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150 millions hectares abandoned by 2060
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Thursday 20 December 2012
MD
Increase crop yields and population decline are the two reasons to explain the reduction of crop land by 150 million hectares by 2060.
Yield growth and the slowdown in population will reduce agricultural areas, according to a group of experts from the University of New York that asserts that the planet has reached a "peak" of agricultural land. Areas reserved for agriculture will decline by at least 10% due to higher yields and slowing population growth.
By 2060
about 150 million hectares could revert to forest. In 2009 the planet had 1.53 billion hectares of cropland and in 2060 this could fall to just 1.38 billion hectares.
These predictions are contrary to studies by the FAO which predict 70 million hectares more to feed the world in 2050.
These predictions are contrary to studies by the FAO which predict 70 million hectares more to feed the world in 2050.
source : 20 minutes, actualités news environnement
