Environmental Impact of Monocropping

Monoculture or monocropping is when farmers plant just one crop type, year by year, on a large piece of land. You may have seen picturesque wheat fields or stunning apple orchards and thought, “How beautiful!”. 

Unfortunately, the environmental impact of monocropping goes against the diversity found in nature, prioritizing profitable food production above all else. This article focuses on the environmental problems caused by practicing monoculture. We also highlight some economic issues and suggest a few simple solutions. 

Table of contents:

Why practice monoculture?

If monoculture is not ideal, why is it the most common agricultural practice in the world today? All the primary reasons for monocultural farming revolve around maximizing profits. 

If a farmer plants a single crop on the entire farm, there's more space available for that crop, making them a major supplier. Also, they can run the whole business using a single farming system: the same seed, pest control, weed control, and machinery. That helps farmers save considerable amounts of money and effort.

Popular crops grown in monoculture plantations include corn, wheat, rice, sugar cane, soybeans, and oil palm trees. Monoculture crops are usually essential sources of food, fiber, and other commercially important materials. 

Monoculture has helped to increase food and fiber production. The increase in grain production has helped reduce the number of malnourished people even as the population keeps rising.

Effects of monoculture on the environment

Monoculture has immediately noticeable advantages, but it also has adverse effects that are slow but destructive. Such effects include environmental degradation and risks to human health.

Let's consider some consequences of monoculture. 

Lack of biodiversity

Natural ecosystems consist of diverse wildlife communities that effectively sustain one another. Because of that diversity, essential ecosystem services like biological control of pests and diseases, carbon sequestration, pollination, etc., occur.

Monoculture is essentially a threat to biodiversity. Farmers remove all crops except the crop of choice. Consequently, they also force out animal species dependent on those removed plants by extermination, starvation, or lack of habitat.

Many native animal and plant species, some critical to the environment, become extinct because of monoculture. Agricultural expansion already threatens the natural environment, and monocropping makes it even scarier.

Soil degradation

Planting the same crop year after year on the same piece of land strains soil resources. 

Different crops demand more soil nutrients while adding other nutrients. For example, legumes use more phosphorus and potassium than nitrogen. Soybean monoculture will result in excess nitrogen in the soil and less of other nutrients. Such imbalances mess with soil health.

Various bacteria and microorganisms replenish the soil and keep it fertile. Different microbes mean many kinds of nutrients and soil health services. Research has established that plant diversity influences soil health and the type of microbial community in an area². With monocropping, the variety of microbes significantly decreases.

Nutrient pollution 

Since monoculture depletes soil nutrients, farmers must maximize production by using chemical fertilizers. However, there are severe environmental costs associated with using artificial fertilizers. Chemicals from fertilizers enter rivers, lakes, streams, and reservoirs through rainfall runoff or erosion, and they can also seep into groundwater. 

Oversaturation of soil nutrients in aquatic habitats can cause harmful algae blooms, depleting the water's oxygen. Swimming in or accidentally swallowing water contaminated by such algae can cause serious health issues. Soil nitrate can also find its way into our drinking water. Water with high enough nitrates can be fatal to infants.

Excess fertilizer use also contributes to climate change. Nitrogen-based chemical fertilizers produce nitrogen oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas with 265 times more warming power than carbon dioxide³.

Chemical pollution

Pests and diseases more easily destroy monoculture crops as they lack the resistance a diverse plant and animal population would have provided. Those destructive agents stay in monocultural fields longer because they find them a perfect home. 

Farmers who practice monoculture agriculture tend to use pesticides and herbicides excessively. Some parasites even resist the pesticides used against them, passing on the immunity to their offspring, so farmers use even more potent pesticides.

Pesticides, insecticides, rodents, and herbicides contain toxic chemicals harmful to humans and wildlife. These chemicals contaminate the soil and groundwater, enter water bodies, and become air pollutants. 

Weak ecosystems

Agricultural ecosystems typically lack the resilience that undisturbed environments show in the face of biological and geological challenges. Monoculture, especially, creates fragile ecosystems.

For example, natural environments have biocontrol agents that control plant diseases and pests. Monoculture does not allow for diverse species to serve as control agents. Therefore, one pathogen can wipe out acres of monoculture farms in a blink.

