Environmental Science

Lecture-10
(Agriculture)Production and
Management

Most of the people today are reliant on agricultural crops as

a prime source of their food.
Agriculture remains a crucial source of food providing
sustenance for the majority of the global population.
(Agriculture)Production and
Management
Sustainable farming practices are essential for :
Long-term food security and
Environmental health.
(Agriculture)Production and
Management
There are also relatively minor amounts of food that
harvested from the wild, such as by fisheries, but
agricultural production is responsible for the great bulk of
the modern human diet.
(Agriculture)Production and
Management

In addition our associated domestic animals largely depend

on the production of agricultural crops.
Production and Management

Productivity ( or yield , typically measured in tons of crop

harvested per hectare per year ) reflects the combined
influences of the following:
-site capability
-Management systems employed.
Production and Management

In agriculture, management practices are intended to

mitigate some of the constraints that are limiting crop
productivity, including those associated with:
Site quality,
Inclement weather,
Insect infestations,
weeds and
diseases.
Production and Management

The productivity of cereals and other crops varies greatly

among countries, but it is not necessarily lower in less
developed than in more-developed ones.
Production and Management

Although wealthier countries use highly mechanized

management systems with inputs of :
Fertilizers,
Pesticides, and sometimes
Irrigation water,
Less-wealthier countries may also use intensive management
systems, albeit ones that depend more strongly on human
and animal labour and with small material inputs.
Production and Management

The global data show a strong and steady increase of overall

agricultural production from 1961 to 2012, although the
increase is much more moderate in the per-capita data.
In other words, most of the increase in global agriculture
production during the past half-century has been eroded by
population growth.
Production and Management

Not surprisingly, this pattern is even more striking in the

data for the least-developed countries.
Least developed countries showed little improvement in per-
capita food production over the period.
Production and Management

These observations suggest that increases in food

production is made possible through:
Converting natural habitats
Adopting more intensive management practices.
But this increase in food production is mostly offset by
population growth.
Production and Management

It is important to understand that high yields that are

obtained by the use of intensive agricultural systems are
heavily subsidized by large inputs of non-renewable
resources.
Production and Management

For example, the most important agricultural fertilizers are

inorganic compounds of nitrogen, such as
Urea or
Ammonium nitrate,
both of which are manufactured using natural gas.
Production and Management

The second- and third-most important fertilizer nutrients

are compounds of
Phosphate and
Potassium, which are produced from mined minerals.
Production and Management

In addition, most pesticides are manufactured from

petrochemicals, using energy-intensive technologies.
Production and Management

Moreover, the mechanization of agricultural systems involve

the use of tractors:
Tractors help pulling heavy equipment for
a) tilling(Ploughing),
b) harvesting and
other purposes.
Production and Management

The manufacturing of these machines require large amounts

of non-renewable energy and materials, such as
metals and
plastics.
Furthermore, the machines run on non-renewal fuels, such
as gasoline or diesel.
Production and Management

In context of agricultural management, there is variation

among countries .
Some less-developed countries are working at par with the
developed world in the intensive farming practices.
Production and Management

In general, however, the intensity of management is greater

in wealthier countries, with the following:
Greater use of fertilizer and pesticide,
More mechanization, and more
Industrial farms.
Production and Management

It is also noted , some agricultural systems used in less-

developed countries are quite intensive and result in high
yields.
For example, in many humid tropical countries, rice is
cultivated using a system known as paddy.
Production and Management

Although some paddy-rice agriculture has been mechanized,

it is often carried out on smaller-scale family farms.
Typically, water buffalo are used to plough and till the
dyked, flooded fields (each of which is a paddy).
Production and Management

People then adopt the following practices:

Hand-transplant young rice plants,
Weed the crop with hoes, and eventually
Harvest by scything (manually cutting grass) and gathering
sheaves of the plant stalks.
Agriculture

Agriculture can be defined as the science, and art, of

Cultivating the soil,
Producing crops, and
Raising livestock.
Agriculture

Even relatively simple agricultural practices can greatly

increase the production of food, compared with the hunting
and gathering of wild animals and plants.
Agriculture

Modern agriculture involves a number of distinct

management practices. In the case of crop plants, they
include:
Selective breeding,
Tillage,
use of fertilizers and pesticides,
Irrigation, and
Reaping.
Agriculture

Each practice helps to increase the yield of biomass that

can be harvested for food or other uses.
Agriculture

The practices are typically used in various combinations,

which are taken as an integrated system of :
Ecosystem and
Species management
to achieve a large production of crops.
However, the management practices also cause important
environmental damages.
Crop Plants

Almost all of the important agriculture crops have been

domesticated.
Domestication refers to the progressive modification of crops
through the selective breeding of cultivated races ( or
cultivars), which are
Genetically,
Anatomically, and
Physiologically different from their wild ancestors.
Crop Plants

