Chapter 14 Flashcards
(15 cards)
What systems provide us with food?
Croplands 77% Grains Rangelands 16% Meat Ocean fisheries 7%
Major types of food production?
Industrialized agriculture 80%
Traditional agriculture
low throughput agriculture
3 ways to increase yield per unit cropland?
- Monocultures
- Increased fertilizer, pesticiodes
- Multiple cropping
Causes of desertification?
Overgrazing Deforestation Erosion Salinization Climate change
What is desertification?
The process by which fertile land becomes desert typically as a result of drough
Consequences of desertification?
Worsening drough
Famine
Economic losses
Soil Conservation methods?
Terracing
Contour planting
Alley cropping
Windbreaks
Key nutrient requirements?
Macronutrients
Proteins, carbohydrates
Micronutrients
Vitamins, Minerals
Vitamin related sicknesses
Vitamin A Blindness Iron Anemia, fatigue Iodine Thyroid issues, brain damage
What options do we have to increase production?
Modifying crop genetics
Expanding the green revolution
Changing land usage
Changing eating habits and food waste
Changing habits?
Cultivating new foods
Replace staple grains with new species
Microlivestock
Perennial polycultures
Is producing more meat the answer?
Energy inefficient
Health consequences
Feedlots
More sustainable aquaculture
Use solid containment rather than open - net pens
Reduce use of fishmeal as a feed
Improve pollution manaagement of aqualcultur wastes
Restrict location of fish farms
Sustainable agriculture?
More High end polycuture Organic fertilizers Biological pest control Less soil erosion soil salinization water pollution overgrazing
How can we transition to sustainable agriculture?
- Research
- Demonstration
- Incentives
- Training
