23.Biodiversity , living in the harmony with nature A Presentation By Mr. Allah Dad Khan Visiting Professor the University of Agriculture Peshawar [email protected]

23.Biodiversity , living in the harmony with nature A Presentation By Mr. Allah Dad Khan Visiting Professor the University of Agriculture Peshawar [email protected]

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  Biodiversity , livingin the harmony with nature By Mr Allah Dad Khan
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  Biodiversity  Biodiversity isthe foundation of agriculture. Agricultural biodiversity includes ecosystems,  animals, plants and microorganisms related to food and agriculture. Today, most species of  crops and domesticated livestock are the result of thousands of years of human intervention,  such as selective breeding and other farm practices
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  Agriculture Biodiversity  Agriculturalbiodiversity provides food and raw materials to produce goods. Moreover, every  plant, animal and microorganism plays its part in the regulation of essential ecosystem services,  such as water conservation, decomposition of waste and nutrient cycling, pollination, pest and  disease control, climate regulation, erosion control and flood prevention, carbon sequestration  and many more
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  Modern Agriculture Practices While modern agricultural practices have increased food production, contributing much to  improving food security and reducing poverty, they have also been responsible for considerable  damage to biodiversity, primarily through land- use conversion but also through overexploitation,  intensification of agricultural production systems, excessive chemical and water use, nutrient  loading, pollution and introduction of invasive alien species. Agriculture is part of the landscape  and needs to be managed wisely and sustainably in this context.
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  Farmers Traditional Knowledge Farmers’ traditional knowledge is central to both sustaining biodiversity and ensuring global  food security. Today this knowledge is being eroded, undermining the important contribution  that farmers can make.
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  Agriculture Faces Challenges Agriculture faces considerable challenges of meeting the requirements of an ever growing  population whilst simultaneously reducing its footprint on the earth’s resources and biodiversity.  Technically these challenges can be met but this requires significant shifts in policies and  approaches. Central to this is the need for more effective partnerships between farmers,  consumers, governments and other stakeholders which build upon the contribution that  biodiversity can make towards the achievement of sustainable agriculture.
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  Fast Facts  InClose to a quarter of the world’s population  (1.3 billion people) work in agriculture  n Over 826 million people are chronically hungry  and need 100–400 more calories per day  n 32% of pre-school children worldwide are  underweigh
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  Fast Facts  Agricultureaccounts for 44% of methane  emissions and about 70% of nitrous oxide  gases  n Globally, agriculture accounts for about  70% of the water used by humans, and the  sustainable limit of water withdrawal has  already been reached or exceeded in many  areas
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  Fast Facts  Deforestationin the tropics and sub- tropics,  driven in many places by agriculture, can  lead to a reduction in regional rainfall—  undermining sustainable water supplies for  agriculture
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  Fast Facts  20%of the 6,500 breeds of domesticated  animals face extinction  n 20% of CO2 emissions in the 1990s  originated from land use changes, much of  this was through deforestation for agriculture  n There are over 25,000 bee species, but  populations are declining. One-third of the  world’s crop production must be pollinated  to produce seeds and fruits  n Soil worldwide is being lost 13 to 18 times  faster than it is being formed