Food, Soil, and Pest Management: Environmental Science Unibe

Food, Soil, and Pest
Management
Environmental Science
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Section 10-1
WHAT IS FOOD SECURITY AND WHY

IS IT DIFFICULT TO ATTAIN?
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Many people suffer from chronic

health and malnutrition
Food security means having daily access to enough

nutritious food to live an active and healthy life.
One of every six people in less-developed countries
is not getting enough to eat, facing food insecurity
living with chronic hunger and poor nutrition, which
threatens their ability to lead healthy and
productive lives.
The root cause of food insecurity is poverty.
Other obstacles to food security are political upheaval,
war, corruption, and bad weather, including prolonged
drought, flooding, and heat waves.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Many people suffer from chronic

health and malnutrition
To maintain good health and resist disease, individuals

need fairly large amounts of macronutrients, such as
carbohydrates, proteins and fats, and smaller amounts of
micronutrientsvitamins and minerals.
People who cannot grow or buy enough food to meet their
basic energy needs suffer from chronic undernutrition, or
hunger.
Many suffer from chronic malnutritiona deficiency of
protein and other key nutrients, which weakens them,
makes them more vulnerable to disease, and hinders the
normal development of children.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Starving children collecting ants in

Sudan, Africa
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Many people do not get enough

vitamins and minerals
Deficiency of one or more vitamins and minerals, usually

vitamin A, iron, and iodine.
Some 250,000500,000 children younger than age 6 go
blind each year from a lack of vitamin A, and within a
year, more than half of them die.
Lack of iron causes anemia which causes fatigue, makes
infection more likely, and increases a womans chances of
dying from hemorrhage in childbirth.
1/5 people in the world suffers from iron deficiency.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Many people do not get enough

vitamins and minerals
Chronic lack of iodine can cause

stunted growth, mental
retardation, and goiter.
Almost one-third of the worlds
people do not get enough iodine
in their food and water.
According to the FAO and the
WHO, eliminating this serious
health problem would cost the
equivalent of only 23 cents per
year for every person in the
world.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Many people have health problems

from eating too much
Overnutrition occurs when food energy intake exceeds energy use,

causing excess body fat.
Face similar health problems as those under: lower life expectancy,
greater susceptibility to disease and illness, and lower productivity
and life quality.
Globally about 925 million people have health problems because
they do not get enough to eat, and about 1.1 billion people face
health problems from eating too much.
About 68% of American adults are overweight and half of those
people are obese.
Obesity plays a role in four of the top ten causes of death in the
United Statesheart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, and some
forms of cancer.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Section 10-2
HOW IS FOOD PRODUCED?
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Food production has increased

dramatically
About 10,000 years ago, humans began to shift from

hunting for and gathering their food to growing it and
raising animals for food and labor.
Today, three systems supply most of our food.
Croplands produce mostly grains.
Rangelands, pastures, and feedlots produce meat.
Fisheries and aquaculture provide us with seafood.
About 66% of the worlds people survive primarily by

eating rice, wheat, and corn.
Only a few species of mammals and fish provide most of the
worlds meat and seafood.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Food production has increased

dramatically
Since 1960, there has been an increase in global

food production from all three of the major food
production systems because of technological
advances.
Tractors, farm machinery and high-tech fishing equipment.
Irrigation.
Inorganic chemical fertilizers, pesticides, high-yield grain
varieties, and industrialized production of livestock and
fish.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Industrialized crop production

relies on high-input monocultures
Agriculture used to grow crops can be divided

roughly into two types:
Industrialized agriculture, or high-input agriculture, uses
heavy equipment and large amounts of financial capital,
fossil fuel, water, commercial inorganic fertilizers, and
pesticides to produce single crops, or monocultures.
Major goal of industrialized agriculture is to increase yield,
the amount of food produced per unit of land.
Used on about 25% of the worlds cropland, mostly in moredeveloped countries, and produces about 80% of the worlds
food.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Industrialized crop production

relies on high-input monocultures
Plantation agriculture is a form of industrialized agriculture used

primarily in tropical less-developed countries.
Grows cash crops such as bananas, soybeans, sugarcane, coffee, palm
oil, and vegetables.
Crops are grown on large monoculture plantations, mostly for export
to more-developed countries.
Modern industrialized agriculture violates the three principles of

sustainability by relying heavily on fossil fuels, reducing natural
and crop biodiversity, and neglecting the conservation and
recycling of nutrients in topsoil.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Oil palm plantation once covered

with tropical rain forest
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Traditional agriculture often relies

on low-input polycultures
Traditional agriculture provides about 20% of the worlds

food crops on about 75% of its cultivated land, mostly in
less-developed countries.
There are two main types of traditional agriculture.
Traditional subsistence agriculture supplements energy from the
sun with the labor of humans and draft animals to produce enough
crops for a farm familys survival, with little left over to sell or
store as a reserve for hard times.
In traditional intensive agriculture, farmers increase their inputs of
human and draft-animal labor, animal manure for fertilizer, and
water to obtain higher crop yields, some of which can be sold for
income.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

