Agriculture and the Environment July 21, 2009

Can We Feed the World?

History of agriculture is a series of human attempts to overcome environmental limitations and problems. 38% percentage of world’s land area is agricultural

How We Starve People “starve” in two ways: Major problem of undernourishment Food emergencies affected 34 countries worldwide at the end of 20 th century

What We Eat and What We Grow Of Earth’s ½ million plant species… Crops

Rangeland- provides food for grazing and browsing animals w/o plowing and planting. Pasture- is plowed, planted and harvested to provide forage.

Aquaculture Most marine and freshwater food obtained by hunting. –Not sustainable Aquaculture- –Important protein source Mariculture

An Ecological Perspective on Agriculture Farming creates novel ecological conditions –Agroecosystem –Differ from natural systems in six ways

Limiting Factors High-quality agricultural soil has: Enough water?

History of Agriculture Four stages: New crops

Demand-based agriculture Agricultural Technologies

Resource-based agriculture Agricultural Technologies

An organic farm Agricultural Technologies

The Green Revolution Name attached to the post WWII programs that have led to the development of:

Organic Farming Organic faming typically considered to have three qualities: One of the fastest growing sectors in US agriculture

Major Types of Agricultural Production in the US

Eating Lower on the Food Chain Some people believe it is ecologically unsound to use domestic animals for food. On the best agricultural land this hold true but on rangelands area better suited to livestock

Physical and Ecological Considerations in Watershed Development

Genetically Modified Food Genetic engineering in agriculture involves several practices –Faster and more efficient ways to develop hybrids –Introduction of the terminator gene –Transfer of genetic properties from widely divergent kinds of life