Furthermore, monoculture fields cannot withstand weather events like fires, floods, and erosion due to a lack of diversity in root length and canopy. One type of root also means water uptake occurs at one level in the ground. In cases of severe drought, deep roots will require more irrigation, straining water resources. 

Nutrition and health 

There are over 350,000 known plant species, of which around 7,000 to 30,000 are considered edible and have been used for food and agriculture. Yet, only about 255 plants currently make up the bulk of the human diet worldwide¹. We lack food diversity because monoculture prioritizes the production of certain crops over others based on profitability.

Over the last century, we have lost more than three-quarters of the genetic diversity in crops. Because monoculture has restricted us to a few options, we may be missing out on fantastic health and nutritional benefits.

Another concern monoculture raises is the effect of crop genetic modification. Despite bans on GMO foods, we have modified many of the crops we consume today for hardiness, higher yield, and easier processing. Both corn and soybeans are popular GMO crops.

Economical effects of monoculture

Here are some economic disadvantages of monocropping:

It puts small-scale farmers at a disadvantage 

Monoculture farming may push small local farmers into obscurity in favor of big corporations that can afford more land and complex machinery. These companies produce in larger quantities and ship their products worldwide. And since monoculture can be relatively cheaper than other methods, they can sell quite at meager prices, pushing small farmers off the market.

Market shocks

Monoculture farmers typically focus on a single product and supply distant markets. There are many risks involved in doing business that way.

Monoculture farms have little chance of survival, like a drought or pest attacks, if something goes wrong. A farmer could lose their entire harvest. Lost or destroyed cargo also presents a problem. Its high-risk nature can lead to sudden scarcity and economic hardships for farmers and their customers.

Food insecurity 

Monoculture is dangerous to pollinators because it lacks crop diversity and is chemically intensive. Pollinators may become sick and die as they migrate through monoculture fields. In addition, pollinators with only one food source suffer from nutrient deficiencies and weakened immune systems due to poor diets.

The declining pollinator population is a global concern because it directly affects crop yields. Fewer pollinators equals lower food production. Big agriculture corporations can usually afford artificial pollination, but what about small-scale farmers?

Moving away from monoculture

Monoculture isn't the only way to grow crops; other ways don't put the environment at risk as much. Switching to sustainable agriculture has many advantages, but maintaining plant diversity is vital.

Maintaining biodiversity sustains ecosystem services that increase yields, such as biological control, unmanaged pollination, and waste disposal services.

It also maximizes land fully for production since different species of plants can thrive on the same field at different seasons of the year. In monocropping, the land lies idle once the growing season is over.

Farmers need to start looking at other types of farming that are more environmentally friendly than monoculture. Thankfully, there is more than one way to practice sustainable agriculture. We have;

Polyculture

Polyculture is the practice of simultaneously growing different crops on the same piece of land. One key benefit is that some crops can serve as pest repellents for other crops. Polyculture also increases soil fertility and water retention. 

Conservation agriculture

This farming system tries to replicate natural ecosystems as much as possible. It promotes minimal soil disturbance, diverse plant species, and permanent soil cover. Conservation agriculture's most significant advantage is that farmers have a higher hope of stable yields.

Crop rotation

A rotation system allows a farmer to plant different crops on the same field in sequence. Crop rotation interrupts pest cycles and removes pathogens. It also helps revitalize and balance the soil. For example, planting nitrogen-loving vegetables after legumes keeps the soil nitrogen balanced.

Permaculture

Permaculture is a sustainable food production system that embraces the whole concept of sustainable living. Its key aspect is eliminating resource waste, and it encourages slow consumption.

What are the challenges?

The major challenge in eliminating monoculture is keeping the food supply high enough so people don't go hungry. That is a valid concern, as food insecurity, which discriminately affects low-income households, would only worsen if the supply suddenly dipped.

Another challenge is that many local farmers struggle to transition from monocropping. They may face complex financial or technical issues. 

Political willingness is also a concern, as the government can institute policies that support sustainable farming. They also have the authority to compel large agro companies to adopt more environment-friendly practices.

However, monoculture is not sustainable. Past trends show that continuing monocultural farming would only increase nitrogen pollution, irrigated fields, and agricultural encroachment.

Conclusion 

Many farmers have turned to monoculture to avoid lower yields. Despite its seemingly great economic benefits, monoculture has unpleasant environmental consequences. Diversity in agriculture is the way to go. It has long-term positive effects on the environment and the economy.