CHAPTER 10

FOOD, SOIL & PEST MANAGEMENT

Case Study: Is Organic Agriculture the answer?

 We face the critical challenges of increasing food production without causing environmental harm.
Each day, there are about 225, 000 more mouths to feed and by 2050 there will probably be 2.5
billion more people to feed. This increase alone is more than twice china's current population and
eight times currrent the US population.
Organic agriculture
- Crops grown without using synthetic pesticides, synthetic inorganic fertilizers, or genetically engineered
seeds
I. Industrialized Agriculture
o Replaced horses and oxen with machines to farm faster and more efficiently
o Requires high input agriculture - lots of energy needed.
o Introduction of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers
- Increased productivity of soil
- Yields increased
o Efficient to plant monoculture
o Is globally export-oriented
o Uses antibiotics and growth hormones to produce meat and meat products
II. Organic Agriculture
o All farming by human and animal power alone
o Hand tools and non motorized machine
o Doesn't require fossil fuels
o Uses no genetically modified seeds
o Is regionally and locally oriented
o Uses no antibiotics or growth hormones

10-1: WHAT IS FOOD SECURITY AND WHY IT IS DIFFICULT TO ATTAIN?

Many people Have Health Problems Because They Do Not Get Enough to Eat
 Today we produce more than enough food to meet the basic nutritional needs if every person on the
earth. Even with this surplus of food, one of every six people in developing countries is not getting
enough to eat. They face
 Food Insecurity - Chronic hunger and poor nutrition
o Root cause: poverty
 Food Security - daily access to enough nutritious food to have an active and healthy life.

Many People Suffer from Chronic Hunger and Malnutrition

1. Chronic Undernutrition - hunger
 2. Chronic Malnutrition - lack of proper nutrition caused by not having enough to eat..
According to the WHO (World Health Organization), one of every three people suffers from a deficiency of
one or more vitamins and minerals, most often in developing countries and involving vitamis A, iron, and
iodine.
Many people do not get enough Vitamins and Minerals
 Most common vitamin and mineral deficiencies in people in less-developed countries/areas of the
world:
1. Iron - Important component of hemoglobin; hemoglobin in RBCs binds to oxygen
2. Vitamin A - Necessary for eye, reproductive and immune health
3. Iodine - Thyroid Hormones; leading preventable cause of intellectual disabilities

Many people Have Health Problems from eating too much

 Over nutrition- occurs when food energy intake exceeds energy use and causes excess body fat.
 Too many calories, too little exercise or both can cause overnutrition.
 People who are underfed and underweight and those who are overfed and overweight face similar
health problems:
- Lower life expectancy
- Greater susceptibility to disease and illness
- Lower productivity and life quality
- 4 of the top 10 causes of death (heart disease, stroke, Type 2 Diabetes and some types of cancer) are
related to diet; specifically over-nutrition
Keys to a Healthy Diet
✔ Macronutrients
 Carbohydrates
 Protein
 Fats
✔ Micronutrients
 Vitamins (A, B, C, D, E)
 Minerals ( Ca, Fe, K)
10-2 HOW IS FOOD PRODUCED?
Food Production Has Increased Dramatically
Three systems produce most of our food
o Croplands - produce mostly grains and provide 77% of the worlds food using 11% of it's land
area.
o Rangelands, pastures, and feedlots - produces meat, mostly from grazing livestock, and supply
about 16% of the worlds food using about 29% of world's land area.
o Aquaculture - supply about 7% of the world's food.

TWO TYPES OF AGRICULTURE

1. Industrialized Agriculture - also called high-input agriculture
 o Uses: heavy equipment, large amounts of financial capital, fossil fuels, inorganic fertilizers, water
and pesticides to produce single crops (monocultures)
o Major goal is to steadily increase each crop's yield (amount of food produced per unit of land)
Monoculture - refers to the agricultural practice of cultivating a single crop species or type over a
large area of land.
Plantation Agriculture - is a form of industrialized agriculture used primarily in tropical developing
countries.
- It involves growing cash crops, such as bananas, soybeans(mostly to feed livestock) sugarcane,
coffee and vegetables on large monoculture plantations mostly for sale in developed countries.

