Evaluate economic and environmental issues involved with farming practices that increase productivity.
Evaluate economic and environmental issues involved with farming practices that increase productivity.
Farming is considered by many as the first major step towards civilisation. Without it we would all still be hunter-gatherers. Over the millennia farming has become steadily more efficient and productivity has increased. Better productivity is constantly sought after in an effort to reduce losses so more money can be made. Better productivity is defined as an increased rate of biomass creation by vegetation and animals that can later be consumed by humans or their pets and livestock, resulting from more efficient farming practices.
The world population is rising and so there is a greater demand for food which means productivity must increase to meet the demand, the factors involved with increasing productivity can often be damaging to environment and in turn humans, because of this many different systems have arisen each with their own pros and cons.
Almost all farms and farmers use fertilisers of one type or another, manure fertiliser has been used for well over 3000 years it has been estimated that nearly half the Earth’s population is fed as a result of fertilisers.
Fertilisers work by providing resources much needed by vegetation, namely Nitrogen and phosphorous. The Nitrogen in the fertiliser is in the form of ammonia or ammonium, these are converted by nitrifying bacteria into nitrites, and then a different kind of nitrifying bacteria converts the nitrites into nitrates. The nitrates are taken up into the plant through the roots where they are assimilated into amino acids which are used for protein and DNA synthesis. Naturally the plants die returning the Nitrogen to the soil as nitrates, proteins or amino acids. That or they are consumed by animals which excrete the Nitrogen as urea or other waste products returning it to the soil where bacteria perform ammonification converting it to ammonia which eventually returns to the vegetation, this does
Farming is considered by many as the first major step towards civilisation. Without it we would all still be hunter-gatherers. Over the millennia farming has become steadily more efficient and productivity has increased. Better productivity is constantly sought after in an effort to reduce losses so more money can be made. Better productivity is defined as an increased rate of biomass creation by vegetation and animals that can later be consumed by humans or their pets and livestock, resulting from more efficient farming practices.
The world population is rising and so there is a greater demand for food which means productivity must increase to meet the demand, the factors involved with increasing productivity can often be damaging to environment and in turn humans, because of this many different systems have arisen each with their own pros and cons.
Almost all farms and farmers use fertilisers of one type or another, manure fertiliser has been used for well over 3000 years it has been estimated that nearly half the Earth’s population is fed as a result of fertilisers.
Fertilisers work by providing resources much needed by vegetation, namely Nitrogen and phosphorous. The Nitrogen in the fertiliser is in the form of ammonia or ammonium, these are converted by nitrifying bacteria into nitrites, and then a different kind of nitrifying bacteria converts the nitrites into nitrates. The nitrates are taken up into the plant through the roots where they are assimilated into amino acids which are used for protein and DNA synthesis. Naturally the plants die returning the Nitrogen to the soil as nitrates, proteins or amino acids. That or they are consumed by animals which excrete the Nitrogen as urea or other waste products returning it to the soil where bacteria perform ammonification converting it to ammonia which eventually returns to the vegetation, this does