AGRICULTURE AND

ENVIRONMENT
AGRICULTURE
• The process of cultivating land, raising
crops and livestock for food production
and economic purpose.
• The process of producing food, feed,
fiber and many other desired products by
the cultivation of certain plants and the
raising of domesticated animals
(livestock).
 SHIFTING AGRICULTURE
• Also known as “slash an burn farming” –
Kaingin.
• An agricultural system in which plots of
land are cultivated temporarily, then
abandoned and allowed to revert to their
natural vegetation while the cultivator
moves on to another plot.
LABOR – INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE
• System of cultivation using large amounts
of labor and capital relative to land area.
• Type of agriculture used when farmers
are incapable of buying necessary
equipment's and machine for farming
(Manual Labor).
 MECHANIZED AGRICULTURE
• The process of using agricultural
machinery to mechanize the work of
agriculture, greatly increasing farm
worker activity.
CHARACTERISTIC
OF SOIL
 SOIL
• The top layer of the earth's surface,
consisting of rock and mineral particles
mixed with organic matter.
• Soil are formed from breaking of rocks
(weathering).
 FACTORS AFFECTING SOIL
FORMATION
• PARENT MATERIAL
• CLIMATE
• ORGANISM
• TOPOGRAPHY
• TIME
 PARENT MATERIAL
• The primary material from which the soil is
formed.
• TYPES OF ROCK
Igneous
Metamorphic
Sedementary
IGNEOUS ROCK
• Also known as Magmatic rock.
• It is formed through the cooling and
solidification of magma or lava.
• Ex. Basalt, diorite, dacite.
SEDIMENTARY ROCK
• Formed by the accumulation or
deposition of small particles and
subsequent cementation of minerals or
organic particles on the floor of oceans
or other bodies of water at the Earth’s
surface.
• Ex. Limestone, Sandstone
METAMORPHIC ROCK
• Rocks formed by intense heat or
pressure.
• METAMORPHISM - Formed through
the transformation of pre-existing
rocks.
• Ex. Marble, slate, quartzite.
ROCK CYCLE - is a process in which rocks are continuously
transformed between the three rock types.
 CLIMATE
• Long term weather condition of an area.
• Weathering forces (heat, rain, ice, snow,
wind, sunshine) break down parent
material and affect how fast or slow soil
formation processes go.
 BIOTIC FACTOR - ORGANISMS
• Plants, animals, and microorganisms (fungi
and bacteria) living on the soil that affect soil
formation.
Activity of microorganism (decomposition).
Animal activity
Plant root growth
 TOPOGRAPHY
• Contour of the land.
• Affects water holding capacity of soil and
weathering process.
• Ex. Steep slope drain faster with shallow
slope.
 TIME
• The factors mentioned earlier assert
themselves over time, often hundreds or
even thousands of years.
SOIL PROPERTY
• This is the physical and chemical property
of soil.
• Affects the growth of plants and other
factors that involve the characteristic of
soil.
• Texture, particle size, pH, mineral
content.
SOIL PARTICLE SIZE
• Size of the soil particle is important in
determining the aeration and water holding
capacity of a soil.
SAND  0.05 – 2.0mm
SILT  0.002mm – 0.05mm
CLAY  < 0.002mm
SOIL COLOR
• Produced by the minerals present and
the organic matter content of a soil.
Yellow or red soil = presence oxidized
ferric iron oxides
Dark brown or black color in soil = high
organic matter content.
SOIL pH
• A measure of the acidity and alkalinity
in soils.
• pH levels range from 0 to 14
Less than 7 (< 7) = acidic
Equal to 7 (=7) = neutral
Greater than 7 = (> 7) = alkaline/base
SOIL MINERAL
• Play a vital role in soil fertility since
mineral surfaces serve as potential sites
for nutrient storage.
• Primary nutrient – N, P, K
• Intermediate nutrient – S, Mg, Ca
• Trace elements – Fe, Mo, Cu
SOIL PROFILE/SOIL HORIZON
• A layer parallel to the soil surface, whose
physical, chemical and biological
characteristics differ from the layers
above and beneath.
• Horizons have obvious physical features,
mainly color and texture.
O layer – Organic
layer contains
humus and organic
matter.
A layer – most living
organisms and
nutrients are found.
E layer – leaching
process take place.
B layer – also known
as the subsoil – less
organic matter and
organisms are found.
C layer – consists of
weathered parent
material.
R layer – bedrock
consolidated (solid
and tightly
bound)rock.
CROP
• Plant or animal product that can be
grown and harvested extensively for
profit or subsistence.
• Most crops are cultivated in agriculture
or aquaculture.
Non – food crop (fibers or flowers)
Food crop (fruits, livestock, fish)
GREEN REVOLUTION
• A set of research technology transfer
initiatives occurring between 1950 and the
late 1960s, that increased agricultural
production worldwide, particularly in the
developing world.
• Introduction of Monoculture method, GMO,
Selective breeding techniques, use of
fertilizers and pesticide to increase yield.
FARMING TECHNIQUES
 TRADITIONAL
FARMING
• The oldest farming
technique which
farmers has a
mixed farm of
livestock, fruit and
crops.
CONVENTIONAL
FARMING
• It is a method in
which chemical
fertilizers, hybrids
(GMO), and
pesticide/herbicides
are used by
farmers.
 MODERN
FARMING
• Method that utilizes
modern
technologies in
agriculture.
 ORGANIC
FARMING
• Technique that
avoid the use of
synthetic and
harmful pesticides,
fertilizers and
livestock feed
additives.
PLANT CULTIVATION
TECHNIQUES
 CONTOUR FARMING
• Sustainable way
of farming where
farmers plant
crops across or
perpendicular to
slopes to follow
the contours of a
slope of a field.
 STRIP FARMING
• a method
of farming which
involves cultivating
a field partitioned
into long,
narrow strips which
are alternated in a
crop rotation
system.
 TERRACING
• Sloped plane that has
been cut into a series
of successively
receding flat surfaces
or platforms, which
resemble steps, for
the purposes of more
effective farming.
INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT
(IPM)
• Is a broad-based approach that integrates
practices for economic control of pests.
• The process use to solve pest problems while
minimizing risks to people and the
environment.
• Ex. Biological method, Chemical method,
Genetic method
BIOACCUMULATION
• The gradual accumulation of substances, such
as pesticides, or other chemicals in an
organism.
• Occurs when an organism absorbs a substance
at a rate faster than that at which the
substance is lost by catabolism and excretion.
BIOMAGNIFICATION
• The increasing concentration of a substance,
such as a toxic chemical, in the tissues of
tolerant organisms at successively higher
levels in a food chain.
 GENETICALLY MODIFIED
ORGANISMS (GMO)
• Is any organism whose genetic material has
been altered using genetic engineering
techniques.
• Purpose of GM crops are
Resistance to pest, disease, environmental
conditions.
Enhance nutritional value.
Greater yields