A glance at the pie chart provided reveals the reasons for the decline in productivity of agricultural land including deforestation, over-cultivation, overgrazing, and other, while the table illustrates the proportion of land deteriorated by these factors in three regions (North America, Europe, Oceania) in the 1990s.
Overall, over-grazing was the dominant factor causing land degradation throughout the period. It is also evident that Europe suffered from the most devastating consequences of loss of soil fertility.
Concerning the pie chart, the statistics registered for excessive grazing were highest, with data recording a staggering high of 35%, five times higher than that of unmentioned factors. In the meantime, there was a similarity in the figure of deforestation and over- cultivation, representing 30% and 28%, respectively, at a one-third for each.
As regards the table, reported land degradation rates were highest in European countries, standing at 23%, far exceeding other regions in terms of the figure for deforestation and total statistics. This was followed by Oceania, where land devastation was mainly attributed to intensive grazing, at 11.3%, ranked second in overall recorded data in the vicinity of 13%, halving the percentage of Europe. It is noticeable that land in North America was the most productive one when comparing to two remaining areas, with the total land deterioration represented 5% and deforestation made up an inconsiderable part at just over 0%.