Land degradation significantly reduces crop yields

A new study published in Nature Food last July reveals that land degradation is already having measurable impacts on global food production, highlighting an urgent need for investments in sustainable land management. The international research team which compiled the study consists of scientists from the University of Bonn/Germany, the University of Minnesota/USA, the University of Basel/Switzerland and Germany’s Hamburg University of Technology. Their study provides the first comprehensive global assessment quantifying how land degradation affects crop productivity.

Using high-resolution global datasets on soils, land degradation and agricultural production, the researchers found that every ten per cent increase in land degradation is associated with an approximately two per cent increase in crop yield gaps, i.e. the difference between the yields farmers currently achieve and what is realistically attainable under local conditions.

20 million tonnes of crop production lost

According to the researchers, the consequences are substantial. Globally, land degradation is associated with annual losses of approximately 20 million tonnes of crop production, equivalent to 52 trillion food calories – enough to feed roughly 71 million people – and around 4 billion US dollars in agricultural revenues.

Unlike previous studies based primarily on local field experiments or simulation models, the research provides the first global empirical evidence demonstrating the relationship between long-term land degradation and agricultural productivity across diverse farming systems.

The researchers involved in the study started by asking themselves how high yields could be in practice without any degradation. To this end, they first divided all the arable land on the planet into ten-by-ten-kilometre squares. “We then looked for squares with similar prevailing conditions, i.e. comparable precipitation levels and temperatures, and compared the yields in these areas,” explains Dr Hadi Hadi, a postdoctoral researcher in the Land Economics Group at the University of Bonn, who carried out many of the analyses for the study.

Adjusting their figures to account for differences in the use of fertiliser, irrigation and other cultivation factors enabled the researchers to identify areas with particularly high yields. Many of these were also those that had sustained hardly any soil damage up to that point. “Thus, these areas give us a benchmark for what’s possible in soils that haven’t been degraded or influenced in any way,” the researchers say.

Machine learning uses gaps in yield to calculate degradation rate

For each 10 × 10 km parcel of land, therefore, the working groups involved were able to calculate a specific yield gap, which they then correlated with five different parameters connected with soil degradation: erosion, dehydration, compaction caused by the widespread use of heavy agricultural machinery, the loss of carbon dioxide in the soil and minimal vegetation cover.

With the aid of complex AI-powered evaluation methods, the researchers were able to use the yield gap that they had identified to calculate the degree of soil degradation in each parcel. “Taking an average of all the parcels gives us an approximate rule of thumb,” Hadi says. “A ten per cent increase in the degradation rate cuts the yield by an average of two per cent. Conversely, if we could reduce degradation by ten per cent all over the world, crop yields would grow by such an extent that we’d be able to feed over 70 million more people.”

Highly productive agricultural systems are also affected

In their study, the researchers also identified geographic hotspots where agricultural production is particularly sensitive to land degradation, including parts of India, China, the USA, and Central and South America. At the same time, the findings demonstrate that land degradation is not solely a challenge for developing countries, but also affects highly productive agricultural systems in industrialised nations. 

Countries most vulnerable to crop production losses from land degradation.
Source: TUHH/ GHI

The authors argue that future agricultural policies should integrate sustainable land management with efforts to increase food production. Investments in soil restoration, conservation agriculture and long-term soil monitoring can help improve food security while strengthening resilience to climate pressures.

(TUHH/University of Bonn/wi)

More information:

Hadi et. al. (2026): Land degradation is associated with larger crop yield gaps across global croplands; Nature Food; DOI: 10.1038/s43016-026-01382-5

Further reading:

Rural 21 no 4/2024: "Land Matters" 

Rural 21 no 2/2022: "Healthy soil – healthy people - healthy planet"