Lecture 08.

FARMING:
CONVENTIONAL AND
SUSTAINABLE
PRACTICES
 Intended Learning Outcomes
After the completion of the chapter, students will be able to:
• identify resources for agriculture;
• identify use and abuse of soils;
• describe water and nutrients;
• describe pests and diseases;
• identify environmental issues associated to agriculture;
• explain organic and sustainable agriculture; and
• identify soil conservation practices.
 Topics To Be Discussed
A. Resources for Agriculture
B. Use and Abuse of Soils
C. Water and Nutrients
D. Pests and Diseases
E. Environmental Issues
F. Organic and Sustainable Agriculture
G. Soil Conservation Practices
 “We abuse the land because we regard it as a
commodity belonging to us. When we see land
as a community to which we belong, we may
begin to use it with love and respect”
- Aldo Leopold -
Resources for Agriculture
 Agriculture and Soil
• Agriculture has dramatically changed our environment,
altering patterns of vegetation soils and water resources
worldwide
• Soil is a renewable resource that develops gradually through
the weathering of rocks and the accumulation of organic
material
– Under the best circumstances, topsoil accumulates at a rate of
about 1mm/year
– With careful management, soil can be replenished and renewed
indefinitely
– Most farming techniques deplete soil through erosion and removal of
organic material
Soil Texture Pyramid
• All soils have three basic
components:
– Sand (largest)
– Silt
– Clay (smallest)
• A soil’s texture depends on its
proportions of each components
• Loamy soils have the best texture for
crops, with enough sand to be loose
and workable, yet enough silt and
clay to retain water and nutrients
• Soil has 6 components:
– Sand and gravel
– Silts and clays
– Dead organic material
– Soil fauna and flora
– Water
– Air
• Parent material is the mineral
material on which the soil is built, can
be bedrock
 Grassland vs. Tropical Rainforest Soils
• Tropical soils are deeply weathered
red clays which have little organic
material and hold few nutrients and
water

• The rich black soils are rich in

nutrients and organic material and
contain a mixture of sand, silt and
clay to hold moisture well
 Water
• Agriculture accounts for largest single
share of global water use
– Much irrigation water lost to seepage
and evaporation
– In some countries, low cost encourages
overuse of water
• Waterlogging
• Salinization - mineral salts accumulate in
soils; lethal to plants
Fertilizer
• Adding nutrients (N, K, P) via fertilizer
usually stimulates growth and
increase crop yields
– 1950: average of 20 kg/ha fertilizer used
– 1990: average of 91 kg/ha fertilizer used
• Overuse causes water pollution
• Manure and nitrogen-fixing bacteria
are alternative methods of
replenishing soil nutrients
Energy
• Farming in industialized countires is
highly energy-intensive
– Between 1920-1980, energy rose
directly with mechanization of agriculture
and indirectly with synthetic fertilizers
• Today, U.S. food system consumes
16% of total energy use
• Most foods require more energy to
produce, process and transport than we
get from eating them
• Eating locally grown foods has less
environmental impact
Use and Abuse of Soils
 Ways We Use and Abuse Soil
• Approximately 12.5% of the Earth’s land area is currently in
agricultural production
– Up to four times as much could potentially be converted to
agricultural use
• Much of this additional land suffers from constraints such as steep slope or
poor drainage
• Global climate change could alter weather patterns and flood
coastal areas so that world food production could be
seriously reduced
Arable Land Unevenly Distributed
• North America and Europe are particularly well suited to
growing while some other parts of the world lack suitable soil,
topography and water

• Available cropland are shrinking

– Exceptions are South America and Oceania where forests are
being converted to farms

• Gains in agricultural production have come from increased

fertilization, pesticides and irrigation rather than more land
 Land Resources
• Many developing countries are reaching limit of lands that
can be exploited for agriculture without unacceptable social
and environmental costs
 Land Degradation
• Estimated nearly 3 million ha of cropland ruined annually via
erosion, 4 million ha transformed into deserts and 8 million ha
converted to non-agricultural uses
– ha stands for hectare which is 10,000 square meters or about 2 and
a half acres

