Sustainability:
According to the lecture, sustainability is to keep something from getting destroyed or getting effected in a bad and trying to sustain something. Yes, sustainability is very important because without trying to maintain something, it could get damage and a heavy loss would occur.
Sustainable agriculture:
Agriculture can be made more sustainable by polyculture of perennials, finding alternative crops, growing more nitrogen fixing crops and increasing the growth of organic crops.
Polyculture of perennial:
One alternative to monoculture is polyculture which mean to grow different kind of crops in such a way that warm and cold season grasses and nitrogen fixing crops could be grown closely. These crops have different life cycles so that they will not be competing with each other for soil nutrients , but the would mature at the same time and it would be easier to harvest them. For example, Illinois bundle flower is a warm season legume and nitrogen fixer which is high in protein and can be harvested year after year with out replanting. Polyculture of perennial would reduce soil erosion from plowind every year whichle it would make it easier to control diseases and pests.
Alternative crops:
Growing crops other than the monoculturing crops would be of great benefit . Alternative crops being high in nutritional value and additional nutrients provide consumers the health benefit of consuming nutrients that their bodies were deprived of. For example alternative crops such as Quinoa, Amaranth, Tarwi, Tomarillo, Niranjilla and Oca. Amarnath, Tarwi, Oca and Quinoa are high in Lysine, protien and fats while Naranjilla and Tomarillo is high in vitamins. Ability to withstand harsh temperatures will make it possible to grow crops even in high altitudes and high temperatures where otherwise the regular crops would not have survived. Alternative crops such like Niranjilla, Ocas and Tarwin which can endure droughts and cold temperature while Amaranth can be grown in extreme heat. Alternative crops that can be grown in poor soil such as Amaranth, and Oca, will make it possible to use less fertile soil also. Nitrogen fixing alternative crops would make it possible to nourish poor quality soil while yielding crops at the same time. For example,Tarwi, an alternative crop, is a nitrogen fixing legume can be grown in poor quality soil and can also be used as manure to nourish poor quality soil.
Organic farming :
Organic farming is a type of agriculture in which the plant sare grown without the use of chemical fertilizers, pestcides and insecticides. This method of farming is good for the environment and consumers because the soil is not damaged during organic farming and the food produced is free of chemicals which is good for health.
Legume and nitrogen cycle.
Legumes have nitrogen fixing bacteria in its root nodules so the legumes can convert nitrogen from the soil into nitrates and ammonium and use themselves without the help of nitrogen fixing bacteria in soil . These bacteria are species of Genus Rhizobium convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonium and nitrates which is used by plants to make protein and nitrogenous compounds. Due to the presence of nitrogen fixing bacteria in root nodules of soil, legumes can also nourish the soil that is stripped off of nitrogen. This property means that legumes can be grown in poor quality soil and even to treat barren land. Legumes are used as green manure to enrich soil.
Consumers and agriculture sustainability:
Consumers can help in spreading the word that sustainability is very important in agriculture. Consumer are the one buying all the crops, So, they are very important in the whole crops growing and selling chain. Producers will only produce what consumers like. So, consumers should try to promote the sustainable agriculture practices.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Global Warming and food supply
Global Warming:
Photosynthesis uses up carbondioxide produced by by burning fuel, deforestation and pollution. And the excess carbondioxide in the air produced by carbondioxide causes a rise in the temperature because carbondioxide acts as a blanket and traps some of the heat from the sun.During respiration, human take in oxygen and give out carbondioxide. This carbondioxide goes into the air and from air plants use it to make food through the process called photosynthesis. Humans and plants are connected through respiration and photosynthesis. Thus, the Carbon dioxide produced by the humans is used up by the plants. In this way, plants use up the excess carbondioxide thus, maintaining the concentration of carbondioxide in the air. Carbon dioxide is a gas that reacts as a blanket for when the sun rays come into earth surface. When the sun's rays come into the earth's surface, carbondioxide and methane allows some of the sun's rays to go out of the atmosphere. While, carbondioxide and methane does not allow some sun's radiation to escape from the earth's surface. This is a natural phenomenon through which the earth keep the earth's temperature stable. This phenomenon is called green house effect. And the gases involved carbondioxide and methane are called green house gases. Every day the burning of fossil fuels and pollution increasing rapidly. This pollution and burning of fossil fuels increase the concentration of carbondioxide in the atmosphere. Plants through photosynthesis can only keep the amount produced by the humans in check while, the extra carbondioxide keeps accumulating in the atmosphere. This rise in carbondioxide cause extra heat to be trapped in the environment. This effect is called global warming. It means that the earth is getting warmer as the amount of carbondioxide increases in the atmosphere humans are cutting down forests which are carbondioxide consumers and are producing ., but also the rapid cutting of forests by humans. Humans are cutting forest ; so, there are not enough trees to regulate the amount of carbondioxide in the air. 25% of all carbondioxide emissions in the atmosphere are caused by the burning and cutting of 34 million acres of tree yearly.(http://www.ecobridge.org/content/g_cse.htm). Temperate forests around the world consume about 2 tons of carbondioxide every year.(ttp://www.ecobridge.org/content/g_cse.htm) So, Humans are not only increasing the amount of carbondioxide in the air, but humans are also cutting down forest which actually use up carbondioxide from the atmosphere. This means that the amount of carbondioxide will increase while the amount of carbondioxide consumers will decrease.
