Environmental Impact of Conventional Agriculture

Abstract

In the last decades conventional agriculture has caused the decrease in organic matter content in the soil and the accumulation of toxic compounds, thus affecting soil fertility and health. But the impact is not only felt on soil, one of the main causes of global warming is also intensive chemical fertilisation of agricultural crops. The intensification of conventional agriculture is considered the major factor that influenced the release from the soil into the atmosphere of “greenhouse gases” such as: nitrous oxide (N₂0) and methane (CH₄) who are mainly produced by the spreading of animal fertilizers. This paper aims to determine the impact of conventional agriculture through a comparative study between the conventional defining elements of the intensive system and the ecofriendly alternatives in the extensive system, identifying in this way the possibilities to reduce pollution and to strengthen sustainable agriculture.

Keywords

• conventional agriculture
• climate change
• greenhouse gases
• sustainability