A Green Revolution, and the costs that came after

After industrialization world farming put maximum output first, and used large amounts of chemical fertilizer and pesticide to get there. The early contribution to a larger food supply was real. Over time the other side showed itself: soil less fertile, water dirtier, ecosystems disturbed. Korea, pursuing high yields on limited land, has been described in the account as using among the world's highest amounts of pesticide and fertilizer per unit area. That is the source's wording of a reputation, not a later official ranking for this year. At the same time, abnormal weather has become more frequent, and the base of production looks less sure. Environmentally friendly farming, defined here as a way of producing that keeps the farm ecosystem first, cuts chemical inputs, and uses natural cycles, is offered as a necessary path.

The mid-20th-century Green Revolution is the turning point the account names. Too much chemical fertilizer acidified soil, unbalanced nutrients, disturbed microbes, and, over the long term, weakened the land. More pesticide killed helpful organisms in soil and water as well as pests, and rain washed residues and nitrogen into rivers and groundwater. Agriculture also appears as a source of greenhouse gases: methane from paddy fields, nitrous oxide from intensive livestock. It cites a figure that agri-food systems account for about 20 to 30 percent of emissions, with the production stage itself in the double digits. That citation stays that account's, not a later official total.

A 2001 Korean certification, and a 2030 European target

International rules tightened and governments including Korea's built legal support. The EU's Farm to Fork strategy is named with a target of converting 25 percent of farming to organic by 2030 and of cutting pesticide and chemical fertilizer sharply. In Korea, from the 2000s, markets for organic and no-pesticide certified produce grew, and farms found a way to add value. The eco-friendly certification, it dates as having taken effect in 2001, and preference in school and public meals, also helped the work spread.

A consumer survey by the Rural Development Administration, which the account calls recent, found that about 80 percent of respondents had bought certified eco-friendly produce, most often for safety and health, and that most believed such buying helped prevent water pollution, protect soil, raise biodiversity, and slow warming. That 'recent' survey is left as the citation given, not a later official rate. The necessity for is practical: protecting soil and water so that food can still be grown later, reducing swings in harvest, and meeting a demand for safer food. Application cases promised in the title are not filled out in The harvest rose. The soil did not rise with it.

Sources

1. the background and necessity of environmentally friendly farming, including Korea's eco-friendly certification from 2001 and the EU Farm to Fork target of 25 percent organic farming by 2030.

Last updated: 14 November 2026