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Agriculture


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{{Agriculture}}Agriculture is the production of food and goods through farming. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants (i.e. crops) creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and stratified societies. The study of agriculture is known as agricultural science. Central to human society, agriculture is also observed in certain species of ant and termite.(1)(2)Agriculture encompasses a wide variety of specialties and techniques, including ways to expand the lands suitable for plant raising, by digging water-channels and other forms of irrigation. Cultivation of crops on arable land and the pastoral herding of livestock on rangeland remain at the foundation of agriculture. In the past century there has been increasing concern to identify and quantify various forms of agriculture. In the developed world the range usually extends between sustainable agriculture (e.g. permaculture or organic agriculture) and intensive farming (e.g. industrial agriculture). Modern agronomy, plant breeding, pesticides and fertilizers, and technological improvements have sharply increased yields from cultivation, and at the same time have caused widespread ecological damage and negative human health effects.(3) Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry such as intensive pig farming (and similar practices applied to the chicken) have similarly increased the output of meat, but have raised concerns about animal cruelty and the health effects of the antibiotics, growth hormones, and other chemicals commonly used in industrial meat production.(4)The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers, fuels, and raw materials. In the 2000s, plants have been used to grow biofuels, biopharmaceuticals, bioplastics,(5) and pharmaceuticals.(6) Specific foods include cereals, vegetables, fruits, and meat. Fibers include cotton, wool, hemp, silk and flax. Raw materials include lumber and bamboo. Other useful materials are produced by plants, such as resins. Biofuels include methane from biomass, ethanol, and biodiesel. flower>Cut flowers, nursery plants, tropical fish and birds for the pet trade are some of the ornamental products.In 2007, about one third of the world's workers were employed in agriculture. The services sector has overtaken agriculture as the economic sector employing the most people worldwide.(7) Despite the size of its workforce, agricultural production accounts for less than five percent of the gross world product (an aggregate of all gross domestic products).

Etymology

The word agriculture is the English adaptation of Latin agricultūra, from ager, "a field",(8) and cultūra, "cultivation" in the strict sense of "tillage of the soil".(9) Thus, a literal reading of the word yields "tillage of a field / of fields"...

Overview

Agriculture has played a key role in the development of human civilization. Until the Industrial Revolution, the vast majority of the human population labored in agriculture. Development of agricultural techniques has steadily increased agricultural productivity, and the widespread diffusion of these techniques during a time period is often called an agricultural revolution. A remarkable shift in agricultural practices has occurred over the past century in response to new technologies. In particular, the Haber-Bosch method for synthesizing ammonium nitrate made the traditional practice of recycling nutrients with crop rotation and animal manure less necessary.
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The percent of the human population working in agriculture has decreased over time.
Synthetic nitrogen, along with mined rock phosphate, pesticides and mechanization, have greatly increased crop yields in the early 20th century. Increased supply of grains has led to cheaper livestock as well. Further, global yield increases were experienced later in the 20th century when high-yield varieties of common staple grains such as rice, wheat, and corn (maize) were introduced as a part of the Green Revolution. The Green Revolution exported the technologies (including pesticides and synthetic nitrogen) of the developed world to the developing world. Thomas Malthus famously predicted that the Earth would not be able to support its growing population, but technologies such as the Green Revolution have allowed the world to produce a surplus of food.(10)
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Agricultural output in 2005.
Many governments have subsidized agriculture to ensure an adequate food supply. These agricultural subsidies are often linked to the production of certain commodities such as wheat, corn (maize), rice, soybeans, and milk. These subsidies, especially when instituted by developed countries have been noted as protectionist, inefficient, and environmentally damaging.(11) In the past century agriculture has been characterized by enhanced productivity, the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, selective breeding, mechanised agriculture, water contamination, and farm subsidies. Proponents of organic farming such as Sir Albert Howard argued in the early 1900s that the overuse of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers damages the long-term fertility of the soil. While this feeling lay dormant for decades, as environmental awareness has increased in the 2000s there has been a movement towards sustainable agriculture by some farmers, consumers, and policymakers. In recent years there has been a backlash against perceived externalities>external environmental effects of mainstream agriculture, particularly regarding water pollution,(12) resulting in the organic movement. One of the major forces behind this movement has been the European Union, which first certified organic food in 1991 and began reform of its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2005 to phase out commodity-linked farm subsidies,(13) also known as decoupling. The growth of organic farming has renewed research in alternative technologies such as integrated pest management and selective breeding. Recent mainstream technological developments include genetically modified food.In late 2007, several factors pushed up the price of grains consumed by humans as well as used to feed poultry and dairy cows and other cattle, causing higher prices of wheat (up 58%), soybean (up 32%), and maize (up 11%) over the year.(14)(15) Food riots took place in several countries across the world.(16)(17)(18) Contributing factors included drought in Australia and elsewhere, increasing demand for grain-fed animal products from the growing middle classes of countries such as China and India, diversion of foodgrain to biofuel production and trade restrictions imposed by several countries. An epidemic of stem rust on wheat caused by race Ug99 is currently spreading across Africa and into Asia and is causing major concern.(19)JOURNAL,weblink
, New Scientist, London, Billions at risk from wheat super-blight, April 3, 2007, Mackenzie, Debora
, 2598, 6–7, (20) Approximately 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded.(21) In Africa, if current trends of soil degradation continue, the continent might be able to feed just 25% of its population by 2025, according to UNU's Ghana-based Institute for Natural Resources in Africa.(22)

History

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A Sumerian harvester's sickle made from baked clay (ca. 3000 BC).
Since its development roughly 10,000 years ago,(23) agriculture has expanded vastly in geographical coverage and yields. Throughout this expansion, new technologies and new crops were integrated. Even then crops were modified through cross-breeding for better yields. Agricultural practices such as irrigation, crop rotation, fertilizers, and pesticides were developed long ago, but have made great strides in the past century. The history of agriculture has played a major role in human history, as agricultural progress has been a crucial factor in worldwide socio-economic change. Wealth-concentration and militaristic specializations rarely seen in hunter-gatherer cultures are commonplace in societies which practice agriculture. So, too, are arts such as epic literature and monumental architecture, as well as codified legal systems. When farmers became capable of producing food beyond the needs of their own families, others in their society were freed to devote themselves to projects other than food acquisition. Historians and anthropologists have long argued that the development of agriculture made civilization possible.

