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CP551 Sustainable Development

CP551 Sustainable Development. “In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we have been taught.” – Baba Dioum.

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CP551 Sustainable Development

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  1. CP551 Sustainable Development “In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we have been taught.” – Baba Dioum 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  2. Module 8: Use of fertilizers and pesticides, green revolution and agricultural biotechnology in the agricultural sector, and their impact on sustainable development. 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  3. between 1960 and 2000: • world population doubled from 3 to 6 billion people • global economy increased more than sixfold to meet this demand: • food production increased 2 ½ times • water use doubled • wood harvests for pulp and paper production tripled • timber production increased by more than half • installed hydropower capacity doubled Source: http://www.millenniumassessment.org/ 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  4. Food production has more than doubled since 1960 • Food production per capita has grown • Food price has fallen Source: http://www.millenniumassessment.org/ 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  5. Growing crops need carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), energy, and other nutrients 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  6. Airgives C as CO2; O as O2; H as water vapour Watergives H Sunlightgives energy Soilgives other essential nutrients Major nutrients: Nitrogen (N) Phosphorus (P) Potassium (K) Sulphur (S) Calcium (Ca) Magnesium (Mg) Minor nutrients: Iron (Fe)Molybdenum (Mo) Boron (B)Copper (Cu)Manganese (Mn) Zinc (Zn)Chlorine (Cl) and others… 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  7. Fertilizers are chemicals that supply the essential plant nutrients, mostly N, P and K, which are removed by crop plants in the largest quantities. With high yielding varieties of crops, it is not possible for most soils to supply the needed amounts of plant nutrients and that is why fertilizers are needed. 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  8. Nitrogen cycle Source: http://www.allrefer.com/pictures/s4/p0001901-nitrogen-cycle 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  9. Nitrogen cycle Nitrogen fertilizer producing factory Source: http://www.allrefer.com/pictures/s4/p0001901-nitrogen-cycle 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  10. Since 1960: • Flows of biologically available nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems doubled • Flows of phosphorus tripled • More than 50% of all the synthetic nitrogen fertilizer ever used has been used since 1985 • 60% of the increase in the atmospheric concentration of CO2 since 1750 has taken place since 1959 Source: http://www.millenniumassessment.org/ 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  11. Humans produce as much biologically available N as all natural pathways and this may grow a further 65% by 2050 Source: http://www.millenniumassessment.org/ 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  12. Nitrogen-based fertilizers can be washed from the fields into rivers and streams, and from there into our water supply. Drinking water contaminated by nitrates can damage our health. For example, nitrates can cause "blue-baby syndrome" - a serious illness in infants which is caused when nitrate is converted into nitrite inside the body. Nitrite interferes with the oxygen-carrying capacity of the child's blood, and can be fatal. 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  13. Eutrophication Fertilizer run-off • Algae grow fast, using up lots of oxygen dissolved in water. • Algae block sunlight 3. Aquatic plants begin to die 4. Dead matter feeds the microbes 5. Microbes compete for dissolved oxygen 6. Water becomes deoxygenated 7. Fish die Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/gcsebitesize 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  14. Workers try to clean up a massive algal bloom spreading over Taihu Lake at Wuxi, in China's Jiangsu province. Photo: AFP http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/china-covers-up-pollution-deaths/2007/07/04/1183351291152.html 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  15. Severe algae bloom in the Great Lakes, USA http://alg.umbc.edu/usaq/archives/2003_11.html 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  16. This cyanobacterial bloom has the typical appearance of a thick layer of green paint. The bloom was found to consist of toxic species in the genus Microcystis. Photo by W. Carmichael Source: http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/page.do?pid=9257# 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  17. Dead fish from a Karenia brevis bloom in Texas. At high concentrations, toxins produced by this organism can cause massive fish kills. Photo by Brazosports  Source: http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/page.do?pid=9257# 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  18. This massive “red tide” of the dinoflagellate Noctiluca stretched for more than 20 miles along the southern California coast. It is a non-toxic bloom However, it can cause extensive mortalities of plants and animals in shallow waters when the bloom biomass decays, stripping oxygen from the water. Photo by P. Franks Source: http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/page.do?pid=9257# 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  19. Large blooms of Phaeocystis lead to the formation of noxious foams that accumulate on nearby coastal areas Source: http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/oceancolor/scifocus/oceanColor/bering_sea.shtml 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  20. An example of foam produced during a Phaeocystis bloom in the North Sea. This material is unsightly and bothersome to coastal residents. Source: http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/page.do?pid=9257# 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  21. Expansive blooms of several Caulerpa spp. occurred off the Florida coast in 1997 and 2001. Caulerpa spp. can grow year-round and have transformed some reefs into “Caulerpa meadows” where more than 70% of the coral surface is now dominated by these macroalgal HAB species. Photo by B. LaPointe Source: http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/page.do?pid=9257# 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  22. Harmful algal blooms are caused by species of tiny plants—phytoplankton—some of which produce potent chemical toxins. Abundance of nutrients in the ocean cause the algae multiply and proliferate until they can cover tens to hundreds of miles of coastal ocean. Photo by D. Anderson Source: