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ENV-2603 Final Exam > Topic 6 - Agriculture > Flashcards

Topic 6 - Agriculture Flashcards

1
Q

During the past 40 years, how much has population growth averaged per year?

A

1.7%

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2
Q

During the past 40 years, how much has food production increased per year?

A

2.2%

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3
Q

What are 2 approaches to increasing global food production?

A
  1. Increasing agricultural land area (may result in habitat destruction)
  2. Increase the amount produced/area (environmental concerns)
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4
Q

What is food security?

A

Ability to obtain sufficient food on a daily basis

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5
Q

What is the greatest threat to food security?

A

Chronic hunger

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6
Q

What % of developing countries population was chronically undernourished in 1960?

A

60%

Fallen to less than 14% today

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7
Q

What is malnourishment?

A

Nutritional imbalance caused by a lack of specific dietary components or an inability to absorb or utilize essential nutrients

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8
Q

How many people suffer from vitamin, mineral, or protein deficiency?

A

3 billion

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9
Q

What is the most common dietary imbalance?

A

Iron (leads to anemia)

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10
Q

What does lack of iodine lead to?

A

Goiter, stunted growth, reduced mental capacity

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11
Q

What does lack of vitamin A lead do?

A

Affects as many as 140 million children

350,000 go blind each year

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12
Q

What is kwashiorkor?

A

A protein deficiency disease

Occurs in children whose diet lacks high quality protein

Reddish-orange hair, bloated stomach

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13
Q

What is marasmus?

A

“To waste away” - caused by a diet low in protein and calories

Very thin, shriveled

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14
Q

What are 2 inputs important to modern farming systems?

A

Fertilizer and biocides

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15
Q

What is a central strategy in improving agricultural output?

A

Limit losses from the effects of pests and diseases and from weed competition

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16
Q

Can agriculture be considered a food chain?

A

Yes, with humans as the ultimate consumers

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17
Q

What is one of the most significant impacts of industrial agriculture?

A

The concentration of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) in the atmosphere

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18
Q

What is an obvious solution to reducing the contributions of agriculture to global warming?

A

Reduce numbers of livestock by eating less meat

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19
Q

What are the major types of agriculture?

A
  1. Industrialized
  2. Plantation
  3. Traditional subsistence
  4. Traditional intensive
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20
Q

What is industrialized agriculture?

A

A form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of livestock, poultry, fish, and crops

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21
Q

What is plantation agriculture?

A

A commercial tropical agriculture system which is essentially export-oriented.

Involves growing cash crops

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22
Q

What is traditional subsistence agriculture?

A

A self sufficient farming system in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed themselves and their families - use human labor and draft animals

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23
Q

What is traditional intensive agriculture?

A

A farming system with high inputs and labor to produce more food per area of cultivated land to the point that they have enough to sustain their families and still some for profit

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24
Q

Who is the father of Green Revolution?

A

Norman Borlaug

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25
Q

How did the Green Revolution start?

A

Breeding a new hybrid
High-yielding dwarf wheat
Resisted a variety of plant pests and diseases and yielded 2-3 times more grain than traditional varieties

26
Q

What is genetic engineering?

A

Removing DNA from one organism and splices it into the chromosomes of another

Produces GMOs with new traits. Also called transgenic organisms

27
Q

What are the advantages of genetic engineering?

A

Can produce crops with pest-resistance and wider stress tolerance levels

Can improve protein or vitamin content of crop

Animals can be modified to grow faster or produce pharmaceuticals in their milk

28
Q

What are the concerns regarding GMOs?

A

Spread of genes into wild populations leading to resistance in pets

GMOs might produce super-weeds resistant to pesticides

Effect on non-target species: Native biodiversity may be reduced

Novel toxins might be created

Technology may only be available to the rich, driving poor nations further into poverty

29
Q

What % of processed food in the U.S. contains GMOs?

A

60%

30
Q

Is genetic engineering safe?

A

GMOs tested so far do not survive well in the wild

GM animals may escape captivity and outcompete their wild relatives (e.g. salmon w/ added growth hormone gene grow 7x faster than wild)

Will GMOs help feed the world or lead to more economic disparity?

31
Q

What genetically modified animal was created by scientists in New Zealand?

A

A cow whose milk lacks a substance that causes allergic reactions in people

32
Q

What are environmental impacts of agricultural practices?

A
  1. Clearing of forests - habitat destruction
  2. Soil erosion - growing crops in hilly areas
  3. Leads to floods, soil degradation
  4. Land slides/earth slips
33
Q

What is the largest single share of global water use?