Many traditional farmers grow several crops on the same

plot simultaneously, a practice known as polyculture.
Crop diversity reduces the chance of losing most or all of the
years food supply to pests, bad weather, and other misfortunes.
Crops mature at different times, provide food throughout the
year, reduce the input of human labor, and keep the soil covered
to reduce erosion from wind and water.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

Lessens need for fertilizer and water, because root systems at

different depths in the soil capture nutrients and moisture
efficiently.
Insecticides and herbicides are rarely needed because multiple
habitats are created for natural predators of crop-eating insects,
and weeds have trouble competing with the multitude of crop
plants.
On average, such low-input polyculture produces higher yields
than does high-input monoculture.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
A closer look at industrialized crop

production
Farmers can produce more food by increasing their

land or their yields per acre.
Since 1950, about 88% of the increase in global food
production has come from using high-input
industrialized agriculture to increase yields in a
process called the green revolution.
Three steps of the green revolution:
First, develop and plant monocultures of selectively bred
or genetically engineered high-yield varieties of key crops
such as rice, wheat, and corn.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

production
Second, produce high yields by using large inputs of water

and synthetic inorganic fertilizers, and pesticides.
Third, increase the number of crops grown per year on a
plot of land through multiple cropping.
The first green revolution used high-input

agriculture to dramatically increase crop yields in
most of the worlds more-developed countries,
especially the United States, between 1950 and
1970.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

production
A second green revolution has been taking place

since 1967. Fast-growing varieties of rice and
wheat, specially bred for tropical and subtropical
climates, have been introduced into middle-income,
less-developed countries such as India, China, and
Brazil.
Producing more food on less land has helped to protect
some biodiversity by preserving large areas of forests,
grasslands, wetlands, and easily eroded mountain terrain
that might otherwise be used for farming.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

production
Largely because of the two green revolutions, world

grain production tripled between 1961 and 2009.
People directly consume about 48% of the worlds
grain production. About 35% is used to feed livestock
and indirectly consumed by people who eat meat
and meat products. The remaining 17% (mostly corn)
is used to make biofuels such as ethanol for cars and
other vehicles.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Growth in global grain production of wheat,

corn, and rice between 1961-2010
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

production
In the U.S., industrialized farming has evolved into agribusiness, as

a small number of giant multinational corporations increasingly
control the growing, processing, distribution, and sale of food in
U.S. and global markets.
Since 1950 U.S. industrialized agriculture has more than doubled
the yields of key crops such as wheat, corn, and soybeans without
cultivating more land.
Americans spend only about 13% of their disposable income on food,
compared to the percentages up to 50% that people in China and
India and most other less-developed countries have to pay for food.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Crossbreeding and genetic engineering

produce varieties of crops and livestock
Crossbreeding through artificial selection has been used

for centuries by farmers and scientists to develop
genetically improved varieties of crops and livestock
animals.
Such selective breeding in this first gene revolution has yielded
amazing results; ancient ears of corn were about the size of your
little finger, and wild tomatoes were once the size of grapes.
Typically takes 15 years or more to produce a commercially
valuable new crop variety, and it can combine traits only from
genetically similar species.
Typically, resulting varieties remain useful for only 510 years
before pests and diseases reduce their efficacy.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

Modern scientists are creating a second gene revolution by

using genetic engineering to develop genetically improved
strains of crops and livestock.
Alters an organisms genetic material through adding, deleting, or
changing segments of its DNA to produce desirable traits or to
eliminate undesirable ones (gene splicing); resulting organisms are
called genetically modified organisms.
Developing a new crop variety through gene splicing is faster
selective breeding, usually costs less, and allows for the insertion
of genes from almost any other organism into crop cells.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

Currently, at least 70% of the food products on U.S. supermarket

shelves contain some form of genetically engineered food or
ingredients, but no law requires the labeling of GM products.
Certified organic food, which is labeled as makes no use of
genetically modified seeds or ingredients.
Bioengineers plan to develop new GM varieties of crops that are
resistant to heat, cold, herbicides, insect pests, parasites, viral
diseases, drought, and salty or acidic soil. They also hope to
develop crop plants that can grow faster and survive with little or
no irrigation and with less fertilizer and pesticides.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Meat production has grown steadily
Meat and animal products such as eggs and milk are good sources of
high-quality protein and represent the worlds second major foodproducing system.
Between 1961 and 2010, world meat productionmostly beef, pork,
and poultryincreased more than fourfold and average meat
consumption per person more than doubled.
Global meat production is likely to more than double again by 2050
as affluence rises and more middle-income people begin consuming
more meat and animal products in rapidly developing countries such
as China and India.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Meat production has grown steadily
About half of the worlds meat comes from livestock

