“Masayang Sakahan At Yaman Ng Bayan (Masayang Bayan)! But First You Have To Resolve Farmer Poverty – And Climate Change

Googling as I always do before I write my first draft, I see that a great many technical sources claim that “climate change impacts agriculture” – with negative results. But the opposite is also true and very necessary to know: Agriculture adds much to the destructive power of climate change through fertilizers that produce greenhouse gases (GHGs) that contribute to the climate crisis.

The top image (from ResearchGate, researchgate.net) is accompanied by the label that says, “Diagrammatical presentation of global warming due to fertilizers (Source: FAO 2014b).” Let’s find out more.

Mehmood Ali Noor et al. say (Aug 2019, “Small Farmers and Sustainable N and P Management: Implications and Potential Under Changing Climate:”

Due to fertilizer overload, soil microbes unexpectedly belch high nitrous oxide levels, resulting in the emission of greenhouse gas with 300 times more heat-trapping power compared to carbon dioxide… Soil microbes are known to [be involved] in the conversion of nitrogen-rich fertilizers, including synthetic fertilizers and manure, into nitrous oxide… Based on approximately 1000 field experiments, in the mid-2000s, the climate scientists [were] able to calculate that the dirt dwellers spew almost 1 kg of the greenhouse gas for every 100 kg of fertilizer, or roughly 1%.

That only covers nitrous oxide, which is the deadliest greenhouse gas. Bridget Huber says (01 Nov 2021, “Report: Fertilizer Responsible For More Than 20 Percent Of Total Agricultural Emissions,” Fern’s AG Insider, thefern.org):

Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are widely used in conventional agriculture to boost productivity. But their production and use takes a huge toll on the environment, emitting carbon dioxide and methane as well as nitrous oxide – an often overlooked but highly potent greenhouse gas that has 265 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide.

Rebecca Hersher & Allison Aubrey say (08 Aug 2019, “To Slow Global Warming, U.N. Warns Agriculture Must Change”):

Emissions from agricultural production are projected to increase," the authors warn. "Delaying action" on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, they continue, "could result in some irreversible impacts on some ecosystems."

The book Climate Change And Agriculture edited by Delphine Deryng (2020) says (taylorfrancis.com):

It has been suggested that agriculture may account for up to 24% of the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) contributing to climate change.

So! If you ask me, to at least minimize climate change, we resort to 100% Regenerative Agriculture (RA). Synonyms for “regenerative” are “recuperative” and “reproductive” (powerthesaurus.org).

The lower image is from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, illustrating “5 Core Principles Of Regenerative Agriculture” (WBCSD, wbcsd.org), that we have to:
Minimize soil disturbance.
Keep the soil covered.
Integrate livestock.
Maximize crop diversity.
Maintain living root year-round.

I have to add this 6^th entry (personal): “Keep the soil fertile organically.”

Zero GHGs. Hundreds of opportunities to earn higher net returns from farming.

To solve farmer poverty and at the same time help resolve climate change, we must do Regenerative Agriculture. Then we can have Masayang Sakahan At Yaman Ng Bayan (Masayang Bayan, Happy People) – Happy Farms & Richness For People. Happy?@517