Can we create the "perfect" farm?

About 10,000 years
ago, humans began to farm.

This agricultural revolution

was a turning point in our history

that enabled people to
settle, build, and create.

In short, agriculture enabled
the existence of civilization.

Today, approximately 40%
of our planet is farmland.

Spread all over the world,

these agricultural lands are the pieces

to a global puzzle we are all facing.

In the future, how can
we feed every member

of a growing population a healthy diet?

Meeting this goal will
require nothing short

of a second agricultural revolution.

The first agricultural revolution

was characterized by
expansion and exploitation,

feeding people at the expense

of forests, wildlife, and water

and destabilizing the
climate in the process.

That's not an option the next time around.

Agriculture depends on a stable climate

with predictable seasons
and weather patterns.

This means we can't keep
expanding our agricultural lands

because doing so will undermine
the environmental conditions

that make agriculture
possible in the first place.

Instead, the next agricultural revolution

will have to increase the output

of our existing farmland for the long-term

while protecting biodiversity,
conserving water,

and reducing pollution and
greenhouse gas emissions.

So what will the future farms look like?

This drone is part of a fleet
that monitors the crops below.

The farm may look haphazard

but is a delicately
engineered use of the land

that intertwines crops and
livestock with wild habitats.

Conventional farming methods
cleared large swathes of land

and planted them with a single crop,

eradicating wildlife and
emitting huge amounts

of greenhouse gases in the process.

This approach aims to correct that damage.

Meanwhile, moving among the crops,

teams of field robots apply
fertilizer in targeted doses.

Inside the soil, hundreds
of sensors gather data

on nutrients and water levels.

This information reduces
unnecessary water use

and tells farmers where
they should apply more

and less fertilizer instead
of causing pollution

by showering it across the whole farm.

But the farms of the future
won't be all sensors and robots.

These technologies are designed
to help us produce food

in a way that works with the environment

rather than against it,

taking into account the
nuances of local ecosystems.

Lower cost agricultural practices

can also serve those same goals

and are much more
accessible to many farmers.

In fact, many such practices
are already in use today

and stand to have an
increasingly large impact

as more farmers adopt them.

In Costa Rica, farmers
have intertwined farmland

with tropical habitat so successfully

that they have significantly contributed

to doubling the country's forest cover.

This provides food and
habitat for wildlife,

as well as natural
pollination and pest control

from the birds and insects
these farms attract,

producing food while restoring the planet.

In the United States,
ranchers are raising cattle

on grasslands composed of native species,

generating a valuable protein source

using production methods that store carbon

and protect biodiversity.

In Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Nepal,

new approaches to rice production
may dramatically decrease

greenhouse gas emissions in the future.

Rice is a staple food
for three billion people

and the main source of livelihood

for millions of households.

More than 90% of rice is
grown in flooded paddies,

which use a lot of water

and release 11% of
annual methane emissions,

which accounts for one to 2%

of total annual greenhouse
gas emissions globally.

By experimenting with new
strains of rice, irrigating less,

and adopting less labor
intensive ways of planting seeds,

farmers in these countries

have already increased their
incomes and crop yields

while cutting down on
greenhouse gas emissions.

In Zambia, numerous
organizations are investing

in locally specific methods
to improve crop production,

reduce forest loss,

and improve livelihoods for local farmers.

These efforts are projected
to increase crop yield

by almost a quarter over
the next few decades.

If combined with methods

to combat deforestation in the region,

they could move the
country toward a resilient,

climate-focused agricultural sector.

And in India,

where up to 40% of
post-harvest food is lost

or wasted due to poor infrastructure,

farmers have already started to implement

solar-powered cold storage capsules

that help thousands of rural
farmers preserve their produce

and become a viable part
of the supply chain.

It will take all of these methods,

from the most high tech
to the lowest cost,

to revolutionize farming.

High tech interventions
stand to amplify climate

and conservation-oriented
approaches to farming,

and large producers will need to invest

in implementing these technologies.

Meanwhile, we'll have expand access

to the lower cost methods
for smaller scale farmers.

This vision of future farming

will also require a global shift

toward more plant-based diets

and huge reductions in
food loss and waste,

both of which will reduce
pressure on the land

and allow farmers to do more
with what they have available.

If we optimize food production,
both on land and sea,

we can feed humanity within
the environmental limits

of the Earth,

but there's a very small margin of error,

and it will take unprecedented
global cooperation

and coordination of the
agricultural lands we have today.

(gentle music)