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22 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is traditional agriculture vs industrial agriculture?
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Traditional= human and animal muscle power, hand tools and simple machines, polyculture (many types)
Industrial= intensified irrigation to boost yields, synthetic fertilizers, advent of chemical pesticides, big machinery, and monoculture (one type of crop) |
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what is topsoil?
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Consists of mostly inorganic mineral components such as weathered substrate, with organic matter and humus from above mixed in.
Topsoil is a crucial horizon for agriculture and ecosystems. |
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What is a horizon?
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each layer of soil is termed a horizon and the cross section as a whole, from the surface to bedrock, is a soil profile.
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What is erosion and what have people done to make topsoil vulnerable to it?
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Erosion is the removal of material from one place and its transport to another by the action of wind or water.
Topsoil is the most valuable layer for living things. Agriculture practiced unsustainably over time will deplete organic matter, reducing the soil's fertility and ability to hold water. 1. overcultivation through poor planning or excessive tilling 2.overgrazing rangeland with more livestock than the land can support. 3. Clearing forests on steep slopes or with large clear cuts |
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What is desertification?
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A form of land degradation in which more than10% of productivity is lost as a result of erosion, soil compaction, forest removal, overgrazing, drought , salinization,climate change, water depletion, and other factors.
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What was the Dust Bowl?
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-early 1930s
-Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado -farmers grew abundant wheat -overgrazing cattle -expansion onto unsuitable land. -removal of native grasses and alteration of soil structure A drought exacerbated the ongoing human impacts, and the region's strong winds began to erode millions of tons of topsoil. |
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What is contour farming ?
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plowing furrows sideways across a hillside, perpendicular to it's slope and following the natural contours of the land.
- reduces erosion on hillsides |
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What is crop rotation?
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Farmers alternate the type of crop grown in a given field from one season or year to the next.
-helps restore nutrients and reduce impact of crop pests |
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What is terracing?
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Transforms slopes into series of steps like a staircase , enabling farmers to cultivate hilly land without losing huge amounts of soil to water erosion.
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Intercropping
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Planting different types of crops in alternating bands or other spatially mixed arrangements.
-reduces soil loss -maintains soil fertility |
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shelter belts
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Reduces erosion from wind.
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No till farming
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Corn grows up from amid the remnants of a "cover crop" used in no till agriculture .
-can improve soil quality -increase organic matter -reduces erosion |
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Overgrazing
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When too many livestock eat too much of the plant cover, it impedes plant regrowth and prevents the replacement of biomass.
-soil is exposed and made vulnerable to erosion |
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What is irrigation ?
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The artificial provision of water to support agriculture .
By irrigating crops, people maintain high yields in times of drought and turn previously dry and unproductive regions into fertile farmland. |
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Waterlogging
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Occurs when over irrigation causes the water table to rise to the point that water drowns plants roots, depriving them of access to gases and essentially suffocating them.
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Salinization
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Frequent problem
the build-up of salts in surface soil layers. -inhibits production on 1/5 of all irrigated cropland globally - often turns soil surface white |
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What is the green revolution ? Norman Borlag?
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-introduced new technology , crop varieties, and farming practices to the developing world
-drastically increased food production in these nation Norman Borlag introduced Mexico's farmers to a specially bred type of wheat. within two decades of planting this wheat, Mexico tripled it's wheat production and begun exporting wheat. |
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Pesticides and pest resistance
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Pesticides= poison to suppress pests
-insecticides= kill insects -herbacides= kill plants -fungicides= kill fungi Despite the toxicity of these chemicals their effectiveness declines over time. -natural selection -passing down a genetically resistant trait through mating |
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What is biotechnology ?
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The material application of biological science to create products derived from organisms.
The creation of transgenic organisms is one type of biotechnology. -helped develop medicine -clean up pollution -dissolve blood clots after a heart attack -make better beer and cheese -GM foods |
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What are CAFOs?
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Feedlots, aka factory farms or concentrated animal feeding operations, are huge warehouses or pens designed to deliver energy rich food to animals living at extremely high densities.
Aquaculture = cultivation of aquatic organisms for food in controlled environments. |
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Organic Agriculture
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-sustainable agriculture
-uses no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. |
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How can you eat to support sustainable agriculture?
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