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7 Things You Don't Already Know About Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable agriculture plays a big role in today's farming industry and it's shaping the way the world grows organic, low input or holistic crops.

Check out our SlideShare below for seven key facts you don't already know about sustainable agriculture, or skip the SlideShare and go straight to the bulleted text beneath. If you're reading this blog via email and having difficulty viewing the SlideShare, click here: What You Don't Know About Sustainable Agriculture.  

1. Fertilizer production is an energy intensive activity that some estimate consumes 3-to-5% of the world's energy.

2. 40% of today's global population works in agriculture.

3. Organic food accounts for nearly 4% of all food products sold in the U.S.

4. The World Resources Institute reports that we need 70% more food in 2050 than we have today in order to provide for a 9.6 billion-world population.

5. Most produce is picked 4-to-7 days before being placed on supermarket shelves and is shipped an average of 1,500 miles. 

6. Fertilizer runoff contributes to dead zones where no-to-little marine life survives. The largest is in the gulf of Mexico and was 6,474 square miles large in 2015.

7. Sustainable agriculture can mean organic, low-input, free range or holisitic in nature.

 

Soil Health Is Crucial To Sustainable Agriculture
Having healthy soil means you have a better growing habitat for crops. When our soil ecosystem is in balance, crops are better able to handle stresses and need less inputs like fertilizers. Nurturing soil health means big improvements in sustainability.
Leonardo da Vinci once stated, "we know more about the movement of celestial bodies than the soil underfoot." Today's technology and research is doing a lot to close that gap.
Update your knowledge on soil health by downloading our Digging into Soil Science Ebook.  
 
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Posted by Kaitlyn Ersek on Jun 21, 2017 4:09:00 PM

Kaitlyn Ersek

Topics: agriculture

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