What are the benefits of agro chemical based agriculture

Agro chemical based agriculture is the most common system of agriculture in the world, and is responsible for a large number of environmental problems such as soil degradation and water pollution. This article discusses some of these issues. It also mentions some practices that will help you decrease the use of agrochemicals.

Benefits

1. Increased the world food production

This is one of the most important reasons for agro chemical based agriculture. With this system, farms could produce more food with less land than would be possible with conventional agriculture. With increased food production, there was no need to move elsewhere to seek food as this also led to a reduction in urbanization and population growth.

2. Increased farm efficiency

By using synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, farmers could increase the land they could cover by using fewer workers to farm the same amount of land. They also could use fewer resources such as water and fertilizer in the process of growing their crops because synthetic fertilizers do not deplete natural resources as do chemical fertilizers and pesticides do.

3. Reduced farm costs

With synthetic fertilizers, farmers could provide higher and more consistent yields for less money per hectare than conventional agriculture. This led to a reduction in the cost of inputs such as water and fertilizer. Reduced costs led to lower prices of farm products which resulted in increased food intake by people worldwide.

4. Increased profits for farmers

By using synthetic fertilizers, farmers could get higher profits than they would with conventional agriculture. With fewer costs for growing and harvesting crops, farmers could make higher profits.

5. Increased food security

This led to an increased availability of food worldwide. Because synthetic fertilizers and pesticides can be mass-produced, it was possible to make these two inputs available in a large amount, therefore increasing the world food production. Agro chemical based systems also resulted in an increase in land under cultivation which made the system even more efficient than conventional agriculture.

6. Increased food intake by the entire population

According to a 2002 FAO study, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides provided a 12-13% higher food production per unit of agricultural land than conventional agriculture. This meant more food for everyone worldwide. However, it is important to note that this increased food production was because synthetic fertilizers and pesticides increased the amount of crop grown per hectare, not the total quantity of calories produced or grown. In other words, farmers were able to produce more food with less land than would otherwise be possible with traditional or organic farming systems.

7. Increased food safety

By using synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, it is possible to ensure the quality of crops and make them safer to consume. For example, it was impossible to know if natural fertilizers were contaminated with dangerous chemicals such as arsenic and lead. In addition, food harvested from organic agriculture did not have the same level of nutrients and vitamin that those harvested from synthetic agriculture had. By using chemical fertilizers, farmers could avoid these problems and make their food safer for consumption.

8. Increased variety of food available

Because agro chemical based agriculture made it possible to produce more food with fewer resources, farmers could grow a larger number and variety of foods. For example, they could grow fruits and vegetables that were not previously available in countries with arid or semi arid climates.

9. Increase in crop yields per hectare

By using synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, farmers could increase the amount of crops grown per hectare than would be possible with conventional agriculture. In addition, the same amount of land could contain more crops than if it were left to grow naturally. This was due to agro chemical based systems increasing crop yields per hectare more than conventional agriculture did.

10. Reduced erosion of agricultural lands

This is one of the most important benefits of agro chemical based agriculture. With conventional agriculture, farmers would have to abandon their lands over time because of soil erosion and nutrient depletion. By using synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, this process could be slowed down or even reversed depending on the intensity of usage. It is also important to note that when land was abandoned because it is no longer fertile, there was a significant decrease in the food production in that area which could lead to famine.

 In conclusions, agro chemical based agriculture had many benefits. With this type of agriculture, farmers could increase their crop yields per hectare by increasing the amount of crops grown per hectare than would be possible with conventional agriculture. They also could increase their income because they made more money on their crops and saved money on fertilizers and pesticides.