Crops plants have been selectively bred to increase their

yield and response to management practices and to enhance
their palatability.
In some cases, thousands of years of domestication have
resulted in crop plants that have relatively different taste.
Crop Plants

Most crop plants are grown as food, while others are sources
of fiber, fuel, or medicine.
Important domesticated food plants include the following:
Small grains: barley, maize, oats, rice, wheat
Crop Plants

Legumes (pulses): broad bean, garden bean, garden pea,

lentil, peanut, soybean.
Sweet fruits: Apple, banana, grape, grape fruit, mango,
orange, peach, pear, plum, raspberry, strawberry, sweet
cherry, watermelon
Crop Plants

Vegetable fruits: cucumber, pumpkin, red pepper, tomato

Roots and tubers: beet, carrot, garlic, onion, parsnip,
potato, radish, sweet potato, turnip
Vegetables:
Crop Plants

A few plants are grown for the production of bio-energy ,

such as Maize,
Sugarcane, and other
Carbohydrate-rich crops
that are fermented to manufacture industrial ethanol used
to power motor vehicles ( as a mixture with gasoline known
as gasohol).
Crop Plants

Other crops are grown as sources of rubber (especially para

rubber, Hevea Brasiliensis), for medicinal purposes, as
chewing gums, as dyes, or for other relatively minor uses.
Crop Plants

The parts of plants that are used for food include

seeds (beans, wheat, and other grains and pulses),
flowers (broccoli),
fruits (melon, grapes, tomato),
leaves
Integrated Pest Management

Pesticides are commonly used in:

Agriculture,
Horticulture, and
Forestry.
Integrated Pest Management (Trade-Off)

It is clear from this fact that most politicians , bureaucrats,

resource managers and many scientists have decided that
the
“environmental costs” associated with the use of pesticides
are “acceptable” in view of the
“economic benefits” that are achieved.
Integrated Pest Management

It is debatable however, whether reliance on pesticide use

is desirable over the long term.
This is particularly true for these pesticides that are toxic to
broad spectrum of organisms.
Integrated Pest Management

Most people would prefer that less reliance be placed on

such non-specific methods of pest control.
Integrated Pest Management

A much preferable approach is known as:

Integrated Pest Management (IPM),
which employs an array of complementary tactics toward
achieving pest control, with the aim of there being fewer
environmental and health risks.
Integrated Pest Management

Elements of an IPM (Integrated Pest Management) system

can include the following:
Use of:
Natural predators,
Parasites, and other
Biological events
that can help to control a pest, while causing few
non-target damages.
Integrated Pest Management

- Use of crop varieties that are resistant to pests

- Management of habitat to make it less suitable for pests
- Careful monitoring of pest abundance , control measures
are undertaken only when necessary
- Use of pesticide, but only if required as a component of an
IPM strategy.
Integrated Pest Management

A successful IPM(Integrated Pest Management) program can:

Greatly reduce, but not
Necessarily eliminate,
reliance on pesticides.
For example, for many years the cultivation of cotton in the
southern United States relied on the intensive application of
insecticides against pests such as the boll weevil.
Integrated Pest Management

Widespread use of an IPM system to control this insect in

Texas cornfields reduced insecticides use
From :
8.8 million kilogram in 1964
To :
1.05 million kilograms in 1976.
Nevertheless, insecticides use against this pest remained
necessary.
Integrated Pest Management

Wherever, possible, IPM systems utilize control methods that

are as specific as possible to the pest so that non-target
damage can be avoided or greatly reduced.
Some of he best examples of such specific methods involve:
Biological control (the use of a biological agent).
Integrated Pest Management

Unfortunately, biological control may not be suitable for all

pest problems, and in fact it has not succeeded in most cases
in which it has been attempted.
Integrated Pest Management

Unfortunately biological control has failed for forest pets

such as:
Spruce budworm and
Gypsy moth.
Integrated Pest Management

Researchers have investigated the potential for controlling

budworm using:
Pest-specific bacteria,
viruses, and other
agents of diseases such as :
wasps that parasitize and kill larvae, and
sex and developmental hormones to disrupt mating and
growth .
Integrated Pest Management

Some of the biological methods are comparatively more

reliable, but they have the following shortcomings:
Do not yet achieve a consistent kill of budworm
Relatively expensive.
For these reasons, they are not considered ready for routine
use against this important pest.
Integrated Pest Management

The only viable alternative to the broadcast spraying of

synthetic insecticides to control budworm is an insecticide
based on the bacterium B.t.
Integrated Pest Management

Research into other biological control is also in progress:

Such research has chances of coming up with more reliable
results.
Such methods may allow managers to develop an effective
IPM system that does not rely on broadcast spraying of
insecticides , even relatively specific ones such as B.t.