grazing on grass in unfenced rangelands and enclosed
pastures.
The other half is produced through an industrialized
system in which animals are raised mostly in densely
packed feedlots and concentrated animal feeding
operations (CAFOs), where they are fed grain, fish meal,
or fish oil, which are usually doctored with growth
hormones and antibiotics.
Feedlots and CAFOs, and the animal wastes and runoff
associated with them, create serious environmental
impacts on the air and water.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Fish and shellfish production have

increased dramatically
The worlds third major food-producing system

consists of fisheries and aquaculture.
A fishery is a concentration of particular aquatic
species suitable for commercial harvesting in a given
ocean area or inland body of water.
Industrial fishing fleets harvest most of the worlds
marine catch of wild fish.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Fish and shellfish production have

increased dramatically
Fish and shellfish are also produced through

aquaculturethe practice of raising marine and
freshwater fish in freshwater ponds and rice
paddies or in underwater cages in coastal waters
or in deeper ocean waters.
Some fishery scientists warn that unless we
reduce overfishing and ocean pollution, and slow
projected climate change, most of the worlds
major commercial ocean fisheries could collapse
by 2050.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Global seafood production, 1950-2008
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Industrialized food production

requires huge inputs of energy
The industrialization of food production has been

made possible by the availability of energy, mostly
from nonrenewable oil and natural gas.
Energy is needed to run farm machinery, irrigate
crops, and produce synthetic pesticides and synthetic
inorganic fertilizers, as well as to process food and
transport it long distances within and between
countries.
As a result, producing, processing, transporting, and
consuming industrialized food result in a large net
energy loss.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Section 10-3
WHAT ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

ARISE FROM INDUSTRIALIZED FOOD
PRODUCTION?
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Food productions harmful

environmental effects
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Producing food has major

environmental impacts
Spectacular increases in the worlds food

production since 1950. The bad news is the
harmful environmental effects associated
with such production increases.
According to many analysts, agriculture has a
greater total harmful environmental impact
than any human activity.
These environmental effects may limit future
food production and make it unsustainable.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Topsoil erosion is a serious

problem in parts of the world
Soil erosion is the movement of soil components,

especially surface litter and topsoil from one place
to another by the actions of wind and water.
Erosion of topsoil has two major harmful effects.
Loss of soil fertility through depletion of plant nutrients in

topsoil.
Water pollution in nearby surface waters, where eroded
topsoil ends up as sediment. This can kill fish and shellfish
and clog irrigation ditches, boat channels, reservoirs, and
lakes.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Topsoil erosion is a serious

problem in parts of the world
By removing vital plant nutrients from topsoil

and adding excess plant nutrients to aquatic
systems, we degrade the topsoil and pollute the
water, and thus alter the carbon, nitrogen, and
phosphorus cycles.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Topsoil erosion is a serious problem in some

parts of the world
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Drought and human activities are

degrading drylands
Desertification in arid and semiarid parts of the world

threatens livestock and crop contributions to the worlds
food supply.
Desertification occurs when the productive potential of
topsoil falls by 10% or more because of a combination of
prolonged drought and human activities that expose topsoil
to erosion.
The FAOs 2007 report on the Status of the Worlds Forests
estimated that some 70% of worlds arid and semiarid lands
used for agriculture are degraded and threatened by
desertification.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Sand dunes threaten to take over

an oasis in West Africa
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Variation in desertification in arid

and semiarid lands, 2007
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Excessive irrigation has serious

consequences
Irrigation boosts productivity of farms; roughly 20% of

the worlds cropland that is irrigated produces about
45% of the worlds food.
Most irrigation water is a dilute solution of various
salts that are picked up as the water flows over or
through soil and rocks.
Repeated annual applications of irrigation water in dry
climates lead to the gradual accumulation of salts in
the upper soil layersa soil degradation process called
salinization that stunts crop growth, lowers crop
yields, and can eventually kill plants and ruin the land.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Excessive irrigation has serious

consequences
Severe salinization has reduced yields on at least 10%

of the worlds irrigated cropland, and almost 25% of
irrigated cropland in the United States, especially in
western states
Irrigation can cause waterlogging, in which water
accumulates underground and gradually raises the
water table; at least one-tenth of the worlds
irrigated land suffers from waterlogging, and the
problem is getting worse.
Excessive irrigation contributes to depletion of
groundwater and surface water supplies.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Agriculture contributes to air pollution

and projected climate change
Agricultural activities create a lot of air pollution.

