Visualizing Environmental Science

PROCESS DIAGRAM

Solar

Carbon energy

dioxide

Water

(precipitation)

Machines

Fertilization

Tillage

(working

the soil)

Seeding Harvesting

Irrigation

Weed and

insect control

Purchased inputs Farm production

Purchased inputs Farm production

Plant growth

(increase

in biomass)

Plant nutrient

minerals

(fertilizers)

Seed

Water (in

addition to

precipitation)

Agricultural

chemicals

(pesticides)

2

567

Packing

and

transportation

Food storage,

processing,

and

waste disposal

Fossil fuel

energy inputs

occur at

virtually every

stage of

agricultural

production.

1 3

4

Adapted from G.H. Heichel, “Agricultural Production and Energy Resources.”American Scientist

, Vol. 64 (January/February 1976).

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✓✓THE PLANNER

The Principal Types of Agriculture

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Contrast industrialized agriculture with
   subsistence agriculture.


2. Describe three kinds of subsistence agriculture.

A

griculture can be roughly divided into two

types: industrialized agriculture

and subsistence agriculture. Most

farmers in highly developed coun-

tries and some in developing countries practice

high-input agriculture, or industrialized agricul-

ture. It relies on large inputs of capital and

energy (in the form of fossil fuels) to make and

run machinery, purchase seed, irrigate crops, and produce

agrochemicals such as commercial inorganic fertilizers and

pesticides (ˆ}ÕÀiÊ£{°Î). Industrialized agriculture pro-

duces high yields (the amount of food produced per unit

of land), which allows forests and other natural areas to

remain wild instead of being converted to agri-

cultural land. However, the productivity of

industrialized agriculture comes with costs, such

as soil degradation and increased pesticide resis-

tance in agricultural pests; we discuss these and

other problems later in the chapter (and in

Chapters 4 and 12).

industrialized

agriculture Modern

agricultural methods

that require large

capital inputs and less

land and labor than

traditional methods.

The Principal Types of Agriculture 353

Industrialized agriculture

requires a lot of capital. Why is it so expensive?

Think Critically