APES: sustainable agriculture

sustainable agriculture

Farming methods that preserve long-term productivity of land and minimize pollution, typically by rotating soil- restoring crops with cash crops and reducing in-puts of fertilizer and pesticides.

food security

Every person in a given area has daily access to enough nutritious food to have an active and healthy life.

industrial agriculture

A form of agriculture that uses large scale mechanization and fossil fuel combustion, enabling farmers to replace horses and oxen with faster and more powerful methods of farming.

organic farming

the use of natural substances rather than chemical fertilizers and pesticides to enrich the soil and grow crops

conservation tillage farming

Crop cultivation in which the soil is disturbed little (minimum-tillage farming) or not at all (no-till farming) to reduce soil erosion, lower labor costs, and save energy.

monoculture

farming strategy in which large fields are planted with a single crop, year after year

polyculture

Complex form of intercropping in which a large number of different plants maturing at different times are planted together.

poly varietal cultivation

planting a plot with several genetic varieties of the same crop

intercropping

Growing two or more different crops at the same time on a plot. For example, a carbohydrate-rich grain that depletes soil nitrogen and a protein-rich legume that adds nitrogen to the soil may be intercropped.

crop rotation

The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year, to avoid exhausting the soil

nitrogen fixing bacteria

Bacteria that convert atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into a more useable form such as nitrate (NO3). Lots are found on plant roots.

pesticides

Any one of various substances used to kill harmful insects (insecticide), fungi (fungicide), vermin, or other living organisms that destroy or inhibit plant growth, carry disease, or are otherwise harmful.

herbicides

a chemical that kills plants

fungicides

Chemicals that kill or prevent the growth of fungus

insecticides

a substance used for killing insect

integrated pest management

Each crop and its pests are evaluated as parts of an ecological system. Then farmers develop control program that uses combination of cultivation, biological controls, and chemical tools and techniques, applied in carefully coordinated way.

agroforrestry

A system of land use in which harvestable trees or shrubs are grown among or around crops or on pastureland, as a means of preserving or enhancing the productivity of the land.

soil erosion

Movement of soil components, especially topsoil, from one place to another, usually by wind, flowing water, or both. This natural process can be greatly accelerated by human activities that remove vegetation from soil.

terracing

Terrace farming is a farming method that makes use of a hill to create a multi-platform farm. There are severals steps known as andenes which are built into the side of a hill. The idea behind it is that any rain that falls and builds up on the andenes will overflow into another andene below, making the most out of the nutrients it provides.

contour planting

plowing and planting crops in rows across the slope of the land, opposite to the direction of water flow, to reduce soil erosion and water runoff

strip cropping

Planting regular crops and close-growing plants, such as hay or nitrogen-fixing legumes, in alternating rows or bands to help reduce depletion of soil nutrients and to minimize soil erosion

organic fertilizers

A fertilizer made up of natural materials, including animal manure, crop residues, fresh vegetation, and compost

inorganic fertilizers

A fertilizer that consists of mined or synthetically manufactured mineral supplements. Generally more susceptible to leaching and runoff