EESA01H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Intensive Farming, Via Technologies, Selective Breeding
29 Dec 2019
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Document Summary
Eesa01: human history and population expansion intimately tied with agriculture, human populations and settlement patterns directly related to agriculture, begins with crop domestication and agricultural expansion, approximately 8,000 years ago. Involves intensive or industrialized agriculture : not always environmentally sound (surprise?) Green revolution (1950-70s: extensification = bringing more land into production. Intensification = better productivity per unit of land. Industrialized agriculture: several key elements, selective breeding; monocultures, pest control, soil nutrient enhancement, irrigation, mechanized planting and harvesting, large energy (fossil fuel) and material inputs, use of produce for other than eating (fuel) Very different from traditional agricultural breeding: traditional breeding occurs within species (intra-specific, like selection in evolution, gm is usually inter-specific, like mutation. Genetic modification of organisms and recombinant dna: genetic engineering = laboratory manipulation of genetic material, creates a genetically modified (gm) organism, recombinant dna = dna patched together from the. Farmers are dependent on re-purchasing seeds from big biotech companies.
