About 38% of Earth’s land cover is occupied by agriculture11.
Although agriculture provides growing supplies of food and other
products, it is a major contributor to greenhouse gases, biodiversity
loss, agrochemical pollution and soil degradation. Most of these
environmental consequences come from arable land, which comprises
around 12% of the land cover. The challenge of feeding a
growing population expected to reach 9 to 10 billion people by 2050
while protecting the environment is daunting. Adopting truly sustainable
farming systems on a wide scale is our best opportunity for
meeting this grand challenge and ensuring future food and ecosystem
security. Concerns about the unsustainability of conventional
agriculture have promoted interest in other farming systems, such
as organic, integrated and conservation agriculture