On March 14th at 10:30 p.m. on ORF 2
Vienna (OTS) – On Thursday, March 14, 2024, at 10:30 p.m. on ORF 2, Dieter Bornemann will present an “Eco Special” designed by Martin Steiner on the topic “Agriculture at the turning point: How many people does the earth feed?”:
Industrial agriculture is endangering its own foundation:
Every year we lose one percent of the world’s arable land due to progressive environmental degradation. At the same time, the population it is supposed to feed is growing: in 30 years, ten billion people are expected to share the earth. What can agriculture look like that supports humanity without destroying its ecosystem? It is important to strike a balance between food security and ecology. Organic farming protects the soil, but does not produce enough yield for humanity as a whole. Intensive agriculture supplies the masses, ruins the earth in the long term and endangers biodiversity. Is there a way out of this dilemma?
In order to reduce the use of expensive artificial fertilizers and harmful pesticides, industrial agriculture has high hopes for modern technologies. Instead of spraying across the board as before, drones and field robots will in future be able to identify problem areas in a field and apply the chemicals to the soil in a targeted and economical manner. Is this the future of agriculture? Or is it just “less of the bad,” as representatives of small farmers who are defending themselves against increasingly powerful agricultural corporations believe. Agriculture without land is no longer a utopia: so-called “vertical farms” are being built in cities. In the basement of apartment buildings, delicacies grow on waste. And science is working to bring milk and meat from the lab to our plates. In an “Eco Special” Martin Steiner reports on the dilemma of an ever-shrinking planet that has to feed an ever-increasing population.