monocropping corn crops in a field all green and looking fine

Why Is Monocropping Problematic?

Learn about the environmental impact of monocropping in agriculture, including soil depletion, biodiversity loss, and sustainable alternatives.

Agriculture, in general, and some of its methods can harm the environment. These problems are associated with the pollution of water and soil sources, loss of biodiversity, and other threats.

In addition, regardless of the soil types, it is a finite resource that is depleted if the crops grown take the same nutrients. It can lead to loss of fertility and the need to expand farmland. 

What is monocropping?

Monocropping is an agricultural practice that involves growing the same crop in the same fields year after year. Corn, wheat, and soybeans are the most common crops grown this way.

Why do farmers use this method? It enables getting the exact yield from the entire farm and can increase its profitability by producing the most profitable crops. 

It is important to note that this practice involves using the same seeds, plant protection products against pests and diseases, and the same technique. Growers who use this practice find it more profitable than crop rotation.

In the short term, this cultivation method may indeed be such, but it can cause severe environmental damage in the long time.

Monocropping disadvantages

Monocropping has a range of disadvantages connected to the soil health and environment.

Furthermore, it can be more resource-intensive compared to crop rotation and other sustainable practices. But before we jump to monocropping cons, it’s important to mention that growers can use modern farm management software to mitigate its negative effects listed below. For more details go to https://eos.com/products/crop-monitoring/.

Damage to soil quality

Monocropping depletes the soil and makes it less productive over time. In addition, soil erosion may begin due to a decrease in the content of organic matter.

Simple crop rotation involves alternating soybeans and corn, and monoculture raises several serious problems. Due to soil depletion, more and more synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are required. At the same time, fields with polyculture are less attractive to insect pests.

Soil researchers have also found a change in soil microbial landscape due to monoculture. The number of beneficial microbes decreases over time, which in the long run, causes poor crop growth in various types of soil. 

Increased use of fertilizers

The balance of diversity enables soil and crops to flourish through natural processes. The variety of flora and fauna provides the soil and plants with vital nutrients. At the same time, one type of pest will not be able to damage many plants. 

Drones applying fertilizer and pesticide to a field of wheat and corn

The problem with monoculture systems is the heavy use of synthetic fertilizers and insecticides. It is because growing monoculture is far from the natural order of things. Industrial chemicals are not organic and have negative environmental impacts. As a result, plants grown for human consumption become contaminated.

Plant residues, after harvesting, remain in the soil and then fall into the groundwater. So even if ecosystems do not directly interact with chemicals, they are still subject to negative impacts.

Farmers must also increase the amount of fertilizer they apply over time, as the natural self-defense mechanism is activated to improve chemical resistance.

Damage to the environment

Certain pests attack a monoculture as biodiversity loss makes different types of soil and plants

particularly vulnerable. If farmers grow only a few varieties of corn, pest attacks will develop on one of them. As a result, the global crop of one of the varieties can be destroyed entirely, and there will be nothing to replace it. 

Monocropping damages corn fields. Dried up corns

Natural disaster vulnerability

The practice is also unsustainable in the face of natural disaster threats and extreme weather conditions. These events can destroy crops, and farmers who grow only one type of crop are more vulnerable. It can lead to both a complete loss of income and starvation. On the contrary, growers of different crops can afford small losses.

Alternatives to Monocropping

Growing a single crop contributes to climate change and makes it difficult for crops to adapt. As a result, plants become more vulnerable to drought and invasive species. Regenerative agriculture and other sustainable practices support the soil’s natural ability to retain moisture. 

Thus, biodiversity is conserved, including various species of birds and insects that prey on pests. Sustainable practices and a more careful selection of plant soil types can reduce resource consumption and prevent soil erosion.

Crop rotation and polyculture allow adaptation to climate change by returning carbon to the soil. It is also important to preserve local cultures and practices that help find innovative alternatives to industrial agriculture.

Billy O.

Biosystems Engineer who writes. Email: billy@agriculture.co.ke Phone: 0714-004949

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