Environmental
Wastewater from oil and gas
Agriculture has been abandoned in West Texas, due to a shift in focus towards oil and gas exploitation. In addition, oil and gas activities produce enormous amounts of wastewater from wells that have been hydraulically fractured. The polluted water is usually injected into deep wastewater wells inducing earthquakes. To avoid this situation, wastewater must be treated and used in other sectors, such as irrigating crops for non-food purposes or animal feed.
Carbon emissions
The challenge related to climate change mitigation is an issue where the agricultural sector can play a significant role in terms of carbon immobilization or carbon reduction. Each productive agricultural chain has great possibilities of efficiency within it, especially in terms of greater sustainability and circular economy. An example of carbon initiative is the production and use of biochar in dedicated crops.