Account for more than 25% of the human-generated
emissions of carbon dioxide, other greenhouse gases.
Industrialized livestock production alone generates about
18% of the worlds greenhouse gases; cattle and dairy cows
release the greenhouse gas methane and methane is
generated by liquid animal manure stored in waste lagoons.
Nitrous oxide, with about 300 times the warming capacity
of CO2 per molecule, is released in huge quantities by
synthetic inorganic fertilizers as well as by livestock
manure.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Genetically modified crops and foods

have advantages and disadvantages
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Food and biofuel production systems have

caused major losses of biodiversity
Natural biodiversity and some ecological services are

threatened when forests are cleared and grasslands are
plowed up and replaced with croplands used to produce food
or biofuels, such as ethanol.
There is increasing loss of agrobiodiversity, the worlds genetic
variety of animal and plant species.
In the United States, about 97% of the food plant varieties that
were available to farmers in the 1940s no longer exist, except
perhaps in small amounts in seed banks and in the backyards
of a few gardeners.
The worlds genetic library, which is critical for increasing
food yields, is rapidly shrinking.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
There is controversy over

genetically engineered foods
Controversy has arisen over the use of genetically

modified (GM) food and other products of genetic
engineering.
Its producers and investors see GM food as a potentially
sustainable way to solve world hunger problems and
improve human health.
Some critics consider it potentially dangerous
Frankenfood.
Recognize the potential benefits of GM crops.
Warn that we know too little about the long-term potential harm
to human health and ecosystems from the widespread use of such
crops.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
There is controversy over

genetically engineered foods
Warn that GM organisms released into the environment may

cause some unintended harmful genetic and ecological
effects.
Genes in plant pollen from GM crops can spread among
nonengineered species. The new strains can then form
hybrids with wild crop varieties, which could reduce the
natural genetic biodiversity of wild strains.
Most scientists and economists who have evaluated the
genetic engineering of crops believe that its potential
benefits will eventually outweigh its risks.
Others have serious doubts about the ability of GM crops to
increase food security compared to other more effective and
sustainable alternative solutions.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
There are limits to expansion of

the green revolution
Factors that have limited the current and

future success of the green revolution:
Without huge inputs of inorganic fertilizer,
pesticides, and water, most green revolution and
genetically engineered crop varieties produce
yields that are no higher (and are sometimes
lower) than those from traditional strains.
High inputs cost too much for most subsistence
farmers in less-developed countries.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

Scientists point out that continuing to increase these

inputs eventually produces no additional increase in
crop yields.
Since 1978, the amount of irrigated land per person has
been declining, due to population growth, wasteful use
of irrigation water, soil salinization, and depletion of
both aquifers and surface water, and the fact that most
of the worlds farmers do not have enough money to
irrigate their crops.
We can get more crops per drop of irrigation water by
using known methods and technologies to greatly
improve the efficiency of irrigation.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

Clearing tropical forests and irrigating arid land could more than
double the worlds cropland, but much of this land has poor soil
fertility, steep slopes, or both.
Cultivating such land usually is expensive, is unlikely to be
sustainable, and reduces biodiversity by degrading and destroying
wildlife habitats
During this century, fertile croplands in coastal areas are likely to
be flooded by rising sea levels resulting from projected climate
change.
Food production could drop sharply in some major food-producing
areas because of increased drought and longer and more intense
heat waves, also resulting from projected climate change.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Industrialized meat production has

harmful environmental consequences
Producing meat by using feedlots and other confined

animal production facilities increases meat
production, reduces overgrazing, and yields higher
profits.
Such systems use large amounts of energy (mostly
fossil fuels) and water and produce huge amounts of
animal waste that sometimes pollute surface water
and groundwater and saturate the air with their
odors and emitting large quantities of climatechanging greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

Meat produced by industrialized agriculture is artificially

cheap harmful environmental and health costs are not
included in the prices.
Overgrazing and soil compaction and erosion by livestock
have degraded about 20% of the worlds grasslands and
pastures.
Rangeland grazing and industrialized livestock production
cause about 55% of all topsoil erosion and sediment
pollution, and 33% of the water pollution that results from
runoff from excessive inputs of synthetic fertilizers.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

The use of fossil fuels energy pollutes the air and water,
and emits greenhouse gases.
Use of antibiotics is widespread in industrialized livestock
production facilities.
70% of all antibiotics used in the United States are added to
animal feed to prevent the spread of diseases in crowded feedlots
and CAFOs and to make the livestock animals grow faster.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Industrialized meat production has harmful

environmental consequences
Widespread antibiotic use in livestock is an important factor in the rise of

genetic resistance among many disease-causing microbes.
Reduces the effectiveness of some antibiotics used to treat infectious diseases
in humans.
Promotes the development of new and aggressive disease organisms that are
resistant to all but a very few antibiotics currently available.
Animal waste produced by U.S. meat is

roughly 130 times that of its human
population.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Animal feedlots and

confined animal feeding
operations have
advantages and
disadvantages
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Aquaculture has advantages and

disadvantages
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Section 10-4
HOW CAN WE PROTECT CROPS

