Agricultural Production and Environment: A Review

Abstract

There is no doubt whatever that changes in the development strategies in the agricultural sector will be essential if mankind is to eliminate world hunger—at least if human populations continue to grow as currently envisaged. In this review an attempt has been made to outline some of the criteria on which new approaches should be based. It should also be realized that the changes which it will be necessary to adopt for an alternative form of development will not be easy, because any such changes are bound to affect some segments of the population adversely, and one can be assured that vested interests will oppose them strongly. Thus, it is somewhat naive to assume that even an obviously improved policy will be automatically adopted. The proponents of the change will have to convince the people at large that such changes will be beneficial and necessary. It will not be an easy task, but certainly worth while to accomplish.In order for land, water, and various inputs, to be used most efficiently for maximizing agricultural production on a sustainable basis, it will be essential to have an effective organizational infrastructure as well as a well-trained cadre of people. While bringing new land under cultivation is a viable alternative to solving the food problem in some countries, in many others far more effective use than at present must be made of existing land, especially addressing the problem of soil-loss. Failure to introduce terracing is a good example of failure to use existing technology, while on the other hand inappropriate technologies are liable to be introduced. South-south transfer of technology can present as many problems as north-south transfer of technology, as the attempt to transfer the processing of cashew-nuts from India to Tanzania has demonstrated.

Landscape and Agricultural Patterns in Rural Areas: a Case Study in the Brionne Basin, Normandy, France

“…Similar conclusions have been made by Cartwright et al (1991), Biswas (1994) and Bowler (1986). In areas where natural constraints are strong such as in south-east Europe, notably Spain or Portugal, landscape patterns are mostly linked to natural gradients (Reenberg, 1991).…”

Review and appraisal of concept of sustainable food production systems

“…Most notable is the World Conservation Strategy (IUCN 1980), which argues that the protection and conservation of natural resources and biological diversity are essential for the maintenance of life-support systems. Strategies for resource protection and conservation, and the identification of minimum thresholds for biological diversity are the foundation of several reports on sustainability (Biswas 1984, Budowski 1984, Crosson 1983, Dasmann 1984, Jackson 1984, McEwen 1986, Laszlo 1986, Nepal 1983, Pollard and McKechnie 1986, Talbot 1984. Other studies have employed environmental accounting to emphasize access to natural resources rather than resource quality, including examinations of land-use transfers, and the effectiveness of various regulations for maintaining or bolstering land supply for specific human activities (AFT 1988, Bendey and Leskiw 1984, Hansen 1984, Manning 1986, Pierce and Furuseth 1983.…”

Rotary Ripper: A Possible Solution to Increase the Efficiency of Tillage Operations

“…Then, to obtain the desired size of soil aggregates in the topsoil, secondary tillage operations are conducted, typically with harrows or rotary tillers [13]. In the last few decades, the adoption of conventional tillage has declined worldwide due to its high energy demand and soil degradation issues leading to compacted soil composed of fine particles with low levels of soil organic matter [14]. This increased environmental consciousness in the agricultural sector pushed the development of innovative eco-friendly machines by researchers and manufacturers [15][16][17][18][19] and the broader adoption of conservative tillage (CT) techniques by farmers [20].…”