Agri-Environmental: A review

The intensification of agriculture has resulted in major environmental problems in recent decades, notably declines in bird populations together with their associated food resources and this is likely to continue. Future intensification, such as the use of genetically modified crops, is likely to have further detrimental consequences for biodiversity. There are also implications for wider environmental issues, such as flood risk and effects on water quality .In recent years, the environmental challenges facing agriculture have increased as the agriculture sector has adopted new production methods and intensified production to meet continued population growth and new energy demands around the world. As the population continues to grow, which is estimated to reach 9 billion by 2050, there is an increasing strain on the agriculture and, fisheries sectors to meet food security needs. At the same time the sectors must mitigate their impacts as well as adapt to the effects of climate change. The long term environmental sustainability of production is one major question facing agriculture. Continued increases in agricultural production raise some environmental challenges that are continually evolving in their nature and complexity. The environmental focus has been on the conservation of natural resource base upon which agriculture depends, particularly soil, water and genetic resources for crops and livestock. Declining water quality, loss of wildlife habitat, reduced biodiversity, and emissions of greenhouse gases are some of the major concerns specifically linked to agriculture. The main objectives of this paper are to provide the broad agri-environmental context, examine the state of agri-environmental information, current agri-environmental statistics developments and future directions. Agri-environmental measures are among the most important instruments for the promotion of environmentally adapted agricultural land use.