Environmental Studies

Lesson 5. FOOD RESOURCES

Module 2. Natural resources

Lesson 5

FOOD RESOURCES

‘A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body’--Benjamin Franklin

5.1 Introduction

Food is essential for growth and development of living organisms. These essential materials are called nutrients and these nutrients are available from variety of animals and plants. There are thousands of edible plants and animals over the world, out of which only about three dozen types constitute major food of humans.

5.1.1 Food sources

The majority of people obtain food from cultivated plants and domesticated animals. Although some food is obtained from oceans and fresh waters, but the great majority of food for human population is obtained from traditional land-based agriculture of crops and livestock.

Table 5.1 Indian food production in 2010-11

5.1.2 Food crops

It is estimated that out of about 2,50,000 species of plants, only about 3,000 have been tried as agricultural crops. Under different agro-climatic condition, 300 are grown for food and only 100 are used on a large scale.

Some species of crops provide food, whereas others provide commercial products like oils, fibres, etc. Raw crops are sometimes converted into valuable edible products by using different techniques for value addition .At global level, only 20 species of crops are used for food. These, in approximate order of importance are wheat, rice, corn, potatoes; barley, sweet potatoes, cassavas, soybeans, oats, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, sugar beets, rye, peanuts, field beans, chick-peas, pigeon- peas, bananas and coconuts. Many of them are used directly, whereas other can be used by changing them by using different techniques for enhancing calorific value.

5.1.3 Livestock

Domesticated animals are an important food source. The major domesticated animals used as food source by human beings are ‘ruminants’ (e.g. cattle, sheep, goats, camel, reindeer, llama, etc.).

Ruminants convert indigestible woody tissue of plants (cellulose) which are earth’s most abundant organic compound into digestible food products for human consumption. Milk, which is provided by milking animals, is considered to be the complete food. Other domestic animals like sheep, goat, poultry and ducker can be used as meat.

5.1.4 Aquaculture

Fish and seafood contributes 17 million metric tonnes of high quality protein to provide balance diet to the world. Presently aquaculture provides only small amounts for world food but its significance is increasing day by day.

5.2 World Food Problems

As per estimates of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), about 840 million people remain chronically hungry and out of this 800 million are living in the developing world. In last decade, it is decreasing at the rate of 2.5 million per year, but at the same time world’s population is increasing. Target of cutting half the number of world’s chronically hungry and undernourished people by 2015 will difficult to meet, if the present trend continues. Due to inadequate purchasing power to buy food, it is difficult to fulfil minimum calorific requirement of human body per day. Large number of people are in India are poor which can be attribute to equitable distribution of income. Food insufficiency can be divided into two categories into under-nourishment and malnourishment. Both of these insufficiencies are global problems.

5.2.1 Under-nourishment

The FAO estimates that the average minimum daily caloric intake over the whole world is about 2,500 calories per day. People who receive less than 90% of their minimum dietary intake on a long-term basis are considered undernourished. Those who receive less than 80% of their minimum daily caloric intake requirements are considered ‘seriously’ undernourished. Children in this category are likely to suffer from stunted growth, mental retardation, and other social and developmental disorders. Therefore, Under-nourishment means lack of sufficient calories in available food, resulting in little or no ability to move or work.

5.2.2 Malnourishment

Person may have excess food but still diet suffers from due to nutritional imbalance or inability to absorb or may have problem to utilize essential nutrients. If we compare diet of the developed countries with developing countries people in developed countries have processed food which may be deficient in fibre, vitamins and other components where as in the diet of developing countries, may be lack of specific nutrients because they consume less meat ,fruits and vegetables due to poor purchasing power .

Malnourishment can be defined as lack of specific components of food such as proteins, vitamins, or essential chemical elements.

The major problems of malnutrition are:

• Marasmus: a progressive emaciation caused by lack of protein and calories.
• Kwashiarkor: a lack of sufficient protein in the diet which leads to a failure of neural development and therefore learning disabilities.
• Anemia: it is caused by lack of iron in the diet or due to an inability to absorb iron from food.
• Pellagra: it occurs due to the deficiency of tryptophan and lysine, vitamins in the diet.

 

Every year, food problem kill as many people as were killed by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. This shows that there is drastic need to increase food production, equitably distribute it and also to control population growth. Although India is the third largest producer of staple crops, it is estimated that about 300 million Indians are still undernourished. India has only half as much land as USA, but it has nearly three times population to feed. Our food problems are directly related to population.

5.2.3 Balanced diet

Supply of adequate amount of different nutrient can help to improve malnutrition and its ill effects. Cereals like wheat and rice can supply only carbohydrate which are rich in energy supply, are only fraction of nutrition requirement. Cereal diet has to be supplemented with other food that can supply fat, protein and minor quantity of minerals and vitamins. Balanced diet will help to improve growth and health.

