Agriculture and Pest Management农业和害虫管理.pptVIP

Agriculture and Pest Management Outline Agricultural Methods Fertilizers Pesticides Organic Farming Development of Agriculture Development of agriculture involved manipulating the natural environment to produce food desired by humans. Allowed increase in the size of the human population. Slash and Burn Vegetation is cleared for agriculture and burned to release nutrients Particularly useful on thin tropical soils Cleared soil useful for 3-5 years Requires a long recovery time Labor Intensive - Favored when : Growing site does not allow mechanization. Crop does not allow mechanization. Economic condition does not allow purchase of mechanized equipment. Mechanized Typical of industrialized countries Requires large amounts of energy and flat land. Often monocultures Farmers often rely on hybrid plant seeds to provide uniform monocultures. Problems With Mechanized Agriculture Large tracts of bare land increases soil erosion. Little genetic differentiation often leads to increased pesticide use. No crop rotation depletes soil nutrients thus increasing fertilizer use. Fossil fuel energy use has replaced human muscle power. Green Revolution has greatly increased worldwide food production. Energy vs. Labor In 1913, 135h to 2500kg corn/ha In 1980, 15h to 2500kg corn/ha 120h = petroleum products 5t fossil fuel = 1t fertilizer The Impact of Fertilizer Approximately 25% of world’s agriculture crop is directly attributed to chemical fertilizer use. Fertilizers replace soil nutrients extracted by plants. Macronutrients 常量元素- Chemical elements used in large quantities by plants. (N, P, K) Removed after each harvest. （1% of harvesting） Micronutrients 微量元素- Chemical elements only used in very small quantities by plants. (boron, zinc) Removed after multiple cropping. (ppb) Chemical fertilizers do not replace soil organic matter （humus）. Question: What is the function of Humus? How to keep it? PESTICIDES Pesticide - Any chemical used to kill or control populations of unwant