...What is a GM crop? According to WHO Genetically modified (GM) foods are foods derived from organisms whose genetic material (DNA) has been modified in a way that does not occur naturally. But with this gift comes with a great burden. In this essay I will be discussing the pros and cons of GM crops, like is this going to revolutionize agriculture, increase yields and profit for farmers or is it going to bring a great amount of trouble like the evolution of super weeds and super bugs. Is this a giant leap for the future or is it a wolf in sheep’s clothing? The first commercial GM crop was Flavr Savr tomato created in California. Flavr Savr was engineered to slow the ripening process of the tomato and prevent it from softening, while still allowing the tomato to maintain red and juicy for longer. However the process of transferring genes for one organism to another is a time consuming processes as you have no control to where the gene will attach or even if the proportion of DNA it lands is the part you want. This combing all these factors together we can see that genetic engineering is a very expensive procedure. But even with all this complication we can still invest our money in to it as we can see the countless benefits GM crops have. Let us start with a simple advantage of GM crops it is the reduction of chemicals released into the environment. It is argued that, by modifying crops to resist certain pests or diseases, farmers can reduce or even eliminate the need to spray...
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...The use of GM seeds/crops causes more harm than the intended good REFRENCES 1. Ecologist(2009, January 22). New Mexico’s traditional chilies are threatened by GMO seeds. Ecologist. Retrieved from http://www.theecologist.org/investigations/food_and_farming/269576/new_mexicos_traditional_chilies_are_threatened_by_gmo_seeds.html This article is about how GM seeds are being introduced into New Mexico. The introduction of these seeds poses a threat to the small Mexican farmers who grow the chilies organically. The GM chilies threaten, “traditional seeds cultivated by Native American and Hispanic families.” 2. Pusztai, A. (2001, June). Genetically Modified Foods: Are they a Risk to Human/Animal Health. Retrieved from http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/pusztai.html Ph.D Arpad Pusztai puts his findings together about the digestion of GM foods. He put together an experiment where he fed GM potatoes to rats. The results from his experiment showed the rats digestive system slowed down and there was damage to it. 3. Cummins, J. (2007,April 24). Requiem for the Honeybee. ISIS. Retrieved from http://www.i-sis.org.uk/requiemForTheHoneybee.php Professor Joe Cummins pulls together his research about the decline of the honeybee. He believes that the pollen from GM crops causes damage to the bee when it comes to pollinate the crop/ flower. 4. Cendrowicz, L. ( 2010, March 9). Is Europe Finally Ready for Genetically Modified Foods?. Time. Retrieved from http://www...
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...right of the village flows quietly a clear and blue river. When I was young, I used to swim in the river with my friends. How can I forget the wonderful time on this river fishing or rowing a boat with my boyhood friends! On the left of the village lies the village green where village meetings are often held by village officials. On this ground covered with soft grass we used to fly kites on windy autumnal evenings. The majority of villages live on agriculture. They get rich thanks to their fertile rice-fields and their diligence. Harvest time is certainly the busiest and the merriest time of the year. During the harvest, the villagers often get up very early in the morning. They cheerfully go to their rice-fields to harvest the bumper crop – the fruit of many months of hard work. My villagers are very friendly and helpful. They are willing to offer mutual help in any case and always get on with one another harmoniously. My village is rather small indeed but I like it very much because I was born and have grown up there and spent my happiest childhood among the simple and hard-working villagers who always feel attached to their native...
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...believe what the contract reveals about the nature of sharecropping is that it was set up to set the “freed” African American for failure and to put them in such debit that they basically became slaves to the landowner once again. The landowner has left a lot of responsibility to the sharecropper obviously I think a good example of this in this contract is that the landowner has agreed to provide the team but the sharecropper has to feed the team Saturday nights, and every other day morning night a day and if he fails to provide the meal he will then owe the landowner 5 cents, which was a lot of money at the time especially for a poor sharecropper. He also has to pay for his half of the manure which the landowner designates as enough of the crops. This system is so beneficial to the landowner but only allows the sharecropper enough to thrive to live. I don’t believe this system was good for both the sharecropper and the landowner. I believe as earlier stated it was one sided to the landowner. The sharecropper had a lot of responsibility while all the landowner did was provided the land and horses for the sharecropper and then reaped all the benefit finically. He got a low cost of labor and once the debit piled up from the landowners harsh expectations basically free labor out of this. This landowner even went as far to make the sharecropper “sow and haul” his oats but of course the sharecropper was not allowed to take part in any of them. Also if the sharecropper does not meet...
