Summary

Progress continues in the fight against hunger, yet an unacceptably large number of people still lack the food they need for an active and healthy life. About 795 million people in the world still go to bed hungry every night, and an even greater number live in poverty. Poverty is the major driver of food insecurity. Improvements in agricultural productivity are necessary to increase rural household incomes and access to available food but are insufficient to ensure food security. Food security is essentially built on four pillars: availability, access, utilization and stability. Women are crucial in the translation of the products of a vibrant agriculture sector into food and nutritional security for their households. They are often the farmers who cultivate food crops and produce commercial crops alongside the men in their households as a source of income. Over the past 20 years, a global obesity epidemic has emerged. Due to established health implications and rapid increase in prevalence, obesity is now a recognized major global health challenge, and no national success stories in curbing its growth have so far been reported. Genetic engineering is the name for methods that scientists use to introduce new traits or characteristics to an organism. Advocates say that application of genetic engineering in agriculture has resulted in benefits to farmers, producers, and consumers. Critics advise that the risks for the introduction of a GMO into each new ecosystem need to be examined on a case-by-case basis, alongside appropriate risk management measures.

In agriculture and horticulture, soil generally refers to the medium for plant growth, typically material within the upper meter or two. Soil plays a key role in plant growth. Beneficial aspects to plants include providing physical support, heat, water, nutrients, and oxygen. Heat, light, and oxygen are also obtained by the atmosphere, but the roots of many plants also require oxygen. The prevailing agricultural system has delivered tremendous gains in productivity and efficiency. Food production worldwide has risen in the past 50 years. On the other hand, agriculture profoundly affects many ecological systems. Negative effects of current practices include ecological concerns, economic and social concerns and human health concerns. Pesticides from every chemical class have been detected in groundwater and are commonly found in groundwater beneath agricultural areas. Despite impressive production gains, excessive use of pesticides has proven to be ecologically unsound, leading to the destruction of natural enemies, the increase of pest resistance pest resurgence and outbreaks of secondary pests. These consequences have often resulted in higher production costs and lost markets due to undesirable pesticide residue levels, as well as environmental and human health costs. Alternative and sustainable practices in farming and land use include organic agriculture, integrated pest management and biological control.

Review Questions

1. Which one of the following is not one of the four pillars of food security?

A. Availability

B. Access

C. Utilization

D. Transformation

E. Stability

2. Which one of the following statements is false regarding selective breeding?

A. It results in genetic changes in the offspring

B. It is anthropogenic

C. Is reliant upon modern, lab-based methods

D. It can produce new traits over time

E. It was responsible for creating many common crops, such as maize (corn)

3. The US National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with other organizations such as the American Medical Association, have determined that GE crops…

A. Are safe to consume

B. Likely pose a risk to human health

C. Pose a serious risk to human health

D. Should be banned

E. Have not been scientifically studied and therefore they cannot make any recommendations.

4. Which one of the following regions has obesity rates that are lower than rates of undernourishment?

A. Middle East and North Africa

B. Latin America and Caribbean

C. Europe and Central Asia

D. South Asia

5. Potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco were are developed by humans many thousands of years ago by the genetic modification of wild nightshade species. Specifically, these crops were developed using…

A. Selective breeding

B. Horizontal gene transfer

C. Epigenetics

D. Natural selection

E. Anthropogenesis

1.Which of the following is not one of the five soil-forming factors?

A. Climate

B. Organisms

C. Relief

D. Transpiration rate

E. Time

2. You analyze a soil sample for a farmer that has been dealing with fertility issues on her land. You find that it is deficient in all of the soil-derived macronutrients. Which one of the following is macronutrient derived from the soil?

A. carbon

B. nitrogen

C. hydrogen

D. iron

E. oxygen

3. The farmer adjacent to your land plants a single crop (soybean) over their entire 100 hectare field. This practice is known as a…

A. Monoculture

B. Crop plot

C. Agriplot

D. Rotational farming

E. Millibar

4. Salinization is bad for farmers because it results in…

A. Pesticide resistance

B. Increased salts in the soil

C. Nutrient-poor soils

D. Blight

E. Desertification

5. Besides being long-lasting, persistent organic pollutants share which of the following characteristics:

A. accumulate in higher trophic levels and are toxic

B. accumulate in lower trophic levels and are toxic

C. accumulate in higher trophic levels and are infectious biological agents

D. accumulate in lower trophic levels and are infectious biological agents

E. Are toxic and infectious

6. The grasshopper effect explains which one of the following phenomena?

A. The mass migration patterns of insects that are similar to, and include, grasshoppers

B. The lowering of nutrient capacity in soils due to the action of certain types of organisms

C. The long-range movement of certain types of pollutants across different regions of the Earth

D. The long-range atmospheric distribution of soil following tilling by farm equipment

E. The spread of invasive species through international trade in potted plants

7. An important goal of integrated pest management is to reduce the amount of pests while also…

A. Reducing the amount of genetically modified crops grown

B. Reducing the amount of fertilizer used

C. Introducing species that prey upon and destroy pest species

D. Integrating market-based strategies for maximization of profits

E. Reducing the amount of synthetic chemical pesticides used

8. Which one of the following describes the use of organisms to control pests?

A. Bioremediation

B. Intercropping

C. Species niche partitioning

D. Vector control

E. Biological control

9. What practice allows farmers to improve soil fertility, diversify their crops, and reduce pesticide costs by naturally breaking the cycle of weeds, insects, and diseases?

A. Monoculture

B. Biological control

C. Crop sharing

D. Crop rotation

E. Soil tilling

10.Which one of the following is more indicative of conventional agriculture, and not sustainable agriculture?

A. Biological control

B. Intercropping

C. Monocultures

D. Integrated pest management

E. Minimal tillage

See Appendix for answers

References

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Page attribution: Essentials of Environmental Science by Kamala Doršner is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Modified from the original by Matthew R. Fisher. “Review Questions” is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by Matthew R. Fisher.