NOTES

SEPTEMBER 2021
Chapter 3: Agriculture and the Environment

GRADE: IG-1 SUBJECT: EVM

Increasing agricultural yields

Techniques used to increase agricultural yields:

• Rotation Fertilisers Irrigation Mechanisation

• Insect control (insecticide), weed control (herbicide), fungi control

(fungicide)

• Selective breeding of animals and plants

• Genetically modified organisms

• Controlled environments: Greenhouses and hydroponics

Crop rotation:
• It is the systematic planting of different crops in a particular order over a
several years in the same grown space
(Or)
• It is a method of farming where a number of different plants are grown
one after the other on a field so that the soil stays healthy and fertile
• For example, if the maize has been grown one year, then this might be
substituted with rice the next year, potatoes the year after and peas and
beans in the fourth year
• In the fifth year the field might be used for maize again
• Growing the same crop in the same field year after year will quickly
deplete the soil of the range of nutrients that a particular plant requires
to yield well
• With rotation, a crop that draws upon one kind of nutrient is followed in
the next growing season by a crop that draws mostly on another range
of nutrients
• Or a crop that actually returns the depleted nutrient to the soil through
a process known as nitrogen ‘fixing’.

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 1
 • Crops such as clover, are able to add nitrogen to the soil because their
roots have special nodules attached
• The nodules contain bacteria that feed by ‘fixing’ or extracting nitrogen
from the atmosphere to produce nitrate chemical compounds
• Clover, along with plants such as peas, beans and alfalfa, are from a
family called ‘legumes’
• They all provide subsequent crops with substantial amounts of nitrogen
• Leguminous crops in the rotation are also often used as a fodder crop on
which livestock can graze
• This has an advantage of animal manure being available for ploughing
back into the soil
• In addition to maintaining soil fertility and improving crop yields,
rotation can also bring other benefits
• Its helps to control the build- up of bacteria, fungus or parasites that
might cause plant disease or insect pest that might feed upon them
• In turn this saves the farmer money because they will need to use fewer
chemical pesticides
• If deep- rooted crops are alternated with shallow- rooted crops in the
rotation then this will help to improve soil structure

Fertiliser:
• A fertiliser is any natural or synthetic substance that is added to soils to
supply one or more nutrients removed by growing crops
• When plants are harvested and removed from the soil, an important link
in the carbon or nutrient cycle is broken – that of decomposition
• In natural ecosystems the nutrient ions present in plants are allowed to
decomposed by bacteria, which break down organic molecules and
release nutrients back into the soil
• Removing part of or all harvested crops exhausts the soil’s mineral ion
content, particularly N, P, K
• Heavy ploughing also accelerates decomposition of organic matter and
increases the release of mineral ions from the soil
• Without intervention by the farmer, the humus content of the soil
eventually drops to a point where it cannot supply enough nutrients to
feed the crop adequately

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 2
 • Fertilisers are used to replace lost nutrients and maintain the
productivity of the land through constantly providing optimum
conditions for plants growth
• On intensive commercial farms, synthetic chemical-based fertilisers
made by pharmaceutical companies in laboratories used to replace
these N,P,K nutrients
• They are either mixed with water and sprayed onto land or scattered
over the soil as small nodules that slowly dissolve when it rains
• Organic farmers who seek to farm in an environmentally sustainable
manner replace lost fertility through the use of rotation, including
nitrogen fixing legumes, composted waste produced on the farm and
natural animal manures rather than chemical fertilizer

Fertiliser:
• improves soil fertility,
• replaces nutrients taken out of soil by previous crops,
• organic fertilisers maintain soil texture/structure

Overuse of chemical fertiliser:

• Serious environmental problems can arise from the overuse of both

natural and synthetic fertilisers
• Eutrophication occurs when fertilisers are washed off the land by
rainwater into river and lakes
• High concentrations of nitrate and phosphate build up in the water and
cause very rapid algae growth known as ‘blooms’
• Such algal blooms can be devastating to aquatic life because they cover
the water surface entirely and prevent light and oxygen reaching other
water plants, fish and insects
• Bacteria then break down the dead plants and aquatic creatures, which
can leave the river or lake completely devoid of life
• Overuse of chemical fertilisers - particularly nitrogen – can lead to soil
acidification and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and global
warming
• When nitrogen fertiliser is applied to soils, a powerful greenhouse gas
called nitrous oxide is released

