Changes caused by agriculture and overgrazing

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Lesson 5: Food resources

Changes caused by agriculture and overgrazing

  • Poor environmental agriculture practices such as slash and burn, shifting cultivation degrade the forests.

  • The loss of nutrients and overuse of agriculture chemicals are major factors in land degradation.

  • The loss of genetic diversity in crop plants is leading to a fall in agriculture produce.

  • Modern agriculture practices have resulted in a serious loss of genetic variability of crops. Most of the rice varieties (30 -50,000) in India have been lost.

  • Intensive agriculture operations, fossil fuel combustion and widespread cultivation of leguminous crops have led to huge additional quantities of nitrogen. This has increased a variety of ill effects ranging from reduced soil fertility and overfeeding of lakes, rivers and coastal waters.

  • Due to increase in population, there is an increase in demand for higher production, which led to increase in agriculture land over the last four decades by converting forest area, marginal and hill areas.

Index
Previous
Home
Next
Last modified: Wednesday, 28 December 2011, 9:41 AM