Effect of Global warming on food supply:
The increased amount of carbondioxide is causing change in the pattern of trees growing.The increased amount of carbon dioxide in atmosphere is beneficial for some plants and not for others. This is causing an increase in the growth of shrubs which are replacing grasslands.(http://healthandenergy.com/potential_effects_of_climate_change.htm). While the increase in precipitation has increased the growth of woody plants. This change in vegetation may lead to less forage for livestock grazing and also soil erosion is increasing because short grass is no longer there to hold the soil in its place. The increase in amount of carbondioxide has changed the pattern of trees in forests.
The climate change due to global warming is the cause of worries for the world food supply too. It is estimated that global warming will impact 63 to 369 million people in 2060 if this problem is no controlled. (http://healthandenergy.com/potential_effects_of_climate_change.htm). It is also believed that the world food production would decrease about 1 to 8 % putting increased number of people at risk for hunger and increased food prices.(http://healthandenergy.com/potential_effects_of_climate_change.htm) The way that crops are planted and the timing would eventually need to be adjusted to control the effects of global warming on world food supply.
Global warming does not only cause an increase in the amount of carbondioxide, but also causes extreme changes in weather, increase in evaporation and forest fires due to increased temperature. All of these changes will also affect the agriculture in a negative a cause a decrease in the world's food supply. Large scale experiments have shown that drought and high atmospheric temperature will decrease food production in the coming decades.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_global_warming). Global warming causes changes in the temperature for example, it rains in regions where it hasn't rained before and it does not rain in regions where it used to rain a lot. This causes destruction of the crops in those region because people only grow the crops which were suitable for that climate. For example, Southern United States has less water then before and desertification as a result is expected to happen in the coming decades.(http://www.grinningplanet.com/2007/05-08/effects-of-global-warming-on-agriculture.htm). Another example is the study conducted by Colorado State University, that Colorado's grazing lands are becoming less productive as a result of global warming.(http://www.grinningplanet.com/2007/05-08/effects-of-global-warming-on-agriculture.htm). The extreme weather changes are also causing havoc on food supply, for example, It is expected that Florida will get much more heavy rainfalls and flooding which can ruin crops and citrus trees. A study conducted by Lawrence Livermore National Labs and Stanford University yields that production of the major crops such as corn, rice , soybeans, barley, sorghum and wheat will decrease to about 3 to 5 % for every degree the temperature rises. These crops are the major food source for most of the population and their production decreases, the world will suffer from shortage of food supply.