http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/page.do?pid=9257# 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  23. When shellfish accumulate dangerous toxins after filtering algae from water as food, public health is at risk. State and federal agencies monitor these shellfish for biotoxins and close affected areas, posting signs like this. Note that although the water appears clear, there is a danger present. Photo by J. Kleindinst Source: http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/page.do?pid=9257# 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  24. Researchers are investigating the use of natural clays in Florida’s Sarasota Bay as a potential tool to mitigate harmful algal blooms, or “red tide”. Photo by J. Culter Source: http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/page.do?pid=9257# 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  25. Pesticide Use: Every year, we spray 16.4 mm of active pesticide ingredients on every bit of land on earth. http://www.virtualsciencefair.org/2007/sing7n3/ 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  26. Agriculture has become increasingly dependent on the use of pesticides. According to the EPA, 5351 million pounds of active ingredient were used in agriculture practices across the world in 2006 at a cost of US$26 billion dollars. http://www.virtualsciencefair.org/2007/sing7n3/ 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  27. A plant retains only half of this applied spray as the leaf creates a non-wetting interface for the pesticide. The remaining pesticide runs off and contaminates soil and water supplies and kills terrestrial and aquatic life. http://www.virtualsciencefair.org/2007/sing7n3/ 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  28. Fate processes of pesticides in the environment Volatilization • Adsorption • Transfer • Degradation Crop removal Photodegradation Runoff Chemical degradation Microbial degradation Leaching Absorption Adsorption http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/pests/g07520.htm 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  29. Fate of pesticide in the environment is also determined by its characteristics, such as • solubility in water (water solubility) • tendency to adsorb to the soil (soil adsorption) • pesticide persistence in the environment (half-life) Pesticides with high water solubility, low tendency to adsorb to soil particles and long persistence or half-life have the highest potential to move into water. http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/pesticides/c_2.htm 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  30. Soil adsorption is measured by Koc, which is the tendency of pesticides to be attached to soil particles. Higher values (greater than 1000) indicate a pesticide that is very strongly attached to soil and is less likely to move unless soil erosion occurs. Lower values (less than 300-500) indicate pesticides that tend to move with water and have the potential to leach or move with surface runoff. http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/pesticides/c_2.htm 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  31. Water solubility is measured in parts per million (ppm), which measures how easily a pesticide may be washed off the crop, leach into the soil or move with surface runoff. Pesticides with solubilities of less than 1 ppm tend to remain on the soil surface. They tend not to be leached, but may move with soil sediment in surface runoff if soil erosion occurs. Pesticides with solubilities greater than 30 ppm are more likely to move with water. http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/pesticides/c_2.htm 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  32. Pesticide persistence is measured in terms of the half-life, or the time in days required for a pesticide to degrade in soil to one-half its original amount. For example, if a pesticide has a half-life of 15 days, 50 percent of the pesticide applied will still be present 15 days after application and half of that amount (25 percent of the original) will be present after 30 days. In general, the longer the half-life, the greater the potential for pesticide movement. A pesticide with a half-life greater than 21 days may persist long enough to leach or move with surface runoff before it degrades. http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/pesticides/c_2.htm 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  33. Pesticides / herbicides may contain compounds that are detrimental to human or to ecosystem health.  DDT, a compound found in pesticides, had worked its way up the food chain, bioaccumulating or increasing in concentration at every level until it was enough to weaken the shells of eagle eggs.  Although DDT has been banned, chemical pesticides and herbicides still contain substances that may have unforseen effects on human and animal life. 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  34. Ways to Minimize Pesticide Impact Integrated Pest Management (IPM) IPM doesn't rely solely on chemicals for pest control. Biological control, cultural practices, and timely chemical applications are used to obtain the necessary level of control. Pesticides are the last line of defense and are used only when pest levels are causing sufficient damage to offset the expense of the application. http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/pesticides/c_2.htm 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  35. Ways to Minimize Pesticide Impact Native Plants Garden - planned for no use of herbicides / pesticides - weeds removed by hand during seasonal work days - choose plants that grow quite densely, leaving little room for weeds once they are established.  - Tolerate many insects as part of the garden's mini-ecosystems.  (Caterpillars and aphids will be allowed to munch on milkweed PROVIDED FOR THEM, etc. BIRDS IN TURN CAN EAT THE CATERPILLARS) 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  36. Ways to Minimize Pesticide Impact • Consider weather and irrigation plans • Pesticide use and storage • Dispose of pesticide and chemical wastes safely • Leave buffer zones around sensitive areas • Reduce off-target drift • Application equipment http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/pesticides/c_2.htm 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  37. Green Revolution • Green Revolution of the 20th century • It is the ongoing transformation of agriculture that led in some places to significant increases in agricultural production between the 1940s and 1960s. • It is said to have allowed food production to keep pace with worldwide population growth. • It has had major social and ecological impacts. • Medieval Green Revolution • or the Arab Agricultural Revolution of the 8th century http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  38. Green Revolution of the 20th century • Introduced high-yielding varieties of