Tambopata Peru is one of the poorest and most underdeveloped regions of Latin America. The area is home to undernourished children, lack of secure work and education.
There is an imperative need not just for Tambopata, but all of Peru to increase its economy and enable the access of basic needs to its citizens. While the area of Tambopata has many arguments for its potential use, sustainable soybean cultivation is the best approach to improve Peruvian infrastructure, economy and future preservation of natural areas.
There are many potential land uses for the Tambopata Reserve. One of which, that gains much environmentalist backing, is slash and burn agriculture. While this method of agriculture has long traditionally been employed and is seen as “greener,” many are misinformed of its methods and potential for environmental destruction. Slash and burn agriculture declines soil fertility as biomass is extracted, which leads to increases in runoff and eventually desertification. Furthermore, the desiccation of single stands of forested areas for this type of agriculture promotes local extinctions and loss of biodiversity. Once the land is exhausted, it is then left, only for another stand to be destroyed. This predictable loss of land can be avoided by employing the sustainable farming of soybeans. Soybean production has a higher potential to both increase economic prosperity and environmental quality (Dooyou).
Due to the destructive nature of slash and burn agriculture, soybean production is a much healthier approach to farming in the Tambopata Reserve. The utilization of conservation tillage and genetically modified (GMO) soybeans offers a way to protect Tambopata and generate a better quality life for its people. A study in t...
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The first claim, made by the bioengineering companies creating the GMOs, is that the products are "resistan[t] to insects or viruses, toleran[t] [of] certain herbicides and [have] nutritionally enhanced quality" (Maghari 2). With resistance against pests and tolerance to harsher pesticides, bioengineers claim to be creating a super food that requires less maintenance and costs less. In fact, for many developing countries, this seems a promising start to the end of w...
The broad range of topographical elevations has encouraged agricultural expansion whose diverse production of food constitutes an important part of the Colombian economy. The agricultural sector contributed 14% of GDP, excluding coffee, with a production worth almost 11 billion US. In the hot lowlands of the Caribbean heartland, the inter-montages valleys, and the savannas of Orinoquia, there are immense plantations of bananas, sugar cane, rice, cotton, soybeans and sorghum, and large cattle farms that produce meat and dairy products. (Sited Dennis Hanratty)
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 ...
Stern, DI 2004, 'The rise and fall of the environmental Kuznets Curve', World Development, vol. 32 no. 8, pp 1419-1439, Elsevier, Maryland, USA.
This policy memo addresses the development and expansion of the cattle ranching industry in Brazil, which has contributed to the mass deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon in the last 40 years. It exposes the regional and global consequences to deforestation and provides strategies for the Brazilian government to sustainably manage cattle ranching industries while protecting the future of the Amazon. The rainforest ecosystem is an immense reserve of natural recourses that is far more valuable than the beef produced on Brazilian cattle ranches. Not only does the rainforest create habitat for up to 65% of the world’s biodiversity, but when harvested sustainably, it provides humans with an abundance of spices, foods, oils, medicines and vital research areas (NEWMAN).
The main focus of the article is not to completely oppose genetic manipulation of crops but to point out the adverse health effects these crops can possibly have on both humans and environment. The article cites
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Anderson, Jon C., Cheryl J. Wachenheim, and William C. Lesch. "AgBioForum 9(3): Perceptions of Genetically Modified AndOrganic Foods and Processes." AgBioForum. 2006. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. http://www.agbioforum.org/v9n3/v9n3a05-wachenheim.htm
GreenPalm (2015) states how ‘the removal of acres of rainforest threatens the rich biodiversity’ in the ‘ecosystems’. Highlighting the risks of the cutting of the oil palm trees to produce the palm oil to both the environment and also the organisms which live within the areas, as certain species in the areas of the clearing of land, mainly with the palm oil ‘exported from Indonesia and Malaysia’ according to Say-No-To-Palm-Oil (2015), face possible extinction. There is still however ways in which the production of palm oil can be sustainable to the environment, as palm oil is essential for the use by humans because of the containment of the nutrients and also with the production of foods and
If crops were affected by droughts, disease and insects, having destroyed many acres across America’s Midwest region, the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) would not be beneficial in regenerating new crops. Genetically modifying foods (GMOs) “are plants or animals that have been genetically engineered with DNA from bacteria, viruses or other plants and animals that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding” (nongmoproject.org). Most research done has concluded no positive benefits in using GMOs. There are serious health risks associated with eating GM foods based on scientific research done around the world. The purpose of GMOs are to increase production of crop yield and reduce pesticide use but research says otherwise. If farmers wanted to continue using GMOs to produce crops, labeling should be mandatory to allow consumers to have a conscious choice whether or not to eat GM food. Through research it has been proven that the use of GMOs to increased production of crops during a time of drought or disease have no benefits, just risks.
Retrieved March 9, 2011, from http://hfgfoodfuturist.com/2010/12/09/future-evolution-of-genetic-engineering.html. Union of Concerned Scientists (2002). Biotechnology and the worlds food supply. Retrieved March 9, 2011, from http://ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts.
“Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S.” ERS/USDA Data. Web. 12 May 2012. .
Biotechnology helps in protecting the environment,It provides crops with protection from viruses and insects by reducing the number of pesticid...
Although subsistence activities have dominated agriculture-driven deforestation in the tropics to date, large-scale commercial activities are playing an increasingly significant role. In the Amazon, industrial-scale cattle ranching and soybean production for world markets are increasingly important causes of deforestation, and in Indonesia, the conversion of tropical forest to commercial palm tree plantations to produce bio-fuels for export is a major cause of deforestation on Borneo and Sumatra.