Agriculture and Air Quality: Background Information

Abstract

The issue of air quality emerged in the agricultural world at the turn of the twenty-first century. Agriculture is involved as air pollutant sources (e.g. ammonia, particles, pesticides) and, conversely, crop production is directly impacted by air pollutants (e.g. ozone). In this context, agriculture has to make a compromise between food/feed/biomass production and environmental preservation. Thus, air pollution is now a major concern for professionals and for institutions that help agricultural sector players implement and plan for agricultural and environmental policies. This introduction first describes the main issues and approaches around the “agriculture and air quality” topic, taking into account recent trends in both air pollution and agricultural activity. It presents the specificities of agricultural activities and their relations with other anthropogenic activities, as regards air quality. The main issues related to air pollutant emissions and impacts on agriculture are highlighted as well as the links between these emissions and their impacts on the environment.