2. Subsistence Agriculture- also called traditional agriculture

o Uses: human and draft-animal labor, animal manure for fertilizer, and water to obtain higher crop
yields of multiple crops (polycultures)
Polyculture - means growing different types of crops together in the same area, rather than just one
type.
o If the weather cooperates, enough food is produced to feed the farmer's family with some leftover to
sell.
o Practiced by approximately 39% of the world's people in less developed countries using 3/4 of all
cropland; produces 20% of the world's food.
Slash and Burn Agriculture - is a type of subsistence agriculture that involves burning and clearing
small plots in tropical forest, growing crops for a few years until the soil is depleted of nutrients and
then shifting to other plots.
Case Study: Hydroponics: Growing Crops without Soil
Hydroponics - growing plants in nutrient-rich water solutions rather than soil
o Grow indoors almost anywhere, year-round
o Grow in dense urban areas
o Recycle water and fertilizers
o Little or no need for pesticides
o No soil erosion
o Takes money to establish
o Help make the transition to more sustainable agriculture

10-3: HOW SERIOUS ARE SOIL EROSION AND DEGRADATION AND HOW THEY CAN BE
REDUCED?
Excessive Loss of Topsoil Can Reduce Food Production
Topsoil Erosion - is a serious problem in many parts of the world
Soil Erosion - movement of soil by the action of wind and water especially when topsoil is not covered by
vegetation.
 Soil Erosion is natural and some is caused by human activities
Two major harmful effects of soil erosion
o Loss of soil fertility - depletion of plants nutrients in topsoil.
 o Water pollution - where eroded soil ends up as sediment which can kill fish and shellfish and clog
irrigation ditches, boat channels, reserviors and lakes.
Natural Capital Degredation
o Gully Erosion in Bolivia
o Wind removes topsoil in dry areas
o Topsoil Erosion on a Farm in Tennessee
Drought and Human Activities are degrading drylands
o Diserrtification - occurs when the productive potential of dry lands(arid or semiarid land) falls by
10% or more because of a combination of natural climate change that causes prolonged drought and
human activities that reduce or degrade topsoil.
- The process can be:
 Moderate - (a 20% drop in productivity)
 Severe - (25 - 50% drop)
 Very severe - (more than 50% usually creating huge gullies and sand dunes.)
o Human Agriculture accelerates dissertification.
o Global warming also affects dissertification.
o Extreme disertification lead to what we call dessert.
Natural Capital Degradation: Disertification
Causes:
o Overgrazing
o Deforestation
o Erosion
o Salination
o Soil Compaction
o Climate Change
Consequences:
o Worsening drought
o Famine
o Economic losses
o Lower living standards
o Environmental refugees
Irrigation Can Cause Exvessive Salt and Water in Soils
o Salinization
- Gradual accumulation of salts in the soil from irrigation water
- Lowers crop yields and can even kill plants
- Affects 10% of world croplands
o Waterlogging
- Irrigation water gradually raises water table
- Can prevent roots from getting oxygen
- Affects another 10% of world croplands
  Salinization and Waterlogging of soil on irrigated land without adequate drainage can decrease crop
yields.
Solution of Soil Salinization
Prevention:
o Reduce Irrigation
o Switch to salt- tolerant crops(such as barley, cotton,candy sugarbeet)
Cleanup:
o Flush Soil (expensive and wastes water)
o Stop growing crops for 2-5yrs
o Install underground drainage systems(expensive)
Soil Is the Base of Life on Land
• Soil composition
o Eroded rock
o Mineral nutrients
o Decaying organic matter
o Water
o Air
o Microscopic decomposer
Layers (horizons) of mature soils
o O horizon: leaf litter
o A horizon: topsoil
o E horizon: Eluviation Layer
o B horizon: subsoil
o C horizon: parent material
o R horizon: bedrock
Soil conservation - is a combination of practices used to protect the soil from degradation.
Methods of Soil Conservation
o Terracing
o Contour planting
o Strip cropping with cover crop
o Alley cropping, agroforestry
o Windbreaks or shelterbelts
We can Restore Soil Fertility
 The best way to maintain soil fertility is through soil conservation.
 To do this, farmers can use organic fertilizers from plants and animal materials or commercial
inorganic fertilizer produced from various minerals.
 Several types of organic fertilizers:
o Animal manure
o Green manure
 o Compost
10:4 - WHAT HAVE THE GREEN AND GENE REVOLUTION DONE FOR FOOD SECURITY?
Green Revolution: increase crop yields
GR involves three steps:
1. Develop and plant monocultures of selectively bred high-yield varieties of key crops such as
rice,and wheat and corn
2. Large amounts of fertilizers, pesticides, water
3. Multiple cropping
Second Green Revolution
o Fast growing dwarf varieties world grain has tripled in production
o World grain has tripled in production.
Producing Food Has Environmental Impacts
Natural Capital Degradation: Food Production
o Biodiversity loss
o Soil
o Water
o Air Pollution
Crossbreeding and Genetic Engineering Produce New Crop/Livestock Varieties
 First gene revolution
Cross-breeding through artificial selection
- Slow process
- Amazing results
 Genetic engineering = second gene revolution
- Alter organism’s DNA
- Genetic modified organisms (GMOs): transgenic organisms
There is Controversy over Genetically Engineered Foods
Genetically Modified Crops and Foods
Advantage:
o Need less fertilizer
o Need less water
o More resistant to insects, disease, frost and drought
o Grow faster
o May need less pesticides or tolerate higher level of herbicides
o May reduce energy needs
Disadvantages:
o Unpredictable genetic and ecological effects
o Harmful toxins and new allergens in food
o No increase in yields
 o More pesticides - resistant insects and herbicide - resistant weeds
o Could disrupt seed market
o Lower genetic diversity

10-5: ARE THERE LIMITS TO PROVIDING MORE MEAT AND SEAFOOD?

