Sustainable Agriculture 1 PDF

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE 1 5. Rake – a long-handled tool with teeth at one end used for gathering hay and leaves and for Agriculture is broadly defined as the science and art of smoothing broken ground....

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE 1 5. Rake – a long-handled tool with teeth at one end used for gathering hay and leaves and for Agriculture is broadly defined as the science and art of smoothing broken ground. systematic production of useful plants and animals for 6.. Manure Drag – a flat-bladed tool used for man’s used through human management. gathering and carrying manures. As a science, agriculture includes the following sub- 7. Axe – a tool with long handle and bladed head areas: used for chopping wood or trunk of a tree. 1. Agronomy – study of the culture of fields crops 8. Hand Trowel – a small pointed, scoop like tool and management of the soil which supports them. for loosening soil, digging holes, and transplanting 2. Animal Husbandry – study of the breeding and seedlings in the garden. management of animals. 9. Shears – large scissors used for cutting hedges 3. Agricultural Economics – study of the or trimmings. business aspects of agricultural production, such as 10. Food Production farm management, financing, marketing, and others. 11. Production of raw materials for industries 4. Farm Engineering – study of application of (plants and animals) engineering techniques to agricultural production. 12. textile goods, leather, oil, bamboo, coconut, Farming can be defined in the same way but agriculture hardwood, and others goes further, for it applies basic scientific knowledge for 13. Employment better production and covers the processing and 14. Source of foreign exchange marketing of farm products as well. Terms Related to Agriculture: Problems or Weaknesses of Agriculture in the Horticulture – refers to gardening or raising of Philippines flowers or ornamental plants 1. Climate Change Arboriculture – refers to raising of orchards – 2. Inadequate Government Support fruit bearing tress and cultivation of other trees such as 3. Irrigations Problems in forest reserves (oak tree, sugar maple, pines). 4. Pest and Crop Disease 5. Inadequate Technology Transfer Mechanism History of Agriculture 6. Market Access Primitive cultures 7. Post harvest Facility 20,000 years ago 8. Reduced Farm Labor Egypt and Sumeria – earliest centers of 9. Lack of Access to Credit agriculture Agricultural techniques, new implements and new crops spread from place to place through invasions and conquest. FARM IMPLEMENTS AND FARM EQUIPMENTS Example: Farm Tools - are simple type of equipment which are Arabs – introduced rice and sugarcane to Spain used manually by a farmer. and Portugal during Muslim invasion Farm Implements - are accessories which are being British – adopted tea production and tea pulled by working animals or mounted to machineries drinking from India like farm vehicles, and tractor. Philippines – agricultural products and Plow – are farm implements either pulled by a techniques were introduced by Asian countries, working animal or a tractor used for tilling large Spaniards, Americans and other foreign influences areas making furrows and making inter row Rice came from South Asia cultivation. Corn from Mexico Harrow - used for tilling and pulverizing the soil. Cocoa and cassava from Brazil A native harrow is made of wood with metal teeth and pulled by a carabao. Importance Of Agriculture Rotavator - is an implement mounted to a Food Production tractor used for tilling and pulverizing the soil. Production of raw materials for industries Farm Equipment - are machineries used for land (plants and animals) preparation and transporting farm inputs and products textile goods, leather, oil, bamboo, coconut, and land preparation. This equipment need highly hardwood, and others skilled operator. Employment Hand tractor is used to pull a plow and harrow Source of foreign exchange in preparing a large area of land. Four wheel tractor is used to pull disc plow Common Agricultural Tools and disc harrow in preparing much bigger area 1. Cutlass or matchet – a short=curved bolo like of land. tool used for cutting grasses, shrubs, and woody plants. Water pump is used to irrigation water from the 2. Short-handled hoe and long handled hoe – a source. tool with thin blade set across the end of its handle used Corn dehusker is used to peel the skin of the for weeding and loosening soil. corn and make maize remove from the cob. 3. Spade – a flat – bladed, long-handled, spade – Rice harvester make the harvesting process shaped digging tool more easier by combining six operations such 4. Shovel – a tool with broad scoop and long as gathering, transporting, reaping, threshing, handle used for lifting and moving loose materials. cleaning and bagging into one machine.  