A

Agriculture

34
Q

What are the environmental issues of irrigation water?

A
  1. Waterlogging
  2. Methane emissions
  3. Salinization
35
Q

What does the overuse and misuse of fertilizer/manure lead to?

A

Water pollution

36
Q

How did farmers deal with insects historically?

A

Crop rotation, vary planting times, plant diversity, hedgerows between fields, shifting cultivation

37
Q

How many people suffer from pesticide poisoning/how many die each year?

A

25 million poisoned/year, 20,000 die/year

38
Q

What is methane’s contribution to global warming?

A

21 times the warming effect of the same amount of carbon dioxide

But concentration of carbon dioxide is 200 times more

Methane concentration in atmosphere increasing annually

Agriculture is a dominant source globally

39
Q

What are ruminants?

A

Dominant livestock in the world (sheep, goats, camel, cattle, buffalo)

40
Q

Why are they called ruminants?

A

Because they have a unique, four-chambered stomach

In the rumen, bacteria break down food; generate methane as a by-product

41
Q

How much methane do ruminant livestock produce annually?

A

80 million metric tons

Cattle account for 20% of U.S. methane emissions

42
Q

What is land degradation?

A

A number of processes that reduce the capability of agricultural lands to produce food

  • Soil erosion
  • Soil compaction
  • Soil acidification
  • Organic matter and nutrient losses
43
Q

What is soil erosion?

A

A natural process where soil is removed by gravitational, water, and wind processes

44
Q

What is soil compaction?

A

The compression of soil as a result of frequent heavy machinery use on wet soils, or overstocking of cattle on land

45
Q

What is salinization?

A

The deposit of salts in irrigated soils, making soil unfit for most crops

46
Q

What is summer fallow?

A

A practice common on the prairies in which land is ploughed and kept bare to minimize moisture losses through evapotranspiration, but leads to increased salinization

47
Q

What causes soil erosion?

A
  1. Wind
  2. Water
  3. People
48
Q

What are impacts of soil erosion?

A

On-site: Loss of fertile top soil

Off-site: Sediment pollution

49
Q

What type of erosion is most pronounced in the prairies?

A
  1. Wind erosion
  2. 36% of cultivated land
50
Q

Which areas in Canada have high risk of water erosion?

A

Maritimes, B.C., Ontario
50% of cultivated land
High intensity rainfall, hilly landscape

51
Q

How can you identify salinity?

A

White patches and presence of drought tolerant species

52
Q

What are the plant adaptations to salinity?

A
  1. Halophytes - species which tolerate salinity
  2. Salt-tolerant varieties - breeding by horticulturalists
53
Q

How can we reduce/clean up salinization?

A
  1. Reduce irrigation specially if water is poor quality (high salts)
  2. Switch to salt-tolerant crops
  3. Flush soils with good quality water
  4. Improve drainage (surface and subsurface)
54
Q

What is conventional tillage?

A

Normal tilling/plowing of land before seeding

Increases soil erosion
Increases moisture loss
Leads to soil compaction

55
Q

What is conservation tillage?

A

Disturbing the soil as little as possible (minimum or zero tillage)

Minimizes soil erosion
Conserves soil moisture
Reduces soil compaction

56
Q

What is manure?

A

Contamination of soil and water by nitrogen, phosphorus, and bacteria

57
Q

What is sustainable agriculture?

A

Producing food and fiber on a sustainable basis and repairs damage caused by destructive practices

58
Q

What is low input sustainable agriculture?

A

Small scale

No synthetic chemicals

Raising cows on pasture grass rather than grain

No antibiotics

Produces smaller yield, but production costs are lower, prices are higher, so net gain is higher

Preserves rural culture better than factory farms

59
Q

What is organic farming?

A

Agriculture that relies on crop rotation, green manure, compost, biological pest control, and mechanical cultivation

60
Q

How many hectares worldwide are farmed organically?

A

32.2 million (0.8% of total world farmland)

61
Q

What is a locavore?

A

A person who eats locally grown, seasonal food

62
Q

What are the goals of organic production systems?

A

Enhance biological diversity within the whole system

Maintain long-term soil fertility

Recycle wastes of plant and animal origin in order to return nutrients to the land and minimize the use of non-renewable resources

Rely on renewable resources

Promote healthy use of soil, water, and air as well as minimizing all forms of pollution

ENV-2603 Final Exam (4 decks)

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