Agriculture Practices - Lecture

Clear Cutting

  • Many forests are clear cut (all trees cut) to make way for farmland

    • slush + burn technique is used as well

  • Forests are cleared more rapidly in developing nations

    • lots of these countries are closer to the equator, so they can have many growing seasons

    • labor is cheaper as well

  • Concessions:

    • corporations pay government for right to extract resources

  • Why cut forests for agriculture?

    • to feed a growing population (reason for deforestation)

Types of Agriculture

  • Traditional

    • family owned farms

      • small scale, local

      • typically organic

      • manual labor rather than machines

  • Industrial (1800s)

    • large company and corporate farms

      • resulted from Green Revolution

        • Green Revolution: increased agriculture production

          • encouraged monocultues: single crops

            • efficient

            • high yield

            • susceptible to pests

            • focused on cash crops

              • wheat, corn, soybeans, rice

            • major increase in yields

  • Green Revolution Consequences

    • synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides, over irrigation, loss of topsoil, fossil fueled machines, human diet narrowed

  • Green Revolution Benefits

    • less land use

      • prevented some deforestation

      • preserved some biodiversity

      • lowered food costs

  • Sustainable Agriculture

    • does not deplete soil faster than it forms

      • focuses on:

        • maintaining healthy soils, not polluting water, maintaining biodiversity, reduction of fossil fuel use

Time Periods

  • 10,000 - 1800s: small scale farming

  • 1800s - 1900s: traditional with machinery

  • 1900s: large scale industrial farm (green revolution)

In-Class Info:

  • organic does not equal local

  • local is not any better sometimes (can use synthetic pesticides)