Intensive farming

(Redirected from Intensive Farming)

Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of agricultural land area. It is characterized by a low fallow ratio, higher use of inputs such as capital, labour, agrochemicals and water, and higher crop yields per unit land area.[1]

Intensive farming of wheat in Lund, Sweden

Most commercial agriculture is intensive in one or more ways. Forms that rely heavily on industrial methods are often called industrial agriculture, which is characterized by technologies designed to increase yield. Techniques include planting multiple crops per year, reducing the frequency of fallow years, improving cultivars, mechanised agriculture, controlled by increased and more detailed analysis of growing conditions, including weather, soil, water, weeds, and pests. Modern methods frequently involve increased use of non-biotic inputs, such as fertilizers, plant growth regulators, pesticides, and antibiotics for livestock. Intensive farms are widespread in developed nations and increasingly prevalent worldwide. Most of the meat, dairy products, eggs, fruits, and vegetables available in supermarkets are produced by such farms.

Some intensive farms can use sustainable methods, although this typically necessitates higher inputs of labor or lower yields.[2] Sustainably increasing agricultural productivity, especially on smallholdings, is an important way to decrease the amount of land needed for farming and slow and reverse environmental degradation caused by processes such as deforestation.[3]

Intensive animal farming involves large numbers of animals raised on a relatively small area of land, for example by rotational grazing,[4][5] or sometimes as concentrated animal feeding operations. These methods increase the yields of food and fiber per unit land area compared to those of extensive animal husbandry; concentrated feed is brought to seldom-moved animals, or, with rotational grazing, the animals are repeatedly moved to fresh forage.[4][5]

History

edit
 
Early 20th-century image of a tractor ploughing an alfalfa field

Agricultural development in Britain between the 16th century and the mid-19th century saw a massive increase in agricultural productivity and net output. This in turn contributed to unprecedented population growth, freeing up a significant percentage of the workforce, and thereby helped enable the Industrial Revolution. Historians cited enclosure, mechanization, four-field crop rotation, and selective breeding as the most important innovations.[6]

Industrial agriculture arose in the Industrial Revolution. By the early 19th century, agricultural techniques, implements, seed stocks, and cultivars had so improved that yield per land unit was many times that seen in the Middle Ages.[7][page needed]

The first phase involved a continuing process of mechanization. Horse-drawn machinery such as the McCormick reaper revolutionized harvesting, while inventions such as the cotton gin reduced the cost of processing. During this same period, farmers began to use steam-powered threshers and tractors.[8][9][10] In 1892, the first gasoline-powered tractor was successfully developed, and in 1923, the International Harvester Farmall tractor became the first all-purpose tractor, marking an inflection point in the replacement of draft animals with machines. Mechanical harvesters (combines), planters, transplanters, and other equipment were then developed, further revolutionizing agriculture.[11] These inventions increased yields and allowed individual farmers to manage increasingly large farms.[12]

The identification of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) as critical factors in plant growth led to the manufacture of synthetic fertilizers, further increasing crop yields. In 1909, the Haber-Bosch method to synthesize ammonium nitrate was first demonstrated. NPK fertilizers stimulated the first concerns about industrial agriculture, due to concerns that they came with side effects such as soil compaction, soil erosion, and declines in overall soil fertility, along with health concerns about toxic chemicals entering the food supply.[13]

The discovery of vitamins and their role in nutrition, in the first two decades of the 20th century, led to vitamin supplements, which in the 1920s allowed some livestock to be raised indoors, reducing their exposure to adverse natural elements.[14]

Following World War II synthetic fertilizer use increased rapidly.[15]

The discovery of antibiotics and vaccines facilitated raising livestock by reducing diseases.[16][17] Developments in logistics and refrigeration as well as processing technology made long-distance distribution feasible. Integrated pest management is the modern method to minimize pesticide use to more sustainable levels.[18][19]

There are concerns over the sustainability of industrial agriculture, and the environmental effects of fertilizers and pesticides, which has given rise to the organic movement[20] and has built a market for sustainable intensive farming, as well as funding for the development of appropriate technology.