seeds (that are often developed elsewhere and must be purchased) • Increased the use of pesticide/herbicide which were necessary to limit the high levels of pest damage that inevitably occur in monocultures • Increased the use of synthetic fertilizers • increased dependence on fossil fuels from which pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers are produced • Increased the use of irrigation which has created significant problems of arsenic contamination, salinization, waterlogging, and lowering of water tables in certain areas • Affected both agricultural biodiversity and wild biodiversity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  39. Green Revolution in India • High-yielding varieties of seeds of wheat (producing best results), rice, and other grains that had been developed in Mexico and in the Philippines was introduced in India after 1965 • Use of synthetic fertilizers, irrigation and pesticide/ herbicide increased • Increased production made India self-sufficient in food grains • Famine in India, once accepted as inevitable, has not returned since the introduction of Green Revolution crops. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  40. Is food production actually related to famine? Prof. Amartya Sen claimed large historic famines such as the Bengal Famine of 1943 (in which about 4 million people died) were not caused by decreases in food supply, but by socioeconomic dynamics and a failure of public action. However, economist Peter Bowbrick has accused Sen of misrepresenting historical data, telling outright lies and being wrong on his theory of famines. Nobel Prize in Economics (1998) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  41. Socioeconomic impacts • Green Revolution agriculture required the purchase of inputs (fertilisers, irrigation pumps and regular fresh supplies of seed) which led to the widespread establishment of rural credit institutions (contrast it with traditional agriculture in which inputs were generated on-farm). • Smaller farmers often went into debt, which in many cases result in a loss of their farmland. Because wealthier farmers had better access to credit and land, the Green Revolution increased class disparities. • Because some regions were able to adopt Green Revolution agriculture more readily than others (for political or geographical reasons), interregional economic disparities increased as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  42. Socioeconomic impacts • - Many small farmers are hurt by the dropping prices resulting from increased production overall. • The new economic difficulties of small holder farmers and landless farm workers led to increased rural-urban migration. • The increase in food production led to a cheaper food for urban dwellers. • The increase in urban population increased the potential for industrialization (with cheap labour). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  43. Green Revolution was a product of globalization • International agricultural research centers shared information • Transnational funding by Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, and USAID. • Inputs required in Green Revolution agriculture created new markets for seed and chemical corporations, many of which were based in the United States. (For example, Standard Oil of New Jersey established hundreds of distributors in the Philippines to sell agricultural packages composed of HYV seed, fertilizer, and pesticides.) Green Revolution was a product of Neo-colonialism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  44. Agricultural Biotechnology Genetic engineering has been used to modify all of the crops and products shown, although most are not commercially available. http://www.primidi.com/2006/07/31.html 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  45. Genetic engineering is a process of inserting a foreign gene into a plant/animal cell and cloning that cell into a genetically engineered crop/animal. 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  46. When the bacterium infects the plant, it penetrates the plants cells and transfers its modified DNA to the plant. Once the DNA reaches the cell nucleus, it inserts itself at random into one of the host chromosomes. The genetically modified plant is then grown from the transformed cell. The DNA may also be physically shot into the plant nucleus carried on microscopic particles of tungsten or gold. http://www.greenfacts.org/en/gmo/2-genetically-modified-crops/2-genetic-engineering.htm 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  47. Increased crop productivity Crop productivity could be increased by introducing such qualities as disease resistance and increased drought tolerance to the crops. Researchers from the University of Hawaii and Cornell University developed two varieties of papaya resistant to papaya ringspot virus by transferring one of the virus’ genes to papaya to create resistance in the plants. Seeds of these two varieties have been freely distributed to papaya growers since May of 1998. Genes from naturally drought-resistant plants can be used to increase drought tolerance in many crop varieties growing in dry climates so that crops shall use waster as efficiently as possible.. http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/benefits.asp 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  48. Enhanced crop protection An effective transgenic crop-protection technology can control pests better and more cheaply than existing technologies. For example, with Bt bred into a corn crop, the entire crop is resistant to certain pests, not just the part of the plant to which Bt insecticide has been applied. In these cases, yields increase as the new technology provides more effective control. http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/benefits.asp 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  49. Improvement in food processing The first GMO food product to receive regulatory approval, in 1990, was chymosin, an enzyme produced by genetically engineered bacteria. It replaces calf rennet in cheese-making and is now used in 60 percent of all cheese manufactured. Its benefits include increased purity, a reliable supply, a 50% cost reduction, and high cheese-yield efficiency. http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/benefits.asp 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

  50. Improved nutritional value Transgenic crops in development include - soybeans with higher protein content, - potatoes with more nutritionally available starch and an improved amino acid content, - beans with more essential amino acids, - and rice with the ability produce beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, to help prevent blindness in people who have nutritionally inadequate diets. http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/gmo/risks/benefits.asp 28 March 2008 R. Shanthini

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