Ecological Impact of Farming

Intensive Farming


Why we are studying ecology?

We need to understand the ecological impact of humans.  Population rise is a major problem of the world. It is the hot debate in all eco-friendly meetings and forums.  How do we manage the population explosion? These are the hot questions in our mind.


Because of rise of population, to meet the necessary production of food, intensive farming has been introduced by the farmers. Intensive farming includes monoculture, selective breeding, huge farms, and the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Even though the intensive farming helps to produce large amounts of food grains or plants, it has some negative impact also. It is damaging the environment and is difficult to sustain. So some advise the use of organic farming which is very eco-friendly.


Major issues

Monoculture


Monoculture is the agricultural practice of producing or growing one single crop over a wide area. Earlier days the farms were usually small and mixed with a variety of crops and rearing of animals. But now in a large uninterrupted area crops can be grown known as monoculture.


Advantages:

•    The best variety of crop
•    Simplifying sowing and harvesting of the crop
•    Reducing labor costs. 


Monoculture

Disadvantages:

•    Single variety of crop reduces genetic diversity
•    To maintain soil fertility, fertilizers are being used. Pesticides are used to maintain the healthy crops. These fertilizers & pesticides are very costly and pollute the environment too.
•    Less attractive countryside.
 


Traditional farming

Crop Rotation:


In traditional crop rotations different crops are grown in a field each year.  Farmers have started using this method for cultivation now.


Advantages of Crop Rotation:

•    Breaks the life cycles of pests
•    Improves soil texture
•    Increase soil nitrogen

  
Crop Rotation

Hedgerows


Hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and tree species and it marks the boundary of the field/area. It may consist of a single species or several, typically mixed at random. Hedgerows occupy the space available for planting crops.
 


Hedgerows

The roots of hedgerow dominate the crop and take the water and minerals of the soil. They provide shelter for pests such act as a reservoir of weeds and disease.


The removal of hedgerows gives larger area of fields. Because of large   area, sowing and harvesting of crops would be very easier and yield and profit will also be increased.

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