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 3
Other effects of overuse of chemical fertilizer:
 It food chain effect
 kills top link or carnivores or even predator birds
 It upset web
 direct poisoning of beneficial species
 due to that pest evolve resistance

Disadvantage:
Cost, over-use of chemical fertilisers leading to leaks into surface water
courses or underground stores, unfavourable environmental consequences

Irrigation:
• Irrigation is the artificial supply of water (as opposed to rain-fed
watering) to agricultural land and is an important method of increasing
yields and productivity on farms
• Delivering water to growing plants

Sources of irrigation:

• Wells, Tube wells, Ponds, Lakes, Rivers, Dams, Canals

Irrigation:

• Water is important for proper growth and development of flower, fruits

and seeds of plants

• Water is essential because germination of seeds does not take place

under dry conditions

• Nutrient is dissolved in water get transported to each part of the plant

• Irrigation was first used in Mesopotamia and Egypt 8000 years ago
when canals were cut from the Tigris, Euphrates and Nile rivers to divert
flood waters on to fields

• These canals and irrigation techniques such as the shaduf developed at

the same time are still commonly used by farmers in this area today

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 4
 • Irrigation is practised by more than half the farmers in the world
because they need more water for their crops and livestock than is
available from rainfall alone

• It is particularly important in regions with marked dry seasons

• The great advantage of irrigation is that it enables a farmer to control

precisely how much water is taken up by plant roots and when

• As a result, yields obtained from using irrigation are almost always

higher than yields obtained from relying on just natural rainfall

• The main types of irrigation include surface, localised irrigation,

sprinkler irrigation, sub or seepage and in- ground irrigation

Traditional method:

• In this method cattle or human labour is used

• These methods are cheaper, but less efficient

The various traditional ways are

• Moat (pulley- system)

• Chain pump (for lifting water)

• Dhekli and Rahat (lever system)

Surface irrigation:

• This is the most common but least efficient system of irrigation and is
often called flood irrigation

• It involves covering the entire cultivated area with water

• Terraced rice field use this technique with the movement of water from
one field to another being controlled by mud dikes or embankments and
narrow channels

• Water loss through evaporation is considerable

• Surface irrigation is the oldest method of irrigation

• It can be subdivided into furrow, basin irrigation

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 5
Localised irrigation:

• This is a much more precise and targeted approach, and is highly

efficient because evaporation is minimised

• Drip irrigation, which delivers small drops of water to the roots of each
plant through a network of narrow rubber pipes located above, on or
just below the soil surface, is a good example of localised irrigation

• It is the best technique for watering fruit plants, garden and trees

• The system provides water to plants drop by drop

• Water is not wasted at all

• It is boon in regions where availability of water is poor

• Other names micro, trickle irrigation

The advantages of trickle drip irrigation:

• It is Sustainable - water conserved or not wasted or less required
• water directed at roots
• most absorbed by plant
• fewer weeds (germinate)
• less water lost by evaporation; surface runoff
• no wet leaves so fewer leaf diseases
• work can continue during watering; no risk of water-related diseases
• soil structure is not damaged from water falling on bare soil
• insecticide / fungicide use is reduced as they are not washed away
• leaching reduced; risk of salinisation reduced

Why drip irrigation method is better for the environment?

 The water is delivered only where needed around the plant,
 so that less water needs to be stored or used for the same output, less
of
 The water remains unused so that salination is less likely.