Techniques and technologies

edit

Livestock

edit

Pasture intensification

edit
 
Cow in enclosed pasture eating grass through wire fence

Pasture intensification is the improvement of pasture soils and grasses to increase the food production potential of livestock systems. It is commonly used to reverse pasture degradation, a process characterized by loss of forage and decreased animal carrying capacity which results from overgrazing, poor nutrient management, and lack of soil conservation.[21] This degradation leads to poor pasture soils with decreased fertility and water availability and increased rates of erosion, compaction, and acidification.[22] Degraded pastures have significantly lower productivity and higher carbon footprints compared to intensified pastures.[23][24][25][26][27]

Management practices which improve soil health and consequently grass productivity include irrigation, soil scarification, and the application of lime, fertilizers, and pesticides. Depending on the productivity goals of the target agricultural system, more involved restoration projects can be undertaken to replace invasive and under-productive grasses with grass species that are better suited to the soil and climate conditions of the region.[21] These intensified grass systems allow higher stocking rates with faster animal weight gain and reduced time to slaughter, resulting in more productive, carbon-efficient livestock systems.[25][26][27]

Another technique to optimize yield while maintaining the carbon balance is the use of integrated crop-livestock (ICL) and crop-livestock-forestry (ICLF) systems, which combine several ecosystems into one optimized agricultural framework.[28] Correctly performed, such production systems are able to create synergies potentially providing benefits to pastures through optimal plant usage, improved feed and fattening rates, increased soil fertility and quality, intensified nutrient cycling, integrated pest control, and improved biodiversity.[21][28] The introduction of certain legume crops to pastures can increase carbon accumulation and nitrogen fixation in soils, while their digestibility helps animal fattening and reduces methane emissions from enteric fermentation.[21][25] ICLF systems yield beef cattle productivity up to ten times that of degraded pastures; additional crop production from maize, sorghum, and soybean harvests; and greatly reduced greenhouse gas balances due to forest carbon sequestration.[22]

In the Twelve Aprils grazing program for dairy production, developed by the USDA-SARE, forage crops for dairy herds are planted into a perennial pasture.[29]

Rotational grazing

edit
 
Rotational grazing of cattle and sheep in Missouri with pasture divided into paddocks, each grazed in turn for a short period and then rested

Rotational grazing is a variety of foraging in which herds or flocks are regularly and systematically moved to fresh, rested grazing areas (sometimes called paddocks) to maximize the quality and quantity of forage growth. It can be used with cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, and other animals. The herds graze one portion of pasture, or a paddock, while allowing the others to recover. Resting grazed lands allows the vegetation to renew energy reserves, rebuild shoot systems, and deepen root systems, resulting in long-term maximum biomass production.[4][5][30][31] Pasture systems alone can allow grazers to meet their energy requirements, but rotational grazing is especially effective because grazers thrive on the more tender younger plant stems. Parasites are also left behind to die off, minimizing or eliminating the need for de-wormers. With the increased productivity of rotational systems, the animals may need less supplemental feed than in continuous grazing systems. Farmers can therefore increase stocking rates.[4][32]

Concentrated animal feeding operations

edit
 
A commercial chicken house raising broiler pullets for meat

Intensive livestock farming or "factory farming", is the process of raising livestock in confinement at high stocking density.[33][34][35][36][37] "Concentrated animal feeding operations" (CAFO), or "intensive livestock operations", can hold large numbers (some up to hundreds of thousands) of cows, hogs, turkeys, or chickens, often indoors. The essence of such farms is the concentration of livestock in a given space. The aim is to provide maximum output at the lowest possible cost and with the greatest level of food safety.[38] The term is often used pejoratively.[39] CAFOs have dramatically increased the production of food from animal husbandry worldwide, both in terms of total food produced and efficiency.

Food and water is delivered to the animals, and therapeutic use of antimicrobial agents, vitamin supplements, and growth hormones are often employed. Growth hormones are not used on chickens nor on any animal in the European Union. Undesirable behaviors often related to the stress of confinement led to a search for docile breeds (e.g., with natural dominant behaviors bred out), physical restraints to stop interaction, such as individual cages for chickens, or physical modification such as the debeaking of chickens to reduce the harm of fighting.[40][41]

The CAFO designation resulted from the 1972 U.S. Federal Clean Water Act, which was enacted to protect and restore lakes and rivers to a "fishable, swimmable" quality. The United States Environmental Protection Agency identified certain animal feeding operations, along with many other types of industry, as "point source" groundwater polluters. These operations were subjected to regulation.[42]

