Do Now 1.How many people are projected to be on earth by 2050? 2.In order to feed all these people, we must dramatically increase food production. What will be the effect of intensifying our current industrial food production system?

Sustainable Agriculture Unit 4 – Subtopic 6 Students will be able to describe the need for sustainable agriculture and its methods

3 Components

Sustainable Agriculture Sustainable Agriculture is the practice of farming using the principles of ecology. It is a movement that developed as a result of concern about the negative environmental and societal impacts of industrial agriculture

Sustainable Agriculture aims to: – Make less of an impact on the environment – Use less fossil fuels – Use fewer synthetic fertilizers and pesticides – Treat agricultural land as an ecosystem

Sustainable Agriculture relies on cultivating a healthy ecosystem in the soil of cropland. Promoting the survival of worms, lizards, bacteria, birds and other creatures improves soil quality without use of chemical fertilizers.

Sustainable Agriculture uses green manure to fertilize the soil. A green manure crop is a plant that is grown in a field mainly to add nutrients and organic material to the soil. It is then cut down and mixed in to the soil as fertilizer.

(Mustard plants being used as green manure)

Common green manure crops include clover, mustard and alfalfa. Green manures improve and protect soil by: 1.increasing the percentage of organic matter (biomass) in the soil 2.improving water retention 3.preventing soil erosion

Organic Agriculture is a type of sustainable agriculture, but it has tighter restrictions on the tools and methods used

Benefits of Sustainable agriculture: – Less pesticide & fertilizer runoff in to rivers/oceans – Maintains or increases biodiversity – Naturally restores soils

Drawbacks of sustainable agriculture: – Produces lower yields than industrial agriculture – Requires more labor – It is expensive and time-consuming to switch to sustainable agriculture, so many small farmers can’t 1.Why might large companies resist switching to sustainable agriculture, even if they can afford to?

Why it matters: – As world population increases, we will need to double the amount of grain grown – If we double the amount of fossil fuels, chemical pesticides and chemical fertilizers used, the environmental consequences will be severe – We need sustainable agriculture to supply the world’s food without destroying the environment.

1.What led to the development of the sustainable agriculture movement? 2.What are 4 aims of sustainable agriculture? 3.What is green manure? 4.What are the benefits and drawbacks of sustainable agriculture? 5.Why do we need to transition to a system of sustainable agriculture as the world population grows?