Soil Erosion is a world wide problem

Research shows that after soil erosion (especially after over use of agricultural land or tillage erosion) has taken place, the remaining soil is not appropriate for food crops. This is taking place in many countries. Normally other crops are planted which can survive harsh conditions and the soils that are left behind. These crops are normally cash crops which can be quickly sold because food crops need more nutrients to grow. With the current rate of soil erosion, many parts of the world lack the capacity to produce food crops and rely on other countries to produce food crops for them. This is has a negative impact on the worlds food supply since the initially food productive areas can easily be over farmed leading to soil erosion.
As David Montgomery, professor of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington stated during an interview, "One of the things that became very clear in doing the research for the book is that if you look at the things that influence human societies, you can break them into two parts. There are long wave length trends in history, and the way we treat soil is one of those."

As the epidemic of soil erosion occurs, depleting fertile soil, another stain on the food supply is taking place, which is population growth. Each year there are more people to feed with less fertile soil to grow the food they require. If this trend continues, we will see food prices rise as food supplies dwindle.


Check out David Montgomery's interview at:
http://www.celsias.com/article/dishing-dirt-with-david-montgomery/

You can read David Montgomery's paper Soil Erosion and Agricultural Sustainability at:
http://gis.ess.washington.edu/grg/publications/pdfs/Montgomery2007Soils.pdf

For a different perspective on soil erosion visit:
http://www.gaiadiscovery.com/latest-planet/accelerated-soil-erosion-affects-crop-cultivation-and-produc.html