 
Intensively farmed pigs

In 17 states in the U.S., isolated cases of groundwater contamination were linked to CAFOs.[43] The U.S. federal government acknowledges the waste disposal issue and requires that animal waste be stored in lagoons. These lagoons can be as large as 7.5 acres (30,000 m2). Lagoons not protected with an impermeable liner can leak into groundwater under some conditions, as can runoff from manure used as fertilizer. A lagoon that burst in 1995 released 25 million gallons of nitrous sludge in North Carolina's New River. The spill allegedly killed eight to ten million fish.[44]

The large concentration of animals, animal waste, and dead animals in a small space poses ethical issues to some consumers. Animal rights and animal welfare activists have charged that intensive animal rearing is cruel to animals.

Crops

edit

The Green Revolution transformed farming in many developing countries. It spread technologies that had already existed, but had not been widely used outside of industrialized nations. These technologies included "miracle seeds", pesticides, irrigation, and synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.[45]

Seeds

edit

In the 1970s, scientists created high-yielding varieties of maize, wheat, and rice. These have an increased nitrogen-absorbing potential compared to other varieties. Since cereals that absorbed extra nitrogen would typically lodge (fall over) before harvest, semi-dwarfing genes were bred into their genomes. Norin 10 wheat, a variety developed by Orville Vogel from Japanese dwarf wheat varieties, was instrumental in developing wheat cultivars. IR8, the first widely implemented high-yielding rice to be developed by the International Rice Research Institute, was created through a cross between an Indonesian variety named "Peta" and a Chinese variety named "Dee Geo Woo Gen".[46]

With the availability of molecular genetics in Arabidopsis and rice the mutant genes responsible (reduced height (rht), gibberellin insensitive (gai1) and slender rice (slr1)) have been cloned and identified as cellular signalling components of gibberellic acid, a phytohormone involved in regulating stem growth via its effect on cell division. Photosynthate investment in the stem is reduced dramatically in shorter plants and nutrients become redirected to grain production, amplifying in particular the yield effect of chemical fertilizers.

High-yielding varieties outperformed traditional varieties several fold and responded better to the addition of irrigation, pesticides, and fertilizers. Hybrid vigour is utilized in many important crops to greatly increase yields for farmers. However, the advantage is lost for the progeny of the F1 hybrids, meaning seeds for annual crops need to be purchased every season, thus increasing costs and profits for farmers.

Crop rotation

edit
 
Satellite image of circular crop fields in Haskell County, Kansas, in late June 2001. Healthy, growing crops of corn and sorghum are green (sorghum may be slightly paler). Wheat is brilliant gold. Fields of brown have been recently harvested and plowed under or have lain in fallow for the year.

Crop rotation or crop sequencing is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar types of crops in the same space in sequential seasons for benefits such as avoiding pathogen and pest buildup that occurs when one species is continuously cropped. Crop rotation also seeks to balance the nutrient demands of various crops to avoid soil nutrient depletion. A traditional component of crop rotation is the replenishment of nitrogen through the use of legumes and green manure in sequence with cereals and other crops. Crop rotation can also improve soil structure and fertility by alternating deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plants. A related technique is to plant multi-species cover crops between commercial crops. This combines the advantages of intensive farming with continuous cover and polyculture.

Irrigation

edit
 
Overhead irrigation, center-pivot design

Crop irrigation accounts for 70% of the world's fresh water use.[47] Flood irrigation, the oldest and most common type, is typically unevenly distributed, as parts of a field may receive excess water in order to deliver sufficient quantities to other parts. Overhead irrigation, using center-pivot or lateral-moving sprinklers, gives a much more equal and controlled distribution pattern. Drip irrigation is the most expensive and least-used type, but delivers water to plant roots with minimal losses.[48]

Water catchment management measures include recharge pits, which capture rainwater and runoff and use it to recharge groundwater supplies. This helps in the replenishment of groundwater wells and eventually reduces soil erosion. Dammed rivers creating reservoirs store water for irrigation and other uses over large areas. Smaller areas sometimes use irrigation ponds or groundwater.