Ancient origins

{{See|Neolithic Revolution}}The Fertile Crescent of Western Asia, Egypt, and India were sites of the earliest planned sowing and harvesting of plants that had previously been gathered in the wild. Independent development of agriculture occurred in northern and southern China, Africa's Sahel, New Guinea and several regions of the Americas. The eight so-called Neolithic founder crops of agriculture appear: first emmer wheat and einkorn wheat, then hulled barley, peas, lentils, bitter vetch, chick peas and flax.By 7000 BC, small-scale agriculture reached Egypt. From at least 7000 BC the Indian subcontinent saw farming of wheat and barley, as attested by archaeological excavation at Mehrgarh in Balochistan. By 6000 BC, mid-scale farming was entrenched on the banks of the Nile. About this time, agriculture was developed independently in the Far East, with rice, rather than wheat, as the primary crop. Chinese and Indonesian farmers went on to domesticate taro and beans including mung, soy and azuki. To complement these new sources of carbohydrates, highly organized net fishing of rivers, lakes and ocean shores in these areas brought in great volumes of essential protein. Collectively, these new methods of farming and fishing inaugurated a human population boom that dwarfed all previous expansions and continues today.By 5000 BC, the Sumerians had developed core agricultural techniques including large-scale intensive cultivation of land, mono-cropping, organized irrigation, and the use of a specialized labor force, particularly along the waterway now known as the Shatt al-Arab, from its Persian Gulf delta to the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates. Domestication of wild aurochs and mouflon into cattle and sheep, respectively, ushered in the large-scale use of animals for food/fiber and as beasts of burden. The shepherd joined the farmer as an essential provider for sedentary and semi-nomadic societies. Maize, manioc, and arrowroot were first domesticated in the Americas as far back as 5200 BC.(24) The potato, tomato, pepper, squash, several varieties of bean, tobacco, and several other plants were also developed in the New World, as was extensive terracing of steep hillsides in much of Andean South America. The Greeks and Romans built on techniques pioneered by the Sumerians but made few fundamentally new advances. Southern Greeks struggled with very poor soils, yet managed to become a dominant society for years. The Romans were noted for an emphasis on the cultivation of crops for trade.
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The Harvesters. Pieter Bruegel. 1565.

Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, farmers in North Africa, the Near East, and Europe began making use of agricultural technologies including irrigation systems based on hydraulic and hydrostatic principles, machines such as norias, water-raising machines, dams, and reservoirs. This combined with the invention of a three-field system of crop rotation and the moldboard plow greatly improved agricultural efficiency.{{-}}

Modern era

{{See|British Agricultural Revolution|Green Revolution}}
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This photo from a 1921 encyclopedia shows a tractor ploughing an alfalfa field.
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Satellite image of a farm in Minnesota.
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Infrared image of the farm. To the untrained eye, this image appears a hodge-podge of colours without any apparent purpose. But farmers are now trained to see yellows where crops are infested, shades of red indicating crop health, black where flooding occurs, and brown where unwanted pesticides land on chemical-free crops.
After 1492, a global exchange of previously local crops and livestock breeds occurred. Key crops involved in this exchange included the tomato, maize, potato, manioc, cocoa bean and tobacco going from the New World to the Old, and several varieties of wheat, spices, coffee, and sugar cane going from the Old World to the New. The most important animal exportation from the Old World to the New were those of the horse and dog (dogs were already present in the pre-Columbian Americas but not in the numbers and breeds suited to farm work). Although not usually food animals, the horse (including donkeys and ponies) and dog quickly filled essential production roles on western-hemisphere farms.The potato became an important staple crop in northern Europe.(25) Since being introduced by Portuguese in the 16th century,(26) maize and manioc have replaced traditional African crops as the continent's most important staple food crops.(27) By the early 1800s, agricultural techniques, implements, seed stocks and cultivated plants selected and given a unique name because of its decorative or useful characteristics had so improved that yield per land unit was many times that seen in the Middle Ages. With the rapid rise of mechanization in the late 19th and 20th centuries, particularly in the form of the tractor, farming tasks could be done with a speed and on a scale previously impossible. These advances have led to efficiencies enabling certain modern farms in the United States, Argentina, Israel, Germany, and a few other nations to output volumes of high-quality produce per land unit at what may be the practical limit.The Haber-Bosch method for synthesizing ammonium nitrate represented a major breakthrough and allowed crop yields to overcome previous constraints. In the past century agriculture has been characterized by enhanced productivity, the substitution of labor for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, water pollution, and farm subsidies. In recent years there has been a backlash against the external environmental effects of conventional agriculture, resulting in the organic movement.The cereals rice, corn, and wheat provide 60% of human food supply.(28) For example, irrigation increased corn yields in eastern Colorado by 400 to 500% from 1940 to 1997.(29)and the Dorsett-Morse Oriental Agricultural Exploration Expedition to China, Japan, and Korea from 1929-1931 to collect soybean germplasm to support the rise in soybean agriculture in the United States.(30) In 2005, the agricultural output of China was the largest in the world, accounting for almost one-sixth of world share, followed by the EU, India and the USA, according to the International Monetary Fund.{{citation needed|date=October 2008}} More than 40 million Chinese farmers have been displaced from their land in recent years,(31) usually for economic development, contributing to the 87,000 demonstrations and riots across China in 2005.(32) Economists measure the total factor productivity of agriculture and by this measure agriculture in the United States is roughly 2.6 times more productive than it was in 1948.(33) Six countries - the US, Canada, France, Australia, Argentina and Thailand - supply 90% of grain exports.(34) The United States controls almost half of world grain exports.(35) may soon do the same in larger countries, such as China or India.(36)

Crop production systems

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Farmers work inside a rice field in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Cropping systems vary among farms depending on the available resources and constraints; geography and climate of the farm; government policy; economic, social and political pressures; and the philosophy and culture of the farmer.(37)(38) Shifting cultivation (or slash and burn) is a system in which forests are burnt, releasing nutrients to support cultivation of annual and then perennial crops for a period of several years. Then the plot is left fallow to regrow forest, and the farmer moves to a new plot, returning after many more years (10-20). This fallow period is shortened if population density grows, requiring the input of nutrients (fertilizer or manure) and some manual pest control. Annual cultivation is the next phase of intensity in which there is no fallow period. This requires even greater nutrient and pest control inputs. Further industrialization lead to the use of monocultures, when one cultivar is planted on a large acreage. Because of the low biodiversity, nutrient use is uniform and pests tend to build up, necessitating the greater use of pesticides and fertilizers.(39)In tropical environments, all of these cropping systems are practiced. In subtropical and arid environments, the timing and extent of agriculture may be limited by rainfall, either not allowing multiple annual crops in a year, or requiring irrigation. In all of these environments perennial crops are grown (coffee, chocolate) and systems are practiced such as agroforestry. In temperate environments, where ecosystems were predominantly grassland or prairie, highly productive annual cropping is the dominant farming system.(40)(41) This has led to the development of many responses to the conventional agriculture approach, including organic agriculture, urban agriculture, community supported agriculture, ecological or biological agriculture, integrated farming and holistic management, as well as an increased trend towards agricultural diversification.

