why is intensive farming important in western Europe
Answers
Answer:
Agricultural land plays an important role in land use patterns across the EU. Grassland and cropland together make up 39 % of Europe's land cover (EEA, 2017a). The agricultural sector is a major user of natural resources and has a complex relationship with the environment (OECD, 2017). The following data reflect the performance and impacts of the agricultural sector in the EU:
Around 94 % of ammonia emissions in Europe stemmed from agriculture in 2015, mainly from activities such as manure storage, slurry spreading and the use of inorganic nitrogen fertilisers.
CO2 emissions from peat soil that is drained for agriculture make up 100.5 Mt CO2 per year, while for forestry the figure is 67.6 Mt CO2. With a total of 173 Mt CO2 emissions from drained soils, the EU is the second largest hotspot for peatland CO2 emissions (after Indonesia) (Berge et al., 2017).
Through irrigation, agriculture exerts major pressure on renewable water resources. Seasonally, the sector consumes more than 50 % of the water used in Europe.
Agriculture is one of the main sources of nitrates in surface and ground waters. In several regions across Europe, often those with intensive agriculture, nitrate concentrations are still too high.
Around 9 % of agricultural land is part of Natura 2000 sites — an EU-wide network of nature protection areas.
Agriculture contributes 25 million tonnes of oil equivalent (12.3 %) to renewable energy production (2015), which is an increase of 15 % from 2013 to 2015 (DG AGRI, 2017).
Agriculture is an inherent part of food systems and the range of food produced in the EU is diverse.
The EU is broadly self-sufficient in most agricultural primary commodities. It is also the single largest exporter of agri-food products, which include processed food (EC, 2016a).
Two of the main challenges confronting agriculture in Europe are climate change (EEA, 2017c) and land take, i.e. the conversion of land to, for example, settlements and infrastructure (EEA, 2017a). Climate change requires the adaptation of crop varieties and causes extreme weather events (for further information on climate adaptation, see the EEA’s work in this field or the Climate-ADAPT Platform) and thus it demands profound risk management. Land take leads to a reduction in agricultural land in many regions.
Explanation:
The agricultural sector is one of the main land users in Europe and thus shapes landscapes in rural areas. It has various direct and indirect impacts on the environment and is itself dependent on natural resources
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