Grass cutter a device used to cut the grass as so that it does not erode during the planting a lawn mower. season. Rice Miller is used to remove the hulls and the Water Resource Management this practice bran layers and produce an edible white rice. minimizes soil disruption, reducing soil erosion and retaining water. It allows crop residues soil SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE nutrients and organic matter to remain on the soil. The word “sustainable” comes from the word “sustain” which means to maintain, support, or to last. Planting crops that do not demand much water Sustainable Agriculture can be defined in many ways, Biodynamic farming is the practice of raising but ultimately it seeks to sustain farmers, resources and livestock alongside plants and crops, managing communities by promoting farming practices and the farm as one interwind system. methods that are profitable, environmentally sound and Organic farming is an agricultural system that good for communities. uses fertilizers of organic origin such as In short sustainable agriculture is: compost, manure, green manure, and bone Economically Viable: If it is not profitable, it is meal and places emphasis on techniques such not sustainable. as crop rotation and companion planting. Socially Supportive: The quality of life of farmers, farm families and farm communities is Advantages of Organic Farming important. 1. Healthier animals and healthier meat Ecologically Sound. We must preserve the 2. Healthier Plants resource base that sustains us all. 3. No additives 4. No GMOs Three Legs of Sustainability 5. No chemical These three areas: 6. Good for the environment are economics, environment, and community. A sustainable agriculture must provide a fair and Challenges in Sustainable Agriculture reasonably secure living for farm families. It should 1. Climate change minimize harm to the natural environment. It should 2. Biodiversity loss maintain basic natural resources such as healthy soil, 3. Policy Failure clean water, and clean air. And it should support viable 4. Water Scarcity rural communities and fair treatment of all people 5. Poverty involved in the food system, from farm workers to 6. Land Conversion consumers. 7. Innovation in Farming 8. Soil Degradation Goals of Sustainable Agriculture Satisfy human food and clothing (cotton, wool, Trends in Agriculture leather) needs Precision Agriculture through the use of data-driven Enhance environmental quality and natural technologies such as GPS-guided tractors, drones, and resources IoT devices. Use nonrenewable resources more efficiently Take better advantage of on-farm resources Climate-Smart Agriculture Employ natural and biological controls for pests CSA is an approach that aims to: and disease 1. Respond to the effect of climate change on Sustain the economic viability of farming agriculture by using adaptation method. Enhance the quality of life of farmers and 2. Increase agricultural productivity and to ensure society as a whole food security. 3. Reduce greenhouse gas emission from Practices in Sustainable Agriculture agriculture. Crop rotation is the practice of planting Agricultural biotechnology also known as agritech, is different crops sequentially on the same plot of an area of agricultural science involving the use of land to improve soil health, optimize nutrients scientific tools and techniques, including genetic in the soil, and combat pest and weed pressure. engineering, molecular markers, molecular diagnostics, vaccines, and tissue culture, to modify living organisms: Crop rotation helps return nutrients to the soil plants, animals, and microorganisms. without synthetic inputs. Cover crops help prevent erosion and Regenerative Agriculture uses tailored hybrid replenish nutrients in the soil. solutions that can include adaptive grazing, the Agroforestry is the cultivation and use of trees incorporation of cover crops, forage crops, and and shrubs into crop and animal farming perennial. systems to create environmental, economic, Robotics is the application of any robotic device that and social benefits. can improve agricultural processes that includes weed Conservation tillage farming is a process control, cloud seeding, planting seeds, harvesting, where the soil is not tilled or plowed before the environmental monitoring and soil analysis. planting season. Instead, farmers use crop residue or cover crops to hold the soil in place Circular Agriculture focuses on using minimal creation of organic agriculture RDE networks; amounts of external inputs, closing nutrients loops, incentives; penalties; etc. regenerating soils, and minimizing the impact on the environment that includes crop rotation, composting, Scope of Organic Agriculture and integrated pest management. Tools – modern farming method, traditional Artificial Intelligence provide agricultural machines and science and robots with powerful new capabilities. AI Cost Management – Less cost, and no technologies can help to reduce the need for manual chemical inputs labor and to increase efficiency on farms by automating Chemical Control – avoiding pesticides, certain farming tasks such as planting, weeding, reducing chemical used, avoiding animal drugs irrigation, pest control, and harvesting. Vertical Farming - Farming on vertical surfaces rather Pest Control than traditional, horizontal agriculture. Vertical Preferring local varieties of crops and animals farms use tall, multi-layer shelving to grow the plants instead of introduced species since the former Ex: King Tower Farm in Quezon City has a higher resistance to any local disease or Analytics Agriculture