Topics for agriculture
• Types of agriculture
• Traditional farming in LEDC's
• Moving from traditional farming to intensive agriculture in
LEDC's ie the Green revolution
• Intensive farming in MEDC's
• Other issues: food v fuel, env. impact, organic/sustainable,
GMO's, Fair Trade
Intensive
agriculture in
MEDC's
Financial
Public services EU policy services
Agricultural
business
Chemical Supermarket Manufacturers
industry
Upstream
Farmers need
machinery,
buildings, fuel,
fertilisers and
healthcare for their
animals, also known
as ‘upstream’
sectors.
Downstreami
ng
Other people
are busy in
‘downstream’
operations –
such as
preparing, pro
cessing, and
packaging
food, as
well as in food
storage,
transport
and retailing.
Feeding a growing
population
• By 2050 the world's
population will be 9
billion.
• We will need to increase
food production by 70%
• Ideally, we will produce
more food on less land i.e.
farming will become more
intensive but also more
sustainable and ecological
48% of
habitable
land
4% of
habitable
land
Higher
yields
• 500 kg/ha in Medieval times
• 2000 kg/ha in the Industrial
Revolution,
• 8000 kg/ha in the Green
Revolution.
• Each technological advance
increasing the crop yield also
reduces the society's ecological
footprint.
Reason for the
increase in higher
yields
1.Investm
ent in
irrigation
but uses
valuable
groundwater
in some
areas
2.Using nitrate • Replaces nutrients that have
been removed from soil
fertiliser
3.Spraying
pesticides
(controls
pests,
diseases
and
weeds)
-increases
yields by 45%
Algal
blooms,
Chengdu,
China
Phosphate
s and
nitrates
run off the
fields
Biotoxins created
during algal blooms are
taken up by shellfish
(mussels, oysters),
leading to these human
foods acquiring the
toxicity and poisoning
humans.
Lake
Valencia,
Venezuela
• Algal bloom due to wastewater
4.Mechanisation but mainly for big farms
Growth hormones Special foods Anti-biotics to stop
to reduce time to disease 5.Concentra
slaughter
ted animal
feeding
operation
(CAFO)
Temperature but
controlled to
preserve body Low cost meat
antibiotics
temperature could enter
food chain
Barriers to stop
interaction
6.Geneticall
y modified
crops
but GM crops could
change wild crops
7. Precision technology: e.g.drones
8. Larger farms (Economies of scale)
The result is ...
• Higher crop yield
• More efficient farming (less
land producing more food)
• Cheaper prices
• Regulated farming and
'better' quality food
• Sustainable supply of food
But intensive farming has led to …
...a changing landscape Hedgerows removed
since 1945 – loss of
Hedgerows wildlife
Trees
Planted in 1700's
Replanted since 1990's
And...
• Ecosystems are degraded
• Reduction in biodiversity of
farming
• Reduction in wild biodiversity
• Carbon footprint increase
• Reliance on oil for machinery
resulting in 10% of CO2 emissions
from agriculture
Also...
• Poor living conditions
for animals
• Human health risks
• Not always a better quality of
foods
• Impact on traditional farmers
and rural depopulation
Agroecology is
the study of
ecological
processes applied
to agricultural
production
systems
https://www.yout
ube.com/watch?v
=bLqYE-m2nE4
.
