Systems-thinking study identifies key agricultural practices that threaten soil health and global food supply

The global food system faces growing risks as modern farming practices undermine the resilience of the world’s soils, according to new research.

Soil resilience is the ability of soils to withstand, adapt to, and recover from disturbances, ranging from everyday management practices to more severe shocks such as extreme weather events. A major review of agricultural practices has concluded that while intensive techniques such as ploughing, fertiliser use and irrigation boost crop yields in the short term, their regular longer-term use can degrade soils, leaving them less able to withstand shocks such as drought, flooding or geopolitical disruption.

Soils, which underpin 95% of global food production and hold more carbon than the world’s forests, are being steadily weakened by practices that strip away organic matter, compact the ground and disrupt the ecosystems within it. Over time, this reduces their resilience and triggers cycles of elevated erosion, salinisation, pest outbreaks and declining yields.

The study, published in NPJ Sustainable Agriculture, ranked the greatest threats to soil resilience. Top of the list is elevated erosion caused by over-ploughing, overgrazing and deforestation – a process that can permanently strip away fertile ground that takes centuries to form. Also of concern are the salinisation of irrigated farmland, contamination from pesticides and plastic residues, and compaction from intensive livestock farming.

Rothamsted’s Dr Alison Carswell, lead author of the study, said: “Healthy, resilient soils are not just the foundation of food security, they are central to biodiversity and climate stability. Yet many of the practices we rely on to increase yields today risk undermining that foundation in the future.”

The review notes that some practices, such as flooding rice paddies or liming acidic soils, can maintain soil resilience over the long term. And alternatives – from conservation tillage to integrated pest management – can slow or even reverse damage. But most solutions carry trade-offs, requiring careful balancing of short-term productivity with long-term resilience.

The authors warn that ignoring soil resilience could leave farming systems increasingly vulnerable to tipping points, where sudden collapse of productivity becomes irreversible. Such failures, they argue, could ripple through food and trade networks, threatening global stability.

The findings come amid growing concern that the world is losing healthy soil faster than it can be replenished, with the UN estimating that a third of soils are already degraded. As demand for food rises, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, South America and Southeast Asia, the risks may intensify.

“Breaking the cycle of soil degradation is possible,” Dr Carswell concludes, “but it requires rethinking how we manage land – not just for yields next season, but for resilience in the decades to come.”