Current Agricultural Practices

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Green Revolution

Subsidies

Mechanization

Irrigation

Fertilizers

Monocropping

Pesticides

Genetic Revolution

Feeding the World

Subsidies

Green Revolution

A Closer look at Pesticides

Genetic Revolution

Sustainable practices

Subsidies

• Why do we need food?• Energy• The Irony: we use energy to make food =

energy subsidy. energy input/calorie food• Good: lots of food, Bad: deficits of energy• Why so many?• Fossil fuels, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation,

and travel to you.

Green revolution

• Norman Borlaug (1914-2009)

11 post-it notes1.Mechanization 2. Irrigation

5. Inorganic Fertilizers 6. Organic Fertilizers

3. Monocropping

4. CAFO’s

Monocropping

• Single species or variety grown.Pros Cons

• Lots of food• Cheaper food • Able to use big

machines • Easier to apply

fertilizer and pesticides

• Soil erosion (nothing to hold the soil down: DUST BOWL)= loss of top soil = desertification

• Vulnerable to pests• Using mechanization ,

fertilizers etc..

What about our Proteins?High-Density Animal Farming: CAFO’s (Concentrated animal feeding operations)

Advantages

• More product• Easier to produce• Cheaper• More money

Disadvantages• Concentrations of pollution

problems such as foul smells from fed lots

• Contaminations to drinking water by nitrates in animal wastes (also effects vegetables)

• Increase in the spread of diseases.• Increase pressure on the world’s

grain supply to feed the animals• Increase inputs of energy from

fossil fuels

Mechanization

• Use of machines: irrigation, tractors, fertilizers etc.

Pros Cons

• Lots of food• Cheaper food (large upfront cost)

• Necessitates 1 crop agriculture• Only benefits larger farmers• Fossil fuels (energy subsidies)

Synthetic (aka inorganic) FertilizersPros Cons

• Lots of food• Easy application• Targeted nutrients• Easily absorbed

• Uses a lot of fossil fuels in production

• More likely to be carried away by runoff

• Does not add organic material to the soil that is lost during production and harvesting.

Organic FertilizersPros Cons

• Not as easily taken away by runoff

• Adds to the value of the soil

• No fossil fuels used in production

• Not synthetic/natural processes occur

• Takes longer to be adsorbed by plants

• Not as easy to apply• Not as easy to target

specific nutrient needs

• Idea of poop

Irrigation

Pros Cons

• Lots of food• Cheaper food (large

upfront cost)• Able to farm land that

was previously unusable.

• Depletes ground water

• Promotes salt water intrusion

• Soil degradation by water logging and salinization

• Fossil fuels (energy subsidies)

Types of Irrigation4. Furrow (65% efficent- oldest, easiest, cheapest)– 3. Flood: More disruptive but 80% efficent– 2. Spray irrigation: more expensive- 75-95%– 1. Drip: over 95% efficent (reduces weed

growth– 1. Hydroponic: uses 95% less water (water

can be reused) more expensive.

2. Salinization and Waterlogging

• Repeated irrigation can reduce crop yields by causing salt buildup in the soil and waterlogging of crop plants.

Figure 13-13

Global Outlook: Soil Erosion

• Soil is eroding faster than it is forming on more than one-third of the world’s cropland.

Figure 13-10

EXTRA CREDIT DUETuesday

ALL IN ONE EMAIL!!! If you want to insure I get them all.

• Certified organic label• Non-GMO label• Country of origin• Sustainable fishing• BPA Free • Sustainable farming/practices label.• Free-range

You must have one of each before you can duplicate. (Worth 1 point each on your test)

Pesticides

We will be answering 4 Questions today…

• What are the types of pesticides?• What are the advantages of pesticides?• What are the disadvantages of pesticides?• What is the ideal pesticide?

Pesticides

• What are the types of pesticides?– Insecticides– Herbicides– Fungicides– Rodenticides– Broad spectrum (DDT)– Endocrine Inhibitors– Narrow spectrum (selective): Roundup– Persistent– nonpersistent

What are the advantages to pesticides?

• Easy to apply• Quick working• In most cases works with a single application• Targeted (in most cases)• Prevents crop damage = greater yield= less

land used for agriculture

Disadvantages?

• Kills unintended organisms (bees)• Persistent = bioaccumulation (Rachel Carson,

Silent Spring)

• Resistance (just like bacteria and antibiotics)= pesticide treadmill

• Enters waterways through runoff• Toxicity (LD50 and ED50) ** See hand out***

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipbc-6IvMQI• Banned in 1972 in the US and 2001 worldwide.• Loss of biodiversity (bald eagles, bees, thinned egg shells of birds, reptiles and some

amphibians)• Human Effects: LD50 of 113 mg/kg (in rats) : ~300 ; caffeine (depends on the sex and age)

btw: Nicotine 50 mg/kg– breast & other cancers (Still arguments about this one)– male infertility– miscarriages & low birth weight– developmental delay– Endocrine disruptors– nervous system & liver damage

• What we are still seeing after over 40 years of banning it: Its persistent!!– Food supplies: USDA found DDT breakdown products in 60% of heavy cream samples, 42% of kale

greens, 28% of carrots and lower percentages of many other foods.– Body burden: DDT breakdown products were found in the blood of 99% of the people

tested by CDC.– Health impacts: Girls exposed to DDT before puberty are 5 times more likely to develop breast

cancer in middle age, according to the President’s Cancer Panel.

Ideal Pesticides

• IPM (Integrated pest management)– In short: Use of pesticides is the last resort,

farmers must carefully monitor crops and infestations must be caught early.

– Other methods include: crop rotation, intercropping, agroforestry, use of natural predators (salt cedar at I20 , lady bugs kill aphids, scales, and mites, wasps to kill certain kinds of caterpillars)

GMO’s • http://www.google.com/search?q=examples+of+genetically+modified+organisms&safe=active&rlz=1C1WLXB_enU

S559US563&espv=210&es_sm=93&tbm=nws&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=-zjhUta4DcSikQeGrICABQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=667&dpr=1#q=genetically+mod

• How does this work?• Some examples:

– Golden Rice: added vitamin A producing gene= reduce blindness

– Pharmaceuticals: grown in plants, animals or bacteria

– Roundup ready soybeans– Salmon: grow to maturity in half the time

A. Define GMO.B. Briefly discuss you opinion on, “Should the

government require labeling of GMO’s?” Give two reasons to support your answer.

C. Lets take this to the next level. Should the US follow Europe and ban GMO use and import? Give two reasons to support your answer.

FOOD LABELS

• http://www.gcbl.org/live/food/healthy-diet/what-do-food-labels-really-mean

Who’s to blame?

• Ignorance (us)• Government Policies

– Farm Bill• http://www.farmbillfacts.org/rallying-for-action-towar

d-the-next-farm-bill• http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId

=15891678– Subsidies (keeps food prices artificially low)

• http://www.pbs.org/teachers/access-analyze-act-economy/curriculum/sugar-supply/the-cultivation-of-agricultural-subsidies#instant-expert

More Sustainable Methods1. Small scale farming2. Shifting agriculture (Includes slash and burn)3. Sustainable agriculture: intercropping, crop rotation,

agroforestry, contour plowing/planting4. No-Till agriculture5. Integrated Pest Management (IPM)6. Organic Agriculture: use natural systems, keep as much

organic matter in soil as possible, no synthetic fertilizers and pesticides

7. To reduce fertilizer run-off (used prescribe amounts and plant legumes and other nitrogen fixing plants)

The other side of the story

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMqYYXswono

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsEbvwMipJI