© 2010 pearson education canada geog 101 fall 2014 day 8 agriculture

© 2010 Pearson Education Canada

GEOG 101

Fall 2014

Day 8

Agriculture


Housekeeping ItemsI mentioned that 20% of the seats in Saudi

Arabia are reserved for women. Scarcely more women are in Parliament in Canada. There will be a free event on women in politics: Sunday, February 1st, 2015, Grand Hotel, 4898 Rutherford Rd., 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Guest Speakers for the afternoon include: Elizabeth May, Leader Green Party of Canada; MP Saanich/Gulf IslandsJody Wilson-Raybould, Federal Candidate (declared)Diane Brennan, Nanaimo City CouncillorSheila Malcolmson, Federal Candidate (declared)Carrie Powell-Davidson, Federal Candidate (declared)Edana Beauvais, PhD Candidate, UBCCarolyn Jack, Chair BC Chapter, Equal VoiceErin Rennie, Board of Directors, Canadian Women Voters Congress (CWVC)

PLEASE RSVP TO: [email protected] OR 250-758-3000


Housekeeping Items“The Future Energy: Lateral Power to the

People” – film and discussion sponsored by ACER in Building 355, Room 203 at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, February 3rd.

Also on that night: “Wildlife Conservation Practices in Sri Lanka,” a slideshow and talk by a wildlife manager from Sri Lanka from 7 to 8:30 in Building 200, Room 203.

3-3

Farmer’s Market on campus on Thursdays by cafeteria; opportunity (through VIU Athletics) to sign up for trips to Farmship for $7.00, and receive $20.00 produce in return


Housekeeping Items

Did anyone go to the talk on fisheries and aquaculture?

A reminder about the food talks on Monday in Building 355, Room 211.

The project outlines are due today. I will give them back as soon as possible.

Was the small group exercise on Tuesday a useful exercise.

Please read the soil slides on your own. We will hear briefly from Madeleine on permaculture, and then we’ll get into agriculture more broadly.


Learning Outcomes:

3-5

At the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

State the importance of soils for agriculture and in supporting plant growth

Outline the historical development of agriculture and the transition to industrialized agriculture

Identify the causes of soil erosion and soil degradation, and explain the basic principles of soil conservation

Explain the challenge of feeding a growing human population

Evaluate sustainable agriculture Describe the science behind genetically modified food

and evaluate controversies over genetically modified food


Why Should You Care About Food ResourcesThree major reasons

•Food required for healthy & productive life

•1 billion people do not get enough food

•Food production large environmental impact

- 38% of world’s ice free land in agriculture

- 70% of freshwater used for agriculture

- 60% of water pollution

- 25% of human greenhouse gases


Most of Canada's wasted food dumped from homes

3-7

$27B worth of food wasted across the country every year, research group says


7 ways to reduce household food waste1. Take stock before you shop2. Plan your meals3. Be smart about expiration dates4. Don't assume you need to buy in bulk5. Learn the art of pre-portioning6. Use more of your fruits and veggies7. Think twice before tossing overripe fruits and veggies

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/10/01/f-food-waste-reduction-tips.html

See the documentary, “Just Eat It” by the same folks who made “The Clean Bin Project.”


Percent of land use for growing crops

3-10


Food Choices

• There are fewer than two dozen species of major food sources. They all share three characteristics:1. High yield

- High production per unit area of land. Essential to subsistence farmers dependant on small parcels of land

2. High food value- Staple foods have high total calories and essential

nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, fats and vitamins

- Most subsistence farmers plant a grain or tuber crop for caloric intake and then vegetables and fruit for additional nutrients

3. Storageability- Most foods are harvested at a certain time of year

and must last until the next harvest


Food Choices

• Top five global crops:

1. Potato2. Cassava (Manioc)3. Wheat4. Rice5. Corn (Maize)


Food Choices

Efficiency 90% of human food comes from plants

Developing Worldare more efficient than developed world because

they rely on the lowest trophic level in the energy pyramid


Consumption of animal products is growing

8-14

FIGURE 8.15


Our food choices are also energy choices

90% of energy is lost every time energy moves from one trophic level to the next

The lower on the food chain from which we take our food sources, the more people the Earth can support

8-15FIGURE 8.17


Environmental ramifications of eating meat

8-16

Land and water are needed to raise food for livestockProducing eggs and chicken meat requires the least

space and water; beef requires the most

When we choose what to eat, we also choose how we use resources

FIGURE 8.18


The Evolution of AgricultureAgriculture led

to:stable food sourceurban centresspecialization of

labour


Systems of Agricultural Production

• Subsistence Agriculture: basic needs are met with a small surplus for trade or store

most widespread agricultural system in the world

• Three Subsistence Agricultural Methods:1. Intensive Subsistence Farming: supports

dense populations as it produces relatively high yields per unit of land

2. Shifting cultivation: supports small populations, requires large areas

3. Nomadic herding: supports very small populations, based on seasonal migration



Industrial RevolutionMechanization enabled farmers to specialize

and mass produceled to commercial agricultural systems that

dominated regions



DairyDairy

GeneralGeneral

WheatWheat

CottonCotton

RangeRange



Industrial Agriculture: emphasizes specialized production of crops and livestock to sell can produce enough food to feed many other

people

Production efficiency is achieved in two ways:1. improved inputs such as seeds, irrigation,

fertilizers and pesticides promote higher yield2. specialized machinery speeds up production and

requires fewer people, uses fossil fuels


Fertilizers boost yields but can be overapplied

• Fertilizer = substances that contain essential nutrients

• Inorganic fertilizers = mined or synthetically manufactured mineral supplements

• Organic fertilizers = the remains or wastes of organisms

- manure, crop residues, fresh vegetation

- Compost = produced when decomposers break down organic matter


Fertilizers boost yields but can be overapplied


We are producing more food per person

• Food security = the guarantee of an adequate, reliable, and available food supply to all people at all times

FIGURE 8.1

8-24


We face both too little and too much food

• Undernourishment = people receive less than 90% of their daily caloric needs

- Mainly in developing countries

• Malnutrition = a shortage of nutrients the body needs

- The diet lacks adequate vitamins and minerals

• Overnutrition = receiving too many calories each day

- In Canada, 48% of adults exceed their healthy weight and ~25% are obese

- Between 1981 and 2009, measured obesity doubled Obesity in Canada: A joint report from the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian

Institute for Health Information (2011)

8-25


New Horizons in World Agriculture• The Green Revolution: the use of new technology, crop

varieties and farming practices introduced to developing countries

• the Green Revolution led to a tripling of grain yields between 1950 and 1990

• From 1900 to 2000, humans expanded the world’s total cultivated area by 33% and energy inputs increased by 80 times:- Synthetic fertilizers - Chemical pesticides - Irrigation - Heavy equipment


New Horizons in World Agriculture• Shortcomings of the Green Revolution

- limited participation by small, subsistence farmers

- increased mechanization and farm size

- increased commercialization

- loss of genetic diversity (monocultures)

- reduction in soil fertility and increased erosion potential

- soil damage and water resource depletion from increased irrigation

- many regions initially bypassed by the Green Revolution


Pests and pollinators

• Pest = any organism that damages valuable crops

• Weed = any plant that competes with crops

Armyworms easily defoliate monoculturesFIGURE 8.4

8-28


Many thousands of chemical pesticides have been developed

• Pesticides = poisons that target pest organisms

- Insecticides = target insects

- Herbicides = target plants

- Fungicides = target fungi

• 91% of pesticide sales are for agricultural purposes

• 85% of pesticides sold in Canada are herbicides

8-29


Pests evolve resistance to pesticides• Resistance is passed through their genes to insect

offspring

• Pesticides stop being effective

• Evolutionary arms race: chemists increase chemical toxicity to compete with resistant pests

8-30


Biological control pits one organism against another• Biological control (Biocontrol) = uses a pest’s natural

predators to control the pest

FIGURE 8.6

8-31


Biocontrol agents themselves may become pests

• No one can predict the effects of an introduced species

• The agent may have “nontarget” effects on the environment and surrounding economies

• Removing a biocontrol agent is harder than halting pesticide use

- Due to potential problems, proposed biocontrol use must be carefully planned and regulated

8-32


Integrated Pest Management (IPM) combines biocontrol and chemical methods• IPM uses multiple techniques to suppress pests

- Biocontrol

- Chemicals, when necessary

- Population monitoring

- Habitat alteration

- Crop rotation and transgenic crops

- Alternative tillage methods

- Mechanical pest removal

8-33


We depend on insects to pollinate crops• Pollination = male plant sex cells fertilize female sex

cells

• Value of insect pollination services in Canada is $1.2 billion

Flowers are evolutionary adaptations to attract pollinatorsFIGURE 8.8

8-34

• Animals pollinate 75% of the world’s staple crops and 90% of all non-food flowering plants.