FROM PESTS MORE SUSTAINABLY?
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Nature controls the populations of

most pests
A pest is any species that interferes with human

welfare by competing with us for food, invading
homes, lawns and gardens, destroying building
materials, spreading disease, invading ecosystems,
or simply being a nuisance.
Worldwide, only about 100 species of plants
(weeds), animals (mostly insects), fungi, and
microbes cause most of the damage to the crops we
grow.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Nature controls the populations of

most pests
In natural ecosystems and many polyculture

agroecosystems, natural enemies (predators,
parasites, and disease organisms) control the
populations of most potential pest species.
Spiders kill far more crop-eating insects every year than
humans do by using chemicals.
When we clear forests and grasslands, plant

monoculture crops, and douse fields with chemicals
that kill pests, we upset many of these natural
population checks and balances that help to
maintain biodiversity.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
We use pesticides to help control

pest populations
Development of a variety of synthetic pesticideschemicals used to

kill/control populations of organisms that we consider undesirable
such as insects, weeds, and mice.
Common types of pesticides include insecticides (insect killers),
herbicides (weed killers), fungicides (fungus killers), and rodenticides
(rat and mouse killers).
Plants produce chemicals called biopesticides to ward off, deceive,
or poison the insects and herbivores that feed on them.
Since 1950, pesticide use has increased more than 50-fold, and most
of todays pesticides are 10100 times more toxic than those used in
the 1950s.
Use of biopesticides is on the rise.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

pest populations
Broad-spectrum agents are toxic to many pests,

but also to beneficial species. Examples are
chlorinated hydrocarbon compounds, such as DDT,
and organophosphate compounds, such as
malathion and parathion.
Selective, or narrow spectrum, agents are
effective against a narrowly defined group of
organisms. Examples are algaecides for algae and
fungicides for fungi.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

pest populations
Pesticides vary in their persistence, the length of time

they remain deadly in the environment.
DDT and related compounds remain in the environment for years
and can be biologically magnified in food chains and webs.
Organophosphates are active for days or weeks and are not
biologically magnified but can be highly toxic to humans.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

pest populations
In the United States, about 25% of pesticide use is on

houses, gardens, lawns, parks, playing fields, swimming
pools, and golf courses, with the average lawn receiving
ten times more synthetic pesticides per unit of land area
than an equivalent amount of cropland.
In 1962, biologist Rachel Carson warned against relying
primarily on synthetic organic chemicals to kill insects
and other species we regard as pests.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Synthetic pesticides: advantages

and disadvantages
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
You can reduce your exposure to

pesticides
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Pesticide use has not reduced U.S.

crop losses to pests
Synthetic pesticide use has not reduced U.S.

crop losses to pests, mostly because of
genetic resistance and reduction of natural
predators.
Three conclusions from a study that
evaluated data from more than 300
agricultural scientists and economists:
Between 1942 and 1997, estimated crop losses from insects almost doubled from 7%
to 13%, despite a 10-fold increase in the use of synthetic insecticides.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Pesticide use has not reduced U.S.

crop losses to pests
The estimated environmental, health, and social costs of

pesticide use in the United States are $510 in damages for
every dollar spent on pesticides.
Alternative pest management practices could cut the use
of synthetic pesticides by half on 40 major U.S. crops
without reducing crop yields
The pesticide industry disputes these findings.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
CASE STUDY: Ecological Surprises: The

Law of Unintended Consequences
In the 1950s, dieldrin (a DDT relative) was used to

eliminate malaria in North Borneo. This started an
unexpected chain of negative effects.
Small insect-eating lizards that lived in the houses
died after eating dieldrin-contaminated insects.
Cats died after feeding on the lizards. Rats
flourished and villagers became threatened by
plague carried by rat fleas.
The WHO successfully parachuted healthy cats onto
the island to help control the rats.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
CASE STUDY: Ecological Surprises: The

Law of Unintended Consequences
The villagers roofs fell in. The dieldrin had killed

wasps and other insects that fed on a type of
caterpillar that was not affected by the insecticide.
The caterpillar population exploded, and ate the
leaves used to thatch roofs.
Ultimately, both malaria and the unexpected effects
of the spraying program were brought under control.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Laws and treaties can help to protect us

from the harmful effects of pesticides
In the U.S., three federal agencies, the EPA, the

