Strategies to increase agricultural sustainability

Question 1

What is increasingly important with a growing population?

Answer 1

that food supplies also increase

Question 2

How are population sizes usually controlled?

Answer 2

density dependent factors (disease and food supply)

Question 3

What happens if population rises above carrying capacity?

Answer 3

death rates will increase and the population will be reduced

Question 4

What are humans able to do with carrying capacity?

Answer 4

consciously manipulate the environment to produce more food and allow population to rise above natural carrying capacity

Question 5

What must be done to support a huge global human population? (food)

Answer 5

must direct more energy captured by photosynthesis into the human food chain

Question 6

what can the development of sustainable agriculture be guided by?

Answer 6

learning form past mistakes

Question 7

How long ago did agriculture first develop?

Answer 7

12,000 years ago

Question 8

where did agriculture fist begin?

Answer 8

‘the fertile crescent’

Question 9

Where is the fertile crescent?

Answer 9

the middle east:
largely in Iraq and Syria

Question 10

What made the fertile crescent good for agriculture?

Answer 10

forested area with a good climate and fertile soils

Question 11

What has reduced the fertile crescents ability for food production?

Answer 11

natural climate change and the way it was exploited

Question 12

Where have reductions in agricultural productivity also be occurring?

Answer 12

mid-west USA
parts of UK
deforested rainforest areas
Large areas of Africa

Question 13

what are the key features of land degradation?

Answer 13

soil erosion combined with reduction in soil nutrients and water levels

Question 14

What are some farming strategies that increase productivity but are unsustainable long term?

Answer 14

Reliance on artificial fertilisers for nutrient supplies
Reliance on chemical pesticides for pest control
Irrigation using water from groundwater resources that are not being recharged

Question 15

How much of earths surface is cultivated for crops?

Answer 15

10%

Question 16

How much of earths surface is being grazed by livestock?

Answer 16

25%

Question 17

Why is the potential for cultivating new areas limited?

Answer 17

as much of the remaining areas are:
too dry
too wet
too cold
too hot
too steep
covered in ice
have no soil

Question 18

What is the negative of food importation on the producer?

Answer 18

food availability may be reduced to those with less money as land they use to farm becomes too expensive to rent and land is used to supply affluent countries

Question 19

What is organic agriculture?

Answer 19

As natural as possible with little artificial interference

Question 20

What are some examples of organic agriculture?

Answer 20

not using pesticides or artificial fertiliser

Question 21

What is the sustainability problem with pest control?

Answer 21

A reliance on chemical pesticides may be unsustainable
Use of some pesticides has been banned or restricted due to their impacts on non-target species many pests have developed resistance to pesticides

Question 22

What are the selected sustainability strategies for pest control?

Answer 22

Cultural pest control: weeding, mulching, crop rotation, barrier crops, culling, biological control, predator habitats, polyculture/ companion crops and integrated control
Reduced antibiotic use

Question 23

What is the sustainability problem with nutrient supplies?

Answer 23

Current supplies of rock phosphate to produce phosphate fertilisers are non-renewable

Question 24

What are the selected sustainability strategies for nutrient supplies?

Answer 24

increased use of natural processes to supply nutrients
Recycling organic matter
Crop rotation
Cultivation of legumes
Conservation of soil biota

Question 25

What is the sustainability problem with energy inputs? (Agriculture)

Answer 25

Manufacture of nitrate fertilisers requires large energy inputs form fossil fuels

Question 26

What are the selected sustainability strategies for nutrient supplies? (agriculture)

Answer 26

Reduced use of artificial fertilisers (nitrates)
Low tillage techniques
Low food miles

Question 27

What is the sustainability problem with gene pool for breeding problems?

Answer 27

Usually quite small which can cause problems like inbreeding which negatively affect the future generations

Question 28

What are the selected sustainability strategies for gene pool breeding programmes? (plants)

Answer 28

Conservation of habitats that protect CWRs
Seed banks to conserve biodiversity

Question 29

What is the sustainability problem with water supplies?

Answer 29

Over-exploitation of rivers and groundwater reserves
Soil salinisation caused by using saline irrigation water

Question 30

What are the selected sustainability strategies for water supplies?

Answer 30

Cultivation of low water-use crops
Maintenance of soil and soil organic matter
Use of reservoir and aquifer recharge
Drip irrigation rather than overhead sprays

Question 31

What is the sustainability problem with Carbon dioxide emissions? (Agriculture)

Answer 31

Loss of soil organic matter increases atmospheric CO2 levels
CO2 released by fossil fuel use which are still vital until reliable replacement

Question 32

What are the selected sustainability strategies for Carbon dioxide emissions? (agriculture)

Answer 32

Low-tillage farming to reduce decomposition of soil organic matter
Maintain or increase soil organic matter
Reduced use of machinery
Use of renewable energy sources

Question 33

What is the sustainability problem with Methane releases?

Answer 33

Methane produced by anaerobic microbes in rice padi fields and digestive system of livestock

Question 34

what are the selected sustainability strategies for methane releases? (agriculture)

Answer 34

Cultivation of rice varieties that can tolerate drier conditions so fields can be drained earlier
Feeding cattle high carbohydrate diet and grinding their food first reduces methane production (sea weed)

Question 35

What is the sustainability problem with Wildlife biodiversity?

Answer 35

Loss of species that provide important ecosystem-services such as pest control, nutrient provision, and pollination

Question 36

What are the selected sustainability strategies for wildlife biodiversity?

Answer 36

Retain natural and semi-natural ecosystems e.g. hedgerow, ditches, ponds, woodlands
Maintenance of soil biota