ANT214H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Soil Acidification, Intensive Farming, Power Machines
Document Summary
Lecture 7: food systems: biotechnical revolution & the. Self provisioning entity: emergence in class of producers. Irrigation system: emergency o class of producers, transfer surplus to dominant group. Industrialized agriculture: consequences of industrialized agriculture, reduced biodiversity (only planting 1 crop rather than multiple) Increase vulnerabilities to pathogens + soil nutrient deficiencies: requires pesticides + fertilizers to compensate for these plants not having natural defenses, kills the rest of crops. From crop rotations to manure --> ammonia based fertilizers. Soil acidification --> kills living biota: crop rotations to manure --, natural pest control --> synthetic herbicides + pesticides, reduce biodiversity, large quantities of fossil fuels, to produce pesticides + power machines that apply them. Soil microbiome & human health: supports food production. Symbiotic rels btw bacteria, fungi + animals: presence + absence of soil = source behind rise + fall of civilizations, 1gm soil = ~100,000 cells of 6000-38,000 diff species, rhizosphere (root zone) bacteria, defend against pests.
