Business
Blessings rain?
Climate change is destroying agriculture
Climate change is expected to exacerbate soil erosion for agriculture and cause crop declines and rising prices, according to an international study.
In Israel, experts are trying to promote programs that will encourage farmers to reduce the scale of the problem
Tags
agriculture
rain
Rachel Vox, Angle
Friday, 23 October 2020, 09:02
Share on Facebook
Share on WhatsApp
Share on general
Share on general
Share on Twitter
Share on Email
0 comments
Right-wing MKs on anti-economic violence in the family law: ...
Dimitri Tsignok, the suspect in the murder of his partner Anastasia Klein, ...
The self-employed: We lost confidence in the government, did not obey the closure instructions ...
Finance Minister Katz meets with heads of disabled organizations: expresses appreciation ...
Steamery Fabric Razor
In the video - the Bank of Israel's campaign on the subject ...
USA: Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook were questioned in Congress about ...
In the video: First rain of the season in Jerusalem (Photo: Walla! NEWS system, Editing: Itai Amram)
These days after the Tishrei holidays are the time when we look up at the sky in anticipation of the first rains.
This feeling is also assured in Jewish prayer, to which the praise "brings down the rain" is added at this time.
There is no doubt that rain has many benefits - it is necessary for agriculture and fills our water reservoirs, but it also brings with it a negative side effect: soil erosion, which can lead to the destruction of agricultural land.
Indeed, a new study, conducted by an international team of researchers, found that land erosion is likely to be exacerbated as the climate crisis worsens.
Soil erosion is a process in which parts of the soil become detached and carried away by rainwater.
As part of this, rains that damage the soil cause the clay grains in it (grains smaller than 0.004 millimeters - which the soil in Israel, for example, is rich in) to stick to each other, which leads to the soil being sealed and the ability of rainwater to seep into it reduced.
In addition, because the rains land heavily on the ground, they detach clay grains from it, and later also larger grains, and these are swept away from the ground along with the rainwater that has not seeped into the ground.
More on Walla!
NEWS
We brush our teeth incorrectly - and it destroys the planet
To the full article
More on Walla!
NEWS
Beyoncé unveils her new collection for Adidas - IVY PARK
Closed arrangement: This is how you will lower your financial consumption basket
The Big Bang: Why do we all suddenly buy in November?
The swimming method that will change your life (and make you fit)
Loss of agricultural land
"Land erosion is a natural phenomenon, but it accelerates because of human activity," says Alon Maor, director of land conservation, physical planning and shift agriculture in the Department of Land Conservation and Drainage at the Ministry of Agriculture.
Land drift is a problem mainly in cultivated agricultural land.
"In a natural area, the soil is very biologically diverse, its structure is stable and it has roots, animals and plant cover that protects it from the raindrops," says Maor.
"In agricultural land, the agricultural tools that prepare the land for cultivation upset this balance."
Land erosion affects agricultural lands of various types.
In husbandry, where the farmer relies solely on rain as a source of water, the soil is exposed in the fall, and the crops in it germinate following the first rains.
However, it is precisely these rains that are the most powerful, so they can cause significant soil erosion when they fall on soil that is not protected by vegetation.
In irrigated soils, since irrigated, there are usually no crops in winter, and they stand exposed during these rainy months.
In plantations, evergreen trees, like citrus and avocado, protect the soil from the rain all year round, but deciduous trees, which have no leaves in winter, cannot prevent the rain from damaging the soil.
Land erosion causes a lot of damage, and first and foremost to the loss of fertile agricultural land and a reduction in soil yield - which may, beyond harming farmers, also exacerbate the problem of food shortages in the world.
In addition, as rainwater flows from agricultural land to streams, the heavy erosion in them can clog the drainage infrastructure.
More on Walla!
NEWS
Good Neighborhood: Will Electricity from the Jordanian Sun Help Israel?