5.3 Changes Caused by Agriculture and Overgrazing

From centuries, agriculture is providing inputs to large number of industries involved in production, processing and distribution of food. Accordingly, agriculture has significant effect on environment. The effects of agriculture on environment can be classified as local, regional, and global level. The agriculture also makes impact on the usage of land generally as follows:

1. Deforestation
2. Soil Erosion
3. Depletion of nutrients
4. Impact related to high yielding varieties (HYV)
5. Fertilizers related problems include micronutrient imbalance, nitrite pollution and eutrophication.
6. Pesticide related problems include creating resistance in pests and producing new pests, death of non-target organisms, biological magnification.
7. Some other problems include water logging, salinity problems and such others.

The carrying capacity of land for cattle depends upon micro climate and soil fertility. If carrying capacity is exceeded than land is overgrazed. Because of overgrazing the agricultural land gets affected as follows,

• Reduction in growth and diversity of plant species
• Reduce plant cover leads to increased soil erosion
• Cattle trampling leads to land degradation

5.4 Effects of Modern Agriculture

For sustainable production modern techniques are used to enhance productivity of different cropping systems under different agro-eco-zones. Adoption of modern agricultural practises has both positive and negative effects on environment. Effects of modern agriculture are briefly discussed under different heads as under:

5.4.1 Soil erosion

Raindrops bombarding bare soil result in the oldest and still most serious problem of agriculture. The long history of soil erosion and its impact on civilization is one of devastation. Eroded fields record our failure as land stewards.

5.4.2 Irrigation

Adequate rainfall is never guaranteed for the dry land farmer in arid and semiarid regions, and thus irrigation is essential for reliable production. Irrigation ensures sufficient water when needed and also allows farmers to expand their acreage of suitable cropland. In fact, we rely heavily on crops from irrigated lands, with fully one-third of the world's harvest coming from that 17% of cropland that is under irrigation. Unfortunately, current irrigation practices severely damage the cropland and the aquatic systems from which the water is withdrawn.

5.4.3 Agriculture and the loss of genetic diversity

As modern agriculture converts an ever-increasing portion of the earth's land surface to monoculture, the genetic and ecological diversity of the planet erodes. Both the conversion of diverse natural ecosystems to new agricultural lands and the narrowing of the genetic diversity of crops contribute to this erosion.

5.4.4 Fertilizer-pesticide problems

For photosynthesis apart from water, sunshine and CO_2, plants need micro and macro nutrients for growth. These nutrients are supplied in the shape of fertilizers. There is lot of potential to increase food productivity by increasing fertilizer use. On one hand application of artificial chemical fertilizers increases the productivity at faster rate as compare to organic fertilizers, on the other hand application of fertilizers can be a serious problem of pollution and can create number of problems. Excessive level of nitrates in ground water has created problems in developed countries. These are:

a. Accumulated phosphorous as a consequence of use of phosphoric fertilizer are posing serious threat as residues in domestic water supply and for ecology of river and other water bodies. Increased level of phosphates in different water results in eutropication.

b. Effect of chemical fertilizer is long term, therefore leads to net loss of soil organic matter.

To control insects, pests, diseases and weeds which are responsible for reduction in productivity different chemicals are used as insecticides, pesticides and herbicides. Successful control of insects, pests and weeds increases productivity and reduces losses and provide security for harvest and storage. Applications of these synthetic chemicals have great economic values and at the same time cause number of serious problems such as:

a. Affects human health which includes acute poisoning and illness caused by higher doses and accidental exposes

b. As long term effect, cause cancer, birth defects, Parkinson’s disease and other regenerative diseases.

c. Long term application of pesticides can affect soil fertility.

d. Danger of killing beneficial predators.

e. Pesticides resistance and pest resurgence

5.5 Water Logging

High water table or surface flooding can cause water logging problems .Water logging may lead to poor crop productivity due to anaerobic condition created in the soil. In India, deltas of Ganga, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and some areas of Kerala are prone to frequent water logging.

5.6 Salinity

Due to adoption of intensive agriculture practices and increased concentration of soluble salts leads to salinity. Due to poor drainage, dissolved salts accumulate on soil surface and affects soil fertility. Excess concentration of these salts may form a crust on the surface which may injurious to the plants. The water absorption process is affected and uptake of nutrient is disturbed. According to an estimate, in India, 7 million hectare of land is saline and area is showing in increasing trends due to adoption of intensive agriculture practises.

5.7 Case Studies

1. A study on birth defects in water birds, in Kesterson wildlife refuge in California, indicated that these defects where due to high concentration of selenium.
2. Recent reports from cotton growing belt of Punjab which covers Abohar, Fazalka and part of Bathinda indicates that over use of pesticides for control of insect pest in cotton to enhance productivity has not only affected soil health, but also caused cancer in human being.
3. Diclofenac is the drug for veterinary use to treat the livestocks which have strong residual nature, which leads to high persistence throughout the foodchain .Due to biomagnification it becomes more dangerous to the vultures as they are consumers of diclofenac treated cattle. Diclofenac is responsible for bringing three South Asian species of Gyps vultures to the brink of extinction. It has been banned in India since 2006.

References

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7pYJnhY64I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwkXpJkUqA8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rG3SBQYOms&feature=related