Sprinkler irrigation:

• This system seeks to imitate natural rainfall

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 6
 • This system is more useful on the uneven land where sufficient water is
not available

• Water is piped through a hose to a central location where it is then

distributed over the fields in a fine spray from overhead high- pressure
sprinklers

• The sprinklers rotate slowly, which avoids any one area becoming
waterlogged

• Such sprinkler system is often mounted on wheels to enable easy

movement from one field to another

• It is very useful for sandy soil

• Other names – overhead irrigation

Sub or seepage irrigation:

• This system provides plant roots with water from beneath the soil

• It can only be used effectively in areas of the world such as Florida in the
USA where the water table (the level below which the ground is
saturated(holding) with water) is close to the surface

• A combination of pumping stations, canals and weirs are used to raise

the water table enough to dampen plant roots from below

• It is much less wasteful of water than both surface and sprinkler

irrigation systems as there is little evaporation and the farmer has a lot
of control over raising and lowering the water table

• However, it needs very careful management to avoid waterlogging the

soil

• All crops require air in the soil(specifically oxygen) and will quickly start
to die back if air is prevented from entering

• Waterlogging will also cause salination – build- up of the dissolved salts

of sodium, magnesium and calcium in the soil

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 7
 In- ground irrigation:

• This involves burying the entire irrigation system of pipes, sprinklers,

drippers and valves underground

• It is costly to set up and to maintain, for this reason is usually confined to

servicing individual properties and streets in residential areas

• It is not suited practically or financially to farms with fields that may

cover many square metres

Use irrigation water:

Water allows plant growth when rainfall is too little or too unreliable,
Allows use of otherwise favourable conditions for crops (such as fertile soils,
sunshine), increases size of crops/fruit and the amount produced
Disadvantage:
Overuse leading to salinisation, costs (of all types) of building
Infrastructure for supply (especially large dams), competing use for a scarce
natural resource

Reasons why adding too much water reduces yield:

The pore spaces fill up with water, so no or little air or oxygen for plants

Interaction between salt in the soil and irrigation water can increase
salination.
Explain how irrigation increases salination.

Water dissolves salt crystals; which makes brine, comes to surface

(or)
Alternatives to dissolves and salt; water evaporates, leaves salt

An environmental problem which often results from using this method of

irrigation is salinisation.

How and why salination occurs

(Or)
Reasons for salination occurrence in any given area:

 Over-use of irrigation water in hot or dry climates

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 8
  Moisture in the soil is evaporated due to high temperatures and leaving
residue of salts
 Salts are drawn up from lower levels in soil to the surface by high rates
of evaporation.
 A hard crust of salt forms on the ground surface
 high concentrations of salt accumulate around plant roots
 (Residual sodium ions left as dominant in the soil solution after calcium
and magnesium are precipitated as carbonates by evapotranspiration)
 most crops cannot tolerate high levels of salt
 crops can no longer be grown on the land

Controlling pests and diseases:

• If crops are attacked by pests and diseases, or if invasive weeds are

allowed to grow up unchecked, then agricultural yields will fall

• Intensive commercial farmers spray their crops with a wide range of

chemical produced synthetically in laboratories and designed to kill or
control specific weeds, insects or pathogens. These are known as
pesticides

Three main types of pesticides

• Fungicide

• Herbicides

• Insecticides

Fungicides:

• Fungicides, worth over US$20 billion, are sold by pharmaceutical

companies to farmers every year to kill fungi that attack plants

• For example, 14 different varieties are available in the USA to control

soya bean rust - a windblown disease that attacks the crop’s leaves
causing lesions and eventually killing the plant

• Spraying young soya bean plants with fungicide can increase crop yields
by as much as 20 percent compared with untreated plants

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 9
 Herbicides:

• Herbicides are chemical sprays, used against weeds, which absorb the
toxins through their roots or leaves

• Most herbicides are selective in that they act only on specific species of
weeds leaving the farmer’s crop unharmed

• The mostly used herbicide is glyphosphate

• More than 300 glyphosphate herbicides manufactured by forty different

companies are registered for use in Europe alone

• It is sprayed on cereal crops including wheat, barley, oats, rye and maize

Weedicides:

• Undesirable plants are called weeds

• The removal of weeds are called weeding

• Weeds are controlled by using weedicides like 2,4,D

• They do not damage the crops

• The weedicides are diluted with water to the extent required and
sprayed in the fields with a sprayer

Insecticides:

