Farmland to Deserts a Lot of Arable

¶ … Farmland to Deserts

A lot of arable land is increasingly turning into deserts nowadays. Many reasons are attributed to this tendency. According to UNESCO (2011) in a new technique to halt desert encroachment, taking a close look at China for instance, the rate of desertification has risen to world environmental organizations concern. This is because the rate of farmland deterioration has risen in china to 2460km2 per year. Among the causes of farmland deterioration to deserts are:

Intensive agriculture; overproduction from the same land is causing arable farmlands to convert to deserts as a result of nutrients in the soil being exhausted and not being replenished. The ultimate result has been the farmland becoming unproductive thus explaining desertification is on the increase.

Population pressure; UNESCO (2011) points out one this as one of the causes and effects of desert encroachment, too many people in a small piece of land results in too much pressure being exerted on the farmland in terms of farming, clearing the land for housing which turns the farmland ultimately into deserts. This has been a great contributor to desertification increase in places like China.

Overgrazing; people no longer move with their animals as they used to move depending on the rainfall seasons which initially prevented overgrazing. As a result of a settled life in one place, overgrazing has inevitably been promoted. As a result of overgrazing on one piece of land the end result has been desertification of the area thus explaining why arable farm lands are increasingly turning into deserts.

Destruction of vegetation cover; destruction of vegetation cover in dry areas is increasingly causing desertification in the world today. People are clearing vegetation to burn charcoal from arid areas which is contributing to the increase in farmlands turning into deserts. Once the vegetation cover is cleared the soil is left vulnerable and susceptible to being blown away by the wind. According to National Geographic (2011), this is one of the fastest ways of perpetuating desertification through human activity and has become one of the most difficult trends to control.

Poor irrigation management; this is worse in arid areas since it results into alteration of the soils' alkalinity and salinity as postulated by Society for Ecological Restoration (2011). This has contributed to the adverse conversion of farmlands into deserts. When the salts in the soil are unbalanced the land becomes poor in terms of production, being unable to support the naturally hitherto existing vegetation and ultimately results into desertification.

Industrial projects; industrial projects emit hazardous gases into the atmosphere which negatively affects the climate. More so, majority of industrial projects carelessly dispose off environmentally hazardous waste products that affect the productivity of the soil. This has contributed to big farmlands turning into deserts; a good example is the China desertification case where the disposal of the industrial waste and emission of the harmful gasses has resulted into such an accelerated desertification in China.

The high rate of desertification has dire negative effects which are as follows:

Famine; the increased turning of farmlands into deserts has resulted into famine in the affected areas. As a result of vegetation destruction rain becomes scarce in such areas. More so desertification is usually coupled with exhaustion of the soil which results in reduced productivity ultimately leading to famine.

Ability to support life is reduced; this affects wild animals, human beings, domestic animals and agricultural crops in accordance to UNESCO. Accelerated soil erosion as a result of vegetation cover destruction reduces the ability of the land to support life. For instance South Africa is loosing approximately 300-400 million tones of top soil as a result of mining activities that are rendering some areas prone to desertification. The ability to support life in such area has been reduced.