• Over the past 50 years, 1.9 billion ha of agricultural land has

been degraded
 Land Degradation
• Definitions of degradation are based on both biological
productivity and expectations of what land should be like
– Generally, land is considered degraded when soil is
impoverished or eroded, run-off is contaminated or biodiversity
is diminished
• Water and wind are the driving forces for vast majority of soil
degradation
 Erosion
• Erosion is a natural process resulting in redistribution of the
products of geologic weathering and is part of both soil
formation and soil loss
– Worldwide, erosion reduces crop production by equivalent of
1% of world cropland per year
– Erosion results in sediment loading of rivers and lakes,
siltation of reserviors and smothering of wetlands and coral
reefs
 Mechanisms of Erosion
• Wind can equal or exceed water as an erosive
force, especially in a dry climate and on flat land
• Desertification - conversion of productive land to
desert
– Intensive farming practices responsible for
erosion:
• Row crops leave soil exposed
• Weed free-fields
• Removal of windbreaks
• No crop rotation or resting periods for fields
• Continued monoculture cropping can increase soil
loss tenfold
 Desertification
• Conversion of productive lands to desert
– Threatens 1/3 of the earth’s surface and 1 billion people

• Rangelands and pastures are highly susceptible (overgrazing,

soil degradation)

• Africa and China are of particular concern

• Rapid population growth and poverty create unsustainable
pressures
• Removal of trees for fodder and firewood triggers climate
change that spreads desertification
Water Moves Soil in Various Ways
• A farm can lose up to 20 metric tons of
soil/hectare/year from one of these
processes:
– Sheet erosion: thin layer of surface
removed
– Rill erosion: small rivulets of running water
gather together and cut small channels
– Gully erosion: rills enlarge to form bigger
channels too large to be removed by
normal tillage
– Stream bank erosion: washing away of soil
from banks of streams and rivers
Pests and Diseases
• On a global basis about 33% of crops is lost annually due to
diseases, insect pests and weeds
• In cereal, the annual loss is estimated to be about 17% in
developed countries and 46% in developing countries
• Percentage of all produce lost to diseases, insects, and
weeds are in 25% (Europe), 29% (North and Central America),
30% (Russia and China), 42%-43% (Africa and Asia)
• Of the 35% annual crop loss, 12% caused by fungi, bacteria
and viruses, 11% due to diseases caused by nematodes, 7%
due to insects and 3% due to weeds
 Causes of Plant Diseases
• When plant is suffering (not developing and functioning in a
manner it is expected) it is called diseased

• Grouped under the following catergories:

– Abiotic factors
– Biotic factors
– Mesobiotic factors
 Abiotic and Biotic Factors

• Abiotic factors: mainly the deficiencies

or excess of nutrients such as light,
moisture, aeration, abnormalities in
soil conditions and atmospheric
impurities
– Ex. Mango fruit rot, Black heart of potato

