Agriculture techniques Flashcards
Which farming technique generally used in less developed in poorer countries. Farming techniques that do not use mechanized farming techniques or mass apply chemicals such as fertilizers & pesticides to agricultural areas. List the pros and cons.
Low input agriculture/traditional agriculture
Pros: Limited pesticide used, reduced runoff, less sediment pollution.
Cons: difficult to mass produce food. Risk of pests destroying crops.
Farming techniques generally used in developed countries such as the United States. Depends on monocultures, application of large amounts of chemicals, mechanized farming equipment. List the pros and cons
This is high input agriculture.
Pros: Can mass produce large amounts of food/maximizes food production.
Cons: Techniques contribute to erosion, sediment runoff pollution. high usage of pesticides and chemical fertilizers can cause biomagnification issues in the environment.
Farming technique generally used in less developed countries and poorer countries. In this type of system a section of forests is cut, the remains are burned to release nutrients into the soil and crops are planted after. List the pros and cons
slash and burn agriculture
Pro: Not many. The short term availability of the farmland make some of the poorest people able to grow food temporarily to be able to support their families in the immediate future.
Con: The tremendous amounts of deforestation, contributes to loss of soil nutrients, erosion, sediment pollution in runoff. Productivity of cleared areas only lasts a few years requiring additional land to be cleared.
Farming techniques generally used in less developed and poorer countries. This term specifically means growing food to support the immediate family. Food is not grown for sale. List pros and cons.
Substitence agriculture.
Pros: Limited use of pesticides, reduced runoff, less sediment pollution.
Cons: Difficult to mass produce food. Risks of pests destroying crops.
Food that is produced free from synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. Can still be produced using mechanized farming equipment, however. List pros and cons.
Organic agriculture
Pros: lack of pesticides and chemical fertilizers eliminates biomagnification issues in the environment. Reduced issues with nutrient runoff causing water pollution problems.
Cons: potential risks of pests destroying crops. Possibly more expensive to apply natural fertilizers such as compost or manure.
Harvestable trees or shrubs that are grown around crops or on pasture land. List pros and cons.
Agroforestry.
Cons: still can use synthetic pesticides and fertilizers the presence of the surrounding trees makes harvesting crops less efficient driving up the costs of farming.
Pros: reduces erosion of soils due to the presence of trees whose roots hold soil in place even when the second crop is harvested and cleared. Multiple crops grown simultaneously reduces the possibility of pest outbreaks, that’s reducing the need for pesticides
Similar to the technique like agroforestry, but the planting of crops is in strips with rows of trees on each side as opposed to having trees surrounding the crops and not mixed in alternating rows. List pros and cons.
Alley Cropping
Pros: Reduces erosion of soils due to the presence of trees whose roots hold soil in place even when the second crop is harvested and cleared. Multiple crops grown simultaneously reduces the possibility of pressed outbreaks, thus reducing the need for pesticides.
Cons: Still can use synthetic pesticides and fertilizers,. The presence of the surrounding trees makes harvesting the crops less efficient driving up the cost of farming.
Within the same year, alternating different kinds of crops grown in the same field,. For example, grow wheat during one season and soy beans in the off-season in the same field during the same year. List pros and cons.
crop rotation.
Pros: growing two different crops reduces the possibility of pest outbreak generally different pests eat different species so not having the same species all the time reduces pest outbreak. Reduce need for fertilizers because of the legumes that replenish soil nutrients can be grown alternatively.
Cons: One crop might be in more demand than the other. By growing a crop that is in less demand profits my decrease. Might need different equipment, fertilizers or pesticides for each of the crops grown, decreasing profit margin
Grow more than one crop in the same field, usually in altering rows or sections. The same idea as before (two items up on the list) , but growing alternating crops as opposed to alternating crops with rose of trees. List pros and cons.
Intercropping.
Pros: Reduces erosion of soils due to the presence of plants whose roots hold soil in place even when the second crop is harvested and cleared. Multiple crops grown simultaneously reduces the possibility of pest outbreaks, thus reducing the need for pesticides.
Cons: Still can use synthetic pesticides and fertilizers the presence of altering rows of crops makes harvesting crops less efficient driving up the cost of farming.
Growing multiple species in the same place at the same time (think of a community garden or family farm.) List pros and cons
Interplanting
Pros: reduces erosion of soils due to the presence of clans whose roots whole soil in place even when the second crop is harvested and cleared. Multiple crops grown simultaneously reduces the possibility of pest outbreaks thus reducing the need for pesticides.
Cons: Still can use synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. The presence of multiple crops makes harvesting the crop less efficient, driving up the cost of farming.
The cultivation of a single species of crop, planted in row after row of the exact same type of crop. Generally the individuals are not only of the same species but our genetic clones of one another.
Monoculture
Pros: can mass produce large amounts of food. Maximize his food production/profit. The clones individuals are the most productive genotypes.
Cons: techniques contribute to erosion, sediment runoff and pollution. How usage of chemicals can cause biomagnification issues. Lots of genetic diversity reduces the adaptability of the species for future use.
Soils are never plowed during farming.
No tilling agriculture.
Pros: Soils are minimally disturbed, thus reducing erosion, sediment and nutrient runoff and pollution.
Cons: can still use fertilizers and pesticides farming is more labor-intensive due to not plowing. This causes food production to be less profitable
Planting the same species of plant, but the individuals are not genetic clones of one another.
Poly varietal agriculture.
Pros: genetic diversity within the species allows for more adaptability in the future. Much of the same benefits as monocultures but with more genetic diversity.
Cons: much of the same drawbacks as monocultures. Techniques contribute to erosion, sediment runoff and pollution. How usage of pesticides and chemical fertilizers can cause biomagnification issues in the environment.
Generally monocultures are grown in less developed countries and then the products are exported out to developed countries.
Plantation
Pros: Cheap labor makes this very profitable.
Cons: All of the drawbacks of the monocultures plus the exploitation of poor labor while creating all of the environmental consequences in the poor country that is being exploited. Gross.
How is most of the food produced in the US?
Industry with monoculture.