To the full article
An increase of up to 66 percent in land erosion
If not enough is done to moderate climate change, and the use of agricultural practices that reduce land erosion is not expanded, the amount of land lost due to land erosion each year could jump from 43 billion tons in 2015 to more than 71 billion tons
In the new study, the researchers estimated the expected future extent of the soil erosion phenomenon, based on three possible scenarios, which include expected changes in climate and land use in 202 countries around the world.
These scenarios are also used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its assessments.
The researchers found that in all the scenarios examined and in most countries, the extent of land drift is expected to increase by 2070, at a rate of 66-30 percent (depending on the scenario).
The main reason for this, according to the study, is the climate crisis.
According to these findings, if not enough is done to moderate climate change, and the use of agricultural practices that reduce land erosion is expanded, the amount of land lost due to land erosion each year could skyrocket from 43 billion tons in 2015 to more than 71 billion tone.
The rise is expected to be sharpest in low- to medium-income countries in the tropics and subtropics of the globe.
Of course, the loss of agricultural land could also lead to lower yields and higher food prices.
Less rain, more power
The phenomenon of land degradation did not pass over Israel.
"In Israel, soil erosion occurs at an average rate of 4 millimeters of land per dunam per year," says Maor.
According to him, the area in which we live suffers particularly from the phenomenon because of the semi-arid climate that prevails in it.
"In a climate like this, the rain often meets bare soils," he says.
"In our area there is much less vegetation than in other countries, like Canada or the United States, where there is green vegetation even in summer. Most of the time the trees do not have enough leaves on the trees to protect the soil from the raindrops."
As elsewhere in the world, the phenomenon of land erosion is expected to worsen in Israel due to the effects of the climate crisis.
"The climate crisis in Israel is causing a decrease in the number of rain events - but each event is much more powerful than we have known in the past," says Maor.
According to him, this intensification of rainfall events is expected to exacerbate land erosion.
"Even so, it is difficult for us to deal with strong rain events in agricultural areas, so their intensification will make the matter several times worse."
More on Walla!
NEWS
A lawsuit for investor fraud will solve the climate crisis?
To the full article
Agriculture prevents drift
Land erosion is one of countless severe phenomena that are expected to worsen in the coming years as a result of the climate crisis. Today, there are various methods designed to reduce soil erosion in agricultural lands, and members of the Land Conservation Division in the Ministry of Agriculture are working to encourage their use among farmers. "One solution is to use engineering operations that aim to section the slope, for example using dirt batteries that are placed in the middle of the agricultural area," says Maor. "Thus, the rainwater that has not seeped into the ground is stopped by the battery, and cannot gain momentum and flow on." He said that even when the water does not stop at the batteries and continue to flow, their energy is lower because of the obstacle placed in front of them - so they carry less soil with them.
Another solution, which is more complex to implement, is to use methods that allow farmers to fertilize the land less. "We make efforts to persuade farmers to cultivate the land once every 5-3 years instead of every year, using these methods," says Maor. Thus, when the rain falls the ground is not exposed - but is to some extent covered with plant debris left in the field after the harvest of the previous crop that grew in it, and is held by their roots. "Implementing these methods is not simple, it requires the farmer to be more professional and understanding. We give farmers financial support as a safety net for studying the method, but some farmers say it is not enough to compensate for the headache they expect if they adopt the method, while others understand it For their benefit, and that it is better for them that their land continues to be fertile in the years to come. "
In fruit plantations, for example, a key method of reducing soil erosion is to increase the plant cover of the soil by sowing crops such as oats, wheat or clover among the fruit trees. "We have introduced this method for wide use in avocados and citrus, there are almost no avocado plantations that do not have cover crops between the rows," says Maor. "It does not harm the fruit trees and it solves the problem of alluvium. The more we increase the plant cover the better," he concludes.
The article was prepared by "Angle - The News Agency of the Israeli Association of Ecology and Environmental Sciences"
Share on Facebook
Share on WhatsApp
Share on general
Share on general
Share on Twitter
Share on Email
0 comments