• Insecticide kill insects that attack crop plants

• The most widely used insecticides are called neonicotinoids and are
designed to kill sap- feeding insects such as aphids

• Neonicotinoids are systemic, which means that the chemical is taken up

by the plant either from its roots ( as a seed coating before planting or
soil drench) or through its leaves

• The toxin remains active in the crop plant for many weeks, protecting it
through the growing season

• Aphids that eat any of the plant foliage are poisoned

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 10
 • While there is no doubt that the use of pesticides have increased
agriculture yields and helped the world to feed a rapidly growing
population

• Their use had some serious ecological impacts

• Non- selective or broad spectrum pesticides can cause considerable

damage they destroy not just the target weed or insect but also
harmless and potentially useful insects

• For example, spraying a broad spectrum insecticide on cereal crops will

aphids but also destroy ladybirds( a small beetle that is harmless to the
crop plant and actually feed on aphids

• Destroying the ladybirds then breaks the food chain for birds such as
swallows and swifts, which rely on ladybirds for an important part of
their diet

• Another serious ecological problems known as bioaccumulation can be

caused by the use of systemic pesticides

• This gradually build-up of pesticide- spread toxins in organisms in

increasing amounts up the food chain

• It particularly affects top predator animals and birds

• DDT was one of the first chemicals to be used as a pesticide in the 1950s

• It was sprayed onto plants(producers at the lowest trophic level of the

food chain) e.g. potato plants – which absorbed in small quantities

• Insects such as the potato beetle ( a primary consumer) were poisoned

when they began to eat the plant but did not die immediately

• So the concentration of toxins built up in their systems

• Secondary consumers such as birds like robin then ate many of the
beetles, which meant that even higher levels of toxins build up in their
bodies

• Finally, top consumers or apex predators such as the peregrine falcon,

which consumed hundreds of robins, ingested the highest amounts of
DDT of all because they were at the top of the food chain

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 11
 • The ingested DDT made it very difficult for the falcon to absorb calcium
and the lack of calcium made the shell of their eggs very thin

• As a result many eggs broke during incubation and populations of

peregrine falcons were decimated

Spray with pesticides:

• destroys insects etc. which eat or damage crops,
• kills weeds which would compete for nutrients or water with the crops
Disadvantage:
chemical pesticides also kill other useful insects, destroy habitats for birds
and wildlife, has knock-on effects in natural food chains

Explain how the overuse of pesticides may damage the environment

around a farm.
Key points:
• pests containing pesticides eaten by predators
• which are eaten by higher level predators
• concentration of pesticide increases
• biomagnification / bioamplification / bioaccumulation
• killing of beneficial species
• food chain / web disturbed
• pesticide resistance
• leach into water

Mechanisation:
• The process or an act of implementing/introducing the control of
equipment with advanced technology

• usually involving electronic hardware; "automation replaces human

workers by machines"

• The use of computers and computer- based technology as a substitute

for human labour has enabled commercial farmers to significantly
increase the productivity of their land

• In USA in 1940, the average farm fed 19 people; today it would feed 155
people

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 12
 • Machinery has helped to make farm work easier and faster and enabled
land that was previously impossible to farm to be brought into
cultivation

• Farms have become larger and more efficient because they need fewer
workers

• Modern farms are today equipped with a glittering range of powerful

equipment that complete tasks with precision and with far less human
toil than required by previous generations

• They use satellite imagery and GPS guidance in combination with

robotically controlled machinery as a means of increasing agricultural
yields

• This is known as precision agriculture

• There is also increased use of information technology

• The use of remote sensing (scanning of the Earth from satellites)

• The generation of infrared images of the land combined with GIS and
GPS is used to accurately spread fertilizer, seed, water, pesticides and to
track crop yields from individual fields.

