Horticulture and Agriculture along with the Slash-And-Burn Method
Agriculture and horticulture have some similarities, but they also have their differences. When talking about these two terms they can sometimes be confused with one another, yet they shouldn’t based on how different they can be. The definition of horticulture is the basic practice of garden cultivation and management. The definition of agriculture is the science or practice of farming, including the cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide wool, food, and other products. Seeing these two definitions side by side already tells us how diverse these two terms are. Horticulture’s main goal is focusing on garden management and cultivation.
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Agriculture uses intensive cultivation and the land was used for a fallow brief period, continuously, or non-existent period of time. There is also irrigation going on along with draft animals and heavy equipment functioning as a plow. Having these draft animals and heavy equipment is efficient to some extent when talking about fewer crops, but somehow agriculture creates a surplus. Agriculture creates a surplus by having a greater output or yield such as water, fertilizer, weeding, and site preparation. This being said, agriculture usually takes up long periods of …show more content…
A broader way to look at this would be to compare this method with hunting and gathering. The slash-and-burn method is more effective than hunting and gathering for the reason that you can have higher population densities and some can even accumulate wealth. There are also numerous other aspects and benefits of the slash-and-burn method like essentially having rights to land held communally. You can use-rights with this method rather than having to own land exclusively in agriculture. The main reason why the slash-and-burn method is better for growing crops in a tropical environment when compared to agriculture would be as things go after the vegetation is burned, the ash that is left provides a nutrient-rich layer to help fertilize crops when people return. This is very efficient and a quicker option than having to own livestock and spread their manure throughout your fields to fertilize
Animal and plant husbandry due to human growth has transformed into factories that pump out foodstuffs in higher quantities than imaginable centuries in the past. This is done through the use of monocultures, which produce one single crop in high quantities, and factory farming, compact animal lots that grow the animal as quickly as possible for slaughter. The shift to monoculture farming and factory farming was due to the rapid increase in population and advancements in farming technology, for example pesticides. In recent years the focus has shifted to escaping factory farming through organic farming. Organic farming produces foodstuffs without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or any other artificial factors. Organic farming focuses on natural development of organisms. Author Michael Pollan in his essay “The Animals: Practicing Complexity” describes his time at an organic farm and describes Polyface Farm as profitable, efficient, cheap,
Traditional agriculture requires massive forest and grassland removal to obtain land necessary to farm on. Deforestation and overgrazing has caused erosion flooding, and enabled the expansion of deserts. But with drainage systems, leveling, and irrigation provided by the Green Rev, all this terra deforming will unlikely happen again. We can retain clean air and lessen the global warming effect caused by deforestation.Many people argue that a revamp in agriculture will be way too expensive and unrealistic especially for those poor farmers in third world countries. However many times, they exaggerate the price.
Even though some people think modernizing is the key to a successful economy in the future, it doesn't mean that the farming industry should be reduced to the back burner when thinking about what is contributing to the ever-growing economy. My point here that agriculture is vital to America’s economy and should not altered should interest those who live in farming communities. Beyond this limited audience, however, my point should speak to anyone who cares about the larger issue of making sure agriculture is seen as an important asset that benefits citizens and other industries that utilize the products that are
Agriculture is the science and practice of producing crops and livestock. The primary aim of agriculture is to use the land to produce more abundantly to feed and clothe the world at the same time protecting it from deterioration or misuse. Humans had to improve agriculture as they became more dependent on food, creating a solitary evolutionary connection between plants and animals (Campbell and Reece, 2001). In this day and age, so many people have forgotten the authentic premises of survival. It is easy for some to believe that the grocery stores produce food and clothing is produced by shopping centers. These inaccurate presumptions are being made due to the lack of knowledge of how agriculture truly works. There are also significant differences in the levels of understanding between rural and urban communities.
Organic foods have become more and more popular over the years, and consumers may or may not be knowledgeable when shopping for organic and/or conventional foods. This report will help define the difference between organic and conventional foods and farming, including the health benefits and risks. The demand for organic foods will also be discussed briefly. The purpose of this research is to describe and identify the advantages and issues that are involved with organic and inorganic foods.
