Cropland Expansion

Subject – Environment

Context – Half of global cropland expansion replaced natural vegetation and tree cover: Study

Concept –

Cropland area across the world increased 9 per cent and cropland net primary production (NPP) by 25 per cent from 2003-2019, according to a new study.
The growth was primarily due to agricultural expansion in Africa and South America.
But 49 per cent of the new cropland area replaced natural vegetation and tree covers, indicating a conflict with the sustainability goal of protecting terrestrial ecosystems.
The largest cropland expansion (34 per cent) was observed in Africa.
The report defined cropland as ‘land used for annual and perennial herbaceous crops for human consumption, forage (including hay) and biofuel’. Perennial woody crops, permanent pastures and shifting cultivation are excluded from the definition.
Cropland expansion is a major factor in forest loss, which comes in conflict with United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG 15) that aims to stop deforestation and degradation of natural habitats.