Agriculture: Then and Now

Agriculture: Then

• was developed at least 10,000 years ago• Evidence points to the Fertile Crescent of the

Middle East as the site of the earliest planned sowing and harvesting of plants that had previously been gathered in the wild.

• Independent development of agriculture is also believed to have occurred in northern and southern China, Africa's Sahel, New Guinea and several regions of the Americas.

Agriculture: Now

• Farming changed very little from early times until about 1700.

• In the 1700's an agriculture revolution took place which led to a large increase in the production of crops.

• In the 1850's, the industrial revolution spilled over to the farm with new mechanized methods which increased production rates.

Early on, the large changes were in the use of new farm implements. Most of these early implements were still powered by horse or oxen. These new implements combined with crop rotation, manure and better soil preparation lead to a steady increase of crop yield in Europe.

The agricultural revolution was a period of agricultural development between the 18th century and the end of the 19th century, which saw a massive and rapid increase in agricultural productivity and vast improvements in farm technology.

Two major types of agriculture

Conventional agriculture

Sustainable agriculture

Conventional agriculture • most commonly practiced in the United States• altering or changing the natural environment• installing an irrigation system• mono-cropping, or planting one crop (ex: only corn is

grown in a plot).• the crops grown are nonrenewable• diversity is eliminated in order to maintain uniformity

using insecticides and pesticides to keep insects and animals from eating the crops

• using inorganic fertilizers to provide nutrients to the soil a lot of energy and work for the farmer to maintain this unnatural farming system;

Sustainable agriculture (agro-ecology) • uses ecological principles to farm• maintaining the natural environment and using ecological principles

for sustained farming practices poly-cropping– (ex: planting rows of corn, bean, and squash together rather than

in separate plots, like in mono-cropping) since many plants are planted together, and each one has a different harvesting period, the plot is never bare.

• reduces soil erosion• diversity is maintained• Plants are natural insect repellents. eliminates the need to use

insecticides. • nutrients from each intercrop plant provide different nutrients to the

soil• less energy is required from the farmer because the agriculture

system sustains itself

Agricultural Issues

Conventional agriculture

Sustainable agriculture

Conventional Agriculture Issues• Erosion

– However, farming increases this process 18 times faster than nature– Soil erosion can result in polluted water.

• Pesticide use– 940 million pounds of pesticides are applied annually to fields, but only

10% reach their target – The other 90% contaminate ground and surface water, harming humans

and wild life.– Nutrients are added to fields through fertilizers with the intention of

increasing crop production. However, crops can only absorb one-third to one-half of the nitrogen in fertilizers

• Energy Use– Approximately 17% of energy used in the United States goes into food

production, distribution, and preparation– The average piece of food consumed in the US has traveled an

estimated 1400 miles, and one-third of fruits and 12 percent of vegetables come from abroad

Sustainable Agriculture Issues• present there is little evidence one way or the other for

the claim that organic food is necessarily safer or better for health

• the lower yields and decreased efficiency in organic farming require more land (approx three times as much) to produce the same amount of crops.

• traditional techniques such as crop rotation, compost and manure to supply the soil with nitrogen and other minerals would have required a tripling of the area under cultivation.

• organic farming actually requires more energy per ton of food produced, because yields are lower and weeds are kept at bay by plowing

Bibliography

• http://watershed.allegheny.edu/comps/04-maureencopeland/conventional_ag.htm

• http://www.economist.com/node/8380592?story_id=8380592

• http://kids.mongabay.com/lesson_plans/lisa_algee/agriculture.html