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Key questions: Agriculture. Agriculture. By the end of this chapter you should have considered these key themes and questions:. What different types of agriculture are there? What are intensive and extensive farming ? Which agricultural systems are used in the UK and around the world?.
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Key questions: Agriculture Agriculture By the end of this chapter you should have considered these key themes and questions: • What different types of agriculture are there? • What are intensive and extensive farming? • Which agricultural systems are used in the UK and around the world?
Global farming types On a global scale, there are more types of farming, combining different types of provision and resources. These include: • intensive subsistence • extensive subsistence • intensive commercial • commercial grain • commercial pastoral • commercial plantation • Mediterranean agriculture • irrigation • nomadic hunting • nomadic herding. In which parts of the world do you think each type of farming takes place?
Key questions: Food supply and demand Food supply and demand By the end of this chapter you should have considered these key themes and questions: • What are the patterns of global food supply and demand? • What measures can be employed to increase global food supply and what are their advantages and disadvantages? • What is the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and how does it operate?
Increasing food supply World food supply could be increased through various different measures, including: • use of fertilizers and pesticides • integrated pest management (IPM) • the Green Revolution • genetic modification (GM) • land reform • land colonization. Since the 1950s much of the increase in agricultural yields has been the result of intensification through fertilizerandpesticide use. However, their use has declined due to concerns over the implications and drawbacks of their use. What are the drawbacks of fertilizers and pesticides?
Integrated pest management Integrated pest management (IPM) refers to a pest-control strategy involving natural predators and parasites, pest-resistant varieties, cultural practices and biological controls. For example: • trapping devices • natural predators • insect growth regulators • pheromones to disrupt mating. Pheromone traps for insects were used in the 1990s in Pennsylvania, USA in order to decrease the pest problem on crops, especially maize. It resulted in a 50% reduction in pesticide application, saving over $20 million (US) per year.
The Green Revolution The Green Revolution refers to the development of high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of crops, and the accompanying modernization of farming technologies. The crops have a higher growth rate, more usable parts or an increased resistance to disease. In India, an HYV seed programme began in 1966. New hybrid varieties of wheat, rice, maize, sorghum and millet were introduced. By the end of the decade India was self-sufficient in wheat and rice crops.
GM crops The genetic modification (GM) of crops involves taking genetic information (in the form of DNA) from one species and adding it to the genetic code of another. The new crop then takes on the desired characteristics of the donor plant. What types of genetic modification of crops are there? • adding the genes of resistant species to those of non-resistant species, e.g. to make them resistant to a pest or to a herbicide treatment • adding drought-resistant genes to another species to make them tolerant of drier conditions, e.g. rice.
The Common Agricultural Policy The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a strategy for managing food production in Europe. It was set up in 1960 by the European Economic Community (EEC), a predecessor of the European Union (EU). At the time, the six members were net importers of staple food products. What are the aims of the CAP? • increase agricultural productivity • stabilize markets and decrease dependence on imports • maintain agricultural employment • ensure fair prices for farmers • ensure fair prices for consumers.
Key questions: Sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture By the end of this chapter you should have considered these key themes and questions: • What causes unsustainable agriculture and what can be done to combat it? • What Environmental Stewardship schemes exist? • How can food security be achieved in developing countries?
Towards sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture requires the production of food indefinitely without damage to the environment. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has identified five causes of unsustainable agriculture. These causes are: • policy failure • rural inequalities • resource imbalance • unsuitable technologies • trade relations. Can you explain how each of these causes, or contributes to, unsustainable agriculture?
CAP changes for sustainability In 1992, 1999 and 2005 radical CAP reforms introduced new regulations to address some of the issues with overproduction and environmental impacts. Crop-specific subsidies have been withdrawn and the emphasis has shifted to EnvironmentalStewardship and consumers rather than production. • Set-aside was a scheme introduced in 1988 to pay farmers to reduce the cultivated area and set areas aside for nature reserves or leave them fallow. • Environmental Stewardship pays £30 per hectare each year to carry out stewardship schemes. There are over 50 options to choose from.
Towards food security In developing countries efforts are being made to bring food security to the population. This is being done through a sustainable livelihoods approach to raise people from poverty. Measures employed include: • adopting a range of sustainable farming practices • more agricultural education, especially for women • off-farm employment opportunities to increase income • effective storage to reduce loss of harvests • better rural infrastructure • prioritizing domestic food production • access to credit at a fair price • better healthcare provision.
