Unsustainable agricultural practices in China wreak havoc in the Americas

Proper environmental management as a cornerstone of sustainability is not a new concept; it has been toyed-with throughout the history of mankind by the environmentally conscious and by politicians looking for ways to ensure the infinite success of society. Often times those practicing outside the lines of sustainability and well-planned environmental management do not realize the long term consequences of their actions until it is too late. Years of excessive logging, the over-use of soil and the exploitation of limited water supplies eventually lead to land degradation, rendering once productive agricultural systems useless. Once unable to provide enough food to sustain a population, a country must look outside its borders and obtain food from its neighbors, or risk societal collapse. Today the world faces similar socio-environmental dilemmas; global warming, desertification, water shortages, over-fishing, over-hunting, deforestation, nitrogen buildup and the loss of diversity are all connected and very much consequences of unsustainable living.

China is a prime example of a contemporary society facing the consequences of poor environmental management. Since 1950, the Chinese population has experienced massive growth as a result of major agricultural and mining booms. As the availability choice-farming land dwindled, many farmers moved to lands unsuitable for heavy agriculture, such as the semiarid to arid lands of north China. The cultivation and subsequent irrigation of these lands require a great input of water, which comes from both surface water and deep aquifers, both of which are slow to replenish. Over-taxation of these sources resulted in the evaporation of many inland lakes and the reduction in river flow, and much land unclaimed by humans was rendered unsuitable for vegetative growth as it eventually degraded to desert. The effects of desertification soon reached agricultural lands as water shortages hit the human population, and once lush fields became nothing more than desolate wastelands, comparable to the Great American Dust Bowl. The Chinese government is now feeling the repercussions of its history of environmental abuse and its agricultural sector can no longer produce the food it needs to sustain the population; forcing Chinese authority to look outside of its borders to ameliorate the dilemma.

As a solution to the inevitable food shortage, China turned to Brazil, the largest producer of soya in the world. With China’s demand, major headway has been made in Brazil toward the production of the bean, leading to a remarkable 10,675 percent hike in bean turnout since 1995. This phenomenal growth in the soya sector has both stimulated Brazil’s economy and provided China with the material necessary to feed its populous and agricultural sector.

To make room for soya fields land is necessary. Fortunately for China, Brazil has great agricultural potential in the relatively untouched rainforest of the Amazon River Basin. At first sight it seems the basin hosts an endless amount of fertile soil and plentiful rainfall, and that the land is prime for development. While large amounts of rain are great for agriculture, it also increases soil erosion in lands that are deforested to make way for farming, contributing to a general demise in soil quality and agricultural output when the deforestation is practiced on a wide scale. This type of land clearance strips the soils of many nutrients essential to plant growth and agricultural potential suffers. Wide-scale deforestation will also affect rainfall, as more rainwater will flow back into rivers and flow out of the area instead of being redistributed through transpiration. As a final note, the rampant deforestation that accompanies unsustainable development reduces biodiversity that could lead to great advances in medicine, tasty dietary additions and opportunities for exploration and ecotourism.

The hour is late in the present chapter of the Brazilian/Chinese soya trade. With Brazil eagerly expanding its environmental sector to meet China’s rising demand for soya, more land is stripped of forest, more indigenous peoples are losing their homelands to squatting farmers and more biodiversity is disappearing. The trend is slightly reminiscent of China’s agricultural boom in the last half of the century. Will Brazil implement proper environmental management into their agricultural agenda and ensure the longevity of its land and peoples? The answer lies within the world’s response. We can safeguard our future when we, the human race, look past short-term gains and plan for the prosperity of future generations. •

Nick Stanich is a senior environmental biology major at Ohio University and is President of the Sustainable Living Organization.