Past exam questions Flashcards
APS346 Sustainable Agro-ecosystems 2017-18
Answer one of the following questions. Your answers should use well-structured prose with supporting evidence, data, references and diagrams.
Soil provides the foundations to agro-ecosystems and food supplies – but we are destroying this life-support system. Why and how is this happening, and what should be done about it?
Discuss the benefits from increasing soil organic matter and the challenges to doing so in agricultural soils.
For agricultural production to be truly sustainable, what changes are required?
APS 346 Sustainable Agro-Ecosystems
Exam Questions 2016-2017
Answer one of the following questions. Your answers should use well-structured prose with supporting evidence, data, references and diagrams.
Explain how conventional intensive agriculture degrades soil quality and quantity, the consequences of this degradation, and how this problem needs to be addressed by farmers, policymakers and consumers.
Permaculture seeks to work with nature, rather than against it, to deliver care of the Earth, care of people and limiting consumption. Discuss how these principles might be applied to deliver more sustainable agro-ecosystems.
Discuss the contribution of agriculture to greenhouse gas emissions, the threats to food and forestry security from climate change, and how changes in agriculture and dietary choices might help reduce the rate of global warming.
APS 346 Sustainable Agro-Ecosystems
Exam Questions 2015-2016
Answer one of the following questions. Your answers should use well-structured prose with supporting evidence, data, references and diagrams.
“Humans are consuming the ecosphere’s wealth faster than the ecosphere can renew itself” (Rees 2003). Explain how this is exemplified unsustainable agricultural practices, and what can be done about this.
Sustainability of agricultural production critically depends on the actions and expertise of farmers in producing food and protecting the wider environment, and in return, providing them with an adequate and dependable farm income. Discuss.
Almost a billion people suffer from inadequate or insecure food supplies, while 2.1 billion are overweight partly due to ‘western’ diets high in processed foods, sugars, fats, oils and meats, which are gaining popularity globally. Explain how changes away from ’western’ diets can help deliver greater agricultural and environmental sustainability and food security.
APS346 Sustainable Agro-ecosystems 2014-15
Answer one of the following questions. Your answers should use well-structured prose with supporting evidence, data, references and diagrams.
For agriculture and food production to be truly sustainable, what changes are required?
Soil provides the foundations to agro-ecosystems and food supplies – but we are destroying this life-support system. Explain the problems of soil degradation and the possible solutions.
“The dominant cultural myth is of global development characterised by unlimited economic expansion. Humanity is on a collision course with biophysical reality -on a global scale” (Rees 2003). Discuss in relation to unsustainable consumption of non-renewable resources and over-exploitation of ecosystem services by current agricultural practices.
APS346 Sustainable Agro-ecosystems 2013-14
Answer one of the following questions. Your answers should use well-structured prose with supporting evidence, data, references and diagrams.
What is sustainable agriculture and how might it be achieved?
What are the challenges to attaining global food security?
“Humans are consuming the ecosphere’s wealth faster than the ecosphere can renew itself” (Rees 2003). Discuss in relation to the unsustainability of current agricultural practices.
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