• This enables farmers to both reduce costs and to increase yields

• This increases efficiency by reducing waste and allows inputs to be used

in a more targeted manner

• Satellite-based optical and radar imagery are used wide

in monitoring agriculture

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 13
 • In the case of dairy farming, modern milking equipment and labour
saving technology mean that it is quite feasible for one person to run a
herd of 100 dairy cows

• Automatic calf feeders are common on Irish farms, while robotic milking
systems which greatly reduce the labour requirement in herd
management are becoming more and more common

Increased use of machinery:

• Sowing or spraying etc. done more evenly or in a more controlled way,
more can be done more quickly while weather conditions are
favourable, large scale or more efficient operations possible, larger areas
brought into cultivation by new technology
• tractors and combines can do more work than people and more
speedily
• farmers able to take advantage of favourable weather conditions or
more chance of avoiding bad weather
• allowed more specialised farming on a larger scale than ever possible
with hand labour

Disadvantage:
• heavy machinery compresses soil or damages soil structure, encourages
loss of wildlife habitats through clearance of vegetation for easy use of
machinery, high costs to small farmers in developing countries

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 14
 Selective breeding:
• Selective breeding or artificial selection enables farmers to increase
yields through only breeding from certain individual animals or plants

• A dairy farmer may identify those cows that are producing most milk in a
herd and only breed from those animals

• These cows then pass on their genes to their offspring and in time the
farmer will have a whole herd of high- yielding cows

• Similarly, an arable farmer may crossbreed a high grain- yielding variety

of rice with variety that is highly resistant to disease to create a hybrid
that combines both advantages

• The IR36 hybrid variety of rice was created by crossbreeding a high-

yielding species, that suffered from lodging or falling over, with a strong-
stemmed dwarf variety

• The result was a high- yielding dwarf plant that no longer collapsed in
the wind or when heavy seed heads developed

• This hybrid formed part of what was known as the Green Revolution in
farming

Examples of what selective breeding can produce:

• hens that lay big eggs of a particular colour

• cattle that produce lots of meat

• tomato plants that produce lots of tomatoes

• crops that are resistant to certain plant diseases

Plant breeding
• high yielding varieties (e.g. IRN 8 rice seeds) enabling the Green
Revolution
• seeds bred for special physical conditions e.g. more drought resistant
varieties of wheat
• more wind resistant wheat varieties
• more recently GM crops for more consistent yields e.g. herbicide
resistant means better

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 15
 • weed control or bt toxin gene included to kill insects

Green revolution:
Revolution = change/big difference
Green = referring to plants/output from farming

What is meant by the term Green Revolution?

 Introduction of high yielding (or) hybrid varieties of rice or wheat into
developing countries.
 Use of pesticides or herbicides, improved management, increased use of
mechanisation or machinery or modernisation of farming.

One feature of the Green Revolution is that more of the land is owned by
fewer people.
Do you think that this is a good thing? Give reasons for your answer.

Yes: good because then the full benefits of increased yields can be felt; many
plots of land far too small; to be efficient

No: unemployment; less technology; bad because poorer farmers may lose
their land; thus all the benefits of land ownership; such as secured food for
family or profits for own use.

Problems resulting from the Green Revolution:

 Pesticides build up along food chains (Bioamplification/magnification) it
may kill predators
 Danger to humans
 Fertilisers leached and enrich water - kill fish -deplete O2

Genetically modified organisms:

• The removal of a genes from one organism and transfer it into another
to create different plant varieties and new seeds for new varieties of
crops

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 16
 • The DNA that has been altered by this process and which now contains
lengths of nucleotides from two different organisms is called
recombinant DNA (rDNA)

• The organism which now expresses the new gene or genes is known as a
transgenic organism or a genetically modified organism (GMO)

• The GM plants grown around the world are crop plants modified to be
resistant to herbicides, such as glufosinate and glyphosphate, or crops
that are resistant to insect pest

• These modification increase crop yield

• A few crops, such as vitamin A – enhanced rice, provide improved

nutrients

Insect – resistant crops:

• GM plants protected against attack by insect pests

• Maize is protected against the corn borer, which eats the leaves of the
plants and then burrows into the stalk

• Cotton is protected against pests such as the boll weevil

• In both the plants, yield is improved

• Insect- resistant tobacco also exist, and is protected against the tobacco
bud worm

• Bt toxin is produced by a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis(Bt)

• Bt toxin gene has been cloned from the bacteria and been expressed in
plants to provide resistance to insects without the need for insecticides;
in effect created a bio pesticide

• E.g. Bt cotton, rice, tomato, potato, soyabean

Data:

 Over 50 million hectares of GM crops are grown in 13 countries around

the world.
 The highest percentages are grown in the USA (68%), Argentina (22%),
Canada (6%), and China (3%)

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 17
How are seeds used for GM crops different from seeds that have been used
by farmers for thousands of years?
 Seeds are made by scientists or by genetic modification
 Whereas other seeds were developed from wild/natural plants.

