After the 2 blog posts that talk about how agriculture and air pollution are interdependent and can affect one another, let’s review some management strategies mentioned in the article that could be taken to tackle air pollution while ensuring food security. 

There are 5 different approaches stated:

Optimizing production technology
The article focuses on irrigation. By effectively managing drainage of the field at a specific time, it can help reduce a substantial amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions such as methane and nitrous oxide. 

Enhancing agrochemical use efficiency
Farmers tend to believe that more fertilizer equates to faster growth which results in higher crop yield. Thus they tend to use fertilizer above the suggested rate resulting in air pollution. The overuse of fertilizer is also due to the subsidies provided and incorrect fertilization practices. To tackle this, policymakers should reconsider the amount of subsidies given and explore a more cost-efficient spraying pattern. 

Improving productivity
Increasing product yield would mean productivity is increased and lesser land is required, thus greatly minimizing the amount of GHGs emitted into the atmosphere. This would involve enhancing manufactured capital and human capital. Examples include rationally applying agrochemicals and adopting advanced wastewater treatment technology. 

Utilizing agricultural waste
Instead of burning coal and fossil fuel for energy, agricultural residues could be burned to produce biofuel. This is a good alternative as it does not put pressure on land use and it can prevent air pollution caused by combustion. This is because biofuel is carbon neutral. However, the burning of agricultural waste produces Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons which is dangerous as it can cause cancer.
Besides using agricultural residues as biofuel, it could be composted and used as fertilizers. 

Changing dietary 
Studies have shown that changing to a low-meat diet might help reduce the amount of air pollutants produced. This is because the raising of livestock produces more GHGs emission as compared to the growing of crops. 

Overall, this article provides a good balance of approaches from the government, organizations, and individuals. Tackling air pollution should not be done individually and should be a collaborative effort. 

I would like to share some of my thoughts on changing dietary. Personally, I think that this would be the most effective approach for us as individuals and consumers. As we all know, demand drives the market. If we don’t consume meat, there will be no demand for it, and the production of such meat will cease. However, it will definitely be hard to say no to meat and stop consuming it. A good alternative would be to consume lesser meat, maybe once or twice a week? However, I’m not saying that this is the only way but we could maybe give it some thought. 

What do you think? Would changing our diet really help reduce the amount of GHGs released? And to what extent is it a good approach? Comment to let us know your thoughts. 

Zhi Yong: “I think as we promote the consumption of less meat, we have to ensure that meat-free options are more affordable than those that have meat. As creative options that taste and look like meat tend to be more expensive, the government can consider subsidizing the costs (Eg rental) to make these alternative options more affordable for all to encourage the consumption of lesser meat.”

Your environmental buddy,
Jeanice and Zhi Yong

References:
Feifei Sun, DAI Yun, & Xiaohua Yu. (2017). Air pollution, food production and food security: A review from the perspective of food system. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 16(12), 2945-2962. doi:10.1016/S2095-3119(17)61814-8