ECOLOGICAL

AGRICULTURE
ROSELYN FUROC-PAELMO, Ph.D.
AGRI 121
2nd Semester 2017-2018
Lifestyle check????
“The end justifies the means”. . . .
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Modern Agriculture
Highly productive (30% food surplus)
BUT it is highly
 highly expensive (capital requiring)
Energy intensive (high carbon
footprint); 14 cal E: 1 cal food
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Modern Agriculture
Carbon footprint
total amount of greenhouse gases
produced to directly and indirectly
support human activities, usually
expressed in equivalent tons of carbon
dioxide (CO2).
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 Modern Agriculture Implication
•High external Oil dependent
Capital inputs food systems
intensive
•Resource Prices
Energy degrading of
Intensive •High risks food
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Food Production to Post Production
Rice : 830 li oil equivalent
Sugarcane: 1120 li oil equivalent
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US Statistics on Energy Food requirement
 400 gallons of oil equivalents are expended annually to feed
each American
 Agricultural energy consumption is broken down as follows:
 31% for the manufacture of inorganic fertilizer·
 05% for pesticide production·
 19% for the operation of field machinery·
 16% for transportation·
 13% for irrigation·
 0.8% for raising livestock (not including livestock feed)
 0.5% for crop drying
 0.8% miscellaneous
Dale Allen Pfeiffer .2003 Eating Fossil Fuels..
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http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/100303_eating_oil.html
US Statistics on Energy Food requirement
Energy costs for packaging,
refrigeration, transportation to
retail outlets, and household
cooking are not considered in
the said figures.
Dale Allen Pfeiffer .2003 Eating Fossil Fuels..
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http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/100303_eating_oil.html
High fossil fuel inputs= (POT)
 POT= ∑seeds + fertilizers +pesticides + water
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High fossil fuel inputs= (POT)
Pesticides
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 Agriculture led
transformation of the
natural ecosystems
Change has came. . . . .
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 • Transforming the environment to
favor crop growth & development
• Transforming (modifying)
genotypes to favor quantity and
Transformation preferred quality of the consumers
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 Agricultural
Intensification
Implications
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Consequences of POT
 Genetic erosion
 Toxicity/Pollution
 Food quality/ Food safety
 Production limits/ Yield decline
 Fossil fuel oil energy dependent
 Global climate change
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Agricultural Intensification
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Agricultural Intensification: Fertilizer
 Decrease fertilizer
 Increases soil acidity use efficiency
requiring increased
dosages
 Renders some
macro/micro
nutrients unavailable  Impairs microbial
activity
 Imbalance in
nutrient absorption  favors disease
causing microbes
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Agricultural Intensification: Fertilizer
 Nitrogen fertilizer induced plant susceptibility to
insect pests
 Higher amino acid of the phloem sap Aphid
population
 Higher bollworm population in cotton
 Tissues become succulent + high a. a. in phloem 
easier to prick
 more leaves leads to favorable microclimate (dark,
high humidity for blast fungus, hoppers, stem, borers
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Agricultural Intensification: Fertilizer
 Nitrogen fertilizer induced plant susceptibility to
insect pests
 Higher amino acid of the phloem sap Aphid
population
 Higher bollworm population in cotton
 Tissues become succulent + high a. a. in phloem 
easier to prick
 more leaves leads to favorable microclimate (dark,
high humidity for blast fungus, hoppers, stem, borers
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Agricultural Intensification: Pesticide Application
Herbicide,
74
Insecticide
, 94
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Agricultural Intensification: Pesticide Application
 Pest resistance, resurgence
 Death of beneficial organisms i.e. earthworm
 Population of bacteria, fungi were greatly
reduced (herbicides…2-4, D, amines)
 Contamination of water, death of aquatics
(fishes, frogs, crabs) in the farm
 Leachates in the ground water— source of
drinking water
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Agricultural Intensification: Pesticide Application
Hazardous to health
Cardio pulmonary disorders
Neurological/nematological skin
disease
Carcinogens
Endocrine disrupters
Leukemia incidence
Death
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Agricultural Intensification: Pesticide Application
Financially demanding
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Agricultural Intensification: Pesticide Application
ENVIRONMENTAL
SOCIAL
Biotic and
Abiotic ECONOMIC
Human Health
Financial input
Financial
restoration
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Agricultural Intensification: Irrigation
 Large (multipurpose) Dams vs. Small- medium size
communal irrigation
 Loss habitat
 genetic resources
 loss of culture indigenous knowledge
 Displacement of people- economic, political, cultural
 Microclimate alteration- large impounded water
 Induced soil erosion, soil salinization, soil degradation
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Agricultural Intensification: Irrigation
 Pump water
 Shallow Tube Well Pump
 Deep Well Pump – recharge of deep water takes 300
years
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Agricultural Intensification: Monocropping
Suit mechanization
Uniformity rather than diversity
Suit processing (packaging, transport)
Satisfy consumer demand marketing
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Monocropping
Implications
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Monocropping. . . .
Depletion of
nutrients absorbed
by same crop
species
Imbalance of
Microclimate
nutrients making
favorable to both
other secondary
friendly/ harmful
nutrients
pests
unavailable
Harbors the
Absence of soil
continuous build-
cover at land
preparation, early
up of pests 28
associated with
crop establishment
same crop species
Synthesis
Overview of EA
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Factors of Production
Land Inputs Productivity
Labor
Technology* Seeds
Income
Capital
Management Sustainability
*Ownership
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 Commodity
Speculators
Globalization/Liberalization
Crop yields &Import of heavily subsidized
plateud/declining foods from dev.countries
Low public Investment
in Agric.R&D
Agri-crops
for
Looming
Biofuel
Food Crisis
Oil-Crisis Climate change
Population
boom 31