Crop statistics

Important categories of crops include grains and pseudograins, pulses (legumes), forage, and fruits and vegetables. Specific crops are cultivated in distinct growing regions throughout the world. In millions of metric tons, based on FAO estimate.
{| class="wikitable" style="float:left;"! colspan=2|Top agricultural products, by crop types
(million metric tons) 2004 dataCereals > 2,263Vegetables and melons > 866Roots and Tubers > 715Milk > 619Fruit > 503Meat > 259Vegetable oil>Oilcrops style="text-align:right;"| 133Fish (2001 estimate) > 130 Egg (food)>Eggs style="text-align:right;"| 63Pulse (legume)>Pulses style="text-align:right;"| 60Fiber crop>Vegetable Fiber style="text-align:right;"| 30''Source:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)''(42){| class="wikitable"! colspan=2|Top agricultural products, by individual crops
(million metric tons) 2004 dataSugar Cane > 1,324Maize > 721Wheat > 627 Rice > 605Potatoes > 328Sugar Beet > 249Soybean > 204Oil Palm Fruit > 162 Barley > 154Tomato > 120 ''Source:
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)''(43) Grassland based livestock production relies upon plant material such as shrubland, rangeland, and pastures for feeding ruminant animals. Outside nutrient inputs may be used, however manure is returned directly to the grassland as a major nutrient source. This system is particularly important in areas where crop production is not feasible because of climate or soil, representing 30-40 million pastoralists.(44) Landless systems rely upon feed from outside the farm, representing the de-linking of crop and livestock production found more prevalently in OECD member countries. In the U.S., 70% of the grain grown is fed to animals on feedlots.(45)(46)Pest control includes the management of weeds, insects/mites, and diseases. Chemical (pesticides), biological (biocontrol), mechanical (tillage), and cultural practices are used. Cultural practices include crop rotation, culling, cover crops, intercropping, composting, avoidance, and resistance. Integrated pest management attempts to use all of these methods to keep pest populations below the number which would cause economic loss, and recommends pesticides as a last resort.(47)Nutrient management includes both the source of nutrient inputs for crop and livestock production, and the method of utilization of manure produced by livestock. Nutrient inputs can be chemical inorganic fertilizers, manure, green manure, compost and mined minerals.(48) Crop nutrient use may also be managed using cultural techniques such as crop rotation or a fallow period.(49)(50) Manure is used either by holding livestock where the feed crop is growing, such as in managed intensive rotational grazing, or by spreading either dry or liquid formulations of manure on cropland or pastures.Water management is where rainfall is insufficient or variable, which occurs to some degree in most regions of the world.(51) Agriculture represents 70% of freshwater use worldwide.(52)

Processing, distribution, and marketing

In the United States, food costs attributed to processing, distribution, and marketing have risen while the costs attributed to farming have declined. This is related to the greater efficiency of farming, combined with the increased level of value addition (e.g. more highly processed products) provided by the supply chain. From 1960 to 1980 the farm share was around 40%, but by 1990 it had declined to 30% and by 1998, 22.2%. Market concentration has increased in the sector as well, with the top 20 food manufacturers accounting for half the food-processing value in 1995, over double that produced in 1954. As of 2000 the top six US supermarket groups had 50% of sales compared to 32% in 1992. Although the total effect of the increased market concentration is likely increased efficiency, the changes redistribute economic surplus from producers (farmers) and consumers, and may have negative implications for rural communities.(53)

Crop alteration and biotechnology

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Tractor and Chaser bin.
Crop alteration has been practiced by humankind for thousands of years, since the beginning of civilization. Altering crops through breeding practices changes the genetic make-up of a plant to develop crops with more beneficial characteristics for humans, for example, larger fruits or seeds, drought-tolerance, or resistance to pests. Significant advances in plant breeding ensued after the work of geneticist Gregor Mendel. His work on dominant and recessive alleles gave plant breeders a better understanding of genetics and brought great insights to the techniques utilized by plant breeders. Crop breeding includes techniques such as plant selection with desirable traits, self-pollination and cross-pollination, and molecular techniques that genetically modify the organism.(54)Domestication of plants has, over the centuries increased yield, improved disease resistance and drought tolerance, eased harvest and improved the taste and nutritional value of crop plants. Careful selection and breeding have had enormous effects on the characteristics of crop plants. Plant selection and breeding in the 1920s and 1930s improved pasture (grasses and clover) in New Zealand. Extensive X-ray an ultraviolet induced mutagenesis efforts (i.e. primitive genetic engineering) during the 1950s produced the modern commercial varieties of grains such as wheat, corn (maize) and barley.(55)(56)The green revolution popularized the use of conventional hybridization to increase yield many folds by creating "high-yielding varieties". For example, average yields of corn (maize) in the USA have increased from around 2.5 tons per hectare (t/ha) (40 bushels per acre) in 1900 to about 9.4 t/ha (150 bushels per acre) in 2001. Similarly, worldwide average wheat yields have increased from less than 1 t/ha in 1900 to more than 2.5 t/ha in 1990. South American average wheat yields are around 2 t/ha, African under 1 t/ha, Egypt and Arabia up to 3.5 to 4 t/ha with irrigation. In contrast, the average wheat yield in countries such as France is over 8 t/ha. Variations in yields are due mainly to variation in climate, genetics, and the level of intensive farming techniques (use of fertilizers, chemical pest control, growth control to avoid lodging)..(57)(58)(59)

Genetic Engineering

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) are organisms whose genetic material has been altered by genetic engineering techniques generally known as recombinant DNA technology. Genetic engineering has expanded the genes available to breeders to utilize in creating desired germlines for new crops. After mechanical tomato-harvesters were developed in the early 1960s, agricultural scientists genetically modified tomatoes to be more resistant to mechanical handling. More recently, genetic engineering is being employed in various parts of the world, to create crops with other beneficial traits.

Herbicide-tolerant GMO Crops

Roundup-Ready seed has a herbicide resistant gene implanted into its genome that allows the plants to tolerate exposure to glyphosate. Roundup is a trade name for a glyphosate based product, which is a systemic, non-selective herbicide used to kill weeds. Roundup-Ready seeds allow the farmer to grow a crop that can be sprayed with glyphosate to control weeds without harming the resistant crop. Herbicide-tolerant crops are used by farmers worldwide. Today, 92% of soybean acreage in the US is planted with genetically-modified herbicide-tolerant plants.(60) With the increasing use of herbicide-tolerant crops, comes an increase in the use of glyphosate based herbicide sprays. In some areas glyphosate resistant weeds have developed, causing farmers to switch to other herbicides.(61)(62) Some studies also link widespread glyphosate usage to iron deficiencies in some crops, which is both a crop production and a nutritional quality concern, with potential economic and health implications.(63)

Insect-Resistant GMO Crops

Other GMO crops utilized by growers include insect-resistant crops, which have a gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which produces a toxin specific to insects. These crops protect plants from damage by insects; one such crop is Starlink. Another is cotton, which accounts for 63% of US cotton acreage.(64) Some believe that similar or better pest-resistance traits can be acquired through traditional breeding practices, and resistance to various pests can be gained through hybridization or cross-pollination with wild species. In some cases, wild species are the primary source of resistance traits; some tomato cultivars that have gained resistance to at least nineteen diseases did so through crossing with wild populations of tomatoes.(65)

