Modern agriculture

21. Intensive farming is increasingly being accused of damaging the environment and threatening such natural resources as water and land, particularly because of the ill-advised use of fertilisers and plant health products. A preliminary definition of agricultural intensification is the increase in the ratio of intermediate consumption—mainly by industry—to agricultural acreage employed. Agricultural technologies are now becoming independent of the land, which is their natural medium. The reciprocity which formerly linked them is being reduced and replaced by a more hazardous duality between agricultural technology and the economic environment. Agricultural intensification generally requires substantial capital investment. But most of the developing countries still practise subsistence farming, based mainly on human "capital", with limited technical resources and difficulties in finding adequate water supplies. Even though the"green revolution" has been fairly successful, it has not managed to solve the food production problems for a large number of developing countries.

It is certainly possible to predict progress to improve intensive farming, and to limit damage to the environment. But as in the developed countries, other production systems should be used which will better conserve natural resources and ensure widespread ownership of production land. Crop and livestock farmers' associations, joint management of water supplies, and the creation of cooperatives should be encouraged to move in this direction.