AGRI 2
ACTIVITY #2
Name: Madelyn O. Arimado
Yr/Section: BSA 2F Date:
Review Questions:
1. What are the social, political and economic changes that evolved with agriculture?
The Farming Revolution
Taking root around 12,000 years ago, agriculture triggered such a change in society and the
way in which people lived that its development has been dubbed the "Neolithic Revolution."
Traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyles, followed by humans since their evolution, were swept
aside in favor of permanent settlements and a reliable food supply. Out of agriculture, cities
and civilizations grew, and because crops and animals could now be farmed to meet demand,
the global population rocketed — from some five million people 10,000 years ago, to more
than seven billion today.
There was no single factor, or combination of factors, that led people to take up farming in
different parts of the world. In the Near East, for example, it's thought that climatic changes at
the end of the last ice age brought seasonal conditions that favored annual plants like wild
cereals. Elsewhere, such as in East Asia, increased pressure on natural food resources may
have forced people to find homegrown solutions. But whatever the reasons for its independent
origins, farming sowed the seeds for the modern age.
Agricultural Revolution
The second agricultural revolution initiated the beginning of the evolution of economy.
This period, between the 18th century and end of the 19th century, experienced rapid
improvements in agricultural production and farm technology.
During this time, inventions like the plow, the wheel, and the number system, allowed
humans to perform tasks more efficiently. These changes had both positive and negative
effects on society. Farmers learned more practical and efficient farming practices, like
rotating crops and using fertilizer, which led to better and bigger surpluses of food.
Tools were crafted out of longer lasting materials, and new agricultural technologies made
human work more efficient. During this agricultural age, towns and cities grew, and certain
regions became commerce and trade centers.
The benefits of these inventions included a greater surplus of food due to efficient processes
(for example, a plow pulled by animals could cover far greater areas of land than one operated
by a human).
Another benefit included more time for people to pursue and engage in other activities that
were not directly related to the survival of the people. More time could be spent on activities
like music and philosophy, which led people to discover different means of supporting
themselves.
However, during this period we also saw some negative impacts, including a greater division
of labor and status in which the wealthy gained control of the surplus resources and power
became more centralized. Those that were wealthy were able to gain control over surplus
resources and could afford a better living quality. Differences in social classes by ethnicity
and gender increased.
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution brought about a rapid and significant change in the economy due
to the introduction of power-driven machinery and other energy sources. Societies developed
from agricultural to industrial rapidly. Work that was previously done by individuals was now
being performed in centralized settings in cities with large factories and on equipment capable
of producing massive amounts of products quickly. The steam engines, textile mills, and other
large-scale equipment are products of this era.
The Industrial Revolution allowed for faster and larger production of goods and more diverse
populations, but also led to negative factors, including:
Overcrowding in cities due to the large number of people moving to urban settings to
be closer to factories.
Skilled workers were replaced with low-skilled workers who left agricultural work.
The low-skilled workers were underpaid and overworked.
The inequality gap between the rich and the poor established in the Agricultural Age
persisted and widened in the Industrial Age as the rich continued to stockpile and
control resources while the poor faced overcrowded and poverty-ridden situations.
2. What are some modern technological developments in agriculture? Give their impacts on
the environment.
Agriculture Technology
Modern farms and agricultural operations work far differently than those a few decades ago,
primarily because of advancements in technology, including sensors, devices, machines, and
information technology. Today’s agriculture routinely uses sophisticated technologies such as
robots, temperature and moisture sensors, aerial images, and GPS technology. These
advanced devices and precision agriculture and robotic systems allow businesses to be more
profitable, efficient, safer, and more environmentally friendly.
IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY
Farmers no longer have to apply water, fertilizers, and pesticides uniformly across entire
fields. Instead, they can use the minimum quantities required and target very specific areas, or
even treat individual plants differently. Benefits include:
Higher crop productivity
Decreased use of water, fertilizer, and pesticides, which in turn keeps food prices
down
Reduced impact on natural ecosystems
Less runoff of chemicals into rivers and groundwater
Increased worker safety
In addition, robotic technologies enable more reliable monitoring and management of natural
resources, such as air and water quality. It also gives producers greater control over plant and
animal production, processing, distribution, and storage, which results in:
Greater efficiencies and lower prices
Safer growing conditions and safer foods
Reduced environmental and ecological impact
Specifically, how do affect the biogeochemical cycles?
