GEOG 106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Interaction Model, Soil Fertility, Carrying Capacity
Document Summary
The most significant agricultural impacts may link to : soil erosion. The lost of topsoil will invariably reduce crop yields. 33% of cropland is eroding faster than it can form. Policies and practices are introduced to conserve the soil: irrigation. It can increase the yield of rainfed cropland by 2-3 times: mining of groundwater. Aquifer is experiencing a water level decline: salinization of groundwater. The salt affects not only the agricultural land but all ecosystems linked as well. Other impacts may be deforestation and soil fertility. It is an agricultural system that produces the required agricultural products within the regenerative capacity of the resources (soil, water ) upon which the system depends. To sustain the system we need to consider both inputs and outputs (wastes) 3 challenges for industrial agriculture: to maintain rate of agricultural production equal to or above the rate od population growth, to increase productivity per unit resource base.
