Section III examines intercropping as a growing method. Many identified benefits were presented (i.e. yield advantage, space maximization, reduced need for chemical inputs). However, only a brief note on the relationship between increased yields, crop quality and intercropping was presented as limited information in this area is available. Moreover, it is generally accepted that there is an inverse relationship between crop quality and yield. Nonetheless, new research on intercropping is producing interesting results with positive implications for future efforts. However, the fact remains that current methods for evaluating crop quality and yield are not necessarily ideal, because they do not represent the complete lifecycle of a crop, …show more content…
Subsequently, by traditional standards, i.e. number or weight, as stated above, it may be illogical to believe that intercropping will yield a higher output without compromising some aspects of quality. However, until more research is conducted to prove otherwise, it may be in the best interest of all involved parties to reevaluate how maximum yield is measured, because efforts to achieve peak production have not produced universally desirable results, rather they have created a myriad of problems that are overwhelmingly difficult to address, the eutrophication of bodies of water, for example. Consequently, focus should be shifted towards crop optimization, which can be evaluated using factors, such as environmental contributions, higher nutrition content, better prices for suppliers, improved taste and decreased transportation and storage requirements, in addition to actual output. The incorporation of an interpretation of a total life cycle assessment could also be valuable, not only for the environment, but for consumers in general. This may, however, be unnecessary (albeit still progressive and in support of a more sustainable and functional food production system) if novel research on intercropping continues to refute current assumptions surrounding the relationship between crop quality and yield (see Bhat et al.,
Sheshadri, T. (2001, December 26). Student recognized for agricultural acumen. The San Diego Union Tribune, N1-4. Retrieved on March 20, 2002 from Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe (Newspapers) on the World Wide Web: http://www.lexisnexis.com/universe.htm.
After the Civil War, previous slaves looked for employments, and grower looked for workers. The nonattendance of money or an autonomous credit framework prompted to the formation of sharecropping. Sharecropping is a framework where the landowner/grower permits an occupant to utilize the land in return for a share of the harvest. This urged inhabitants to work to deliver the greatest collect that they could, and guaranteed they would stay fixing to the land and improbable to leave for different open doors. In the South, after the Civil War, numerous dark families leased land from white proprietors and raised money products, for example, cotton, tobacco, and rice. As a rule, the landowners or adjacent dealers would rent hardware to the leaseholders, and offer seed, manure, sustenance, and different
Polyculture is associated with, but not exclusively limited to, the movement in organic farming (Pollan 144). The main drawback is the work required to maintain the different species being grown. Each plant requires its own growing conditions, so maintenance becomes labor intensive. However, this method of farming greatly increases the biodiversity of the fields which reduces susceptibility to disease and pests, and creates genetically diverse species. Polyculture is very different from monoculture in more ways than simply growing more than one crop. Monoculture is the attempt to control a crop to maximize yield. Polyculture is the acknowledgement of nature’s control and the attempt to grow successful crops through changing the process of growing plants based on the ecological system around them. The people who grew early potatoes on the Andes grew a wide variety of different potato species so that not all of them were likely to susceptible to the same disease (Pollan 131). Pollan’s discussion of these methods leans heavily toward the idea that even though monoculture is simpler and more profitable, it is an inferior method to polyculture that is mainly still in use to feed the capitalistic machine of the global food
Old World crops such as wheat, barley, rice, and turnips had not traveled west across the Atlantic. Some of the New World crops that hav...
During the 20th century, radical transformation was occurring to the political status of African Americans. Blacks were freed from slavery during the nineteenth century and many African Americans were farmers unlike white, whites worked outside of Farm. Many black children did not go to school and white children did. However, during the 20th century economically African Americans stopped working at the farms, and nearly twice likely to own their own homes (Maloney). Even after this period, African Americans still had disadvantages in terms of education, work, home ownership, labor of success, etc. The sharecropping system was made to allow African Americans land however; whites did not want them to gain profit from their crops or own land.
How does the vegetation surface type affect the amount of runoff? Speculate why this happens.
The debate on artificial turf continues to rage on. Artificial turf has been structurally designed to be a safer surface than grass and to be unaffected by weather. Have engineers succeeded in their goal? It has been said that artificial turf has different properties than grass, and when forces act upon it, artificial turf reacts differently and causes more injuries. I have played the majority of my sports on artificial turf over the last couple years. I have always wondered if the artificial turf has any effect on injuries. Obviously I want to play on the safest surface possible. Is artificial turf that surface? This paper will answer the research question: In what ways does artificial turf affect player injuries?
An advantage to genetically modified crops is a higher crop yield; this means the crop will produce more crops compared to a crop that isn’t modified. A significant portion of genetically modified crops have being growing in developed countries. In the last couple of years there has been a steady increase in the amount of ...
The second phase of the Civil War was a victory for the south, for their political ideas of former slave owners stayed far after the war. The south was dependent on slave labor and with the slave population now free they had to forcibly change tactics to control this population. Southern whites used legal, political, and violent means to whip the black population into submission. Laws like the black codes were in the south to restrict the black population from becoming a strong community. Common practices like sharecropping crippled the black community’s only field in which they had experience in. Violence from southern whites increased the fear stricken society and crippled their potential for any civil liberties.
Woese, K., Lange, D., Boess, C., & Werner Bogl, K. (1999). A comparison of organically and conventionally grown foods-results of a review of the relevant literature. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 74(3), 281-293. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.er.lib.k-state.edu/doi/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0010(199707)74:3<281::AID-JSFA794>3.0.CO;2-Z/pdf
...not have to be this way. For natural agriculture to become a possibility, we must change the system. Changing the system involves change at the policy level. Rather than subsidizing the industrial farmers, government should subsidize the natural agriculturalists. Subsidizing local farmers would not only guarantee local farms remaining in the system but would guarantee land preservation and healthy foods at cheaper costs, allowing everyone the opportunity to join the system. However, “acting alone, secular environmentalists,” such as Polyface and Yokna Bottoms Farms, do not have the strength to fight the necessary political battle (Wilson 3). Working together and building the agriculture network from the bottom up will be the only way to ensure that our food system will work for the earth, not against it. Until then, I see no realistic future for natural agriculture.
Netessine, S., & Shumsky , R. (2013, November 15). Informs Transactions on Education. Retrieved from Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Yield Management: http://archive.ite.journal.informs.org/Vol3No1/NetessineShumsky/
...t too expensive for the farmers. The second step is that broader awareness is required. According to Sarah Alexander, “different farmers trust different sources, such as vendors, crop consultants, and university extension services.” Farmers are going to need to be open minded to new things, in order to feed the human race. The last step is farmers need the right incentives. Farmers want to know about the good that they are doing. Farmer’s want to know how they are saving the environment, and how they are producing more food, and feeding more people than they were before.
Between the rows of one crop there will be another crop, or several other crops, opposed to the empty spaces usually found between crops. Utilizing this area produces something of use to the farmer rather than requiring an investment of more labor, money or herbicides (CITE HERE). Meaning the more complex farming system (polyculture) is gets more total production per area. Underdeveloped agriculture systems produce a more diverse crop set with the same amount of energy it requires a large farm to produce a single crop. The agricultural output per area is larger than developed farms.
There are those that believe our planet has reached its maximum capacity to sustain humanity and we need to reduce our population to rectify it. It is also said that our planet is well capable of providing both the nutrition and caloric needs for humanity, both now and into the future as well. Regardless of where one’s opinion of the facts fall between these two arguments, global food security is not where it should be. Uneven development could be argued to be a cause of this. But it is not the only issue affecting the planet.