3.
a) large-scale mono-cropping
Agricultural monoculture upsets the natural balance of soils. Too many of the
same plant species in one field area rob the soil of its nutrients, resulting in decreasing
varieties of bacteria and microorganisms that are needed to maintain fertility of the soil.
Mono-cropping also creates the spread of pests and diseases, which must be treated with
yet more chemicals. The effects of mono-cropping on the environment are severe when
pesticides and fertilizers make their way into ground water or become airborne,
creating pollution.
b) global agricultural trade
International trade has the potential to increase environmental externalization
such as trans-boundary pollution, deforestation, transportation and production
relocation avoiding environmental standards.
4. Explain the threat of genetically modified organisms to ecological balance. What are
possible social and economic effects?
Genetic Contamination/Interbreeding
Introduced GMOs may interbreed with the wild-type or sexually compatible relatives.
The novel trait may disappear in wild types unless it confers a selective advantage to the
recipient. However, tolerance abilities of wild types may also develop, thus altering the
native species’ ecological relationship and behaviour.
Competition with Natural Species
Faster growth of GMOs can enable them to have a competitive advantage over the native
organisms. This may allow them to become invasive, to spread into new habitats, and
cause ecological and economic damage.
Increased Selection Pressure on Target and Non target Organisms
Pressure may increase on target and non target species to adapt to the introduced changes
as if to a geological change or a natural selection pressure causing them to evolve distinct
resistant populations.
Ecosystem Impacts
The effects of changes in a single species may extend well beyond to the ecosystem.
Single impacts are always joined by the risk of ecosystem damage and destruction.
Impossibility of Followup
Once the GMOs have been introduced into the environment and some problems arise, it
is impossible to eliminate them. Many of these risks are identical to those incurred with
regards to the introduction of naturally or conventionally bred species. But still this does
not suggest that GMOs are safe or beneficial, nor that they should be less scrutinized.
Horizontal Transfer of Recombinant Genes to Other Microorganisms
One risk of particular concern relating to GMOs is the risk of horizontal gene transfer
(HGT). HGT is the acquisition of foreign genes (via transformation, transduction, and
conjugation) by organisms in a variety of environmental situations. It occurs especially
in response to changing environments and provides organisms, especially prokaryotes,
with access to genes other than those that can be inherited
Adverse Effects on the Health of People or the Environment
These include enhanced pathogenicity, emergence of a new disease, pest or weed,
increased disease burden if the recipient organism is a pathogenic microorganism or
virus, increased weed or pest burden if the recipient organism is a plant or invertebrate,
and adverse effects on species, communities, or ecosystems.
Unpredictable and Unintended Effects
HGT may transfer the introduced genes from a GMO to potential pests or pathogens and
many yet to be identified organisms. This may alter the ecological niche or ecological
potential of the recipient organism and even bring about unexpected changes in structure
or function. Furthermore, the gene transferred may insert at variable sites of the recipient
gene, not only introducing a novel gene but also disrupting an endogenous gene, causing
unpredictable and unintended effects.
Loss of Management Control Measures
Regulatory approvals for field trials of GMOs often require measures to limit and control
the release in space and time. With the spread of the introduced gene(s) to another
species by HGT, a new GMO is created. This new GMO may give rise to adverse effects
which are not controlled by management measures imposed by the original license or
permit.
Long-Term Effects
Sometimes the impact of HGT may be more severe in the long term. Even under
relatively strong selection pressure, it may take thousands of generations for a recipient
organism to become the dominant form in the population.
5. Why Dr. Ernest Norman Borlaug is considered as the Father of Agriculture?
During the mid-20th century, Borlaug led the introduction of these high-yielding
varieties combined with modern agricultural production techniques to Mexico, Pakistan, and
India. Borlaug was often called "the father of the Green Revolution", and is credited with
saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation.