Weed control

edit

In agriculture, systematic weed management is usually required, often performed by machines such as cultivators or liquid herbicide sprayers. Herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the crop relatively unharmed. Some of these act by interfering with the growth of the weed and are often based on plant hormones. Weed control through herbicide is made more difficult when the weeds become resistant to the herbicide. Solutions include:

  • Cover crops (especially those with allelopathic properties) that out-compete weeds or inhibit their regeneration
  • Multiple herbicides, in combination or in rotation
  • Strains genetically engineered for herbicide tolerance
  • Locally adapted strains that tolerate or out-compete weeds
  • Tilling
  • Ground cover such as mulch or plastic
  • Manual removal
  • Mowing
  • Grazing
  • Burning

Terracing

edit
 
Terrace rice fields in Yunnan Province, China

In agriculture, a terrace is a leveled section of a hilly cultivated area, designed as a method of soil conservation to slow or prevent the rapid surface runoff of irrigation water. Often such land is formed into multiple terraces, giving a stepped appearance. The human landscapes of rice cultivation in terraces that follow the natural contours of the escarpments, like contour ploughing, are a classic feature of the island of Bali and the Banaue Rice Terraces in Banaue, Ifugao, Philippines. In Peru, the Inca made use of otherwise unusable slopes by building drystone walls to create terraces known as Andéns.

Rice paddies

edit

A paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing rice and other semiaquatic crops. Paddy fields are a typical feature of rice-growing countries of east and southeast Asia, including Malaysia, China, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines. They are also found in other rice-growing regions such as Piedmont (Italy), the Camargue (France), and the Artibonite Valley (Haiti). They can occur naturally along rivers or marshes, or can be constructed, even on hillsides. They require large water quantities for irrigation, much of it from flooding. It gives an environment favourable to the strain of rice being grown, and is hostile to many species of weeds. As the only draft animal species which is comfortable in wetlands, the water buffalo is in widespread use in Asian rice paddies.[49]

A recent development in the intensive production of rice is the System of Rice Intensification.[50][51] Developed in 1983 by the French Jesuit Father Henri de Laulanié in Madagascar,[52] by 2013 the number of smallholder farmers using the system had grown to between 4 and 5 million.[53]

Aquaculture

edit

Aquaculture is the cultivation of the natural products of water (fish, shellfish, algae, seaweed, and other aquatic organisms). Intensive aquaculture takes place on land using tanks, ponds, or other controlled systems, or in the ocean, using cages.[54]

Sustainability

edit

Intensive farming practices which are thought to be sustainable[by whom?] have been developed to slow the deterioration of agricultural land and even regenerate soil health and ecosystem services.[citation needed] These developments may fall in the category of organic farming, or the integration of organic and conventional agriculture.

Pasture cropping involves planting grain crops directly into grassland without first applying herbicides. The perennial grasses form a living mulch understory to the grain crop, eliminating the need to plant cover crops after harvest. The pasture is intensively grazed both before and after grain production. This intensive system yields equivalent farmer profits (partly from increased livestock forage) while building new topsoil and sequestering up to 33 tons of CO2/ha/year.[55][56]

Biointensive agriculture focuses on maximizing efficiency such as per unit area, energy input and water input.

Agroforestry combines agriculture and orchard/forestry technologies to create more integrated, diverse, productive, profitable, healthy and sustainable land-use systems.

Intercropping can increase yields or reduce inputs and thus represents (potentially sustainable) agricultural intensification. However, while total yield per unit land area is often increased, yields of any single crop often decrease. There are also challenges to farmers who rely on farming equipment optimized for monoculture, often resulting in increased labor inputs.

Vertical farming is intensive crop production on a large scale in urban centers, in multi-story, artificially-lit structures, for the production of low-calorie foods like herbs, microgreens, and lettuce.

An integrated farming system is a progressive, sustainable agriculture system such as zero waste agriculture or integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, which involves the interactions of multiple species. Elements of this integration can include:

  • Intentionally introducing flowering plants into agricultural ecosystems to increase pollen-and nectar-resources required by natural enemies of insect pests[57]
  • Using crop rotation and cover crops to suppress nematodes in potatoes[58]
  • Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture is a practice in which the by-products (wastes) from one species are recycled to become inputs (fertilizers, food) for another.

