Sustainable Agriculture and Ecology - Essay Example

Sustainable Agriculture & Ecology Biology Sustainable Agriculture & Ecology Sustainability refers to the ability to maintain a standardor process in current systems Sustainable agriculture is method of farming which utilizes ecological principles, the relationships between organisms and their environment. The methodology was created to incorporate three major principles in sustainable agriculture; these include social equity, environmental health and economic profitability. Such concepts are often utilize biological systems related to ecology to attain the above mentioned goals. When an ecosystem is able to maintain and retain productivity for a long period of time, it can be classified as sustainable. There are numerous defects in the methods by which humans conduct their agricultural activity. They often consider their needs and neglect those of other living organisms. This in turn results in destruction of these organisms which can have an effect on the ecological cycle and result in undesirable outputs from farming. The prolonged effects of such destructive methods of farming also include diminishing of biodiversity. The essence of agriculture is to create products for humans which they can use for food, or for recreational uses in cases of tobacco. Some individuals and countries also depend on agriculture for economic purposes; however this raises the question, if farming is intended to be beneficial and humans rely on the lands for numerous purposes, what is the essence of damaging land that brings a vast amount of benefits to society? While food production in the past century has risen gradually over time, it has adversely affected soil productivity, which will have affects on food availability in the near future. Even though agriculture is a basis for humans well being by providing food, it also resulting in consequences on a wide scale to soil indiscreetly and must be changed to maintain needs of present without compromising food production for future generations. For this reason agricultural scientists have strategized methods by which humans can farm and benefit both themselves and the environment. The term sustainable agriculture was first used by Gordon McClymont, an Australian agricultural scientist. This paper will analyze the biological methods which have been used in sustainable agriculture and illustrate the mechanisms by which they are used. It will also analyze the reasons why implementing such policies is beneficial to society. One major benefit of sustainable agriculture is that it helps preserve and maintain the ecosystem, which despite ignorance of most individuals, has an essential part in many aspects of human life. Some of the major energy sources used by humans have been predicted to run out in the next few decades. Hence, the country will require ecosystems as an energy source and to some extent a financial resource (Day et al., 2009). Ecosystems as an energy source are also beneficial to the quality of air in the environment as they produce less harmful byproducts. The biodiversity in different nations will determine the amount of energy sources, which can in turn result in an improvement the nation’s economy. This situation requires ecologists to further studies into functioning of ecosystems and find ways in which they can be preserved and used as energy sources (Day et al., 2009). Other strategies such as implementing Participatory Learning and Action Research and Systems Ecology for improvement of approaches taken in research have been suggested. This in turn will enable the formulation of strategies that allow a smooth transition of current agricultural methods into approaches that are more sustainable. The two procedures have similar foundations and hence can be merged and utilized to obtain sustainable agricultural transitions (Eksvard & Rydberg, 2010). The methods can be used to improve the decision making as they analyze human activity from a broader perspective and offer a large scale upon which patterns of human activity are compared. These two processes are likely to improve the strategies implemented in the agricultural process as they provide and increased base of comparison, which will be based on diversification, connectivity and communication. This also provides the farmers with the farmers with a substantial amount of understanding of the ecosystem and allows them to make a decision on which resources they should utilize depending on the situation (Eksvard & Rydberg, 2010). Microbiological research has also been used to provide insight on the microbiological aspect and microbial ecology of agriculture. This information has been utilized in further research by agricultural biotechnologists to analyze the influence of microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi on different plants and the interactions that occur between these plants and the microbes (Tokhonovich & Provorov, 2011). Plants interact with microbes in several different ways and understanding these mechanisms of interaction is essential in their preservation. In addition the mechanisms of interaction also determine whether these microbes possess a negative or positive effect on the plants. The knowledge of these aspects also prevents the unnecessary destruction of these plants, therefore maintaining biodiversity in the ecosystem (Tokhonovich & Provorov, 2011). Some studies have suggested that microbiology is the basis of sustainable agriculture as microbes naturally occur in the agricultural environment and detailed analysis and understanding of molecular biology, symbiotic functions, genetics and ecology could lead to the development of sustainable agriculture on the basis of microbes (Tokhonovich & Provorov, 2011). Developments such as metagenomics have facilitated for the possibility of dissection of taxonomic structures and ecological/metabolic functions of microbes. Antagonistic and beneficial expressions of symbiotic microbes both have a role in effective agronomic use (Tokhonovich & Provorov, 2011). One area that also raises the need for implementation of sustainable agriculture is the fact that the population is rapidly increasing and it is predicted to increase by approximately four billion people by the end of 2050. There are several factors to consider regarding this population increase. Countries whose economy is based on agriculture are likely to benefit from these increased numbers. This is due to the increased demands in food products and agricultural production is required to increase in order to cater for all people (Khoshgoftarmanesh et al., 2009). The current increase in agriculture has led to the depletion of the nutrients in the soil. This has led to concerns as the predicted increase in agricultural activity due to the population increase will not yield good products as it will be carried out on infertile soil. The infertility of soil is a result of the neglect of micronutrient fertilizers by farmers. This depletion of micronutrients in the soil has resulted in a decrease in crop production. This has become a major problem in farming areas worldwide (Khoshgoftarmanesh et al., 2009). In the developing countries, the micronutrient contents of the social are unable to cater for the entire population. These factors could all be avoided by sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture strategies to reverse or reduce the effects of micronutrient depletion in the soil include foliar and soil fertilization, addition of organic products to compensate for the depleted nutrients and crop systems (Khoshgoftarmanesh et al., 2009). Improving the micronutrients increases crop production, this in turn caters for human nutrition and environment sustainability. This can also have an economic impact as the production is increased in a certain area of land resulting in a higher profit ratio (Khoshgoftarmanesh et al., 2009). These studies show the benefits sustainable agriculture possesses to both humans and the environment. They also further illustrate the adverse effects that occur as a result to poor farming methods which destroy the ecosystem. More people are aware of the role of the ecosystem in society and hence words such as sustainability and limitation have become popular in the agricultural sector (Geldermann & Kogel, 2002). Farmers now focus on the preservation of natural processes and the long term effects of their farming techniques. References Day Jr., John W., Hall, C A., Yáñez-Arancibia, A., Pimentel, D., Martí, C I., Mitsch, & Williams J., (2009). Ecology in Times of Scarcity. BioScience, 00063568, Apr2009, Vol. 59, Issue 4 Eksvard, K., & Rydberg, T. (2010). Integrating Participatory Learning and Action Research and Systems Ecology: A potential for Sustainable Agricultural Transitions. Springer Science+Business Media LLC 2010. Geldermann U., & Kogel K. (2002) Nature’s Concept. The !New Agriculture" amidst Ecology, Economy and the Demythologization of the Gene. J. Agronomy & CropScience. 188, 368- 375 (2002). Khoshgoftarmanesh. A., Schulin, R., Chaney., Daneshbakhsh, A. (2009). Micronutrient efficient genotypes for crop yield and nutritional quality in sustainable agriculture. A review. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 30 (2010) 83-107. Tikhonovich, I., & Provorov, N. (2010). Microbiology is the basis of sustainable agriculture: an opinion. Annals of Applied Biology ISSN OOO3-4746 Read More