Agriculture

• Agriculture is the art and science of cultivating the soil, growing crops and raising
livestock (land and
water).
• Aquaculture (fish farming) is the controlled process of cultivating fish
and shellfish, especially for human consumption.
• Hydroponics is the science of growing plants in nutrient solutions (no
soil). Hydroponic flowers, herbs, and vegetables are planted in inert
growing media and supplied with nutrient-rich solutions, oxygen and
water. This system fosters rapid growth, stronger yields, and superior
quality. (lettuce, spinach, strawberries, bell peppers and herbs).
Traditional Agriculture

• Defined as an ancient style of farming that involves the demanding use

of indigenous knowledge, traditional tools, natural resources, organic
fertilizer and cultural beliefs of farmers.
• The outcome of experiences provided by local farming practices
through thousands of years.
• Types of traditional agricultural practices include: agroforestry,
intercropping, crop rotation, cover cropping, traditional organic
composting and integrated crop animal farming.

Agroforestry:

- a collective name for land-use systems and technologies where

woody perennials (trees, shrubs, palms, bamboos, etc.) are
deliberately used on the same land-management units as
agricultural crops and/or animals, in some form of spatial
arrangement or temporal sequence.

Intercropping:

- the agronomic practice of growing two or more crops on the same

field at the same time.

Crop Rotation:

- the practice of planting different crops sequentially on the same

plot of land to improve soil health, optimize nutrients in the soil,
and combat pest and weed pressure.
Cover Cropping

- A plant that is used primarily to slow erosion, improve soil health,

enhance water availability, help control pests and diseases, increase
biodiversity and bring a host of other benefits to the farm. (cereals
and legumes)

Tradional Organic Composting

- An area where vegetation, soil, kitchen waste, food scraps, garden

scraps are dumped and is decomposed over time.

Intergrated Crop Anmal Farming

- Sustainable production strategy that integrates farming, cattle, and

forestry activities in common areas, by intercropping succession, or
rotation. Integrated crop and livestock farming can improve
nutrient cycling.
- Integrating animals into a farm help creates a closed or semi-closed
system where energy and nutrients are recycled. Animals can
convert non-edible biomass (grass, straw, kitchen waste) into food
while increasing soil fertility with their manure.

Intensive Agriculture

• A method of farming that uses large amounts of labour and investment

to increase the yield of the land.
• Pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals are used to boost yield.
• Machinery is used to aid in planting, chemical application and
picking.
• This reduces the amount of land needed for an economically viable
farm to grow crops or raise animals,
• Developed and controlled by large corporations that must focus on
generating profits.
• Using mechanized and chemical inputs, intensive agriculture succeeds
at producing large amounts of food under certain
conditions.
• To maximize crop outputs, intensive agriculture uses monocropping,
heavy ploughing, large quantities of chemicals, copious irrigation, and
mechanized processes that replace
human labour.
• Monocropping - the practice of growing a single crop year after year on
the same land.

VERY VERY IMPORTANT!

Impact on Surrounding Environment

• Runoff
• siltation
• Leaching of chemicals (pesticides and fertilizers) used in agriculture
ending up in recipient water bodies (rivers/lakes and aquifers).
• Eutrophication
• Livestock overgrazing
• Irrigation
• Over extraction of groundwater

1. Runoff

• Agricultural runoff is water from farm fields due to irrigation, rain,

or melted snow that flows over the earth that can absorb into the
ground, enter bodies of waters or evaporate. This runoff can contain
pesticides, sediment (soil particles), nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen
and potassium from fertilizers) and metals, which can contaminate
sources of water.

• Improper management of animal feeding operations, ploughing

excessively, poor application of pesticides and fertilizers, and poorly
designed irrigation systems.

2. Pesticides and Fertilzers

• Pesticides and fertilizers are one of the primary sources of

agricultural pollution. The purpose of these fertilizers and pesticides
is to kill the local pests that damage the crops. When these pesticides
are sprayed on crops, some chemicals get absorbed by the soil,
water, and plants.

• These chemicals are quite harmful as they contaminate the water

supply and soil. When animals eat these leftover crops after
harvesting, it affects their health. Sometimes these crops may also
affect our health when we consume them.

3. Eutrophication
• Excessive amounts of nutrients - fertilizers and manure used for
agricultural purposes may not show direct toxic effects but may
contain excessive amounts of chemical nutrients like phosphorus and
nitrogen.

• When nutrients enter waterways, they can cause algal blooms.

These blooms can deplete the water from oxygen, which can kill fish
and other aquatic animals.

• Excessive nutrients can also cause problems for people who rely on
wells for their drinking water.

4. Leaching of chemicals

• Groundwater sources, rainwater, and other water bodies are the

primary sources of irrigation.

• Most of these sources are already polluted due to the disposal of

industrial and agricultural wastes.

• This water can contain pesticides, herbicides, and other harmful

chemicals.

• The water becomes contaminated when organic compounds and

heavy metals get dissolved in water such as lead, mercury and
cadmium.

