The most controversial topic in the agricultural sector is Monoculture. There is a high demand for food due to the rapid increase in population.
Most farmers turned to monoculture as the fastest way to meet up to the high demand for food, being that with the application of fertilizers and pest control which will aid the fast growth of the single crop they focus on.
Monoculture has become very popular globally, it is mostly practiced in South Africa and is still practiced to date.
Notwithstanding we can’t ignore the negative impact of monoculture. In this article, we are looked at the disadvantages of monoculture and what monoculture is all about.
Let’s start with what monoculture is all about.
Table of Contents
What is Monoculture
In agriculture, monoculture is seen as the practice of cultivation of one crop species in a field at a time. This practice is used globally in organic farming and intensive farming.
Monoculture is a kind of farming that has enhanced the productivity of planting, managing, and harvesting. which also has decreased the farmer’s expenses. Cultivating beans and corn within a particular season is a perfect example of monoculture
Nevertheless, This practice tender to Increase the risk of pests and diseases. It also has a negative effect which is the major focus. Below are the disadvantages of monoculture.
9 Disadvantages of Monoculture
- Higher Use Of Fertilizers
- Soil Degradation And Fertility Loss
- Groundwater Pollution
- Environmental Pollution
- Use of harmful Chemical Products
- Requires lots of Water to Irrigate
- Impacts on Pollinators
- The Effect of Monoculture is Reducing
- Economy Risk
- Environmental Impacts of Monoculture
1. Higher Use Of Fertilizers
This is one of the disadvantages of monoculture. In monoculture, farms tend to use excessive use of fertilizers in growing one particular kind of plant in farmland which diminishes the soil and deprives the soil of biodiversity.
Applying chemical fertilizers to the soil to boost the productivity of their crop will have a negative impact on the composition of the soil due to the fact that the soil has made up of nutrients organically.
The practice of monoculture which is cultivating or rearing of one animal breed or crop can get rid of the soil nutrient due to the high application of fertilizers.
2. Soil Degradation And Fertility Loss
Monoculture discomposes the organic stability of soils. Cultivating the same species of crop in the whole farmland rip off the natural nutrient of the soil. This makes the required microorganism and varieties of bacteria needed in sustaining soil fertility reduces.
The essential structure of the soil is affected negatively due to the cultivation of the same crop in the farmland and the application of fertilizers. Chemical fertilizers destroy the health of the soil.
In monoculture, farming can lead to soil erosion and when the crops are harvested, the natural protection of the soil wipes off from erosion by rain or wind. Due to the erosion, the topsoil doesn’t refill
All of these cause soil degradation, which is not useful to agriculture and it will lead to deforestation because many people will start clearing forests to get new farmland.
3. Groundwater Pollution
This is one of the disadvantages of monoculture. After the harvesting plants the fertilizer that was applied to boost the growth of the plant will still be on the soil. As they are inorganic and can be converted into organic compounds.
These chemicals permeate the soil and pollute the groundwater when it rains because the chemicals flow into the aquifer which ends up destroying the life’s ecosystem.
4. Use of harmful chemical products
In monoculture harmful chemical products are used as nutrients to enable the crop to grow, this results in the loss of nutrients and functionality.
Most times chemicals herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, and others are used to prevent crops from damage from weeds, pests, and bacteria.
There are traces of chemicals in the crops for human consumption which end up in the food chain, and cause serious health issues
5. Requires lots of water to irrigate
Since it is only one type of crop that is cultivated on a particular plot of land, It becomes very difficult for the root systems of the species to maintain the soil structure all over the plants due to its insufficiency, which can result in loss of water absorption and erosion
That is the major, the soil around monoculture crops is lacking a significant layer of topsoil, which leads to an imbalance in retaining water on the farmlands.
In order to solve this loss of water, farmers have to use a sufficient quantity of this important resource. which means there is a need for an increased water supply. In order to meet up to this demand, local sources, like rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, are overused.
The source of this water is pumped from lakes, rivers, and water reservoirs at high levels, reducing the aquatic resources. The water resources will be also affected by the inorganic chemicals that are applied to the soil and crops by the farmers.
The source of this water is pumped from lakes, rivers, and water reservoirs at high levels, reducing the aquatic resources. The water resources will be also affected by the inorganic chemicals that are applied to the soil and crops by the farmers.
6. Impact On Pollinators
This is one of the disadvantages of monoculture farming as it has also a negative effect on bees and other pollinators.
The rate at which herbicides, pesticides, and other chemical substances are being used in monoculture farming, which is called to sustain the fertility and growth of the crop.
Poor soil has a harmful effect on the health of pollinating insects and most times it eliminates them
One of the terrible challenges of these pollinators is that they face a dreadful food homogeneous and lack of nutrients makes them suffer deficiencies.
They also lack some bacteria that are very important to their health like Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium as a result of poor biodiversity in pollinators especially in the natural habitat of bees. The bee needs microorganisms to prevent the food shortage and to make its immune system very strong.
7. The Effects Of Monoculture Reduces
The impact of monoculture depends on the time period in which one of the crops that is the same is cultivated in a particular plot of land.
The worst form of agriculture practice that has a huge impact on soil and the environment is when a monoculture crop is cultivated on the same plot for years without change. this practice is called continuous monoculture.
8. Economic Risks
It is very risky for a farmer to cultivate a single crop on land as the farmer is expected to make a lot of profit from the crop.
During the growth stage of the crop, something can happen for instance extensive rains, pest infestations, exceptional drought, etc. The crop might not survive which makes the farmer lose instead gain.
Meanwhile, if more than one crop is cultivated not all of them that will be affected, some of the crops will survive which the farmer can make a profit from.
In monoculture, a farmer can lose his income for a whole season due to the loss of crops at once at harvest.
From an economic stand, is very risky for a farmer to practice monoculture as the farmer might end up losing income instead of making a profit.
9. Environmental Impacts Of Monoculture
Monoculture produces crops mainly for commercial purposes unlike the type of farming that the crops produced for family consumption or local community.
It gives unethical aspects all the process making of plots of land to cultivate monoculture crops. In most cases, the practices adopted by farmers are illogical in monoculture farming.
After this monoculture crops are harvested is obtained, the next is for the crops to be transported which might be long distances to several destinations. the destination might be international as the case may be, which makes the transportation mile increase greatly.
The form of transportation either land vehicles or sea-going vessels that is been used depends mainly on fossil fuels like oil and gas. when combusted they can cause environmental pollution.
Fossil fuels have also been considered one of the major causes of the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere which is connected to global climate change as a result of agricultural practices on Earth.
Conclusion
What we are saying here is that monoculture requires a large amount of fossil fuel energy for sorting, packaging, transporting, and selling crops.
The fossil fuel energy used, pesticides, chemical fertilizer that is applied on the crops to boost, and other modern methods of producing foods contribute to polluting our environment and destroying the earth. Endangers the environment for the next generations.
We believe you now know the disadvantages of monoculture. Thank you so much for reading through!!!
What is the Definition of monoculture
Monoculture is the cultivation or rear of a single crop or organism, especially on agricultural land or farmland.
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