Costs and Benefits of GMOs

Genetic engineers may someday develop transgenic plants which would allow for irrigation, drainage, conservation, sanitary engineering, and maintaining or increasing yields while requiring fewer fossil fuel derived inputs than conventional crops. Such developments would be particularly important in areas which are normally arid and rely upon constant irrigation, and on large scale farms.However, genetic engineering of plants has proven to be controversial. Many issues surrounding food security and environmental impacts have risen regarding GMO practices. For example, GMOs are questioned by some ecologists and economists concerned with GMO practices such as terminator seeds,(66)(67) which is a genetic modification that creates sterile seeds. Terminator seeds are currently under strong international opposition and face continual efforts of global bans.(68)Another controversial issue is the patent protection given to companies that develop new types of seed using genetic engineering. Since companies have intellectual ownership of their seeds, they have the power to dictate terms and conditions of their patented product. Currently, ten seed companies control over two-thirds of the global seed sales.(69) Vandana Shiva argues that these companies are guilty of biopiracy by patenting life and exploiting organisms for profit(70) Farmers using patented seed are restricted from saving seed for subsequent plantings, which forces farmers to buy new seed every year. Since seed saving is a traditional practice for many farmers in both developing and developed countries, GMO seeds legally bind farmers to change their seed saving practices to buying new seed every year.(71) Introducing GMOs and hybridized commercial seed to an area brings the risk of cross-pollination with local land races Therefore, GMOs pose a threat to the sustainability of land races and the ethnic heritage of cultures. Once seed contains transgenic material, it becomes subject to the conditions of the seed company that owns the patent of the transgenic material.(72)There is also concern that GMOs will cross-pollinate with wild species and permanently alter native populations’ genetic integrity; there are already identified populations of wild plants with transgenic genes. GMO gene flow to related weed species is a concern, as well as cross-pollination with non-transgenic crops. Since many GMO crops are harvested for their seed, such as rapeseed, seed spillage in is problematic for volunteer plants in rotated fields, as well as seed-spillage during transportation.(73)

Food safety and labeling

Food security issues also coincide with food safety and food labeling concerns. Currently a global treaty, the BioSafety Protocol, regulates the trade of GMOs. The EU currently requires all GMO foods to be labeled, whereas the US does not require transparent labeling of GMO foods. Since there are still questions regarding the safety and risks associated with GMO foods, some believe the public should have the freedom to choose and know what they are eating and require all GMO products to be labeled.(74)

Environmental impact

Agriculture imposes external costs upon society through pesticides, nutrient runoff, excessive water usage, and assorted other problems. A 2000 assessment of agriculture in the UK determined total external costs for 1996 of £2,343 million, or £208 per hectare.(75) A 2005 analysis of these costs in the USA concluded that cropland imposes approximately $5 to 16 billion ($30 to $96 per hectare), while livestock production imposes $714 million.(76) Both studies concluded that more should be done to internalize external costs, and neither included subsidies in their analysis, but noted that subsidies also influence the cost of agriculture to society. Both focused on purely fiscal impacts. The 2000 review included reported pesticide poisonings but did not include speculative chronic effects of pesticides, and the 2004 review relied on a 1992 estimate of the total impact of pesticides.

Livestock issues

A senior UN official and co-author of a UN report detailing this problem, Henning Steinfeld, said "Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems".(77) Livestock production occupies 70% of all land used for agriculture, or 30% of the land surface of the planet.(78) It is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases, responsible for 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalents. By comparison, all transportation emits 13.5% of the CO2. It produces 65% of human-related nitrous oxide (which has 296 times the global warming potential of CO2,) and 37% of all human-induced methane (which is 23 times as warming as CO2. It also generates 64% of the ammonia, which contributes to acid rain and acidification of ecosystems. Livestock expansion is cited as a key factor driving deforestation, in the Amazon basin 70% of previously forested area is now occupied by pastures and the remainder used for feedcrops.(79) Land degradation, the long-term decline in ecosystem function and productivity, is estimated to be occurring on 24% of land worldwide, with cropland overrepresented.(80) The UN-FAO report cites land management as the driving factor behind degradation and reports that 1.5 billion people rely upon the degrading land. Degradation can be deforestation, desertification, soil erosion, mineral depletion, or chemical degradation (acidification and salinization).(81)

Pesticides

Pesticide use has increased since 1950 to 2.5 million tons annually worldwide, yet crop loss from pests has remained relatively constant.(82) The World Health Organization estimated in 1992 that 3 million pesticide poisonings occur annually, causing 220,000 deaths.(83) Pesticides select for pesticide resistance in the pest population, leading to a condition termed the 'pesticide treadmill' in which pest resistance warrants the development of a new pesticide.(84) An alternative argument is that the way to 'save the environment' and prevent famine is by using pesticides and intensive high yield farming, a view exemplified by a quote heading the Center for Global Food Issues website: 'Growing more per acre leaves more land for nature'.(85)(86) However, critics argue that a trade-off between the environment and a need for food is not inevitable,(87) and that pesticides simply replace good agronomic practices such as crop rotation.(88) Agriculture can both mitigate or worsen global warming. Some of the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere comes from the decomposition of organic matter in the soil, and much of the methane emitted into the atmosphere is caused by the decomposition of organic matter in wet soils such as rice paddies.(89) Further, wet or anaerobic soils also lose nitrogen through denitrification, releasing the greenhouse gas nitric oxide.(90) Changes in management can reduce the release of these greenhouse gases, and soil can further be used to sequester some of the CO2 in the atmosphere.(91) in government subsidies per acre planted (in 2003), while farmers in Mali and other third-world countries do without. When prices decline, the heavily subsidised US farmer is not forced to reduce his output, making it difficult for cotton prices to rebound, but his Mali counterpart may go broke in the meantime.A livestock farmer in South Korea can calculate with a (highly subsidized) sales price of US$1300 for a calf produced.(92) A South American Mercosur country rancher calculates with a calf's sales price of US$120–200 (both 2008 figures).(93)With the former, scarcity and high cost of land is compensated with public subsidies, the latter compensates absence of subsidies with economics of scale and low cost of land.In the Peoples Republic of China, a rural household's productive asset may be one hectare of farmland.(94)In Brazil, Paraguay and other countries where local legislature allows such purchases, international investors buy thousands of hectares of farmland or raw land at prices of a few hundred US$ per hectare.(95)(96)(97)

Energy and Agriculture

Since the 1940s, agricultural productivity has increased dramatically, due largely to the increased use of energy-intensive mechanization, fertilizers and pesticides. The vast majority of this energy input comes from fossil fuel sources. Between 1950 and 1984, the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around the globe, with world grain production increasing by 250%(98)(99) as world population doubled. Modern agriculture's heavy reliance on petrochemicals and mechanization has raised concerns that oil shortages could increase costs and reduce agricultural output, causing food shortages.{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; text-align:center;"! colspan=4|Agriculture and food system share (%) of total energy
consumption by three industrialized nations! Country ! Year ! Agriculture
(direct & indirect) ! Food
system United Kingdom(100) | 2005 | 1.9| 11 United States of America(101) | 1996 | 2.1| 10 Sweden(102) | 2000 | 2.5| 13Modern or industrialized agriculture is dependent on fossil fuels in two fundamental ways: 1) direct consumption on the farm and 2) indirect consumption to manufacture inputs used on the farm. Direct consumption includes the use of lubricants and fuels to operate farm vehicles and machinery; and use of gas, liquid propane, and electricity to power dryers, pumps, lights, heaters, and coolers. American farms directly consumed about 1.2 exajoules (1.1 quadrillion BTU) in 2002, or just over 1 percent of the nation's total energy.(103) Indirect consumption is mainly oil and natural gas used to manufacture fertilizers and pesticides, which accounted for 0.6 exajoules (0.6 quadrillion BTU) in 2002.(104) The energy used to manufacture farm machinery is also a form of indirect agricultural energy consumption, but it is not included in USDA estimates of U.S. agricultural energy use. Together, direct and indirect consumption by U.S. farms accounts for about 2 percent of the nation's energy use. Direct and indirect energy consumption by U.S. farms peaked in 1979, and has gradually declined over the past 30 years.(105) Food systems encompass not just agricultural production, but also off-farm processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption, and disposal of food and food-related items. Agriculture accounts for approximately one-fifth of food system energy use in the United States.(106) Oil shortages could impact this food supply. Some farmers using modern organic-farming methods have reported yields as high as those available from conventional farming without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. However, the reconditioning of soil to restore nutrients lost during the use of monoculture agriculture techniques made possible by petroleum-based technology takes time.(107)(108)(109)(110) {{POV-section|date=December 2008}}In 2007, higher incentives for farmers to grow non-food biofuel crops(111) combined with other factors (such as over-development of former farm lands, rising transportation costs, climate change, growing consumer demand in China and India, and population growth)(112) to cause food shortages in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Mexico, as well as rising food prices around the globe.(113)(114) As of December 2007, 37 countries faced food crises, and 20 had imposed some sort of food-price controls. Some of these shortages resulted in food riots and even deadly stampedes.(115) Natural gas is used because it is the cheapest currently available source of hydrogen.(116)(117) When oil production becomes so scarce that natural gas is used as a partial stopgap replacement, and hydrogen use in transportation increases, natural gas will become much more expensive. If the Haber Process is unable to be commercialized using renewable energy (such as by electrolysis) or if other sources of hydrogen are not available to replace the Haber Process, in amounts sufficient to supply transportation and agricultural needs, this major source of fertilizer would either become extremely expensive or unavailable. This would either cause food shortages or dramatic rises in food prices.

