Activity 3.1- Agriculture 101

About ten thousand years ago there was a major significant transition for human society from the hunting, gathering, and nomadic agricultural communities. This transition that occurred thousands of years ago spread and facilitated regions such as the Fertile Crescent and China, opening the way for agricultural systems, especially during the Industrial Revolution, bringing with it challenges such as monocultures and certain vulnerabilities in certain foods. In this case, we talk about agriculture.

As a result of these events, sustainable agriculture was born, emerging as a solution focusing more on ecological functions such as nutrient cycling and biodiversity. Sustainable practices, which aim at economic viability, with respect to our environment and the security of public health. Sustainable agriculture has gained great global recognition thanks to its work maintaining soil health, reducing pests, and also promoting biodiversity.

This has undoubtedly been a good proposal and something that has been implemented. However, issues of food security, food safety, and social equity, among others, remain topics of pressing concern, which highlights the need to make adjustments to sustainable agricultural proposals.

The principles of sustainable food and agriculture are specifically focused on availability and accessibility, use and stability, as well as the resilience and efficiency of resources, taking care of environmental integrity and social equity. In the midst of all the events of globalization and the domination of large corporations in the food chain, efforts to resort to control over the options for forms of food production are more than evident through initiatives such as food markets. farmers and all that agriculture that is supported by the communities.

In Canada, challenges such as the declining number of farms and the role of migrants working as farmers underscore the importance of sustaining and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. It is also important to highlight the contributions of women in agriculture as they are vital but are often overlooked.

On the other hand, integrated pest management, also known as IPM, offers an environmentally friendly approach to pest control. This is possible by minimizing the use of pesticides. They integrate the steps that are inspection, monitoring and non-chemical methods.

Intercropping is also used. This is an ancient technique and is also effective for sustainable agriculture to maximize the yield of your crops and the use of resources. This practice is more commonly used within tropical zones, there is already an interest in intercropping on the part of Canadian farmers despite the challenges they face such as pest control.

In addition, pest problems in agriculture require careful decisions using planning and management that balance chemical and cultural control methods. Herbicides, pesticity and weed targeting have become common in modern agriculture

Genetically modified (GM) crops are developed to resist pesticides such as glysophate but this has resulted in weeds evolving to become more resistant, which represents a new challenge for farmers.

That is, sustainable agriculture offers a broad holistic approach to address complex challenges that our modern ecosystems face in food production, also emphasizing the environmental side, social responsibility and economic vitality. Efforts to promote sustainable practices are crucial to guarantee food security for society but also environmental sustainability.

History of the Agriculture

Pre-Modern Agriculture:

Moving Towards Modern Agriculture: The Green Revolution

Issues of the Modern Agriculture:

Water Pollution from Fertilizers 

Pesticides and Pesticide Resistance

Climate Change

 

Soil Loss

 

What is Sustainable Agriculture?

Integrated Pest Managment

Enhacing Biodiversity in Agroecosystems and New Trends: Diversified Agroecological Farming.

Case Study: Drinking Tea in a Healthier Environment 

 

Case Study: But What about the Fertilizers?

References:

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH CENTRE Environmental Sustainability in Practice Begin with “Table of Contents”  Background: Big_Stock_Introduction. (n.d.). Sustainable Agriculture. Environmental Sustainability in Practice. https://brockuesrc.ca/environmental-sustainability-in-practice/sustainable-agriculture