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Effect Of Agriculture
Summary of organic farming
Essay on techniques in Organic Farming
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Organic farming has mushroomed drastically in importance and influence worldwide from its modest beginnings in the first half of the last century. Organic farming is production of food and livestock without the use of herbicides, pesticides, weedicides, fertilizers or genetically modified organism and use natural resources such as manure and compost instead. In other words, it is a production system which maintains the quality of soil ecosystem as well as human beings. According to IOWA State University, “the chemicals were not used for farming before World War 2. A number of munitions used in farming have contributed to field of agriculture. For instance, ammonium nitrate used as ammonium nitrate fertilizer”. The philosophy of agriculture …show more content…
Each time we think about diet, there are no other things that would come out of our mind other than the freshness and the colour varieties of the food that we take. This would make transformation of our eating habits from eating the green colour salads to variety colour of vegetables based on our preference and creativity. Green leafy vegetables are essential to provide calcium and magnesium. Mustards green, broccoli and Chinese cabbage to name a few. Sweet vegetables such as sweet corn, carrot, and sweet potatoes are also commonly used. We must concern the importance of vitamin to stay healthy. The blood sugar level and the amount of insulin must be stable. Nevertheless, food intake according to the food pyramid does not guarantee good health. For example, large portion of vegetables and fruits should be included in our diet, butif they are not product of organic farming, the comestible might show sight effects due to the usage of artificial fertilizers for crop production. Thus, human health will be affected also even if they practice their food intake according to the food …show more content…
The use of these elements can contaminate water because as the rain pours, these chemical substances are drained to nearby water resources such as river, pond and lake and thus polluting it. This will poison aquatic organism in the pond or lake and this will continue as when the other animals or humans consumed on this aquatic life. We also can see the side effect of this pollution as it will slow down the development of aquatic life, making them infertile and thus may lead to extinction of the aquatic life. Moreover, these chemical fertilizers also become a contributory factor to acid rain. Acid rain has many adverse effects. It will lead to a reduction in crop yields. There will also be irreparable damage to forests and wildlife. Being corrosive, it can cause extensive damage to buildings. Skin problems, hair loss heart and respiratory problems can also be aggravated by it. Furthermore, organic farming can also prevent climatic changes as agriculture can trap carbon and thus reducing the carbon emissions in the atmosphere. Therefore, by practicing organic farming for production of crops keeps pollution and formation of acid rain at
The amount of foodstuffs produced by organic farms does not meet the demand of the population, which is the main objective of farming. Observing the United States of America alone and using myself as the average American we
Organic fertilisers and natural pest control methods minimise the impact of viticulture on the environment. In recent years there has been a considerable movement by some growers towards an organic approach. This is as a result of consumer driven trends and pressure to minimise the environmental impact of viticulture.
Americans, as a whole, are fat, over-indulged, lazy, entitled humans. As a whole, yes, yes Americans are all of these things. In 2004, Alison Motluk, a freelance journalist who writes for numerous magazines including the New Scientist, The Walrus, and The Economist, pens an article called “Supersize Me: It’s Time to Stop Blaming Fat People for Their Size.” Motluk blames the food industry for increased portions. She blames the food industry for unhealthy, addictive additives dumped into our food. She blames the food industry for easy access to fast food. She blames city growth for making it near impossible to walk to get food therefore, people have to drive to get sustenance. Motluk blames schools for fat children because physical education
Organic farming is gaining popular support. This movement might be something relatively new, but the practice itself dates back to the origins of agriculture. Obviously,
Organic foods are those grown without the use of growth hormones, antibiotics, synthetic pesticides, or chemical fertilizers. Genetically modifying crops is also not preformed in organic farming. Soil fertility can be maintained using crop rotation, cultivation practices, and cover crops. Natural fertilizers and pesticides are still considered to be included in organic farming (Winter & Davis, 2006). Products that are controlled with cultivation conditions rather than chemical-synthetic pesticides include organic products (Woese, Lange, Boess & Werner Bogl, 1999). The use of synthetic pesticides and materials falls under conventional farming. If the materials are on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, it can, however, be considered organic. A process that chemically changes a substance extracted from naturally occurring sources is considered a synthetic material (Winter & Davis, 2006).
For years organic farmers and conventional farmers have feuded over which is superior. Organic farmers argue that their product is more eco-friendly because they do not use the synthetic chemicals and fertilizers conventional farmer’s use. Conventional farmers argue that their product is healthier and yields more. People tend to have stereotypes regarding the two types of farmers. Organic farmers are usually thought of as liberal, hippy, tree-huggers while conventional farmers are usually thought of as right-wing, industrialists. Obviously, some do adhere to this stereotype, but a majority of these farmers are normal, hardworking people. Although these farmers, both believe in their methods, one is no better than the other. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but there is no true superior method of crop farming.