Mitigation of effects of petroleum shortages

One effect oil shortages could have on agriculture is a full return to organic agriculture. In light of peak-oil concerns, organic methods are more sustainable than contemporary practices because they use no petroleum-based pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. Some farmers using modern organic-farming methods have reported yields as high as those available from conventional farming.(118) It has been suggested that rural communities might obtain fuel from the biochar and synfuel process, which uses agricultural waste to provide charcoal fertilizer, some fuel and food, instead of the normal food vs fuel debate. As the synfuel would be used on-site, the process would be more efficient and might just provide enough fuel for a new organic-agriculture fusion.(119)(120)It has been suggested that some transgenic plants may some day be developed which would allow for maintaining or increasing yields while requiring fewer fossil-fuel-derived inputs than conventional crops.(121) The possibility of success of these programs is questioned by ecologists and economists concerned with unsustainable GMO practices such as terminator seeds,(122)(123) and a January 2008 report shows that GMO practices "fail to deliver environmental,social and economic benefits."(124) While there has been some research on sustainability using GMO crops, at least one hyped and prominent multi-year attempt by Monsanto Company has been unsuccessful, though during the same period traditional breeding techniques yielded a more sustainable variety of the same crop.(125) Additionally, a survey by the bio-tech industry of subsistence farmers in Africa to discover what GMO research would most benefit sustainable agriculture only identified non-transgenic issues as areas needing to be addressed.(126)Nevertheless, some governments in Africa continue to view investments in new transgenic technologies as an essential component of efforts to improve sustainability.(127)

Policy

Agricultural policy focuses on the goals and methods of agricultural production. At the policy level, common goals of agriculture include:

See also

{{Wikipedia-Books}}

Lists

References

Notes





  1. WEB,weblink For sustainable architecture, think bug, NewScientist, 2010-02-26,


  2. BOOK, B. Hölldobler & E.O. Wilson, 1990, The Ants, Cambridge MA, Belknap,


  3. WEB,weblink Human Health Issues | Pesticides | US EPA, Epa.gov, 2006-06-28, 2009-11-26,


  4. WEB,weblink EU Scientists Confirm Health Risks of Growth Hormones in Meat, Organicconsumers.org, 2009-11-26,


  5. NEWS,weblink

  6. NEWS, Schneider, Keith, September 8, 1989,weblink


  7. The World Bank (1995), Overcoming Agricultural Water Pollution in the European Union.


  8. European Commission (2003), CAP Reform.


  9. HTTP://WWW.NYTIMES.COM/2007/09/06/BUSINESS/06TYSON.HTML?N=TOP/REFERENCE/TIMES%20TOPICS/SUBJECTS/W/WHEAT >TITLE=AT TYSON AND KRAFT, GRAIN COSTS LIMIT PROFIT


  10. Watts, Jonathan (December 4, 2007). "Riots and hunger feared as demand for grain sends food costs soaring", The Guardian (London).


  11. Mortished, Carl (March 7, 2008)."Already we have riots, hoarding, panic: the sign of things to come?", The Times (London).


  12. Borger, Julian (February 26, 2008). "Feed the world? We are fighting a losing battle, UN admits", The Guardian (London).


  13. McKie, Robin; Rice, Xan (April 22, 2007). "Millions face famine as crop disease rages", ''The Observer' (London).


  14. Leonard, K.J. Black stem rust biology and threat to wheat growers, USDA ARS


  15. Sample, Ian (August 31, 2007). "Global food crisis looms as climate change and population growth strip fertile land", The Guardian (London).


  16. "Africa may be able to feed only 25% of its population by 2025", mongabay.com, December 14, 2006.


  17. NEWS, Hamilton, Richard,weblink Agriculture's Sustainable Future: Breeding Better Crops, Scientific American, June 2009, New York,


  18. "Farming older than thought", University of Calgary, February 19, 2007.


  19. "The Impact of the Potato", History Magazine.


  20. Super-Sized Cassava Plants May Help Fight Hunger In Africa. The Ohio State University


  21. "Maize Streak Virus-Resistant Transgenic Maize: an African solution to an African Problem", scitizen.com, August 7, 2007.


  22. Between 1700 and 1980, "the total area of cultivated land worldwide increased 466%" and yields increased dramatically, particularly because of selectively-bred high-yielding varieties, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, and machinery.JOURNAL, Tilman D, Cassman KG, Matson PA, Naylor R, Polasky S, Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices, Nature, 418, 6898, 671–7, 2002, August, 12167873, 10.1038/nature01014,


  23. However, concerns have been raised over the sustainability of intensive agriculture. Intensive agriculture has become associated with decreased soil quality in India and Asia, and there has been increased concern over the effects of fertilizers and pesticides on the environment, particularly as population increases and food demand expands. The monocultures typically used in intensive agriculture increase the number of pests, which are controlled through pesticides. Integrated pest management (IPM), which "has been promoted for decades and has had some notable successes" has not significantly affected the use of pesticides because policies encourage the use of pesticides and IPM is knowledge-intensive. Although the "Green Revolution" significantly increased rice yields in Asia, yield increases have not occurred in the past 15–20 years. The genetic "yield potential" has increased for wheat, but the yield potential for rice has not increased since 1966, and the yield potential for maize has "barely increased in 35 years". It takes a decade or two for herbicide-resistant weeds to emerge, and insects become resistant to insecticides within about a decade. Crop rotation helps to prevent resistances.Agricultural exploration expeditions, since the late nineteenth century, have been mounted to find new species and new agricultural practices in different areas of the world. Two early examples of expeditions include Frank N. Meyer's fruit- and nut-collecting trip to China and Japan from 1916-1918USDA NAL Special Collections. South China explorations: typescript, July 25, 1916-September 21, 1918


  24. USDA NAL Special Collections. Dorsett-Morse Oriental Agricultural Exploration Expedition Collection


  25. "China: Migrants, Students, Taiwan". Migration News. January 2006.