Work Cited:
http://healthandenergy.com/potential_effects_of_climate_change.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_global_warming
http://www.grinningplanet.com/2007/05-08/effects-of-global-warming-on-agriculture.htm
Photosynthesis uses up carbondioxide produced by by burning fuel, deforestation and pollution. And the excess carbondioxide in the air produced by carbondioxide causes a rise in the temperature because carbondioxide acts as a blanket and traps some of the heat from the sun.During respiration, human take in oxygen and give out carbondioxide. This carbondioxide goes into the air and from air plants use it to make food through the process called photosynthesis. Humans and plants are connected through respiration and photosynthesis. Thus, the Carbon dioxide produced by the humans is used up by the plants. In this way, plants use up the excess carbondioxide thus, maintaining the concentration of carbondioxide in the air. Carbon dioxide is a gas that reacts as a blanket for when the sun rays come into earth surface. When the sun's rays come into the earth's surface, carbondioxide and methane allows some of the sun's rays to go out of the atmosphere. While, carbondioxide and methane does not allow some sun's radiation to escape from the earth's surface. This is a natural phenomenon through which the earth keep the earth's temperature stable. This phenomenon is called green house effect. And the gases involved carbondioxide and methane are called green house gases. Every day the burning of fossil fuels and pollution increasing rapidly. This pollution and burning of fossil fuels increase the concentration of carbondioxide in the atmosphere. Plants through photosynthesis can only keep the amount produced by the humans in check while, the extra carbondioxide keeps accumulating in the atmosphere. This rise in carbondioxide cause extra heat to be trapped in the environment. This effect is called global warming. It means that the earth is getting warmer as the amount of carbondioxide increases in the atmosphere humans are cutting down forests which are carbondioxide consumers and are producing ., but also the rapid cutting of forests by humans. Humans are cutting forest ; so, there are not enough trees to regulate the amount of carbondioxide in the air. 25% of all carbondioxide emissions in the atmosphere are caused by the burning and cutting of 34 million acres of tree yearly.(http://www.ecobridge.org/content/g_cse.htm). Temperate forests around the world consume about 2 tons of carbondioxide every year.(ttp://www.ecobridge.org/content/g_cse.htm) So, Humans are not only increasing the amount of carbondioxide in the air, but humans are also cutting down forest which actually use up carbondioxide from the atmosphere. This means that the amount of carbondioxide will increase while the amount of carbondioxide consumers will decrease.
Effect of Global warming on food supply:
The increased amount of carbondioxide is causing change in the pattern of trees growing.The increased amount of carbon dioxide in atmosphere is beneficial for some plants and not for others. This is causing an increase in the growth of shrubs which are replacing grasslands.(http://healthandenergy.com/potential_effects_of_climate_change.htm). While the increase in precipitation has increased the growth of woody plants. This change in vegetation may lead to less forage for livestock grazing and also soil erosion is increasing because short grass is no longer there to hold the soil in its place. The increase in amount of carbondioxide has changed the pattern of trees in forests.
The climate change due to global warming is the cause of worries for the world food supply too. It is estimated that global warming will impact 63 to 369 million people in 2060 if this problem is no controlled. (http://healthandenergy.com/potential_effects_of_climate_change.htm). It is also believed that the world food production would decrease about 1 to 8 % putting increased number of people at risk for hunger and increased food prices.(http://healthandenergy.com/potential_effects_of_climate_change.htm) The way that crops are planted and the timing would eventually need to be adjusted to control the effects of global warming on world food supply.
Global warming does not only cause an increase in the amount of carbondioxide, but also causes extreme changes in weather, increase in evaporation and forest fires due to increased temperature. All of these changes will also affect the agriculture in a negative a cause a decrease in the world's food supply. Large scale experiments have shown that drought and high atmospheric temperature will decrease food production in the coming decades.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_global_warming). Global warming causes changes in the temperature for example, it rains in regions where it hasn't rained before and it does not rain in regions where it used to rain a lot. This causes destruction of the crops in those region because people only grow the crops which were suitable for that climate. For example, Southern United States has less water then before and desertification as a result is expected to happen in the coming decades.(http://www.grinningplanet.com/2007/05-08/effects-of-global-warming-on-agriculture.htm). Another example is the study conducted by Colorado State University, that Colorado's grazing lands are becoming less productive as a result of global warming.(http://www.grinningplanet.com/2007/05-08/effects-of-global-warming-on-agriculture.htm). The extreme weather changes are also causing havoc on food supply, for example, It is expected that Florida will get much more heavy rainfalls and flooding which can ruin crops and citrus trees. A study conducted by Lawrence Livermore National Labs and Stanford University yields that production of the major crops such as corn, rice , soybeans, barley, sorghum and wheat will decrease to about 3 to 5 % for every degree the temperature rises. These crops are the major food source for most of the population and their production decreases, the world will suffer from shortage of food supply.
Work Cited:
http://healthandenergy.com/potential_effects_of_climate_change.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_global_warming
http://www.grinningplanet.com/2007/05-08/effects-of-global-warming-on-agriculture.htm
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