Introductiona nd Key Terms Energy: things required to do work Ecosystem:

Food-finding
Foragers (hunter and gatherers) can only tap into a tiny fraction of the forests few useful resources like fruits Find whatever they can get from the ecosystem for energy

Food-producing
Creating human ecosystems Food producers not only take from the ecosystem, they create their own ecosystem to generate energy like a rice patties field Replacing natural ecosystems into humanized ecosystem Manipulates biochemical

Impact: Productivity
o o Food productivity rises overall but biochemical productivity falls A rice pattie or a cherry orchard is less productive in converting solar energy to biomass but it is food oriented

Impact: Complexity
o Generalized Ecosystem A typical six-kilometer square patch of Amazon rainforest contains: - 1500 species of flowering plants - 750 species of trees - 125 species of mammals - 400 species of birds - 100 species of reptiles - 60 species of amphibians - 150 species of butterflies - As opposed to a corn field Specialized Ecosystem Farming lacks complexity and therefore comparatively fragile and unstable They are vulnerable to external threats More food means more vulnerability Ever silver lining has a clout

Agriculture and energy

Farming produces energy produced food and dung

Can study it by the type of energy produced Modern commercial farming vs traditional subsistence forming Modern Commercial farming o Purchases energy inputs (electricity) o Sells most of its energy outputs (food) o joined Traditional Subsistence farming o Consumes most the energy coming out o Consumes most of the energy inputs going in like labour o An Internal affair

Traditional Agriculture: Case study Procedures Rationale for shifting? o Shifting cultivation takes advantage of productivity by breaking into its forest stores of energy and nutrients o Robbing nature and redirects their energy to crops Nitrogen stored in soil Rational for generalized cropping o Good home economics (makes ecological sense with biodiversity) Broad range of plants protect from environmental threats that may ruin a single plant o Grow variety of crops for dietary diversity and o Can do quick harvesting or year round crops o Can eat all year round o Manioc, cassava, rapioca o Can give layered effect like rainforests do Declining yields therefore move Weeds love sunny clearings o Takes too much effort to fight them o Will try to break into the forest ecosystem and tries not to break the whole system as a whole This process can put tropical soils in danger By removing trees, which protect the soil from the sun and the rain, the soil can be in jeopardy Sun can bake soil into bricks so that its no longer arable Therefore, clear the forest, plant for 2 years and peace it Come back after forest restores fertility If it waits too long, itll take effort to clear If it takes too short, it wont recover fertility fast enough How long time

Modern agriculture: overview

Some basic characteristics a. Slashing and clearing trees and burning it b. Variety of plants are planted i. 40+ crops c. Crops are harvested for over a year (maybe two years) d. Clearing is abandoned by the eager forest i. May help useful trees to recolonize e. A new clearing is begun What energy? What ecosystem? o Energy subsidy besides solar energy FOSSIL FUELS! o Irrigation is strongly energy dependent now people dont carry buckets o Artificial fertilizers are made from petrochemicals o Ecosystem Fields are permanent No shifting If fertility is important, theyll be permanent Cropping is specialized (few crops but many of each crop) Highly simplified ecosystem Monocropping o Draws upon the Nitrogen from rich soil o Adds PK potassium and from burnt forests Context: agribusiness and industrialization Three driving forces o Intensification More output with less input Computer-linked sensors in GH crops to monitor its vital signs o Concentration Trend towards fewer variety but larger farm Farm numbers have fallen but the farm land in area is increasing o Specialization

Input Sector

Software Irrigation Genetical Modification

Farm Sector

Growing Time

Product Marketing Sector

Processing like Milling Restaurants

Input sector -> farm sector-> Input sector: 1. Software 2.