  26. "In Face of Rural Unrest, China Rolls Out Reforms". The Washington Post. January 28, 2006.


  27. USDA ERS. Agricultural Productivity in the United States


  28. "The Food Bubble Economy". The Institute of Science in Society.


  29. Water deficits, which are already spurring heavy grain imports in numerous middle-sized countries, including Algeria, Iran, Egypt, and Mexico,"Global Water Shortages May Lead to Food Shortages-Aquifer Depletion", Lester R. Brown


  30. "India grows a grain crisis", Asia Times (Hong Kong). July 21, 2006.


  31. U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Rome. "Analysis of farming systems". Retrieved December 7, 2008.


  32. Acquaah, G. 2002. Agricultural Production Systems. pp. 283-317 in "Principles of Crop Production, Theories, Techniques and Technology". Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.


  33. Multiple cropping, in which several crops are grown sequentially in one year, and intercropping, when several crops are grown at the same time are other kinds of annual cropping systems known as polycultures.Chrispeels, M.J.; Sadava, D.E. 1994. "Farming Systems: Development, Productivity, and Sustainability". pp. 25-57 in Plants, Genes, and Agriculture. Jones and Bartlett, Boston, MA.


  34. The last century has seen the intensification, concentration and specialization of agriculture, relying upon new technologies of agricultural chemicals (fertilizers and pesticides), mechanization, and plant breeding (hybrids and GMO's). In the past few decades, a move towards sustainability in agriculture has also developed, integrating ideas of socio-economic justice and conservation of resources and the environment within a farming system.Gold, M.V. 1999. USDA National Agriculture Library. Beltsville, MD. "Sustainable Agriculture: Definitions and Terms". Retrieved December 7, 2008.


  35. Earles, R.; Williams, P. 2005. ATTRA National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service. Fayetville, AR. "Sustainable Agriculture:An Introduction". Retrieved December 7, 2008.


  36. HTTP://FAOSTAT.FAO.ORG/ >TITLE=FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAOSTAT)


    38. last=Brickates Kennedy date=October 16, 2007newspaper=The Wall Street Journal

  38. HTTP://WWW.BIO.ORG/HEALTHCARE/PMP/FACTSHEET5.ASP
    		39. WORK=BIO.ORG ACCESSDATE=OCTOBER 2, 2009

  39. WEB,weblink Key Indicators of the Labour Market Programme, September 7, 2009, International Labour Organization,


  40. Latin Word Lookup


  41. Latin Word Lookup


  42. NEWS,weblink The New York Times
    		43. last=Barrionuevo coauthors=Bradsher, Keith, December 8, 2005, newspaper=The New York Times, AGENCY=BLOOMBERG

  43. HTTP://WWW.FINANCIALPOST.COM/STORY.HTML?ID=213343
    		44. LAST=MCMULLEN, Alia newspaper=Financial Post, Toronto, WORK=,
    {{-}}

Livestock production systems

missing image!
- KerbauJawa.jpg -
Ploughing rice paddies with water buffalo, in Indonesia.
Animals, including horses, mules, oxen, camels, llamas, alpacas, and dogs, are often used to help cultivate fields, harvest crops, wrangle other animals, and transport farm products to buyers. Animal husbandry not only refers to the breeding and raising of animals for meat or to harvest animal products (like milk, eggs, or wool) on a continual basis, but also to the breeding and care of species for work and companionship.Livestock production systems can be defined based on feed source, as grassland - based, mixed, and landless.Sere, C.; Steinfeld, H.; Groeneweld, J. 1995. "Description of Systems in World Livestock Systems - Current status issues and trends". U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Rome. Retrieved December 7, 2008.

  • Mixed production systems use grassland, fodder crops and grain feed crops as feed for ruminant and monogastic (one stomach; mainly chickens and pigs) livestock. Manure is typically recycled in mixed systems as a fertilizer for crops. Approximately 68% of all agricultural land is permanent pastures used in the production of livestock.FAO Database, 2003


  • Synthetic fertilizers are more heavily relied upon for crop production and manure utilization becomes a challenge as well as a source for pollution.

    Production practices

    missing image!
    - Mt Uluguru and Sisal plantations.jpg -
    Road leading across the farm allows machinery access to the farm for production practices.
    Tillage is the practice of plowing soil to prepare for planting or for nutrient incorporation or for pest control. Tillage varies in intensity from conventional to no-till. It may improve productivity by warming the soil, incorporating fertilizer and controlling weeds, but also renders soil more prone to erosion, triggers the decomposition of organic matter releasing CO2, and reduces the abundance and diversity of soil organisms.Brady, N.C. and R.R. Weil. 2002. Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soils. Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.


  • Acquaah, G. 2002. "Land Preparation and Farm Energy" pp.318-338 in Principles of Crop Production, Theories, Techniques and Technology. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.


  • Acquaah, G. 2002. "Pesticide Use in U.S. Crop Production" pp.240-282 in Principles of Crop Production, Theories, Techniques and Technology. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.


  • Acquaah, G. 2002. "Soil and Land" pp.165-210 in Principles of Crop Production, Theories, Techniques and Technology. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.


  • Chrispeels, M.J.; Sadava, D.E. 1994. "Nutrition from the Soil" pp.187-218 in Plants, Genes, and Agriculture. Jones and Bartlett, Boston, MA.


  • Brady, N.C.; Weil, R.R. 2002. "Practical Nutrient Management" pp.472-515 in Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soils. Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.


  • Some farmers use irrigation to supplement rainfall. In other areas such as the Great Plains in the U.S. and Canada, farmers use a fallow year to conserve soil moisture to use for growing a crop in the following year.Acquaah, G. 2002. "Plants and Soil Water" pp.211-239 in Principles of Crop Production, Theories, Techniques and Technology. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.


  • Pimentel, D.; Berger, D.; Filberto, D.; Newton, M.; et al. 2004. "Water Resources: Agricultural and Environmental Issues". Bioscience 54:909-918.


  • JOURNAL, Sexton,R.J. title = Industrialization and Consolidation in the US Food Sector: Implications for Competition and Welfare volume = 82 pages = 1087–1104, 10.1111/0002-9092.00106,


  • History of Plant Breeding. Retrieved December 8, 2008.


  • STADLER> FIRST = L. J. COAUTHORS = SPRAGUE, G.F., Genetic Effects of Ultra-Violet Radiation in Maize. I. Unfiltered Radiation volume = 22 pages = 572–578 date= October 15, 1936 weblink >format=PDF, 10.1073/pnas.22.10.572, October 11, 2007, 16588111


  • BERG COAUTHORS =SINGER, MAXINE, George Beadle: An Uncommon Farmer. The Emergence of Genetics in the 20th century date= August 15, 2003, 0-87969-688-5,


  • JOURNAL, Ruttan, Vernon W. journal = AgBioForum issue = 1 month = December, 1999,weblink format = {{Dead linkScholar search }}


  • CASSMAN, K., Ecological intensification of cereal production systems: The Challenge of increasing crop yield potential and precision agriculture, Proceedings of a National Academy of Sciences Colloquium, Irvine, California date= December 5, 1998,weblink October 11, 2007,


  • Conversion note: 1 bushel of wheat = 60 pounds (lb) ≈ 27.215 kg. 1 bushel of maize = 56 pounds ≈ 25.401 kg


  • Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the US: Extent of Adoption. Retrieved December 8, 2008.