USDA, and the FDA regulate the sale and use of
pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,
and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), first passed in 1947 and
amended in 1972.
Under FIFRA, the EPA was supposed to assess the
health risks of the active ingredients in synthetic
pesticide products already in use.
After more than 30 years, less than 10% of the active
ingredients in pesticide products have been tested for
chronic health effects, due to lack of funding.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Laws and treaties can help to protect us

from the harmful effects of pesticides
In 1996, Congress passed the Food Quality Protection Act,

due to growing scientific evidence and citizen pressure
concerning the effects of small amounts of pesticides on
children.
Act requires the EPA to reduce the allowed levels of pesticide
residues in food by a factor of 10 when there is inadequate
information on the potentially harmful effects on children.
Between 1972 and 2010, the EPA used FIFRA to ban or

severely restrict the use of 64 active pesticide
ingredients, including DDT and most other chlorinated
hydrocarbon insecticides.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Laws and treaties can help to protect us from

the harmful effects of pesticides
Up to 98% of the potential risk of developing cancer from

pesticide residues on food grown in the U.S. would be
eliminated if EPA standards were as strict for pre-1972
pesticides as they are for later ones.
Banned/unregistered pesticides may be manufactured in
one country and exported to other countries.
In what environmental scientists call a circle of poison,
or the boomerang effect, residues of some banned or
unapproved chemicals used in synthetic pesticides
exported to other countries can return to the exporting
countries on imported food.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Laws and treaties can help to

protect us from the harmful effects
of pesticides
The wind can also carry persistent pesticides from one

country to another.
In 1998, more than 50 countries developed an
international treaty that requires exporting countries to
have informed consent from importing counties for
exports of 22 synthetic pesticides and 5 industrial
chemicals.
In 2000, more than 100 countries developed an
international agreement to ban or phase out the use of
12 especially hazardous persistent organic pollutants.
The U.S. has not signed.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
There are alternatives to synthetic

pesticides
Many scientists believe we should greatly increase

the use of biological, ecological, and other
alternative methods for controlling pests and
diseases that affect crops and human health. Here
are some of these alternatives:
Fool the pest. A variety of cultivation practices can be used
to fake out pests.
Provide homes for pest enemies.
Implant genetic resistance.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
There are alternatives to synthetic

pesticides
Bring in natural enemies. Use biological control

by importing natural predators, parasites, and
disease-causing bacteria and viruses.
Use insect perfumes.
Bring in the hormones.
Reduce use of synthetic herbicides to control
weeds.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Integrated pest management is a component

of more sustainable agriculture
Many pest control experts and farmers believe the best way to
control crop pests is a carefully designed integrated pest
management (IPM) program.
Farmers develop a carefully designed control program that
uses a combination of cultivation, biological, and chemical
tools and techniques.
The overall aim of IPM is to reduce crop damage to an
economically tolerable level.
Farmers first use biological methods (natural predators,
parasites, and disease organisms) and cultivation controls
(such as rotating crops, altering planting time, and using large
machines to vacuum up harmful bugs).
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

They apply small amounts of insecticidesmostly based on

those naturally produced by plantsonly when insect or weed
populations reach a threshold where the potential cost of pest
damage to crops outweighs the cost of applying the pesticide.
Broad-spectrum, long-lived pesticides are not used, and
different chemicals are used alternately to slow the
development of genetic resistance and to avoid killing
predators of pest species.
A well-designed IPM program can reduce synthetic pesticide
use and pest control costs by 5065%, without reducing crop
yields and food quality.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

IPM can also reduce inputs of fertilizer and irrigation

water, and slow the development of genetic
resistance, because pests are attacked less often
and with lower doses of pesticides.
Disadvantages of IPM:
It requires expert knowledge about each pest situation and
takes more time than does using conventional pesticides.
Methods developed for a crop in one area might not apply
to areas with even slightly different growing conditions.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

Initial costs may be higher, although long-term costs

typically are lower than those of using conventional
pesticides.
Widespread use of IPM is hindered in the United States
and a number of other countries by government
subsidies for using synthetic chemical pesticides, as
well as by opposition from pesticide manufacturers,
and a shortage of IPM experts.
The USDA could promote IPM three ways:

First, add a 2% sales tax on synthetic pesticides and
use the revenue to fund IPM research and education.
Integrated pest
management is a
component of more
sustainable
Second, set up a federally supported IPM
agriculture
demonstration project on at least one
farm in
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
every county in the United States.

Third, train USDA field personnel and county farm
agents in IPM so they can help farmers use this
alternative.
Because these measures would reduce its profits,
the pesticide industry has vigorously, and
successfully, opposed them.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Section 10-5
HOW CAN WE IMPROVE FOOD

SECURITY?
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Use government policies to improve food

production and security
Agriculture is a financially risky business because farmers have a good

or bad year depending on factors over which they have little control:
weather, crop prices, crop pests and diseases, loan interest rates, and
global markets.
Governments use two main approaches to influence food production:
Control prices.
Provide subsidies.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Use government policies to improve food

production and security
To improve food security, some analysts urge governments to establish

special programs focused on saving children from the harmful health effects
of poverty.
Immunizing more children against childhood diseases.

