Can agricultural productivity meet human needs in the long run ? Since twentieth century advances, given increasing costs, do not seem sustainable, further increases in output will not be achieved easily. Global population growth, while showing signs of slowing down, has pushed farmers and herders into areas unsuited to intensive agriculture, accelerating worldwide ecological disruptions. Reserves of arable land and fresh water have diminished alarmingly. Chemical runoffs have compounded pollution problems. Invasion of natural habitats have hastened species extinction. Desertification has been severe in the last hundred years, especially in North Africa, southern portions of Africa, Australia, northern Mexico, and the American Southwest. Tropical forests have shrunk by one-half since World War II, with agricultural pressures causing three-quarters of that loss. Government inter-vention has produced its share of catastrophes, ranging from a terrible famine in China between 1958-1961 that may have killed 30 million people and destroyed the Aral Sea. Taking everything into consideration, we may remain hopeful about humankind's agricultural prospects, but we can scarcely look forward optimistically at the end of the first quarter of the twenty-first century.
Analyzing Agricultural Challenges and Population Growth
The question asks to identify the factor that compels farmers to cultivate land unsuitable for agriculture. The provided passage offers insights into the challenges facing agricultural productivity and its sustainability.
Identifying the Driving Force
The passage specifically addresses the reasons behind the expansion of farming into less suitable areas. It states:
- "Global population growth, while showing signs of slowing down, has pushed farmers and herders into areas unsuited to intensive agriculture..."
This sentence clearly indicates that the increase in the world's population is the direct cause pushing farmers into environments not ideal for farming.
Evaluating the Options Provided
Let's examine each option based on the information given in the passage:
- Population growth: The passage directly mentions this as the factor responsible for pushing farmers into unsuited areas.
- Industrialisation: The passage does not cite industrialization as the reason for farmers expanding into unsuitable agricultural land.
- Water scarcity: While the passage notes that fresh water reserves have diminished, it frames population growth as the force *pushing* farmers into unsuitable areas, rather than water scarcity being that direct push factor. Diminished water is a related challenge, not the stated cause of this specific expansion.
- Desertification: The passage mentions desertification as a severe issue linked to agricultural pressures. However, it is presented more as a consequence or a concurrent problem resulting from farming practices, not the initial cause that forces farmers onto unsuitable land.
Conclusion from the Passage
Based strictly on the text, the primary driver forcing farmers and herders into locations ill-suited for farming is the pressure exerted by global population growth.
Important Questions from Reading Comprehension
Why, according to the writer can't people be motivated to use a resource prudently?
1. They feel that others may overuse the resource
2. It is possible to substitute the resource
3. Abundance of the resource availability
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
When do people use resources exhaustively?
The self-interest of people affects the use of renewable resources
People rooted in a locality
Which among the following is closest in meaning with the word 'deplete'?