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...injures man, his property, or his environment, or which just causes him annoyance. Such organisms include principally certain insects, nematodes, fungi, weeds, birds and rodents, or any other terrestrial or aquatic plant or animal life, or virus, bacteria, etc. In agriculture, concern is normally expressed when the damage done to a crop by a specific crop pest or a group of pests causes a loss in yield or quality because this would mean a reduction in profit. When a loss in yield reaches certain proportions, the pest can be designated an economic pest. According to Edward and Heath (1964), the pest status is reached when there is a 5 percent loss in yield in a particular crop. In pest management, the economic appraisal of the pest status and justification of the need to embark on control measures is defined in relation to the following concepts: economic damage, economic injury level and economic threshold. Economic damage can be defined as the amount of injury done to a crop that will justify the cost of artificial control measures. Economic injury level is the lowest pest population density that can cause economic damage, which will vary from crop to crop, season to season, and area to area. For practical purposes, there is an economic threshold defined by Stern et al. (1959) as the pest population density at which control measures should be initiated or started to prevent an ever increasing pest population from reaching the economic injury level. The economic threshold is conceptualized...
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...India is an agricultural country. Eighty percent of Indians earn their living by working on land. The Indian farmer is the backbone of the Indian society because he feeds us and supplies us with food grains. He provides us with raw materials for cloth, fire-wood and timber. He works very hard from morning to evening. He has to get up early in the morning and plough the land. From the ploughing of the fields he turns to the feeding of the cattle. Hardly does he finish hoeing when he takes to weeding or watering. He takes his breakfast in the fields and works on till noon. He enjoys simple food, fresh air and sound sleep at night. His living depends on the rain god. He is ruined if his crops fail due to lack of rain or drought. He is happy if the harvest is growing. When the crop fails, he borrows money and runs into debt. The Indian farmer spends his life in the lap of nature. An Indian farmer is generally illiterate. He is often used to drinking heavily. Since the freedom of the country, the lot of the Indian farmer is improving. He is being encouraged by the government to improve his lot by increasing production. He is being given loans to buy farm inputs and to have tube wells and pumping sets. Free and compulsory education goes a long way in bringing about a great change. The Indian farmer is growing more, earning more and has a better standard of...
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...ECHO FIELD TRIP On this wonderful tour, I learned a large amount of sustainable agricultural approaches. Crop rotation was one of them. It’s where the farmer grows different crops in the same field, in succession. Apparently, there are repercussions to planting the same crop over and over. This avoids those challenges. One challenge in particular is reducing the pest issue that most farmers face. These pests usually explode in population due to the continual availability of their food source. These pests tend to prefer one certain crop and by changing it yearly, the pest population stays down. These farmers also tend to plant crops that replenish the nutrients in the soil. Crops like soybeans and legumes reduce the need for the farmers to use fertilizer because it keeps the soil healthy. Farmers also use a method called “cover crops.” This method involves always having something growing in the soil. This prevents the soil from eroding, the weeds from growing, and it improves the quality of the soil. You will also see a large amount of farmers introduce “pest predators” onto their fields. Insects, birds, and spiders eat a lot of the pests that terrorize the crops of these farmers. These are just a few of the sustainable methods farmers use to keep their farms afloat. The biggest problem farmers’ face is the fact that there is an overgrowth of these pests. These pests are evolving and some pesticides are failing to work at this point. This forces farmers to introduce predators...
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...appropriate tools that may help them achieve the maximum financial benefits. Farmers did not have access to quality inputs (pesticides, herbicides, etc.), or information on weather reports that may help improve their crop quality as well as the process of bringing it into the market. Because of this, farmers lost 60-70% of the potential value of their crop and the yield was only about a third to a quarter when compared to the global standards. ITC wanted to address the entire issue by helping the farmers earn their fair share, and improving the trading service. ITC wanted the farmers to have access to all the information, and have them make decisions on how they wanted to sell their crop. ITC enabled this by creating a Hub is each village which enabled them to attain information relating to weather, crops, best practices, and all their questions could be answered by an expert in the field. 2. What are the old and new physical flows and information flows in the channel? In the old system, the main source of physical flow and information flow in the channel was via the Mandi, where the farmers and villagers would gather to discuss information on various topics. In the old system, farmers would go to the market (often a day's worth of travel), and then try to sell their crop to the CA. At any given day,...
