The environmental and ecological importance of cereal fields.

Abstract

The many factors, global and local, in the mix of problems centering on cereal-field ecosystems make for a potent brew. Dealing with the issues of farm surpluses, set-aside, declining farm incomes, agrochemicals, polluted or depleted aquifers and similar sensitive issues probably requires collective effort and diplomacy of a kind that has hitherto been reserved for national defence. Problems at the cereal-growing/environment interface are beginning to be dealt with at an international level, for example in the current 'Uruguay Round' of talks on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and in the plans for central and eastern Europe within the European Agricultural Forum of the Council of Europe. The general aim is for more consistency between nations in measures relating to environmental protection, and reduced farm subsidies, but progress so far has been minimal.
This paper outlines the ecological significance of modern cereal crops, identifies a major drawback of intensification and its associated environmental damage - both spatially and temporally - and introduces some possible solutions. In particular it is argued that the policy known in Europe as 'extensification', whereby inputs are reduced, is, for environmental reasons, preferable to that of 'set-aside', whereby the size of the area used to grow crops is reduced.
In this review paper there are many references to The Game Conservancy's study of the cereal ecosystem on the South Downs in Sussex. This continuing long-term study, which began in 1968, is described in detail elsewhere (Potts & Vickerman 1974; Potts 1986; Aebischer & Potts 1990a; Potts & Aebischer 1991; Aebischer, this volume, pp. 305-331).