Norman Borlaug was famous for his decades-long, science-based international
agriculture improvement and educational efforts. His Mexican group’s work spearheaded
‘The Green Revolution.’ This revolution greatly increased the world’s food supplies by
improving crop plants while simultaneously upgrading soils and growing conditions It
coincided with the mechanization of farming, and the worldwide spread of graduate level,
science-based agriculture education. Borlaug and his colleagues, using their ‘miracle Mexican
wheats’, bent the arc of history. Their wheats and policies prevented what would have been a
disastrous epoch in human history. An epoch that would have seen tremendous human
mortality from diseases related to malnutrition and death by outright starvation. Their
efforts saved many lives and averted massive social and political upheaval. They brought
prosperity to areas of the world heretofore considered hopeless.
The Green Revolution resulted in increased production of food grains
(especially wheat and rice) and was in large part due to the introduction into developing
countries of new, high-yielding varieties, beginning in the mid-20th century with Borlaug’s
work. At a research station at Campo Atizapan, he developed a short-stemmed (“dwarf”)
strain of wheat that dramatically increased crop yields. Previously, taller wheat varieties
would break under the weight of the heads if production was increased by chemical fertilizers.
Borlaug’s short-stemmed wheat could withstand the increased weight of fertilized heads and
was a key element in the Green Revolution in developing countries. Wheat production in
Mexico multiplied threefold owing to this and other varieties.
Following Borlaug’s success in Mexico, the Indian and Pakistani goverments requested
his assistance, and with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Borlaug began his agricultural
revolution in Asia. With India and Pakistan facing food shortages due to rapid population
growth, the importation of Borlaug’s dwarf wheat in the mid-1960s was responsible for a 60
percent increase in harvests there, helping both countries to become agriculturally self-
sufficient. His work in developing countries, especially on the Indian subcontinent, is
estimated to have saved as many as one billion people from starvation and death.
Borlaug also created a wheat-rye hybrid known as triticale, and his methods were used
by others to develop new varieties of highly productive rice. The increased yields resulting
from Borlaug’s new strains empowered many developing countries, though their use required
large amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. These high-yielding crops raised
concerns about cost and potentially harmful environmental effects, though Borlaug argued
that uncontrolled population growth had necessitated such production methods. Although
newer varieties of food grains have been developed to be high-yielding and also resistant to
local pests and diseases, modern agriculture has yet to achieve environmental sustainability in
the face of an ever-growing human population.
6. Give the importance of Agriculture?
Agriculture may be defined as the production, processing, marketing and distribution of
crops and livestock products. According to Webster’s Dictionary, “agriculture is the art or
science of production of crops and livestock on farm.
Agriculture plays a crucial role in the life of an economy. It is the backbone of our
economic system. Agriculture not only provides food and raw material but also employment
opportunities to a very large proportion of population
1. Source of Livelihood
2. Contribution to National Income
3. Supply of Food and Fodder
4. Importance in International Trade
5. Marketable Surplus
6. Source of Raw Material
7. Importance in Transport
8. Contribution to Foreign Exchange Resources
9. Vast Employment Opportunities
10. Overall Economic Development
7. What are the branches of Agriculture?
1. Agronomy 8. Agricultural Extension
2. Horticulture 9. Agricultural Economics
3. Plant Breeding/Genetics 10. Plant Pathology
4. Soil Science 11. Agriculture Entomology
5. Agro-meteorology 12. Agricultural Microbiology
6. Agricultural Biotechnology 13. Agro-forestry
7. Agricultural Engineering 14. Forestry
15. Dairy farming 20. Fishery
16. Poultry 21. Sericulture
17. Piggery 22. Nematology
18. Apiculture or Beekeeping 23. Home science
19. Animal Husbandry 24. Veterinary Medicine
8. State the different evolution(gradual changes) in agriculture.
9. What is Green Revolution?
10. What are the positive and negative impacts of the green revolution?
11. After you read and understand what are green revolution and its impact, what is your
opinion about it? What do you feel?
Critical Thinking Questions:
1. Large-scale modern agriculture has had many disadvantages.
Compare it with small farm production. Do you think it is possible for everyone to have a
small plot and grow their own food? Is it the ideal?
2. Compare genetic engineering with the Green revolution. Do you think they are parallel in
advantages and disadvantages?
ART in Agriculture Question (BONUS) Express yourself through a poem, how you are going
to support ecological agriculture.