Preventing dehydration from diarrhea by giving infants a mixture of sugar and salt
in water.
Preventing blindness by giving children an inexpensive vitamin A capsule twice a
year.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Section 10-6
HOW CAN WE PRODUCE FOOD

MORE SUSTAINABLY?
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Reduce soil erosion
Soil conservation involves using a variety of ways to

reduce soil erosion and restore soil fertility, mostly
by keeping the soil covered with vegetation.
Some of the methods farmers can use to reduce soil
erosion:
Terracing and contour planting are ways to grow food on
steep slopes without depleting topsoil.
Strip cropping involves planting alternating strips of a
row crop and another crop that completely covers the
soil, called a cover crop.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Reduce soil erosion
Alley cropping, or agroforestry involves one or more

crops planted together in strips or alleys between
trees and shrubs, which provide shade.
Farmers can establish windbreaks, or shelterbelts, of
trees around crop fields to reduce wind erosion.
Conservation tillage farming by using special tillers
and planting machines that drill seeds directly
through crop residues into the undisturbed soil.
Retire the estimated one-tenth of the worlds
marginal cropland that is highly erodible and accounts
for the majority of the worlds topsoil erosion.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Reduce soil erosion
Soil erosion in the United States.

A third of the countrys original topsoil is gone and much of
the rest is degraded.
In 1935, the United States passed the Soil Erosion Act, which
established the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) as part of the
USDA.
Now called the Natural Resources Conservation Service
Farmers and ranchers were given technical assistance to set

up soil conservation programs.
U.S. farmers are sharply reducing some of their topsoil
losses through a combination of conservation-tillage farming
and government-sponsored soil conservation programs.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Soil conservation methods
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Restore soil fertility
Topsoil conservation is the best way to maintain soil

fertility, with restoring some of the lost plant nutrients
being the next option.
Organic fertilizer from plant and animal materials.
Animal manure: the waste of cattle, horses, poultry, and other
farm animals adding organic nitrogen, stimulating the growth of
beneficial soil bacteria and fungi.
Green manure: consists of freshly cut or growing green
vegetation that is plowed into the topsoil to increase the organic
matter and humus available to the next crop.
Compost is produced when microorganisms in soil break down
organic matter in the presence of oxygen.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Restore soil fertility
Organic agriculture uses only organic fertilizers and

crop rotation to replenish the nutrients.
Synthetic inorganic fertilizers are usually inorganic
compounds that contain nitrogen, phosphorus, and
potassium.
Inorganic fertilizer use has grown more than 900% since 1950;
now about one-fourth of the worlds crops.
Fertilizer runoff can pollute nearby bodies of water and
coastal estuaries where rivers empty into the sea.
They do not replace organic matter. To completely restore
nutrients to topsoil, both inorganic and organic fertilizers
should be used.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Reduce soil salinization and

desertification
One way to prevent and deal with soil salinization

is to reduce the amount of water that is put onto
crop fields through use of modern efficient
irrigation.
Drip, or trickle irrigation, also called microirrigation,
is the most efficient way to deliver small amounts of
freshwater to crops precisely.
These systems drastically reduce freshwater waste
because 9095% of the water input reaches the crops.
By using less freshwater, they also reduce the amount
of harmful salt that irrigation water leaves in the soil.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Reduce soil salinization and

desertification
Reducing desertification is not easy because we cant

control the timing and location of prolonged droughts
caused by changes in weather patterns.
We can reduce population growth, overgrazing,
deforestation, and destructive forms of planting, irrigation,
and mining, which have left much land vulnerable to soil
erosion and thus desertification.
Work to decrease the human contribution to projected
climate change, which is expected to increase severe and
prolonged droughts in larger areas of the world during this
century.
Restoration via planting trees.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Three types of systems commonly

used to irrigate crops
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Center pivot
(efficiency 80% with low-pressure
sprinkler and 9095% with LEPA
Gravity fow
sprinkler)
(efficiency 60% and 80% with surge valves)
Water usually pumped from
underground and sprayed
Water usually comes from an aqueduct
from mobile boom with
system or a nearby river.
sprinklers.
Drip irrigation
(efficiency 9095%)
Above- or below-ground
pipes or tubes deliver
water to individual plant
roots.
Fig. 10-24, p. 229
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Ways to prevent soil salinization

and ways to clean it up
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Practice more sustainable

aquaculture
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Produce meat more efficiently and

eat less meat
Meat production and consumption account for the largest contribution

to the ecological footprints of most individuals in affluent nations.
If everyone in the world today was on the average U.S. meat-based
diet, the current annual global grain harvest could sustainably feed
only about one-third of the worlds current population.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Produce meat more efficiently and

eat less meat
More sustainable meat production and

consumption involves shifting from less grainefficient forms of animal protein, (beef,
carnivorous fish), to more grain-efficient
forms (poultry, herbivorous farmed fish).
Eating less meat by having one meatless day
per week.
Healthier to eat less meat.
Replace meat with a balanced vegetarian diet.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
The efficiency of converting grain

into animal protein varies
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Shift to more sustainable food

production
Industrialized agriculture produces large amounts of food at

reasonable prices, but is unsustainable because it:
Relies heavily on fossil fuels.