Conservation of pollinators is vital• Beekeepers are hired regularly to bring honeybee colonies to

crops for pollination

• To conserve bees:- Reduce or eliminate pesticide use

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/huge-honey-bee-losses-across-canada-dash-hopes-of-upturn-1.1699198

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/pesticide-linked-to-bee-deaths-to-get-tighter-regulation-1.1829858

8-35


Crossbreeding and Genetic EngineeringEarly efforts at crop improvement

- Crossbreeding, or artificial selection

- Many current crops produced this way

- Requires long periods of time

Genetic engineering

- Adding, removing or changing DNA directly

- produces genetically modified organisms (GMOs)

- Similar to crossbreeding, but can use new genes

- Much faster than crossbreeding

- Can yield improvements quickly, but controversial8-36


Genetic engineering is like, and unlike, traditional agricultural breeding• Scientific techniques to develop more productive crops and

livestock has been around for more than a century

• Similar:

- Both alter gene pools for preferred characteristics

- Both apply to plants and animals

• Different:

- Traditional breeding uses genes from the same species

- Selective breeding deals with whole organisms, not just genes

- In traditional breeding, genes come together on their own

8-37


GM foods and you

Do you think you have ever eaten a food product that contained genetically modified organisms?

•As much as 70% of the food products on shelves in North American grocery stores contain at least some GM ingredients.

•Check your kitchen cupboards for any foods that contain products or ingredients made from corn, soy, or canola.

•For a pro-GM perspective, see http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2014/10/28/not-all-science-is-created-equal-the-genetically-engineered-crops-story/.

weighing

the issues

8-38


Biotechnology is transforming the products around us

2006: Globally, GM foods grew on 106 million hectares of farmland, producing $6.15 billion worth of crops

FIGURE 8.12

8-39


Biotechnology Concerns with transgenic crops herbicide resistant crops will encourage the use of

herbicides (kills non-target species and pollutes soil/water)

crops might transfer their herbicide tolerance to closely related weeds (super weeds)

built-in pesticides will promote rapid evolution of resistant pests (super pests)

may permanently alter wild plants and reduce diversity

genetically engineered seeds add to production costs

only a small group of N.A. and European companies will control most of the worlds certified seed supply

health concerns have led to a debate about labelling


Precautionary principle

• Supporters make the following points:

- GM crops pose no ill health effects

- They benefit the environment by using less herbicides

- Herbicide-resistant crops encourage no-till farming

- GM crops reduce carbon emissions by needing fewer fuel-burning tractors and sequestering carbon in the soil by no-till farming

• Critics argue that we should adopt the precautionary principle = don’t do any new action until it is understood

• CBC

• Guardian8-41


Debate over GM foods involves more than science• Ethical issues play a large role

- People don’t like “tinkering” with “natural” foods

- With increasing use, people are forced to use GM products, or go to special effort to avoid them

- Multinational corporations threaten the small farmer

- Research is funded by corporations that will profit if GM foods are approved for use

- Crops that benefit small, poor farmers are not widely commercialized

- Fears that companies like Monsanto will gain control of world’s food

8-42


Sustainable Agriculture• Sustainable agriculture = does not deplete soil, pollute

water, or decrease genetic diversity

• Low-input agriculture = uses smaller amounts of pesticide, fertilizers, growth hormones, water, and fossil fuel energy than industrial agriculture

• Organic agriculture = Uses no synthetic fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, or herbicides

- Relies on biological approaches (composting and biocontrol)

- 2009: Organic Products Regulations

- Multi-ingredient products must be 95% organic

- Organic certification logo8-43


The benefits of organic farming

• For farmers:

- Lower input costs, enhanced income from higher-value products, reduced chemical costs and pollution

- Obstacles include the risks and costs of switching to new farming methods and less market infrastructure

• For consumers:

- Concern about pesticide’s health risks

- A desire to improve environmental quality

- Obstacles include the added expense and less aesthetically appealing appearance of the product

8-44


Locally supported agriculture is growing

• The average food product sold in North America travels at least 2300 km between the farm and the shelf, and is often chemically treated to preserve freshness and colour.

• Farmers and consumers are supporting local agriculture- Fresh, local produce in season

• Community-supported agriculture = consumers pay farmers in advance for a share of their yield- Consumers get fresh food- Farmers get a guaranteed income

• Community gardens = areas where residents can grow their own food

8-45


Summary• Intensive commercial agriculture has substantial

negative environmental impacts

• If our planet will be able to support 9 billion humans, we must shift to sustainable agriculture

- Biological pest control

- Organic agriculture

- Pollinator protection

- Preservation of native crop diversity

- Careful, responsible genetic modification of food

8-46

© 2010 pearson education canada geog 101 fall 2014 day 8 agriculture

Documents