TARGETING SOIL-CONSERVATION POLICIES FOR SUSTAINABILITY: NEW EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
2002
Sustainable resource management is one of the most complex concerns today. Society has spent billions of dollars conserving soils in production, yet it is unclear whether these efforts buy sustainability, or even what sustainability is. Further study about which soils need conservation merits consideration. We use a simulation model, regression, and optimization analysis to examine the sustainability of resource management in objective, measurable ways. Soil quality, represented by a new index, and other nonirrigated corn production data are placed into a dynamic model to identify: i) the conditions where soil conservation is efficient, and 2) under what definitions conservation is sustainable. Results show that decisions to use or conserve soil and the impacts of these decisions are highly dependent upon soil type and how sustainability is defined. In general, while soil conservation slowed degradation on erodible soils, it seemed to be more effective and economically efficient the better the initial quality of the soil. This calls into question whether U.S. conservation policy that focuses on marginal soils supports sustainability. Economic research was undertaken to study which soils might best be targeted for conservation, using economic and sustainability criteria. An economic model of nonirrigated corn production was created to determine-under requirements of maintaining a certain level of production or maintaining soil quality-if, when, and where it was best to apply conservation practices. Results show that decisions to use or conserve soil and the impacts of these decisions are highly dependent upon the characteristics of the soil and how sustainability is defined. In general, while soil conservation slowed degradation on erodible soils, it seemed to be more effective and economically efficient the better the initial soil quality.
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