Global of Fresh Produce - Essay Example

Animals that frequent the production fields mainly include coyotes, raccoons, and deer. They are very dangerous especially when they contaminate fresh food. As a result, the safety of the consumers is compromised. In addition, it does affect the quality of the produce. However, in this case, the animals were not available on the farm. The farm was under the service of three employees. These employees were students and their work mainly involved handling the fresh produce.The precautionary measures are undertaken by the farmer after harvesting is to wash the crop.

The following is grading to prepare the product for packaging. The product is then ready for the retail shop or farmer's markets.  The fertilizer for use on the farm was NPK. It mainly consists of Phosphorus, Potassium, and Nitrogen. It was in use alongside insecticides (Hoorfar, 2014). Too much phosphate's presence in the fertilizer leads to the excessive presence of mercury, cadmium in the produce. It is also a common cause of diseases such as Minamata and Itai-Itai among the people using these products.

In addition, phosphorus has the capability of neutralizing elements of trace that are available in the soil. The aftereffect is poor product quality. The other problem relates to the contamination of water in the ground. Leaching, especially nitrates, is the primary cause of this pollution.  The infection is so dangerous that it leads to cancer among the victims of such circumstances.  In general, the effects of fertilizers cover toxicity, plants become feeble to resists diseases.  The latter is inclusive of stunted growth and imbalance of nutrients.

  Additional protection mechanisms for the animals include establishing a double fence. The primary crop in the project is pepper.  The planting season involves the transplantation of the crop. Planting sweet corn and okra is to create a balance between them and those that are washable by water. A majority of this is potable water. Consequently, drip is the irrigation of choice since it saves the consumption of water. The preceding is a result of valves that help to regulate water levels.

On the other hand, the use of sprinklers is despicable because of the amount of water it wastes. A further mechanism to retain water is to carry out mulching. Plastic matching, for example, performs a number of functions including oil insulation, water conservation, and control of weeds. The overall benefit is the reduction in the cost of labor. There are also greenhouses (Coleman, 2009). The first one is a cold one whose temperature is between thirty-eight and forty degrees Fahrenheit. That is common in summer where the growth of bacteria is very rapid and needs controlling.

  However, the greenhouse containing tomatoes has a temperature level of fifty degrees Fahrenheit for optimum production. Other activities involve the use of spreaders to disseminate fertilizer on the farms. Finally, the farmer's markets are on Wednesdays and Mondays.