Meat Production and Consumption Have Grown Steadily
 Animals for meat raise in
- pastures and rangelands
- feedlots
 Meat production increased fourfold between 1961 and 2007
- Increased demand for grain
- Demand is expected to go higher
Industrialized Meat Production
Trade Offs: Animal Feedlots
Advantage:
o Increased Meat Production
o Higher Profits
o Less land use
o Reduced Overgrazing
o Reduced Soil Erosion
o Protection of Biodiversity
Disadvantage
o Large input of grains, fish meal, water and fossil fuels
o Greenhouse gas (CH2 and CH4) emmision
o Concentration of animal waste that can pollute water
o Use of antibiotics can increase genetic resistance to microbes in human

We Can Use Fish Farming to Raise Fish and Shellfish

Aquaculture - involves raising fish and shellfish for food instead of hunting and gathering them.
- "blue revolution"
- worlds fastest growing type of production
- involves cultivating fish in a freshwater pond, lake, reservior or rice paddy, in fenced in areas or in
underwater cages in coastal salwater lagoons, estuaries or the deep oceans.
Advantage:
o High efficiency
o High yield
o Reduced overharvesting of fisheries
o Low fuel use
o High profits
Disadvantages:
o Large input of land, feed and water
o Large waste output
o Loss of forest, mangrove and estuaries
o Some fishes feed with grain, fish meal or fish oil
o Dense population vulnerable to disease

10-6: HOW CAN WE PROTECT CROPS FROM PEST?

Nature Controls the Populations of Most Pests
Pest - any species that interferes with human welfare by competing with us for food, invading lawns and
gardens, spread diseases and simply becoming a nuisance.
Use of Chemical Compounds to Control Pest Populations
 Pesticides
- Insecticides
- Herbicides
- Fungicides
- Rodenticides
We Use Pesticides to Try to Control Pest Populations
 First-generation pesticides
- Borrowed from plants
 Second-generation pesticides
- Lab produced: DDT and others
- Benefits versus harm
 Broad-spectrum and narrow-spectrum agents
 Persistence varies
Individual Matters: Rachel Carson
 Silent Spring - is a seminal work authored by biologist Rachel Carson. Published in 1962, the
book is a powerful exposé on the detrimental effects of pesticides, particularly DDT, on the
environment, wildlife, and human health.
Modern Synthetic Pesticides
Advantage:
 Save human lives
 Increases food supplies and profits for farmers
 Work quickly
 For many, health risks are very low relative to benefits
 New pest control methods: safer and more effective
Disadvantage:
 Accelerate rate of genetic resistance in pests
 Expensive for farmers
  Some insecticides kill natural predators and parasites that help control the pest population
 Pollution in the environment
 Some harm wildlife
 Some are human health hazards
Laws and Treaties Can Help to Protect Us from the Harmful Effects of Pesticides
 U.S. federal agencies and laws
- EPA, USDA, FDA
- Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, 1947
- Food Quality Protection Act, 1996
 Effects of active and inactive pesticide ingredients are poorly documented
- U.S. exports many banned pesticides
There Are Alternatives to Using Pesticides
 Fool the pest - Crop rotation; changing planting times
 Provide homes for pest enemies - Polyculture
 Implant genetic resistance – genetic engineering
 Use insect perfumes - sex attractants called pheromones.
 Scald them - spraying them with hot water.
Integrated Pest Management Is a Component of Sustainable Agriculture
 Integrated pest management (IPM)
- Coordinate: cultivation, biological controls, and chemical tools to reduce crop damage to an
economically tolerable level
- Reduces pollution and pesticide costs
Disadvantages
- Requires expert knowledge
- High initial costs
- Government opposition
Three Big Ideas
1. More than 1 billion people have health problems because they do not get enough to eat and 1.1 billion people
face health problems from eating too much.
2. Modern industrialized agriculture has a greater harmful impact on the environment than any other human
activity.
3. More sustainable forms of food production will greatly reduce the harmful environmental impacts of current
systems while increasing food security.