APEX APES 6.3.6 Read Withgott 7th Edition Sustainable Practices

Green Revolution

An intensification of the industrialization of agriculture in the developing world that dramatically increased crop yields.

Time of Green Revolution

It took place in the latter half of the 20th century.

Impact on Mexico and India

The Green Revolution helped countries that previously had a lack of certain crops, such as grains, increase yields so much that they were able to begin exporting those crops.

Industrial agriculture techniques

Increased techniques such as the use of machinery powered by fossil fuels; monoculture of high-yield and rapid-growth crops; use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides; irrigation; and sowing and harvesting on a piece of land more than once per year or per season.

Negative effects of the Green Revolution

Led to an increase in pollution from chemicals and irrigation, a loss of topsoil, a decrease in soil quality, a greater risk of catastrophic failure due to monoculture, and a narrowing of the human diet.

Sustainable agriculture

Agriculture that can be practiced in the same way and in the same place far into the future.

Traditional methods in sustainable agriculture

Includes methods such as no-till farming and cultivation of diverse crop varieties.

Modern technologies in sustainable agriculture

Includes technologies such as genetic engineering.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)

Organisms that have been genetically engineered using recombinant-DNA technology.

Production of GMOs

Scientists produce GMOs by extracting genes from the DNA of one organism and transferring them into the DNA of another.

Landraces and GMOs

GMO crops might crossbreed with landraces and produce offspring that contain the transgenes.

Genetic engineering vs traditional breeding

Both involve altering the gene pools of domesticated organisms, but genetic engineering involves mixing genes from very different species, while selective breeding mixes genes from organisms of the same species or similar species that can interbreed.

Prevalence of GM foods and crops

In 2015, 12% of cropland worldwide grew GM crops. In the United States, about 90% of corn, soybeans, cotton, and canola are GMOs, and more than 70% of processed foods contain GM ingredients.

GM crops

Crops that are modified to resist herbicides and insect pests.

Drought tolerance

A trait that allows crops to conserve water by reducing the need for irrigation.

Herbicide resistance

A trait that allows crops to resist herbicides, which can lead to increased use of chemical herbicides.

Herbicide-resistant weeds

Weeds that have developed resistance to herbicides due to the use of GM crops.

Transgenes

Genes that can make their way into wild plants or organic crops, potentially causing negative economic and ecological consequences.

Environmental impacts of sustainable agriculture

Problems such as soil degradation, overuse of water, fossil fuel combustion, loss of biodiversity, loss of pollinators, overuse of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and pollution.

Food miles

The distance food travels from where it is produced to where it is consumed, which affects fossil fuel consumption.

Farmers market

A market at which local farmers and food producers sell fresh, locally grown items.

Community-supported agriculture (CSA)

A system in which consumers pay farmers in advance for a share of their yield, usually in the form of weekly deliveries of produce.

Japanese rice farming techniques

Traditional methods where ducklings are released into rice paddies to eat weeds and pests, fertilize plants, and oxygenate water.

Genetically modified organism (GMO)

An organism that has been genetically engineered using recombinant-DNA technology.

Genetic engineering

Any process scientists use to manipulate an organism's genetic material in the lab by adding, deleting, or changing segments of its DNA.

Transgene

A gene that has been extracted from the DNA of one organism and transferred into the DNA of an organism of another species.

Green Revolution

An intensification of the industrialization of agriculture in the developing world in the latter half of the 20th century that dramatically increased crop yields.

Biotechnology

The material application of biological science to create products derived from organisms.

Recombinant DNA

DNA that has been patched together from the DNA of multiple organisms in an attempt to produce desirable traits in organisms.