yield per agricultural area is on average about twenty per cent lower for organic systems in developed countries, while in developing countries the gap tends to be around 43%. This represents a serious trade-off, since the same amount of food production would require more agricultural land in an organic production system than in conventional farming. This is particularly important as it undermines, at least in part, the reduction in environmental impact per unit area that is typically associated with organic farming practices.

Seufert, V., Ramankutty, N. & Foley, J. (2012). Comparing the yields of organic and conventional agriculture. Nature 485, 229–232. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11069

Meemken, Eva-Marie & Qaim, Matin. (2018). Organic Agriculture, Food Security, and the Environment. Annual Review of Resource Economics. 10. 39-63. 10.1146/annurev-resource-100517-023252. 

Garnett, T., Appleby, M. C., Balmford, A., Bateman, I. J., Benton, T. G., Bloomer, P., … & Godfray, H. C. J. (2013). Sustainable intensification in agriculture: premises and policies. Science, 341(6141), 33-34. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1234485