Food, Soil, and Pest Management

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Food, Soil, and Pest Management

• Chapter 12

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12-1 What Is Food Security and Why Is It
Difficult to Attain?

• Concept 12-1A Many of the poor suffer health
  problems from chronic lack of food and poor
  nutrition, while many people in developed
  countries have health problems from eating too
  much food.
• Concept 12-1B The greatest obstacles to
  providing enough food for everyone are poverty,
  political upheaval, corruption, war, and the
  harmful environmental effects of food production.

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Many of the Poor Have Health Problems Because
They Do Not Get Enough to Eat

• Food security means that every person in a
  given area has daily access to enough nutritious
  food to have an active and healthy life.
• Global food production has stayed ahead of
  population growth.
• However
• One of six people in developing countries cannot
  grow or buy the food they need.
• Food insecurity living with chronic hunger and
  poor nutrition.

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Key Nutrients for a Healthy Human Life

• We need large amounts of macronutrients
• (protein, carbohydrates, and fats)

• We also need smaller amounts of micronutrients
• (vitamins such as A,C, and E and various minerals)

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Many People Suffer from Chronic Hunger and
Malnutrition

• Some people cannot meet their basic energy needs
• Chronic undernutrition or hunger
• Others lack proteins and key nutrient needs
• Chronic malnutrition
• The root cause of hunger and malnutrition is
  poverty.
• In 2006, 862 million were undernourished
  worldwide.
• A 2005 estimate says 6 million children die
  annually from undernutrition or nonfatal diseases
  made worse by their poor diet.

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Many People Do No Get Enough Vitamins and
Minerals

• One in three people has a deficiency of one or
  more vitamins and minerals, especially
• iron anemia
• vitamin A blindness
• iodine goiter or enlarged thyroid gland
• Can lead to deafness

• Famine a shortage of food in an area along with
  mass starvation, economic and social chaos
• Usually caused by crop failures from drought,
  flooding, war, or other catastrophic events

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Many People Have Health Problems from Eating Too
Much

• Overnutrition excess calories and lack of
  exercise can lead to reduced life quality, poor
  health, and premature deathsame as
  undernutrition
• A 2005 Boston University study
• 60 of American adults are overweight
• 33 are obese
• Americans spend 42 billion a year
  trying to lose weight.
• Estimates are that 24 billion per year would
  eliminate world hunger.

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12-2 How Is Food Produced?

• Concept 12-2A We have sharply increased crop
  production using a mix of industrialized and
  traditional agriculture.
• Concept 12-2B We have used industrialized and
  traditional methods to greatly increase supplies
  of meat, fish, and shellfish.

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Food Production Has Increased Dramatically

• Wheat, rice, and corn provide more than half of
  the worlds consumed calories
• Fish and shellfish are an important source of
  food for about 1 billion people mostly in Asia
• Of all the biodiversity on the planet, only 14
  plant and 9 animal species make up 90 of the
  worlds consumed calories.

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Food Production Has Increased Dramatically

• Three systems produce most of our food
• Grain from croplands 77
• Meat from rangelands, pastures, and feedlots 16
• Fish from fisheries/Aquaculture 7
• Dramatic increase in global food production since
  1960.
• Why?
• Technological advances
• More sophisticated farming techniques
• Expanded use of inorganic chemical fertilizers,
  irrigation, pesticides, high-yield crops
• Intense farming methods, densely populated
  feedlots, breeding/growing pens, aquaculture
  ponds or ocean cages

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Two Types of Agriculture

• Industrial Agriculture (High Input Agriculture)
• A relatively small group of farmers produce large
  quantities of a single crop or livestock
• Mostly in developed countries
• Traditional Agriculture (Low Input Agriculture)
• Traditional subsistence agriculture
• Produces enough crops or livestock to feed family
• Traditional intensive agriculture
• Produces enough crops or livestock to feed the
  farmers family and maybe some to sell
• Mostly in developing countries

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Industrialized Crop Production Relies on
High-Input Monocultures

• About 80 of the worlds food supply is produced
  by industrialized agriculture.
• Goal is to steadily increase crop yield
• Uses large amounts of fossil fuel energy, water,
  commercial fertilizers, and pesticides to produce
  monocultures.

• Plantation agriculture primarily in tropical
  developing countries (bananas, coffee, sugarcane)
• Cash crops crops intended for sale, not
  consumption or animals

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Traditional Agriculture Often Relies on
Low-Input Polycultures

• Many farmers in developing countries grow a
  variety of crops on the same plot of land
• Polyculture different plants are grown together
• Limited technology, limited equipment, limited
  impact on the environment

• Slash-and-burn agriculture burning underbrush
  to provide nutrients to the soil

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A Closer Look at Industrialized Crop Production

• The Green Revolution represents the 88 increase
  in food production per unit of area since 1950.
• Monocultures of high-yield key crops
• Selectively breed or genetically engineered crops
• Large inputs of fertilizers, pesticides, water
• The Second Green Revolution involves fast growing
  rice/wheat bred for tropical regions.
• Early in the century, one American farmer could
  produce food for 2.5 people.
• By 1999, a single farmer could feed over 130
  people.

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A Closer Look at Industrialized Crop Production

• Since 1950, high-input agriculture has produced
  more crops per unit of land.
• Grain production has tripled during this
  timeframe
• Why has per Capita grain production gone down
  since the early 1980s?

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Crossbreeding and Genetic Engineering Can Produce
New Crop Varieties

• Gene Revolution increased crop yields, as a
  result of mixing organisms genes
• Artificial selection has been used for centuries
  to develop genetically improved varieties of
  crops.
• Genetic engineering develops improved strains at
  an exponential pace compared to artificial
  selection.
• Add beneficial genes
• Delete negative genes

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Crossbreeding and Genetic Engineering Can Produce
New Crop Varieties

• Age of Genetic Engineering
• developing crops that are resistant to
• Heat and cold
• Herbicides
• Insect pests
• Viral diseases
• Drought
• Salty or acidic soil

• Controversy has arisen over the use of
  genetically modified foods (GMFs).
• Critics fear that we know too little about the
  long-term potential harm to human health and the
  environment.

18
Meat Production and Consumption Have Grown
Steadily

• Meat production increased fourfold from 19612007
• Industrialized livestock production
• Densely populated feedlots are common
• System uses a lot of energy and water and produce
  huge amounts of animal waste

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Industrialized Meat Production Has Harmful
Environmental Consequences
20
Fish and Shellfish Production Have Increased
Dramatically

• Aquaculture raising large numbers of fish and
  shellfish in ponds and cages
• worlds fastest growing type of food production.
• Fish farming involves cultivating fish in a
  controlled environment and harvesting them in
  captivity.

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Producing Fish Through Aquaculture Can Harm
Aquatic Ecosystems