Challenges

edit

Environmental impact

edit

Industrial agriculture uses huge amounts of water, energy,[59] and industrial chemicals, increasing pollution in the arable land, usable water, and atmosphere. Herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizers accumulate in ground and surface waters. Industrial agricultural practices are one of the main drivers of global warming, accounting for 14–28% of net greenhouse gas emissions.[60]

Many of the negative effects of industrial agriculture may emerge at some distance from fields and farms. Nitrogen compounds from the Midwest, for example, travel down the Mississippi to degrade coastal fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, causing so-called oceanic dead zones.[61]

Many wild plant and animal species have become extinct on a regional or national scale, and the functioning of agro-ecosystems has been profoundly altered. Agricultural intensification includes a variety of factors, including the loss of landscape elements, increased farm and field sizes, and increase usage of insecticides and herbicides. The large scale of insecticides and herbicides lead to the rapid developing resistance among pests renders herbicides and insecticides increasingly ineffective.[62] Agrochemicals have may be involved in colony collapse disorder, in which the individual members of bee colonies disappear.[63] (Agricultural production is highly dependent on bees to pollinate many varieties of fruits and vegetables.)

Intensive farming creates conditions for parasite growth and transmission that are vastly different from what parasites encounter in natural host populations, potentially altering selection on a variety of traits such as life-history traits and virulence. Some recent epidemic outbreaks have highlighted the association with intensive agricultural farming practices. For example the infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) virus is causing significant economic loss for salmon farms. The ISA virus is an orthomyxovirus with two distinct clades, one European and one North American, that diverged before 1900 (Krossøy et al. 2001).[64] This divergence suggests that an ancestral form of the virus was present in wild salmonids prior to the introduction of cage-cultured salmonids. As the virus spread from vertical transmission (parent to offspring)[clarification needed].

Intensive monoculture increases the risk of failures due to pests, adverse weather and disease.[65][66]