• Biotic factors: include diseases

caused by animate or living or cellular
organisms
 Mesobiotic Factors
• Diseases caused by neither living nor non-living and are
considered to be on threshed of life
– Viroids: Spindle tuber of potato, Tomato bunchy top
– Viruses: Leaf roll of potato, Leaf curl of tomato and chilly
 Common Pests in the World
• Living being which feed on plants and cause damage to the
plants are called pests
- Aphids
- Caterpillar
- Colorado Potato Beetle
- European Corn Borer
- Leaf Hoppers
- Mealy Bugs
- Root Maggots
- Thrips
- White Flies
Pests and Diseases Impact on Agriculture
• Food Shortages
– Late blight of potato in 1845 destroyed the potato crop in
Ireland where potato constituted the staple diet of the majority
in rural areas, resulting in food shortage
– Late blight epidemic caused famine in Ireland
– Resulted in reduced in population due to hunger and diseases
and migration
 Pests and Diseases Impact on Agriculture
• Change the food habit of the
population
– Wheat rust has forced the
farmers to change their
cropping pattern by
replacing wheat (regularly
destroyed by rust) by corn
or rye causing a change in
food habit of the population
in affected areas
Pests and Diseases Impact on Agriculture
• Loss of economic returns of farmers
– In India, wheat rust has been considered to cause a loss
over Rs. 400 million annually
– Although introduction of dwarf varieties has reduced the
loss to great extent, the farmers still lose 8-10% of the
expected yield due to rust
Pests and Diseases Impact on Agriculture
• Completely destroyed or vanished whole cultivation
– Sri Lanka used to produce maximum coffee in the world
– In 1867, coffee rust attacked the plantation in Sri Lanka and by
1893 the export of coffee from Sri Lanka had declined by 93%
– The economic crisis forced the planters to cut down coffee plant
and take tea planting
Pests and Diseases Impact on Agriculture
• Reduction of Yield
– Rice blast is one of the most destructive diseases of rice
– The infected panicle turns white cuasing panicle blast and dies
before being filled with grain. The infected node rots causing all
above parts to die
– In the Philippines, yield losses ranging from 50%-85% were
reported before the introduction of resistant varieties
Pests and Diseases Impact on Agriculture
• Reduction of Nutritional Value of Crops and Reduced the
Consumer Preference
– Anthracnose caused by the fungus Colletotrichum musae is a
post-harvest rot of bananas that affects the fruit quality and
marketability
– The fungus also caused crown rot
– This rot disease reduce the consumer preference and loss
huge number of nutrients
Pests and Diseases Impact on Agriculture
• Reduction the aesthetic value of the crop
– Mango scab: due to microbial infestation, can see ulcer-like
lesions in epidermal cells thus reducing the aesthetic value of
the fruit
Pests and Diseases Impact on Agriculture
• Act as vectors and transmit viral diseases
– Aphids in banana: suck young leaves which become curled and
crinkled and even defoliate especially at seedling stage
– Some aphids also transmit viral diseases
Pests and Diseases Impact on Agriculture
• Reduce the quality of the yield
– Corn smut is a disease of maize caused by
the pathogenic plant fungus Ustilago maydis
– It can infect any part of the plant and usually
enters the ovaries and replaces the normal
kernels of the cobs with large distorted
tumors analogous to mushrooms
– These tumors or “galls” are made up of
much-enlarged cells of the infected plant,
fungal threads and blue-black spores
– The spores give the cob a burned, scorched
appearance
Organic and Sustainable
Agriculture
• Numerous studies have shown organic, sustainable
agriculture is more eco-friendly and leaves soil healthier
than intensive, chemical-based monoculture cropping
– Less than 1% of all American farmland is organic
• Organic food must be produced without the use of hormones,
antibiotics, pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or genetic
modification
• Animals must be raised on organic feed, given access to the
outdoors, given no steroids or growth hormones and given
antibiotics only to treat diseases
Careful Management Can Reduce Pests
• Behavioral Changes
– Crop rotation
– Mechanical cultivation
– Flooding fields
– Habitat diversification
– Adjusting planting times
– Plant mixed polycultures
– Tillage at the right time
– Crop vacuuming can reduce pests
 Biological Controls
• Predators or pathogens
• Insects that eat weeds
• Plant like neem tree that make their
own pesticides
• Bioengineering
• Hormones that disrupt development
or attract insects to traps
• Praying mantis is an effective
predator against garden pests and is
harmless to humans
IPM Uses a Combination of Techniques
• Integrated Pest Management: a flexible, ecologically
bases strategy that is applied at specific times against
specific pests
– Some use of pesticides takes place, but the time, type and
method of application are controlled
– Trap crops: small areas are planted before the main crop.
These plants mature first and attract the insects and the trap
crop is then destroyed along with the pests
• IPM is being used successfully all over the world. Cuts
pesticide use while maintaining yield
 Low Input Sustainable Agriculture
• Small scale, low input agriculture
• No synthetic chemicals
• Raising cows on pasture grass rather than grain
• Antibiotics used only to treat diseases
• Typically produces smaller yield, but production costs are
lower and prices are higher so net gain is higher
• Preserves rural culture
 Consumers Play an Important Role
• A vegetarian diet can reduce energy input
• An organic diet can reduce pesticide use
• Becoming a locavore, a person who eats locally grown,
seasonal food
• Join a community supported agriculture (CSA) program in
which you make payment to a local farm for weekly deliveries
of food
Soil Conservation Practices
 Soil Conservation Measures
• Managing topography reduces top soil
loss:
– Contour plowing: plowing across slope
to slow flow of water
– Strip farming: planting different crops in
alternating strips along land contours
– Terracing: shaping land to create level
shelves of earth to hold water and soil
– Plant perennial species
– Plant cover crops and/or use mulch
 Outcomes-Based Assessment
• Read and make a reaction paper on the article titled
“Paving the pathway for climate smart agriculture among
small scale farmers in the Philippines”.
• Follow this format: Paper Size: A4; Font style: Arial; Font
Size: 11; Spacing: 1.5; Alignment: Justify
• Submit your paper on or before June 8, 2021 with this
format A08_Surname, First Name (Ex. A08_Dela Cruz,
Juan) in this link
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fN8LmSMGHAd8lz
CEeFopX8nOqQKC3uoB?usp=sharing