Reduces biodiversity and agrobiodiversity.
Reduces the recycling of plant nutrients back to topsoil.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
More sustainable,
low-input food
production has a
number of major
components
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

production
More sustainable, low-input agriculture has a number of major components.
Organic farming.
Sharply reduces the harmful environmental effects of industrialized farming and our
exposure to pesticides.
Encourages more humane treatment of animals used for food and is a more economically
just system for farm workers and farmers.
Requires more human labor than industrial farming.
Yields can be lower but farmers do not have to pay for expensive synthetic pesticides,
herbicides, and fertilizers; typically get higher prices for their crops.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Major advantages of organic

farming over conventional
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

production
Organic polyculture.
A diversity of organic crops is grown on the same plot.
Use polyculture to grow perennial cropscrops that grow back year after year on their
own.
Helps to conserve and replenish topsoil, requires and wastes less water, and reduces the
need for fertilizers and pesticides.
Reduces the air and water pollution associated with conventional industrialized
agriculture.
Shift from using imported fossil fuel to relying more on solar energy for food
production.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

production
Five major strategies to help farmers and consumers

make the transition to more sustainable agriculture:
1. Greatly increase research on more sustainable organic
farming and perennial polyculture, and on improving
human nutrition.
2. Establish education and training programs in more
sustainable agriculture for students, farmers, and
government agricultural officials.
3. Set up an international fund to give farmers in poor
countries access to various types of more sustainable
agriculture.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE

production
4. Replace government subsidies for environmentally

harmful forms of industrialized agriculture with
subsidies that encourage more sustainable
agriculture.
5. Mount a massive program to educate consumers
about the true environmental and health costs of the
food they buy. This would help them understand why
the current system is unsustainable, and it would
help build political support for including the harmful
costs of food production in the market prices of food.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Ways you can eat more sustainably
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Three big ideas
About 925 million people have health problems

because they do not get enough to eat and 1.1 billion
people face health problems from eating too much.
Modern industrialized agriculture has a greater
harmful impact on the environment than any other
human activity.
More sustainable forms of food production will
greatly reduce the harmful environmental impacts of
industrialized food production systems while likely
increasing food security.
Por: Carlos Sanlley
UNIBE
Muchas gracias
Nombre profesor(a)
Profesor(a)
SANTO DOMINGO, D.N.
Mes, Ao
Esta ha sido una presentacin

para la asignatura de
de la Escuela de
Universidad Iberoamericana - UNIBE

Food, Soil, and Pest Management: Environmental Science Unibe

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Food, Soil, and Pest Management: Environmental Science Unibe

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Food, Soil, and Pest Management: Environmental Science Unibe

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Food, Soil, and Pest

WHAT IS FOOD SECURITY AND WHY

Many people suffer from chronic

Food security means having daily access to enough

Many people suffer from chronic

To maintain good health and resist disease, individuals

Starving children collecting ants in

Many people do not get enough

Deficiency of one or more vitamins and minerals, usually

Many people do not get enough

Chronic lack of iodine can cause

Many people have health problems

Overnutrition occurs when food energy intake exceeds energy use,

HOW IS FOOD PRODUCED?

Food production has increased

About 10,000 years ago, humans began to shift from

About 66% of the worlds people survive primarily by

Food production has increased

Since 1960, there has been an increase in global

Industrialized crop production

Agriculture used to grow crops can be divided

Industrialized crop production

Plantation agriculture is a form of industrialized agriculture used

Modern industrialized agriculture violates the three principles of

Oil palm plantation once covered

Traditional agriculture often relies

Traditional agriculture provides about 20% of the worlds

Traditional agriculture often relies

Many traditional farmers grow several crops on the same

Traditional agriculture often relies

Lessens need for fertilizer and water, because root systems at

A closer look at industrialized crop

Farmers can produce more food by increasing their

A closer look at industrialized crop

Second, produce high yields by using large inputs of water

The first green revolution used high-input

A closer look at industrialized crop

A second green revolution has been taking place

A closer look at industrialized crop

Largely because of the two green revolutions, world

Growth in global grain production of wheat,

A closer look at industrialized crop

In the U.S., industrialized farming has evolved into agribusiness, as

Crossbreeding and genetic engineering

Crossbreeding through artificial selection has been used

Crossbreeding and genetic engineering

Modern scientists are creating a second gene revolution by

Crossbreeding and genetic engineering

Currently, at least 70% of the food products on U.S. supermarket

Meat production has grown steadily

Meat production has grown steadily

About half of the worlds meat comes from livestock

Fish and shellfish production have

The worlds third major food-producing system

Fish and shellfish production have

Fish and shellfish are also produced through

Global seafood production, 1950-2008

Industrialized food production