Social impact

edit

A study for the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment concluded that regarding industrial agriculture, there is a "negative relationship between the trend toward increasing farm size and the social conditions in rural communities" on a "statistical level".[67] Agricultural monoculture can entail social and economic risks.[68]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen. "'s definition of Intensive Agriculture". britannica.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-24. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
  2. ^ Lichtfouse, Eric; Navarrete, Mireille; Debaeke, Philippe; Souchère, Véronique; Alberola, Caroline, eds. (2009). Sustainable Agriculture (PDF). Dordrecht: Springer. p. 5. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2666-8. ISBN 978-90-481-2665-1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
  3. ^ "Sustainable Intensification for Smallholders". Project Drawdown. 2020-02-06. Archived from the original on 2021-11-17. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  4. ^ a b c d Undersander, Dan; Albert, Beth; Cosgrove, Dennis; Johnson, Dennis; Peterson, Paul (2002). Pastures for profit: A guide to rotational grazing (PDF) (Report). Cooperative Extension Publishing, University of Wisconsin. p. 4. A3529. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019. rotational grazing involves a higher level of management with greater paddock numbers, shorter grazing periods, and longer rest periods.
  5. ^ a b c "Getting Started with Intensive Grazing". Manitoba Agriculture. Manitoba Government. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019. There are many reasons why producers move to intensive grazing systems. These include...
  6. ^ * Overton, Mark. Agricultural Revolution in England 1500–1850 Archived 2021-04-25 at the Wayback Machine (September 19, 2002), BBC.
  7. ^ Kingsbury, Noel (2009). Hybrid: The History and Science of Plant Breeding. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226437132.
  8. ^ Brettman, Allan (July 24, 2010). "Collectors at Great Oregon Steam-Up are always steamed about their passion". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  9. ^ "Ottawa Valley Land Rovers – Member's Prose & Pages – Mike Rooth – Locomotives – Steam Tractor, Part I". ovlr.org. Archived from the original on 2019-08-29. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
  10. ^ "Steam Engines". History Link 101. History Source LLC. 2019. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  11. ^ Janick, Jules. "Agricultural Scientific Revolution: Mechanical" (PDF). Purdue University. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-05-25. Retrieved 2013-05-24.
  12. ^ Reid, John F. (Fall 2011). "The Impact of Mechanization on Agriculture". The Bridge on Agriculture and Information Technology. 41 (3). Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  13. ^ Stinner, D.H (2007). "The Science of Organic Farming". In William Lockeretz (ed.). Organic Farming: An International History. Oxfordshire, UK & Cambridge, Massachusetts: CAB International (CABI). ISBN 978-0-85199-833-6. Retrieved 30 April 2013. (ebook ISBN 978-1-84593-289-3}
  14. ^ Semba, Richard D. (2012). "The discovery of the vitamins". International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research. 82 (5): 310–315. doi:10.1024/0300-9831/a000124. ISSN 0300-9831. PMID 23798048.
  15. ^ "A Historical Perspective". International Fertilizer Industry Association. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  16. ^ Hoelzer, Karin; Bielke, Lisa; Blake, Damer P.; Cox, Eric; Cutting, Simon M.; Devriendt, Bert; Erlacher-Vindel, Elisabeth; Goossens, Evy; Karaca, Kemal; Lemiere, Stephane; Metzner, Martin (2018-07-31). "Vaccines as alternatives to antibiotics for food producing animals. Part 1: challenges and needs". Veterinary Research. 49 (1): 64. doi:10.1186/s13567-018-0560-8. ISSN 1297-9716. PMC 6066911. PMID 30060757.
  17. ^ Kirchhelle, Claas (2018-08-07). "Pharming animals: a global history of antibiotics in food production (1935–2017)". Palgrave Communications. 4 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1057/s41599-018-0152-2. ISSN 2055-1045.
  18. ^ US EPA, OCSPP (2015-09-28). "Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Principles". US EPA. Archived from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  19. ^ "Integrated Pest Management | Sustainable Campus". sustainablecampus.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  20. ^ Philpott, Tom (19 April 2013). "A Brief History of Our Deadly Addiction to Nitrogen Fertilizer". Mother Jones.
  21. ^ a b c d Zimmer, Ademir; Macedo, Manuel; Neivo Kichel, Armindo; Almeida, Roberto (2012-11-01). Degradação, recuperação e renovação de pastagens.
  22. ^ a b de Figueiredo, Eduardo Barretto; Jayasundara, Susantha; Bordonal, Ricardo de Oliveira; Berchielli, Telma Teresinha; Reis, Ricardo Andrade; Wagner-Riddle, Claudia; La Scala, Newton Jr. (2017). "Greenhouse gas balance and carbon footprint of beef cattle in three contrasting pasture-management systems in Brazil". Journal of Cleaner Production. 142: 420–431. Bibcode:2017JCPro.142..420D. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.03.132. hdl:11449/177967.
  23. ^ "Indicativo de pastagens plantadas em processo de degradação no bioma Cerrado". embrapa.br – Portal Embrapa (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2018-06-15. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  24. ^ Bogaerts, Meghan; Cirhigiri, Lora; Robinson, Ian; Rodkin, Mikaela; Hajjar, Reem; Junior, Ciniro Costa; Newton, Peter (2017). "Climate change mitigation through intensified pasture management: Estimating greenhouse gas emissions on cattle farms in the Brazilian Amazon". Journal of Cleaner Production. 162: 1539–1550. Bibcode:2017JCPro.162.1539B. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.06.130.