Note: B.t (Bacillus thuringiensis) is a group of soil microbes that are used to
control certain insect pests. Each type of Bt makes a unique protein that is
toxic to some insects, but not all.
Integrated Pest Management

It is important that additional research is undertaken to

develop viable methods of:
biological control and other elements of
IPM systems.
This is necessary if the present reliance on the pesticide is
to be replaced with less damaging methods of pest
management.
Integrated Pest Management

Such a change would deliver substantial benefits to society,

because the agricultural and forestry systems that we
require for sustenance could be managed on a more
ecologically sustainable basis.
Integrated Pest Management

Because of the damage associated with pesticides, it is

highly desirable that non-pesticidal alternatives to pest
control are discovered as quickly as possible.
Until this happens, pesticides use should be reduced to the
lowest levels that continue to effectively control the pests.
Integrated Pest Management

Some environmentalists have argued that pesticides use in

North America is much greater than necessary and that it
could be decreased without causing a significant adverse
effect on the crop yields.
A legislation has already passed in Europe in which :
-Either use of agricultural pesticides is reduced by half
-Or Totally banned.
Integrated Pest Management

In 2000, the Halifax Regional Municipality enacted a bylaw that

prohibits the use of horticultural pesticides within 50 meters of the
following:
Parks
Playground,
Daycare center,
Senior-citizen residence,
Public school,
University,
Church, or hospital.
Integrated Pest Management

In addition to the places mentioned in the previous slide,

the remaining places where pesticides could still be used can
only be used after getting permission from residents.
Residents who want to use such pesticides must apply for a
permit .
Integrated Pest Management

On average hundreds of applications are received and most

of the applications are for use against clinch bugs in lawns.
Integrated Pest Management

Almost all the applications are made by lawn-care

companies on behalf of their clients, and about half are
approved.
The Halifax bylaw is controversial, and it has been resisted
by:
Lawn-care companies,
Gardeners, and other
Public interests groups.
Integrated Pest Management

Paradoxically, a weakness in the Halifax bylaw is that it does

not ban the sale of pesticides- only most of their use.
Technological and Ecological Effects
(Biotechnology)
The silvicultural( a method used to benefit land owner)
objective of herbicide spraying is to manage vegetation by
changing its character.
A herbicide treatment in forestry reduces the abundance of
competing vegetation, but its rapidly recovers.
Technological and Ecological Effects
(Biotechnology)
In essence, a herbicide treatment returns the post-harvest
regeneration (usually post-clear-cutting) to an earlier
successional stage, while for several years releasing small
conifer plants from some effects of competition.
Technological and Ecological Effects
(Biotechnology)
The study found that no species were eliminated from
sprayed clear-cuts, although large difference occurred in
their relative abundance between sprayed and reference
(unsprayed) plots.
Technological and Ecological Effects
(Biotechnology)
Glyphosate is extremely toxic to some plants, acting by
blocking the synthesis of several essential amino acids.
Technological and Ecological Effects
(Biotechnology)
All plants and some microorganisms use this metabolic
pathways, but animals obtain the amino acids in their food.
Consequently, glyphosphate is non-toxic to animals.
Technological and Ecological Effects
(Biotechnology)

Nevertheless, glyphosate causes large changes to occur in

habitat because it affects:
The productivity and
Biomass of plants.
Birds and other animals can be affected by a decreased
availability of berries and other plant foods.
Technological and Ecological Effects
(Biotechnology)
In addition, the reduced foliage biomass on sprayed areas
contains a lower abundance of inspects and spiders, which
are important food for most birds.
These are indirect ecotoxicological effects of herbicides
spraying, and they affect birds and other wildlife even if
they are not directly poisoned.
Technological and Ecological Effects
(Biotechnology)
A study in Nova Scotia found only small changes in the
abundance of birds that were breeding on clear-cuts treated
with glyphosate.
Technological and Ecological Effects
(Biotechnology)
Although the avian(classification of birds), population
decreased between the pre-spray and first post-spray years,
but this also occurred on the reference plot, suggesting it
was caused by a factor:
unrelated to the herbicide treatment, such as bad weather.
Technological and Ecological Effects
(Biotechnology)
Overall, field research suggests that herbicide use in
forestry has relatively small effects on birds and other
wildlife utilize clear-cuts as habitat.
Technological and Ecological Effects
(Biotechnology)

The hazards to people from herbicide use in forestry have

also been scrutinized.
The concerns include occupational risks for people who are
engaged in spraying or are working in recently sprayed areas,
as well as risks for the general population.
Technological and Ecological Effects
(Biotechnology)

It is somewhat reassuring to know that many scientists

believe that herbicides can be used safely in forestry ( and in
agriculture and horticulture), provided the instructions for
their use are followed carefully.
Many scientists also believe that herbicides do not cause
undue risks to sprayers or people living near the treated
areas.
Technological and Ecological Effects
(Biotechnology)
These are among the reasons why government have
registered these pesticides for uses that are economically
beneficial by allowing greater productivity of both
agricultural and forest crops.