In order to deal with these issues, there have been many modifications to our natural environment to solely improve the food growth rate. The technological advancements born during the Green Revolution greatly affected the modern industrial agriculture system and its effect on the environment. Pesticides and synthetic fertilizers use help development of a single crop to be grown in large quantities. This method of agriculture, known as monoculture, was one of the revolutionary practices created and nurtured until the rise in organic foods. Farmers were able to grow multiple crops in the same amount of land, allowing for more profit and greater annual yield. These advancements benefitted the world until it began to be overused. The abuse of the technology has lead to many negative effects on the environment, one of which occurred in Punjab, India where the government had been intensively irrigating the land. As a result, it could no longer be cultivated. The removal of crop residues from the fields, which virtually removed all nutrients from the soil, the overuse of fertilizers and pesticides created issues of water and land quality. The loss of productive land created due to waterlogged soils and salinization created a hardship on both the town and its
A study of 362 datasets found that organic agriculture produces 80% of conventional yield with 21% standard deviation (Tomek et al. 2012). Second, organic farming requires less energy input which equates to less money spend from the farmers in addition to lowering carbon emissions. A study by the Department of Environment shows that organic agriculture uses 25 percent less than energy than their chemical counterparts, and certain crops like organic leeks and broccoli use 58 and 49 percent less, respectively (Bialis et al. 2013). Third, organic farming does not use pesticides. According to the World Health Center, 20,000 people die annually from the exposure of pesticides (Costa et al. 2014). Fourth, the methods that organic farmers use are better for the environment in the long run. And lastly, organic farming creates more jobs. A study done in United Kingdom shows 93,000 jobs could be created if Britain were to make a full scale shift to organic farming (Herro 2006). Although conventional agriculture is the primary producer for food currently, a large scale shift to organic agriculture is better suited to feed the world because organic agriculture can produce at adequate yield, requires less energy input, do not use
In view of these concerns, the modern Indian agriculture has given birth to new concepts of organic, natural and eco-farming etc. The essential concept and philosophy of such practices is to feed the soil rather than the crops to maintain its health and save environment i.e. giving back to the nature what has been taken from it (Funtilana, 1990).
Because organic farms tend to be local businesses, many of the jobs are held within the community and much of the income made by the organic farms are spent on other local services or goods. This creates a cycle helping rural communities flourish due to the lack of corporate jobs in these areas, “Farm families are able to hold on to their land and can offer their children the option of continuing to work the land, decreasing the likelihood of urban migration by young people in the community.” (Inouye, Alena, McCauley) It seems though in the future with the increase in demand of organic farming, people may migrate into these rural areas because of the increase in work and labor needed. Helping the economy is in important job and something that is healthy and also helps economic flow is vital. With the easy methods that go into growing food the organic way we can not only rural communities in America, but also throughout the world. Explained in Leu and Andre’s article from Global Resources, “The reality is that the world produces more than enough food to feed everyone and has more than enough suitable agricultural land to do it. Unfortunately, due to inefficient, unfair distribution systems and poor farming methods, millions of people do not receive adequate nutrition.” The fact that we can feed the whole world is amazing, there is land all over the world and where
Reducing how often fields are tilled, reduces erosion and soil compaction , builds soil organic matter, and reduces runoff. Sustainable agriculture is the production of food, fiber, or other plant or animal products using farming techniques that protect the environment, public health, human communities, and animal health. If we change from normal agriculture to sustainable agriculture we can reduce many impacts that are caused by farmers using bad methods to produce food. If we change our way of farming from industrialized to sustainable agriculture the environment will improve and we will not have to worry too much about the things that were caused by industrialized
Chemical farming has become such a cultural norm that humans have turned a blind eye to what is really happening behind the scenes and have come to accept what the big manufacturing companies have told us. What these companies don’t want us to know is that when you produce food on a conventional farm you are producing food that is harmful to the environment. Conventional farms use fossil fuel derivative fertilizers to help add nutrients to the soil, but “these are the reason the earth is experiencing dangerous climate changes” (Sustainable Table). Also, the quality and consistency in the crops are lowered when they are planted on a chemical farm because many companies use artificial manure that leads to “artificial nutrition, artificial food, artificial animals and finally artificial
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:
In accordance to Charles (2010) the term sustainable agriculture means “any system of food and fiber production that follows the following goals: (a) Reduction of the use of off-farm inputs that have a great potential to harm the health of farmers and consumers or the environment, (b) production of biological and genetic potential of plant and animal species, (c) profitable and efficient production with emphasis on improvements of farm management and conservation of soil, water, energy, and biological resources, (d) incorporation of the natural processes, including fixation of nitrogen, nutrients cycling, and pest-predator relationships into the agricultural production processes, and (e) improvements of the match between cropping patterns and the productive potential and physical limitations of agricultural lands to ensure long term sustainability of current production levels”.
Agriculture is the industry that I am choosing to reflect upon that is one of the top industries in the United States and therefore I felt it to be a good industry to focus on.