analytics with embedded AI, pest than the latter. helps you extract valuable insights that can lead to Pest attacks aren’t the same all time of the better plant and animal health, crop yields, sustainable year. Organic farmers avoid those months practices and more. when they increase the most. Selecting specific species of plants or crops to ORGANIC FARMING grow Using bug traps or manually picking pests from Organic Agriculture Act of 2010 (Republic Act No. crops 10068) Using the crop rotation technique - This Act declares that the policy of the State Planting crops that prevent pests like onion or shall be to promote, propagate, develop further garlic with other crops and implement the practice of organic agriculture in the Philippines in order to enrich Educating the workers about the lifecycle of the fertility of the soil, increase farm productivity, pests and the difference between harmful and reduce pollution and destruction of the useful pests. environment and prevent the depletion of natural resources. Crop Rotation Techniques Organic Agriculture also known as ecological Soil Management farming or biological farming. It is a method of Organic farmers have to keep the soil in the best agricultural production that excludes the use of condition for the crops. It involves the following- synthetic substances, such as pesticides, synthetic Running crop rotation properly to allow more medicines or fertilizers, and genetically modified nutrition and nitrogen in the soil. organisms. Using legumes to increase the nitrogen in the It is a farming practice that relies on ecological soil. processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to Using natural mineral powders to enrich the the local conditions, rather than on the use of soil. Some examples are seed meal, inputs that turn out adverse effects. greensand, or rock phosphorus. The Act provides for the establishment of a Correcting the pH balance of the soil or plant’s comprehensive organic agricultural program base. and of a National Organic Agricultural Board which shall carry out the policy and program. Weed Management Composition, organization and powers and Hand picking functions of the Board are provided for in the Using less space between crop lines text. The board shall: Elevated seeding. Companion cropping (planting legumes with Devise and implement ways and means of crops). They use small-seeded legumes here. producing organic fertilizers and other farm Using cover crops inputs and of alleviate the problems of industrial Using green manure waste and community garbage disposal. Thermal or flame weeding techniques. Using naturally supplied chemicals that don’t Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Product harm the environment, like acetic acid or Standards - the authority responsible for essential oil. granting official accreditation to organic certifying bodies and entities, and for the registration of organic food and organic input Benefits of Organic Farming producers. Yields - are generally higher than conventional Quality - Organic produce has been found to have The Act further provides for: labelling higher levels of vitamins, minerals, healthy fatty acids requirements; retailing of organic produce; and phytonutrients research, development and extension (RDE); Production cost - are generally lower for organic farms. Most European studies found that variable (operating) costs are 60–70% lower but fixed costs were higher, compared to conventional farms. Overall, the total production costs of organic farms were lower in the studies. Labor - Labor costs, however, are often greater on organic farms. European studies found labor costs to be 10–20% greater than on comparable conventional operations. Debt - Conventional farmers have significantly higher debt loads than organic farmers, particularly those in developing countries. Environmental friendly Biodiversity Soil health FERMENTED PLANT JUICE Fermented Fruit Juice (FPJ) is an organic fertilizer which has been used in natural farming practices. It is produced by using natural ingredients as fruits, leaves, stems and molasses. FPJ useful to promote flowering and fruiting. Fermented Fruit Juice can also be used as a foliar spray. INGREDIENTS: 1 kg plant parts 1 kg. brown sugar or molasses 1 gal water PROCEDURE: 1. Collect the materials needed such as nitrogen –rich plant parts such as young shoots, growing tips, flowers of plants (peanuts, beans, sweet potato 2-3 inches long, squash shoots. 2. Combine the raw materials in a 1:1:1 ratio 3. Place the materials in a large water-proof container 4. Cover the container with a piece of cloth and secure with a rubber band 5. Place the container in a quiet, cool and shaded location (such as a garage) 6. Leave the container for about a week 7. Mix the liquid thoroughly with a stick 8. Strain the liquid into a large plastic bottle, using a strainer 9. Put the bottle cap loosely on to allow air to enter 10. Place the bottle in a dark, protected area such as a garage APPLICATION: Mix 1 cup of the liquid to 1 gallon (3.8 L) of chemical-free water. It is best applied early in the morning or late afternoon. Use the diluted liquid to water the plants at their bases. For most plants, apply the diluted FPJ at least once a week.