Gardening or horticulture is the activity tending and cultivating a garden especially as a pastime. In the other words, gardening is the job or activity of working in a garden, growing and taking care of plants, and keeping it attractive. Retrieved from dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/English/gardening. Horticultural therapy is a relatively new discipline combining horticulture and rehabilitation disciplines. It employs plants and gardening activities in therapeutic and rehabilitation activities to improve human wellbeing. Gardening is a very good therapeutic activity for someone who have disabled and mentally ill especially depression because it can be effective for healing, restoring and improving health and wellbeing in the recovery of depressive symptoms (Letitcia Y. Alston, 2010). This can be
Outdoor work has always been important to me, both on the farm and off it. As someone who enjoys working with my hands to accomplish something that is challenging and productive, horticulture was a natural field for me to look into as a career. Horticulture requires both physical strength and mental ability that is practical and based on solving a real-life problem, rather than simply being an intellectual exercise or on arbitrary conditions. Horticulture as a term is a rather broad definition of a variety of careers and activities; is it merely backyard gardening or is it biological research culminating in genetically modifying plants for the advancement of our economy and well-being? The answer is honestly both, and in this aspect, horticulture is a rare field of study offering both simple (on the face of it, at least) manual labor and incredibly advanced research and study careers. Horticulture is also rare in that it has ties to both age-old practices and traditions of gardening and plant production and new-age philosophies of environmentalism, research, and science. People have been cultivating plants for decoration and sustenance for millennia, and horticulture is the best term to describe these activities. However, horticulture is also the best description of the work done by scientists, researchers, and educators to advance our knowledge of both how plants grow and develop and how the world can utilize these properties. With that being said, to learn more about careers in horticulture the following research paper will describe the definition of horticulture, the education and qualifications necessary, and the specific careers available in horticulture.
“Everyday, everyone is affected by agronomy. The food you eat, the coffee you drink, the ethanol-based gas in your car, the grass on the golf course, the natural fibers of the clothing you wear-are all products of agronomy and the work of agronomists.”(Illinois State University) An agronomist even finds the best way to plant and harvest any source of food. Agronomy is a science in which an agronomist views agriculture in an integrated perspective.(Agronomy.org)
As the global population continues to rise, the amount of food needed to feed the people will increase as well. Two types of agriculture systems have been the backbone for crop production for decades if not centuries: conventional and organic agriculture— both methods could not be any more different. Conventional agriculture, a method that uses synthetic chemical pesticides, technologies or additives, and practices that are unsustainable is the leading producer for our food. On the other side of spectrum, organic agriculture generally, performed in a much smaller scale, does not use synthetic chemicals and utilize methods that are environmentally sound. Most conventional
The single biggest direct cause of tropical deforestation is conversion to cropland and pasture, mostly for subsistence, which is growing crops or raising livestock to meet daily needs. The conversion to agricultural land usually results from multiple direct factors. For example, countries build roads into remote areas to improve overland transportation of goods. The road development itself causes a limited amount of deforestation. But roads also provide entry to previously inaccessible—and often unclaimed—land. Logging, both legal and illegal, often follows road expansion (and in some cases is the reason for the road expansion). When loggers have harvested an area’s valuable timber, they move on. The roads and the logged areas become a magnet for settlers—farmers and ranchers who slash and burn the remaining forest for cropland or cattle pasture, completing the deforestation chain that began with road building. In other cases, forests that have been degraded by logging become fire-prone and are eventually deforested by repeated accidental fires from adjacent farms or pastures.
So overall, Agriculture is playing a very important role in changing the lifestyle of different people. Agriculture might have made everything easy for us but it still has its cons. We see the effects of agriculture and how it affects the lives of other species and the environment.
Agriculture is one of the most ancient forms of art and science that ties human development and well-being to natural resources and ecosystems. (Fritz J. Häni, 2007) Sustainable Agriculture is the production of food, fibre, plant and animal products using farming techniques that protect the environment, public health, human communities and animal welfare. (Sustainable Agriculture - The Basics, 2015) Sustainable agriculture is an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site – specific application that over the long term will:
...ns of people since it first began. Through hundreds of years it has evolved into what it is known for today. Farming is a difficult job that requires a wide variety of skills. It is not difficult to begin a career in the agricultural field, but it is difficult to be successful. Farming is a great job but it requires a lot of hard work. As Weaver previously stated, “I love my job more and more everyday!”
“The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.” - Masanobu Fukuoka. That’s something people don’t understand about agriculture in the past, the present, and the future. Farming and agriculture is more than just planting a field and harvesting it, it’s a way of life. Generations molded and lived their life around farming. It’s a way to live, a way to make money, and a way to eat. So when you wake up in the morning and pour your cereal or throw your bread in the toaster, thank a farmer. For today, I’m here to talk about the Agricultural Revolution and how it transformed the way of life and triggered the Industrial Revolution.
Agriculture is quite possibly the most important advancement and discovery that humanity has made. It produces the one thing that we need the most: food. It has been around since 9500 BC, and can be the oldest sign of mankind’s acumen and the development and evolving of our minds and creations. Agriculture has been mastered throughout hundreds of years and is one of our most important resources on Earth, along with water and fossil fuels. Although the older farming methods from ancient times seem somewhat mediocre and barbaric, they were very ingenious and advanced for that time period. Over thousands of years, we have improved the way agriculture is used, how land is cultivated, the various techniques of farming and irrigation, and the tools and mechanics used. Numerous things that we see as aboriginal today, such as using a hand plow, were extremely contemporary in ancient times, and played key roles in the development of man and society, since quick labor was not abundant before this time. We are now extremely advanced in agriculture and irrigation and the tools used to farm and grow and harvest crops. We have learned from our past and ancestors how to grow and evolve in our methods and have advanced forward greatly.