1. The Green Revolution
Objective:

2. Industrialized Agriculture
Produces monocultures using:
Heavy equipment
Large amounts of:
Financial capital
Fossil fuels
Water
Commercial inorganic fertilizers
Pesticides
Goal: Steadily increase each crop’s yield
Practiced on ¼ of all cropland and now produces about 80% of the world’s food
Monocultures = single crops
Yield = the amount of food produced per unit of land

3. Industrialized Agriculture
Plantation Agriculture
Type of industrialized agriculture
Tropical less-developed countries
Grows cash crops
Bananas
Soybeans
Coffee
Sugar Cane
Palm oil
vegetables
Cash crops: crops grown mainly for export to more developed countries so that the countries that grow them can gain a profit
Bananas  food
Soybeans  feed livestock
Coffee  food
Sugar cane  produce sugar and ethanol fuel
Palm oil  cooking oil and biodiesel fuel

4. Industrialized agriculture
Greenhouses
New form of industrialized agriculture
Grow plants indoors
Hydroponics: grow plants by exposing roots to nutrient-rich water solution instead of soil
Uses recycled water
Think Box: What do you think the advantages and disadvantages of using greenhouses to raise crops are?
Advantages: can grow crops year round; areas that cannot grow crops can now grow them; farmers can save water b/c they can deliver water more efficiently; water reduction by recycling; do not use soil
Disadvantages: costs more;

5. Industrialized Agriculture
Unsustainable
Relies on the use of fossil fuels
Does not support diversity of crops as a form of ecological insurance
Neglects the conservation and recycling of topsoil

6. Traditional Agriculture
39% of the world’s population practice traditional agriculture
Two types
Traditional subsistence agriculture
Traditional intensive agriculture
Generally focus on a single crop but some engage in polyculture
Subsistence agriculture
Supplements energy from the sun with labor of humans
Drafts animals to produce enough crops for a farm family’s survival
Little left over to sell or store as a reserve
Traditional Intensive agriculture
Farmers increase their inputs of
human and draft-animal labor
Animal manure for fertilizer
Water to obtain higher crop yields
Produce enough food to feed the family and sell some for income
Polyculture: the practice of growing more than one crop on the same plot simultaneously

7. Traditional agriculture
Slash-and-burn agriculture
Burning and clearing small plots in tropical forests
Growing a variety of crops for a few years until the soil is depleted of nutrients
Shift to other plots to begin the process again
Parts of South America and Africa use slash and burn agriculture
Lessons the need for fertilizer and water because root systems at different depths in the soil capture nutrients and moisture
Think Box: Where do you think slash and burn agriculture is practiced? Why?

8. Green Revolution
Since 1950, about 88% of the increase in global food production has come from using high-input industrialized agriculture
First Generation Green Revolution
Occurred between
Increases crop yields
Develop and plan monocultures of selectively bred or genetically engineered high yield varieties of key crops
Uses large inputs of water and manufactured manure
Increase the number of crops grown per year on a plat of land through multiple cropping

9. Green revolution Second Generation Green Revolution Both revolutions
Taking place since 1967
Fast growing dwarf varieties of rice and wheat introduced into less developed countries such as India, China, and Brazil
Both revolutions
Increased world grain production by 31% between 1961 and 1985
48% of the worlds grain is consumed directly, 35% is used to feed livestock, 17% used to make biofuels for cars
Since 2009 about 25% of corn/grain crops in US used to produce biofuels

10. Meat and animal production
Represents the world’s second major food-producing system
50% from livestock grazing on grass
50% from industrialized factory system:
Crowded feedlots
Concentration animal feeding operations (CAFOs
Fed grain, fishmeal and fish oil doctored with growth hormones and antibiotics

11. Fish and Shellfish Production
Third major food-producing system
50% from Fisheries
concentration of particular aquatic species in a given area or inland body
Leads to overfishing
50% from Aquaculture
the practice of raising marine and freshwater fish in freshwater ponds or underwater cages in coastal or open waters
Blue revolution
China raises 70% of the worlds farmed fish
Typically fed algae or other plants
Diets of meat-eating fish are now being supplemented with grains (corn)

12. Think box
What do you think are some environmental impacts of industrial food production?

13. How do governments influence food production?
Two main approaches:
Control Prices
Legally mandated upper limit on prices in order to keep food prices artificially low.
Provide Subsidies
Give farmers price supports, tax breaks and other financial support to encourage an increase in food production T

14. Think Box
What do you think are some effects of providing subsidies to farmers?

15. How do non- governmental organizations influence food production?
UN World Food Program
2008
Announced a new system of buying food from small farmers
Aid programs
Support reduction of population growth by family planning, education and jobs
Reduce poverty
Provide small loans to buy land and grow their own food

16. Think Box
Which of the agencies do you think promotes a more sustainable way of producing food, the government or the non-governmental agencies? Explain.