People hold different views about GM crops.

What do supporters of GM crops say?
• Higher food output and foods that can offer higher levels of nutrients and
vitamins.
• Disease resistant, which means higher output and less pesticide use. (There is
less leakage of chemicals into rivers and seas as well).
• Herbicide tolerant, which means that farmers can use weed killers and
control weeds without damaging their crops.
• Hunger in developing countries will be reduced.
• More efficient use of existing farm land, so that fewer forests will need to be
cleared in the future for new farm land.
One scientist says, ‘The world cannot afford to miss the new opportunities
created by new scientific discoveries and technologies’.
What do people opposed to GM crops say?
• It is dangerous to use genetic engineering to create plant and animal
varieties that could not have been created in nature.
• This may create ‘super weeds’ without controls, replacing existing varieties of
plants and animals from the ecosystem and reducing biodiversity.
• Use of natural crop varieties will be reduced, also reducing biodiversity.
• Greater use of herbicides (weed killers) will result in a higher concentration
of chemicals in food and water runoff from the land.
• Increases in food output have not been as great as supporters have claimed.

One environmentalist says, ‘New organisms can never be removed from the
environment once they have been created, so that these scientists are
gambling with the natural world’.
Explain why the scientist supports GM crops and the environmentalist
opposes their use.

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 18
Scientist - for their use:
• Advantages for food output and nutrition.
• Less need for new farm land to be cleared.
• Less pollution from chemical pesticides.
• GM crops allow more people to be fed on less land with less damage
to the environment.
Environmentalist - against their use:
Environmentalist opposing their use –
• Using plants which are not naturally created.
• This is dangerous because bio-diversity is likely to be reduced.
• Some of the claims made by those in favour such as less
environmental damage and more food output have not been met.
• GM crops are dangerous because farmers are going into unchartered
areas with unproven results.

Reasons why the farmers would reject the GM bean:

 Genes might escape to other species by means of pollination

 could upset balance of nature
 Not a local plant so may not survive
 cost of GM
 cost of buying new GM seed each year
 fear or suspicion of GM crops
 Possibility of super weeds, moral objections, health concerns
Benefits gained from growing genetically engineered crops:

 Higher yield or more profit due to pest or disease resistance and

herbicide tolerance
 Better due to increased nutrient content, control ripening, colour and
flavor improved and size

Controlled growing environments:

• One way of increasing productivity on a farm is to remove plants and

animals entirely from the natural world and cultivate or tend to them in
artificial conditions

• The farmer then has complete control over all growing conditions:

• Water, light, heat, the availability of food, and fertilizer

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 19
 Controlled growing environments:

• Greenhouses

• Hydroponics

Greenhouse:

• A greenhouse is a good example of a controlled environment

• In the Netherlands, massive greenhouses are used to grow peppers in

constant light conditions, which reduces their growing season by four
weeks

• This reduces the farmer’s cost and increases profit

• If extra carbon dioxide is pumped into the greenhouses then plants such
as tomatoes will photosynthesise faster, which has the effect of
increasing sugar production, improving flavour and yield

Hydroponics:

• Hydroponics involves immersing plant roots only in a water solution of

minerals and nutrients within a greenhouse

• As no soil is involved, it offers farmers the possibility of high yields at

reduced costs, which boosts profits

• Hydroponics also enables the farmer to isolate growing plants from

outside pests, diseases and weeds, which further reduces costs because
less pesticide is used

EVM/NOTES/SEPTEMBER 2021 20