  • Farmers Guide to GMOs. Retrieved December 8, 2008.


  • Report Raises Alarm over 'Super-weeds'. Retrieved December 9, 2008.


  • Ozturk, et al., "Glyphosate inhibition of ferric reductase activity in iron deficient sunflower roots", New Phtologist, 177:899-906, 2008.


  • weblink|Genetically Engineered Crops in the US: Extent of Adoption]. Retrieved December 8, 2008.


  • Kimbrell, A. Faltal Harvest: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture, Island Press, Washington, 2002.


  • JOURNAL,weblink year=2000, 4(1): 2 publisher=Conservation Ecology,


  • JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC INTEGRATION >VOLUME= 19 MONTH=JUNE AUTHOR=. R. PILLARISETTI AND KYLIE RADEL URL=HTTP://SEJONG.METAPRESS.COM/APP/HOME/CONTRIBUTION.ASP?REFERRER=PARENT&BACKTO=ISSUE,6,10;JOURNAL,15,43;LINKINGPUBLICATIONRESULTS,1:109474,1, 332–352,


  • UN biodiversity meet fails to address key outstanding issues, Third World Network. Retrieved December 9, 2008.


  • Who Owns Nature?. Retrieved December 9, 2008.


  • Shiva, Vandana. Biopiracy, South End Press, Cambridge, MA, 1997.


  • Locally adapted seeds are an essential hertitage that has the potential to be lost with current hybridized crops and GMOs. Locally adapted seeds, also called land races or crop eco-types, are important because they have adapted over time to the specific microclimates, soils, other environmental conditions, field designs, and ethnic preference indigenous to the exact area of cultivation.Nabhan, Gary Paul. Enduring Seeds, The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1989.


  • Shiva, Vanadana. Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply South End Press, Cambrdge, MA, 2000, pp. 90-93.


  • Chandler, S.; Dunwell, J.M.. "Gene flow, risk assessment and the environmental release of transgenic plants", Critical Reviews in Plant Science, Vol. 27, pp.25-49, 2008.


  • Shiva, Vandana. Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability, and Peace, South End Press, Cambridge, MA, 2005.


  • JOURNAL, Pretty et al., 2000, An assessment of the total external costs of UK agriculture, Agricultural Systems, 65, 2, 113–136, 10.1016/S0308-521X(00)00031-7 weblink > first1 = J,


  • TEGTMEIER > FIRST1 = E.M. FIRST2 = M. TITLE = EXTERNAL COSTS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES, The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Agriculture,weblink


  • WEB,weblink Livestock a major threat to environment, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, November 29, 2006,


  • Steinfeld, H.; Gerber, P.; Wassenaar, T.; Castel, V.; Rosales, M.; de Haan, C. 2006. U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Rome. "Livestock's Long Shadow - Environmental issues and options.". Retrieved December 5, 2008.


  • Through deforestation and land degradation, livestock is also driving reductions in biodiversity.

    Land transformation and degradation

    Land transformation, the use of land to yield goods and services, is the most substantial way humans alter the Earth's ecosystems, and is considered the driving force in the loss of biodiversity. Estimates of the amount of land transformed by humans vary from 39–50%.Vitousek, P.M.; Mooney, H.A.; Lubchenco, J.; Melillo, J.M. 1997. "Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems". Science 277:494-499.


  • Bai, Z.G., D.L. Dent, L. Olsson, and M.E. Schaepman. 2008. Global assessment of land degradation and improvement 1:identification by remote sensing. Report 2008/01, FAO/ISRIC - Rome/Wageningen. Retrieved on December 5, 2008 from "Land degradation on the rise"


  • Eutrophication

    Eutrophication, excessive nutrients in aquatic ecosystems resulting in algal blooms and anoxia, leads to fish kills, loss of biodiversity, and renders water unfit for drinking and other industrial uses. Excessive fertilization and manure application to cropland, as well as high livestock stocking densities cause nutrient (mainly nitrogen and phosphorus) runoff and leaching from agricultural land. These nutrients are major nonpoint pollutants contributing to eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems.Carpenter, S.R., N.F. Caraco, D.L. Correll, R.W. Howarth, A.N. Sharpley, and V.H. Smith. 1998. "Nonpoint Pollution of Surface Waters with Phosphorus and Nitrogen". Ecological Applications 8:559-568.


  • Pimentel, D. T.W. Culliney, and T. Bashore. 1996. "Public health risks associated with pesticides and natural toxins in foods in Radcliffe's IPM World Textbook". Retrieved December 7, 2008.


  • WHO. 1992. Our planet, our health: Report of the WHU commission on health and environment. Geneva: World Health Organization.


  • Chrispeels, M.J. and D.E. Sadava. 1994. "Strategies for Pest Control" pp.355-383 in Plants, Genes, and Agriculture. Jones and Bartlett, Boston, MA.


  • Avery, D.T. 2000. Saving the Planet with Pesticides and Plastic: The Environmental Triumph of High-Yield Farming. Hudson Institute, Indianapolis, IN.


  • Center for Global Food Issues. Churchville, VA. "Center for Global Food Issues.". Retrieved December 7, 2008.


  • Lappe, F.M., J. Collins, and P. Rosset. 1998. "Myth 4: Food vs. Our Environment" pp. 42-57 in World Hunger, Twelve Myths, Grove Press, New York.


  • Climate Change

    Climate change has the potential to affect agriculture through changes in temperature, rainfall (timing and quantity), CO2, solar radiation and the interaction of these elements.Fraser, E.: “Crop yield and climate change”, Retrieved on September 14, 2009.


  • Brady, N.C. and R.R. Weil. 2002. "Soil Organic Matter" pp.353-385 in Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soils. Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.


  • Brady, N.C. and R.R. Weil. 2002. "Nitrogen and Sulfur Economy of Soils" pp.386-421 in Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soils. Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.


  • Distortions in modern global agriculture

    {{See also|Agricultural subsidy}}Differences in economic development, population density and culture mean that the farmers of the world operate under very different conditions.A US cotton farmer may receive US0COTTON SUBSIDIES SQUEEZE MALI> WORK= BBC NEWS ONLINEFIRST=JOAN LOCATION = LONDON ACCESSDATE=2010-01-01,


  • WEB, megaagro.com.uy,weblinktitle=socio en su producción


  • MERCADO DE FAENA PUBLISHER= MEGAAGRO.COM.UY, February 18, 2009,weblink


  • WEB, China: Feeding a Huge Population, Kansas-Asia (ONG),weblink average farming household in China now cultivates about one hectare, February 18, 2009,


  • WEB, Paraguay farmland real estate, Peer Voss,weblink February 18, 2009,


  • WEB, Cada vez más Uruguayos compran campos Guaranés (..no hay tierras en el mundo que se compren a los precious de Paraguay...), Spanish, Consejo de Educacion Secundaria de Uruguay, June 26, 2008,weblink {{dead link|date=September 2009}}


  • WEB, Brazil frontier farmland, AgBrazil,weblink February 18, 2009,


  • The limits of a Green Revolution?