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...bio-intensive gardener tries to do on his/her small plot is to simulate/replicate a natural forest (with the constant recycling of nutrients and maintenance of soil, moisture and microbial conditions). Many countries of the world have farmed biologically for thousands of years and have been able to sustain output levels over these years. II. MATERIALS AND METHODS A. Materials 1. Farm tools 2. Animal manure 3. Crop residue 4. Vegetable seeds B. Procedure 1. Identification of crops to be planted and cared 2. Preparation of plot 3. Planting of crops according to their plan 4. Care and maintenance of the plot 5. Harvesting of crop products 6. Analysis III. DATA AND OBSERVATIONS Table 1.1 Data on planting proper Crop | Planting distance | Seeds planted per hill | Kangkong | 15 cm. between hills | 2-3 | Mungbean | 3 rows with furrow | 2-3 | Okra | 30 cm. between hills | 2-3 | Radish | 20 cm. between hills | 2-3 | Table 1.2 Data on crops’ performance Crop | Number of crop products | Weight of crop products | | Marketable | Non-marketable | Marketable | Non-marketable | | Number | Percent | Number | Percent | Weight | Percent | Weight | Percent | Kangkong | | | | | | | | | Mungbean | | | | | | | | | Okra | | | | | | | | | Radish | | | | | | | | | IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In this exercise bio-intensive gardening, which is a form of farming in...
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...Textual Analysis of “A Tale of Two Soils” This article was published in AgWeb on September 23, 2013. This article came out just before harvest started for 2013. The author talks about the problems farmers have had with crop yields. The article was written just before harvest started to give some insite as to why some fields produce higher yields of crops as opposed to other fields. Thought the article Smith talks about the main factors in crop productivity. The purpose of this article was to inform farmers what to helps fields produce larger yields of crops. Content The main point emphasized throughout this article is that the content of the soil plays a huge factor in crop yields. Throughout the article, Smith talks about how Farm A and Farm B both have the same soil make up, but Farm B produces an average of 70 bushel of crops less than Farm A. The author points out that both farms have a silty clay loam and a silt loam soil composition and are only a mile apart. Smith says that both farms are no-till farms, but Farm A has been no-till for thirty years and Farm B has only been no-till for four. Smith says, Ken Ferrie said, “Because of the difference in soil health, the best soil on Farm B still can’t yield a well as the poorest soil on Farm A.” Smith points out that it is becoming easier and easier for farmers to test their soil and pinpoint the exact culprit to lower yields. Smith says, Ken Ferrie said, “Improving soil health means sustaining productivity and...
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...principles, contribution to farming and the associated limitations- an analysis Summary Chicory (Cichorium intybus) is an increasingly popular crop that is excellent in providing high quality feed and high mineral content to grazing animals. Chicory is fast to establish and competitive for its resources given the right conditions, thus has high yields that occur in autumn, spring and summer. Yields expected, range from 8- 10t/ ha which consist of green leaf tissue which is valuable to New Zealand farms. The aim of the report is to find out the potential contribution of chicory to New Zealand farms by its agronomic principles, main advantages and the associated limitations. The literature covered in the findings is from Australian and New Zealand journals and websites, majority being by New Zealand researchers. Findings suggest that chicory is beneficial to New Zealand system under the right conditions following certain guidelines and recommendations. Deer and lambs can do better on chicory rather than the traditional ryegrass (table 1). Other findings suggest that climate change will have an impact on plant growth in chicory. Introduction Chicory is classed as a forage crop that belongs to the Asteracea family. It is commonly used as a specialist summer feed crop which is vital during summer and spring. Unique advantages of the crop ranges from maintaining and increasing the feed supply and quality whilst also providing a source of minerals to the grazing animal. Agronomic...