• Leaching of nitrates in Maltese groundwater.

5. Siltation

• Siltation is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic

material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay.

• This occurs as a result of runoff which leads to the accumulation of

sediments (fine particles of sand, silt, clay) in irrigation structures
such as dams and canals.
• Silt takes up storage in a reservoir and therefore decreases the
storage capacity of the dam, threatening water security.

6. Livestock

• An amount of agricultural territory is used primarily as pasture for

cattle and other livestock.
• Agricultural livestock are responsible for a large proportion of
global greenhouse gas emissions, most notably methane.
• In addition, overgrazing is a major problem.
• Stretches of forage land are consumed so extensively that grasses
are unable to
• The root systems of native vegetation can be damaged by so much
that the species dies off.
• Where cattle concentrate close to water bodies, the combination
of overgrazing and faecal wastes can contaminate or compromise
water sources.
• Cattle and other large grazing animals can even damage soil by
trampling on it.

7. Slash and Burn

• Slash and burn agriculture is a widely used method of growing food

in which wild or forested land is clear cut and any remaining
vegetation burned.
• The resulting layer of ash provides the newly cleared land with a
nutrient-rich layer to help fertilize
crops.
• Results in significant soil erosion and accompanying landslides,
water contamination, and/or dust clouds.
• All the carbon that the forest trees have absorbed over their
lifetimes is released.
• While air pollution from agriculture includes emissions from
tractors and farm vehicles, the greatest agricultural contributors to
air pollution stem from animal-raising operations.
• Cattle, pig, and chicken operations release methane, nitrous oxide,
and ammonia into the air.
• Nitrous oxide and ammonia in the atmosphere lead to secondary
inorganic aerosol formation.
• Fine particulate matter with diameters below 2.5 um (PM25)
• Fine particulate matter poses a significant health hazard, causing
lung cancer and cardiopulmonary mortality.

8. Tilling

• Tilling is the process of preparing the soil for the cultivation of

seeds by dissing, ploughing and overturning the
soil.
• The process of tilling stimulates the loss of soil organic carbon to
the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
Agricultural impact on Biodiversity

What is Biodiversity?

• This is the variety of Biological life on Earth or within a region.

Benefits of Biodiversity:

• Helps create healthy soils. Soil will be

healthier and more nutrient-rich leading to better crops that contain
biodiversity more nutrients that are needed for human consumption.
• Increase in pollinators
• Better pest control because of the presence of species that reduce
pests
• Ensures food security by providing many different types of foods in
a single area

How does agriculture impact Biodiversity? (Reclined Biodiversity)

• At the present time the Earth's biodiversity if rapidly

decreasing as a result of human activities.
• Natural habitats have been converted to farms and pastures,
pesticides and fertilizers have polluted the environment, and soils
have been degraded.
• Agricultural ecosystems have become less diverse because
crop monocultures have expanded.
• Directives to use more land for biofuels have caused millions of
acres to be converted to monoculture crops, like corn, that had not
been grown on that land before.
• Declining biodiversity is reducing the numbers and variety of
pollinators, loosening the natural checks on pests and eliminating
species that could have benefitted humans in the future.
What causes Biodiversity loss?

1. Monocropping - replaces formerly diverse habitats with a

single plant species and brings about the loss of native varieties
of crop.
2. Clearing of land - destroys habitats which tends to speed up
the extinction of species living in those habitats. It also leads to
habitat fragmentation, isolating organisms and makes it harder
for them to find food and to mate.
3. Use of pesticides -kills organisms indiscriminately. This disrupts
ecosystems at various stages. Their impact is further increased
when they end up in water courses through leaching.
4. Use of herbicides - chemicals used to manipulate or control
undesirable vegetation. They alter the biological function of the
plant by interfering with certain biochemical reactions. An
example is to control weeds which are unwanted plants
growing alongside crops. (glyphosate)
5. Genetically modified crops (GMO) - may lead to gene
contamination of non-GMOS. GMOs have features which
provide them with unfair advantages over other species, thus
interfering with niches and processes within the ecosystem.
Sustainable Agriculture

• The goal of sustainable agriculture is to met society's food and

textile needs in the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.
• Sustainable agriculture must nurture healthy ecosystems and
support the sustainable management of land, water and natural
resources, while ensuring world food security.

Soil Conservation

Which practices avoid soil erosion and keep soil in place?

• Contour ploughing - ploughing across a slope following its contour

lines. The ruts made run perpendicular to slopes, generally resulting
in furrows that slow water runoff during rainstorms allowing the
water time to settle into the
soil.
• Using wind breakers - in areas prone to gusty winds, plant wind
breakers in the form of trees, hedges and bushes or even
wooden/plastic fences can be use to reduce the impact of the wind
on the soil.
• Strip Cropping - typically, the fallow and planted areas are
organized in parallel long, narrow strips that are oriented normal to
the prevailing winds, in order to minimize the erosion of soil from
the bare fields. Strip farming helps to prevent mass erosion by having
the roots of crops hold onto the soil to prevent it from being washes
away.