Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
techniques for producing goods and services that man acquired the capability to manipulate
the environment for producing food to meet his needs. The birth of modern science, following
the Enlightenment, nurtured a culture that promoted and reinforced the world view that man
through the application of science would be able to master and manipulate the environment
to meet his needs. Advances in science during this era (17
th
and 18
th
century) led to the
Industrial Revolution and the progressive industrialization of agriculture.
Prior to the intensive application of science to agriculture, the production of food and fiber
relied on what is now referred to as traditional methods, which included: crop rotation, organic
manure from animals and cover crops, animal power, intensive use of labor on small farms
and a conventional artisan approach to plant and animal improvement—agriculture relied
heavily on natural process, i.e., the ecology in which it was nested. Thus, in terms of today's
language food production was substantively organic. The industrial revolution transformed
traditional agriculture with: (1) the application of farm machinery for land preparation,
reaping, hauling, irrigating, land clearing, fertilizer, manure and pesticide application; (2) the
development and application of fertilizers, insecticides and weedicides; (3) application of
sophisticated irrigation systems; (4) the application of principles of genetics to plant and animal
breeding and (5) the practice of monoculture. These technologies have led to staggering
increases in crop and animal production and productivity, larger farms and fewer farms and
farmers [1-2, 6] and increased negative impact on the sustenance base [1-2, 6-8]. Another phase
of agricultural evolution involved the application of information technologies, biotechnologies
and modern science-based business management practices to organize and operate food
production systems, leading to further gains in efficiency and productivity. Striking features
of this phase include the following: large corporate style farms, drastic decline in family farms
and profound innovations in the application of biotechnologies to the improvement of plants
and animals. The progressive evolution of man's food gathering and food production rela‐
tionship with his sustenance base (the ecology or environment) is characterized by: (1) his
increasing capacity to apply science in developing the technologies used to manipulate the
sustenance base or the ecological capital to meet his needs for food and fiber; and (2) the
progressive ecological impact of these technologies. Prior to the phase of intensive application
of science to agriculture, food production could be described as nature-based with food
production and population more or less in balance with nature.
2. The impact of agriculture on the environment
2
Rachel Carson's seminal work “Silent Spring” documented the environmental impact of
insecticide on the environment [9]. Other authors including [1-2, 6-8] have documented an
increasing environmental impact of conventional industrial agricultural technologies. Among
the major impacts are point and non-point pollution from fertilizers and pesticides use;
deforestation; desertification; salinization; soil erosion and sediment deposition downstream;
degradation of water aquifers, accumulation of toxic compounds, loss of biodiversity; and
