Agricultural land use (Land use)

Interpretation of theme:
Is item of theme:	Land_use

Related overviews

• Key policy issues overview displays the components and their Key policy issues organised by policy theme.
• Policy interventions overview displays policy interventions organised by policy theme.

Agricultural land use (Land use) associations

Policy themes are used to classify Key policy issues and policy interventions. The tables below contain the issues and interventions associated with theme item Agricultural land use (Land use).

Associated Key policy issues and their components

Component	Description
Agricultural economy	What is the area of cropland and grassland required to support future food demand?
Agricultural economy	What are the policy options to reduce agricultural land use and to safeguard global biodiversity, while ensuring food security?
Carbon cycle and natural vegetation	What is the role of the terrestrial biosphere in the global carbon cycle, how will it change in time as a result of climate and land-use change?
Carbon, vegetation, agriculture and water	What is the role of the terrestrial biosphere in the global carbon cycle, how will it change in time as a result of climate and land-use change?
Carbon, vegetation, agriculture and water	How do climate change and land-use management affect the land productivity of current and future agricultural land?
Crops and grass	How will agriculture affect the Earth system with respect to carbon emissions, freshwater availability and nutrient cycles?
Livestock systems	How does the use of marginal lands for grazing increase the risk of degradation and loss of productivity, inducing more forest clearing?

Associated policy interventions, their components and the affected components

Policy intervention	Description	Implemented in	Affects component
Agricultural trade policies	Changes in agricultural trade policies are applied to the corresponding quota (export or import quota) or border taxes.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity
Change in grazing intensity	Change in grazing intensity, usually more intensive. This would require better management of grasslands, including for example the use of grass-clover mixtures and fertilisers, bringing the length of the grazing season in tune with the period of grass production, and rotations.	Land-use allocation	Land-use allocation Livestock systems Terrestrial biodiversity
Changes in consumption and diet preferences	Interventions that target consumption changes or changes in dietary preferences	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Aquatic biodiversity Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Livestock systems Nutrients Terrestrial biodiversity
Enlarge protected areas	Increase in areas with protected status, as well the size of the areas as the numer of parks.	Land-use allocation	Agricultural economy Aquatic biodiversity Ecosystem services Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity
Implementation of biofuel targets	Policies to enhance the use of biofuels, especially in the transport sector. In the Agricultural economy component only 'first generation' crops are taken into account. The policy is implemented as a budget-neutral policy from government perspective, e.g. a subsidy is implemented to achieve a certain share of biofuels in fuel production and an end-user tax is applied to counterfinance the implemented subsidy.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Emissions Energy supply Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity
Implementation of land use planning	Application of zoning laws or cadastres, assigning areas to certain land uses.	Land-use allocation	Agricultural economy Ecosystem services Land-use allocation
Improvement of feed conversion	Improvement of feed conversion ratio of small ruminants, such as sheep and goats. This means other breeds will be used that need less grass to produce the same amount of meat.	Livestock systems	Livestock systems Nutrients
Increased livestock productivity	A change in production characteristics, such as milk production per animal, carcass weight and off-take rates, which will also have an impact on the feed conversion ratio; in general, this will be lower in more productive animals	Livestock systems	Land-use allocation Livestock systems
Reduction of waste/losses	Reduction of losses in the agro-food chain and waste after consumption.	Agricultural economy	Agricultural economy Land-use allocation Terrestrial biodiversity