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Farming systems achieving a higher yield on a smaller amount of land are the "least bad" option to increase food production, provided that conservation efforts preserve wilderness areas elsewhere, a study conducted by 17 research organisations had found.
The scientists led by a University of Cambridge team sought to measure the environmental impact of four major food sectors around the world, including European dairy.
Unlike previous research focusing on impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and soil erosion for each acre farmed, this study looked at the impact of each unit of food produced.
Organic systems caused at least one third more soil loss, and take up twice as much land, as conventional dairy farming
"The study only looked at organic farming in the European dairy sector, but found that – for the same amount of milk – organic systems caused at least one third more soil loss, and take up twice as much land, as conventional dairy farming," the University of Cambridge said in a statement.
Other systems
In other systems, such as Asian rice farming, inorganic nitrogen fertilisation was found to reduce water use without increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that the world's population will grow from 7bn today to almost 10bn in 2050 and food demand will increase by 50% compared with 2013 levels as incomes improve.
This has sparked a debate on the sustainability of the matching increase in food production.
Some advocate a less-intensive mosaic of farmland better integrated with its natural environment. Others favour the intensification of farming on existing land, while preserved areas would enjoy stricter protection from human activities.
Biodiversity
The latest research appears to favour the second option – although its authors acknowledged that data is patchy on environmental impact measured per unit of food produced.
Study lead author Andrew Balmford, Professor of Conservation Science from Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, suggested intensifying production on existing farmland could protect biodiversity by reducing the need to clear new land.
“Our results suggest that high-yield farming could be harnessed to meet the growing demand for food without destroying more of the natural world. However, if we are to avert mass extinction, it is vital that land-efficient agriculture is linked to more wilderness being spared the plough,” Balmford said.
Other land is taken out of production and restored as natural habitat, for wildlife and carbon or floodwater storage
He added: “Where agriculture is heavily subsidised, public payments could be contingent on higher food yields from land already being farmed, while other land is taken out of production and restored as natural habitat, for wildlife and carbon or floodwater storage.”
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