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Commercial farming vs Subsistence Farming
Commercial Farming- Produce is grown for sale and profit, Usually large-scale, Uses modern technology and machinery, Often involves monoculture (one or few crops), Market-oriented
Subsistence Farming- Produce is grown to feed the farmer’s family or local community, Usually small-scale, Relies on manual labor and traditional methods
Often involves mixed crops and livestock, Self-sufficient, not market-based
What caused The Dust bowl?
It was caused by a mixture of poor farming methods, drought and extreme winds and temperatures.
State ways to prevent Soil degradation.
-reduce wind and water erosion, reduce salinization, managing nutrient levels, prevent overgrazing, limiting soil compaction
State one way to prevent overgrazing
By reducing herd size, and allowing animals to move around frequently to new areas of land.
Why is there an increasing need to make agriculture more sustainable? and how can we achieve this?
1) population is growing, available agricultural land is decreasing due to soil erosion, salinization, urbanization and desertification.
2)alternating human activities, maximizing yield responsibly, supporting local produce, using food labels for awareness, monitoring multinational companies, creating buffer zones, and reducing food waste.
State the effects of The Dust bowl.
It lead to famine and lung diseases caused by breathing in dust, it also led to mass migrations of people looking for work.
Explain how wind breaks reduce wind erosion.
Wind breaks reduce windspeeds and capture blown soil particles (simply by planting banks of trees and shrubs), these also provide habitat for other species and provide corridors for them to move around.
What causes soil compaction, and how can it be limited?
it is Caused by heavy machinery, livestock trampling, foot traffic, urbanization. limited by reduced herd size in small area of land for controlled grazing, and reducing urbanization (at a significant social cost).
About One third of the worlds soil is considered to be degraded, which is caused due to the processes of what?
Erosion (wing & water)
Chemical degradation (pollution, salinization, acidification)
Physical Degradation (soil compaction)
This sea, once one of the world’s largest inland lakes, began shrinking rapidly after rivers feeding it were diverted for irrigation of cotton fields
Aral Sea
Explain how Terracing reduces soil erosion.
reduces steepness of slopes-steps are cut out of slope, slows run off, collect run off, filter pollutants.
State ways to Manage nutrient levels.
avoiding erosion allows soil to retain nutrients, addition of organic matter, sowing of leguminous plants replaces lost nitrogen, crop rotation helps to ensure a range of nutrients are used up over a longer time.
Explain how does Urbanization cause Soil Degradation?
Urbanization causes soil to be concreted over or moved from place to place. If it is uncovered it is often compacted due to footfall or vehicle movement, or polluted (e.g. from disposal of waste or atmospheric pollution)
State the Environmental consequences caused by the diversion of the Aral sea.
increased salinity, loss of fisheries, desertification, or local climate change