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...across gullies. Those methods only use 5% of farmland but increase the crop yields over 50%. Fertilizer from local animals should be used instead of chemical fertilizer. Since fertilizer from animal is always available and free. Chemical fertilizer can cause disease. Simple, reliable, agricultural tools made should be used instead of tractors. Because tractors can be broken and farmers need money to repair them. Farmer can grow cash crops and subsistence crop together in smallholdings instead of cash crops (monoculture) on large estates. Farming mixes with crop rotation or intercropping will reduce soil erosion and exhaustion, protect crops (smaller plants protected by tree crops) and increase yields. For example, in Moc Chau district in Viet Nam, by using this method, crops yield is increased by 33% from 1994-2000. 2) Introduce a new “Green Revolution”: In Mexico, 2 decades after World War II, new varieties of wheat and maize were developed. They produced dwarf plants capable of withstanding strong winds, heavy rain and diseases. Yields of wheat and maize tripled and doubled. The IR-8 variety in Philippines has increased the crop yield by six times at its first harvest. The “super rice” has increased the yield by 25% (1994). Since then, more and more improvements have been made such as: the growing season is shortened, crops can...
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...|Managing Cover Crops Profitably, 3rd Edition | | | | | |Although typically grown as a cash grain, winter wheat can provide most of the cover crop benefits of other cereal crops, as well as a grazing option prior to spring| | |tiller elongation. It’s less likely than barley or rye to become a weed and is easier to kill. Wheat also is slower to mature than some cereals, so there is no rush | | |to kill it early in spring and risk compacting soil in wet conditions. It is increasingly grown instead of rye because it is cheaper and easier to manage in spring. | | |Whether grown as a cover crop or for grain, winter wheat adds rotation options for underseeding a legume (such as red clover or sweet-clover) for forage or nitrogen.| | |It works well in no-till or reduced-tillage systems, and for weed control in potatoes grown with irrigation in semiarid regions. | | |[pic] | | |BENEFITS ...
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...The study was undertaken with the focus on Minimum Support Price and its impact on various parameters of agricultural economy including growth parameters, distribution aspects, and decision making in allocation of resources, environmental effects and above all MSP as an effective instrument of the price policy. The study was mainly dependent upon the data collected from secondary sources at the state level and supported with the primary data. The price policy was more effective in case of paddy and wheat as compared to cotton in the Punjab State. Since 1990s, the gap between farm harvest price and MSP in case of paddy narrowed down considerably while for wheat, the farm harvest price was even lower than the MSP for some years. It was due to the reluctance shown by the Government to purchase large volumes of paddy and wheat arriving in different markets of the state due to lower storage capacity and already piled large stocks of food grains. The growth in MSP, wholesale price and farm harvest price for paddy, wheat and cotton was higher in period II (1985-86 to 1999-2000) as compared to period I (1970-71 to 1984-85). The farmers’ response regarding the awareness of MSP was the highest for wheat followed by paddy and cotton. The increase in MSP had induced the use of new technology and increase in output. Also, the impact of MSP in increasing the adoption of technology was found to be negatively associated with farm size. There was no regional disparity observed in procurement of...
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...shared by the speakers? (2-3 sentences) The main message of the speakers was pretty much their own experiences, and how their farms operate. It was really interesting to see the different types of farming. All three of them were completely different than what we do on my home farm. They shared pros and cons of how they farm, and what they’re doing in the future to make the way they farm better. What were the main concerns/observations/experiences of the speakers that formed the basis for their comments and/or recommendations? (about ½ page) Nathan talked about his 850 acre row crop operation. On his family farm, they also raise about 80 stock cattle on 50 acres of pasture. Something that they are experimenting with is planting cover crops on their row crops, and then grazing the cattle on the cover crops. This has worked so far, and they are looking to do more of this. Nathan thinks that grazing cover crops is a logical step for the best management of the farm. Doing this, Nathan believes it will be helpful for long term farming. Something that Nathan doesn’t like doing is spraying, therefore making it unsustainable. He is trying to figure out ways to reduce the amount of spraying and fertilizer that they use on his family farm. Mike operates an 858 acre bison farm. Mikes family started with beef cattle, and tried to manage them like bison, grazing them year around. This didn’t work, and they lost quite a few calves. Mike had an “Epiphany” and asked his parents if they could sell...
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