Agriculture 2

Question 1

What is Agriculture?

Answer 1

The science or occupation concerned with cultivating soil, raising crops and feeding, breeding and raising livestock

Question 2

What key factors control land capability and productivity?

Answer 2

• The soil of the land
• Climate of the land
• Relief of land

Question 3

What is soil?

Answer 3

Soil makes up the thin layer of material covering the earth (regolith).

It is biologically active active mixture of weathered minerals (rock), organic and inorganic compounds, living organisms, and air and water. ALL of which interact slowly and constantly.

Question 4

What is the function of soil?

Answer 4

• Provide basis for food and biomass production
• regulating water flow and quality
• storing CO2 and maintaining balance of gas in air.
• providing habitats and sustaining biodiversity
• provides raw material and platform for buildings and roads

Question 5

How much carbon does Soil contain in scotland?

Answer 5

Contain approximately 3 billion tonnes, which is the fundamental carbon stock in the UK.

Question 6

What are some modern day threats to soil? Starting from Largest to Smallest threat.

Answer 6

1. Climate change
2. Loss of organic matter
3. Sealing
4. Acidification & Eutrophication
5. Loss of biodiversity
6. contamination of Heavy Metal
7. Soil erosion
8. pesticides
9. compaction
10. salinisation

Question 7

What are the destinctive characteristics of “Scottish soils?”

Answer 7

• High Carbon content
• Low nutrient level
• Acidic
• Wet and prone to leaching

Question 8

Describe the soil land cover in scotland?

Answer 8

25% soil is cultivated land

17% soil under woodland

rest under semi natural vegetation

Question 9

What are the common soil types seen in Scotland?

Answer 9

• Podzols(dry and acid soils)
• peat soils
• gleys (wet soil)
• brown earth

Question 10

What soil characteristics help to differentiate soil fertility?

Answer 10

testure,structure,colour,PH (acid/alkali), water holding capacity, organic matter, organic carbon

Question 11

What Layers of soil are used in farming and what for?

Answer 11

Topsoil: Ploughing, cultivate, weed control, seed bed, subsoil compaction.

Subsoil Layer: drainage pipes, drainage ditches

Question 12

Describe the change in soil you could expect to find walking down a hillslope?

Answer 12

• Top is often fairly deep soil, unless eroded away by people. Potentially some podzol.
• Upper slopes below 600m tend to become more peaty.
• Mid/lower slopes you generally find podzols due to the leaching downhill.
• Valley floor, soil is deeper. often brown earth, and sometimes gleys if water runs off the hill too fast and drowns soil.

Question 13

How can the climate directly affect soil on a Hill?

Answer 13

Rainfall, which may fall down one side of the slope as the clouds rise.

Wind speeds. High wind speed and exposure and reduce plant growth, and water uptake.

Macro/micro climates on hills, due to steep sections, grooves on the hill etc which could affect drainage.

Question 14

What is the LCA classification? How many classes are there?

Answer 14

• The LCA (land capability for agriculture) classification is used to rank land on the basis of its potential productivity and cropping flexibility.
• 7 different classes.

Mainly broken into 4:
1-3.1 = highest potential for agriculture.
3.2-4.2= Mixed agriculture
5.1-5.3= improved grassland
6.1-7= rough grazing