To the Rescue and Conservation of Soils

We could not imagine our existence without this economic activity that is fundamental to human survival. But what is agriculture?

Agriculture is the set of techniques, knowledge, actions, and activities carried out by men and women, related to cultivating or tilling the land and treating the soil for the production of food, whose impact transforms the natural environment.

Its main objective is to guarantee food security and supply in a healthy environment and equitably for the world's population.

The first agricultural practices, although very rudimentary, were among the first advances of civilization, since societies transformed the way they obtained food, going from being nomadic hunters and gatherers in search of food to being able to settle near water sources such as rivers and lakes and begin growing seeds and vegetables, which allowed them to settle down and divide tasks. Later, with the introduction of livestock farming and the domestication of animals, agricultural techniques would be implemented in which tools and animals were used for greater production, which represented another great advance for civilizations.

The origins of agriculture go back more than 10,000 years, and it began simultaneously in different parts of the planet, such as in Mesopotamia and Egypt with wheat and barley, in Mesoamerica with maize, and in Asia with rice.

Since then, the practices and techniques of plowing, sowing, and harvesting have seen great innovations and have never stopped evolving and becoming more professional, in order to guarantee the food supply of ever more people on the planet. However, this need to produce more and better food (with intensive crops, chemical pesticides and fertilizers, transgenic seeds, etc.) has had an impact on the environment: water scarcity, overexploitation of the land, soil erosion, climate change, and the degradation of ecosystems.

So much so that the indiscriminate use of the land has caused very difficult periods in the modern history of humanity, such as the "Dust Bowl" of the 1930s.

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Many kinds of agriculture

Agricultural techniques have evolved along with human beings, and we come across concepts such as intensive farming, monoculture, polyculture, furrow irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, service crops, green manure, and so on. There are many terms, and many techniques and classifications of agriculture as well.

Now the interest lies not only in having a world population with enough good-quality food, but also in being able to reverse and regenerate the damage to our ecosystems.

On this World Agriculture Day we reaffirm and commit ourselves to addressing the challenges we face today, and that future generations will face, given the needs of an increasingly populated planet with fewer resources.

Today, knowledge of agronomy has become so relevant that research, knowledge, and the promotion of sustainable farming methods can be a fundamental change in halting and reversing soil depletion, erosion, and water shortages. One such method is conservation agriculture, a practice through which great progress has been made in caring for the land over the last 30 years.

For our Aguas Firmes project, international institutions such as CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) and the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo in Mexico have been essential in spreading these practices in Calera, Zacatecas, and Apan, Hidalgo.

With the knowledge acquired, we know that traditional agricultural practices must make way for new sustainable practices, such as conservation agriculture.

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These sustainable agriculture practices have already been adopted in different countries, with incredible results and short-, medium-, and long-term benefits.

At Aguas Firmes we celebrate World Agriculture Day by promoting sustainable practices. One of our objectives is to implement conservation agriculture and drip irrigation systems, generating great benefits such as increased biodiversity and natural biological processes in the soil, better use and saving of water, reduced generation of greenhouse gases, nourished soils, minimal land erosion, and, as if that were not enough, lower costs for farmers.

At Aguas Firmes we are committed to an agriculture that rescues our planet. This World Agriculture Day we want to tell you more about our project at www.aguasfirmesgrupomodelo.com. Visit us and get involved.

Tags: World Agriculture Day, Agriculture, Ecosystems, Sustainability