  • The Real Green Revolution


  • Rebecca White (2007). "Carbon governance from a systems perspective: an investigation of food production and consumption in the UK," Oxford University Center for the Environmentweblink


  • Martin Heller and Gregory Keoleian (2000). "Life Cycle-Based Sustainability Indicators for Assessment of the U.S. Food System," University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Food Systems.weblink


  • Christine Wallgren & Mattias Hojer (2009). "Eating energy — Identifying possibilities for reduced energy use in the future." Energy Policy 37: 5803–5813. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2009.08.046


  • Randy Schnepf (2004). "Energy use in Agriculture: Background and Issues," CRS Report for Congress.weblink


  • Randy Schnepf (2004). "Energy use in Agriculture: Background and Issues," CRS Report for Congress.weblink


  • Randy Schnepf (2004). "Energy use in Agriculture: Background and Issues," CRS Report for Congress.weblink


  • Martin Heller and Gregory Keoleian (2000). "Life Cycle-Based Sustainability Indicators for Assessment of the U.S. Food System," University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Food Systems.weblink


  • Realities of organic farming


  • weblink


  • Organic Farming can Feed The World!


  • Organic Farms Use Less Energy And Water


  • Smith, Kate; Edwards, Rob (March 8, 2008)."2008: The year of global food crisis", The Herald (Glasgow).


  • "The global grain bubble", The Christian Science Monitor (Boston), January 18, 2008.


  • "The cost of food: Facts and figures", BBC News Online (London), October 16, 2008.


  • Walt, Vivienne (February 27, 2008)."The World's Growing Food-Price Crisis", Time (New York).


  • The biggest fossil fuel input to agriculture is the use of natural gas as a hydrogen source for the Haber-Bosch fertilizer-creation process.Raw Material Reserves - International Fertilizer Industry Association


  • Integrated Crop Management-Iowa State University January 29, 2001 weblink


  • weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20071126035318weblink">"The Hydrogen Economy", Physics Today, December 2004.


  • Organic farming may however be more labor-intensive and would require a shift of the workforce from urban to rural areas.Strochlic, R.; Sierra, L. (2007). Conventional, Mixed, and "Deregistered" Organic Farmers: Entry Barriers and Reasons for Exiting Organic Production in California. California Institute for Rural Studies.


  • "Carbon cycle management with increased photo-synthesis and long-term sinks", (2007) Royal Society of New Zealand.


  • Greene, Nathanael (December 2004). How biofuels can help end America's energy dependence.


  • JOURNAL, The Electronic Journal of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 7 year=2008, Srinivas et al., Reviewing The Methodologies For Sustainable Living,weblink 2993–3014,


  • JOURNAL,weblink Conway, G., 2000, Genetically modified crops: risks and promise, Conservation Ecology, 4(1): 2,


  • JOURNAL, Journal of Economic Integration issue = 2 year=2004, Pillarisetti, R.; Radel, Kylie, Economic and Environmental Issues in International Trade and Production of Genetically Modified Foods and Crops and the WTO,weblink 332–352,


  • WEB,weblink Friends of the Earth International year=2008, Who Benefits from GM Crops?, Lopez Villar, Juan; Freese, Bill, PDF,


  • NEWS,weblinkNew Scientist > location = London, February 7, 2004, Monsanto failure, issue = 2433,


  • WEB,weblink Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN) year=2002, Genetically Modified Crops in Africa: Implications for Small Farmers, Kuyek, Devlin, PDF,


  • NEWS,weblink location = London, May 30, 2008, Genetically Modified Crops in Africa: Implications for Small Farmers, Cooke, Jeremy, ,


  • Record rise in wheat price prompts UN official to warn that surge in food prices may trigger social unrest in developing countries


  • Trumbull, Mark (July 24, 2007). "Rising food prices curb aid to global poor", The Christian Science Monitor (Boston).




    • Bibliography

    missing image!
    - Coffee Plantation.jpg -
    Coffee Plantation up São João do Manhuaçu City mouth - Minas Gerais State - Brazil.
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    • Collinson, M. (ed.) A History of Farming Systems Research. CABI Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-85199-405-9
    • Crosby, Alfred W.: The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492. Praeger Publishers, 2003 (30th Anniversary Edition). ISBN 0-275-98073-1
    • Davis, Donald R.; Riordan, Hugh D. (2004). "Changes in USDA Food Composition Data for 43 Garden Crops, 1950 to 1999". Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 23, No. 6, 669-682.
    • Friedland, William H.; Barton, Amy (1975). "Destalking the Wily Tomato: A Case Study of Social Consequences in California Agricultural Research". Univ. California at Sta. Cruz, Research Monograph 15.
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    • Saltini A. Storia delle scienze agrarie, 4 vols, Bologna 1984-89, ISBN 88-206-2412-5, ISBN 88-206-2413-3, ISBN 88-206-2414-1, ISBN 88-206-2414-1
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    • Watson, A.M. (1983). Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World, Cambridge University Press.
    • Wells, Spencer (2003). The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-11532-X
    • Wickens, G.M. (1976). "What the West borrowed from the Middle East", in Savory, R.M. (ed.) Introduction to Islamic Civilization. Cambridge University Press.

    External links

    {{wikiversity3|School:Agriculture|Agriculture|The School of Agriculture}} {{Horticulture and Gardening}}Landbouየርሻ ተግባርزراعة(roa-rup:Ayriculturã)(zh-min-nan:Lông-gia̍p)Сельская гаспадарка(be-x-old:Сельская гаспадарка)PoljoprivredaAgriculturaZemědělstvíAmaethLandbrugLandwirtschaftPõllumajandusΓεωργία (εργασία)AgriculturaAgrikulturoNekazaritzaکشاورزیAgricultureLânbouTalmhaíochtEirinysÀiteachasAgriculturaકૃષિ농업कृषिPoljoprivredaPertanianAgriculturaᐱᕈᕐᓰᓂᖅ ᓂᐅᕐᕈᑎᒃᓴᓕᐊᕆᓪᓗᒋᑦ/pirursiiniq niurrutiksaliarillugitLandbúnaðurAgricolturaחקלאותNunaateqarneqಕೃಷಿსოფლის მეურნეობაАуыл шаруашылығыKilimoAgriculturaLauksaimniecībaŽemės ūkisMezőgazdaságЗемјоделствоകൃഷിशेतीPertanianХөдөө аж ахуйစိုက်ပျိုးမွေးမြူရေးMīllahcayōtlLandbouw(nds-nl:Laandbouw)農業LandbrukAgriculturaکرهنهBuereeRolnictwoAgriculturaAgriculturăAllpa llamk'ayСельское хозяйствоAgrikulturaකෘෂිකර්මයFarmingPoľnohospodárstvoKmetijstvoBeerahaПољопривредаPoljoprivredaAgrikulturMaatalousJordbrukAgrikulturaவேளாண்மைవ్యవసాయంเกษตรกรรมTarımСільське господарствоNông nghiệp(fiu-vro:Põllumajandus)(zh-classical:農)לאנדווירטשאפט(bat-smg:Žemies ūkis)农业

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