  25. ^ a b c Cardoso, Abmael S.; Berndt, Alexandre; Leytem, April; Alves, Bruno J. R.; Carvalho, Isabel das N.O. de; Soares, Luis Henrique de Barros; Urquiaga, Segundo; Boddey, Robert M. (2016). "Impact of the intensification of beef production in Brazil on greenhouse gas emissions and land use" (PDF). Agricultural Systems. 143: 86–96. Bibcode:2016AgSys.143...86C. doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2015.12.007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-12-25. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  26. ^ a b Talamini, Edson; Ruviaro, Clandio Favarini; Florindo, Thiago José; Florindo, Giovanna Isabelle Bom De Medeiros (2017). "Improving feed efficiency as a strategy to reduce beef carbon footprint in the Brazilian Midwest region". International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development. 16 (4): 379. doi:10.1504/ijesd.2017.10007706.
  27. ^ a b Ruviaro, Clandio F.; Léis, Cristiane Maria de; Lampert, Vinícius do N.; Barcellos, Júlio Otávio Jardim; Dewes, Homero (2015). "Carbon footprint in different beef production systems on a southern Brazilian farm: a case stud" (PDF). Journal of Cleaner Production. 96: 435–443. Bibcode:2015JCPro..96..435R. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.01.037. hdl:10183/122628. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-12-31. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  28. ^ a b Balbino, Luiz; Neivo Kichel, Armindo; Bungenstab, Davi; Almeida, Roberto (2014-03-01). Integrated systems: what they are, their advantages and limitations. pp. 11–18. ISBN 9788570352972.
  29. ^ "12 Aprils Dairy Grazing Manual". USDA-SARE. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  30. ^ Beetz, A. E. (2004). Rotational grazing: Livestock systems guide. National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA).
  31. ^ Sanjari, G.; Ghadiri, H.; Ciesiolka, C. A. A.; Yu, B. (2008). "Comparing the effects of continuous and time-controlled grazing systems on soil characteristics in Southeast Queensland" (PDF). Soil Research 46 (CSIRO Publishing). pp. 48–358. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
  32. ^ Teague, W. R.; Dowhowera, S. L.; Bakera, S. A.; Haileb, N.; DeLaunea, P. B.; Conovera, D. M. (May 2011). "Grazing management impacts on vegetation, soil biota and soil chemical, physical and hydrological properties in tall grass prairie". Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 141 (3–4): 310–322. Bibcode:2011AgEE..141..310T. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2011.03.009.
  33. ^ Sources discussing "intensive farming", "intensive agriculture" or "factory farming":
  34. ^ Sources discussing "industrial farming", "industrial agriculture" and "factory farming":
    • "Annex 2. Permitted substances for the production of organic foods" Archived 2012-01-26 at the Wayback Machine, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: "'Factory' farming refers to industrial management systems that are heavily reliant on veterinary and feed inputs not permitted in organic agriculture.
    • "Head to head: Intensive farming" Archived 2009-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, March 6, 2001: "Here, Green MEP Caroline Lucas takes issue with the intensive farming methods of recent decades ... In the wake of the spread of BSE from the UK to the continent of Europe, the German Government has appointed an Agriculture Minister from the Green Party. She intends to end factory farming in her country. This must be the way forward and we should end industrial agriculture in this country as well."
  35. ^ Kaufmann, Mark. "Largest Pork Processor to Phase Out Crates" Archived 2011-10-16 at the Wayback Machine, The Washington Post, January 26, 2007.
  36. ^ "EU tackles BSE crisis" Archived 2017-07-11 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, November 29, 2000.
  37. ^ "Is factory farming really cheaper?" in New Scientist, Institution of Electrical Engineers, New Science Publications, University of Michigan, 1971, p. 12.
  38. ^ Nierenberg, Danielle (2005). Happier meals : rethinking the global meat industry. Lisa Mastny, Worldwatch Institute. Washington, D.C.: Worldwatch Institute. ISBN 1-878071-77-7. OCLC 62104329.
  39. ^ Duram, Leslie A. (2010). Encyclopedia of Organic, Sustainable, and Local Food. ABC-CLIO. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-313-35963-7.
  40. ^ Van Boeckel, Thomas P.; Brower, Charles; Gilbert, Marius; Grenfell, Bryan T.; Levin, Simon A.; Robinson, Timothy P.; Teillant, Aude; Laxminarayan, Ramanan (2015-05-05). "Global trends in antimicrobial use in food animals". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 112 (18): 5649–5654. Bibcode:2015PNAS..112.5649V. doi:10.1073/pnas.1503141112. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 4426470. PMID 25792457.
  41. ^ admin (2023-04-23). "Intensive farming". tuoitho.edu.vn. Archived from the original on 2023-07-05. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  42. ^ Sweeten, John et al. "Fact Sheet #1: A Brief History and Background of the EPA CAFO Rule" Archived 2008-12-17 at the Wayback Machine. MidWest Plan Service, Iowa State University, July 2003.
  43. ^ "CAFOs & Clean Water Act". Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  44. ^ Orlando, Laura. McFarms Go Wild, Dollars and Sense, July/August 1998, cited in Scully, Matthew. Dominion, St. Martin's Griffin, p. 257.
  45. ^ Brown, 1970.
  46. ^ "Rice Varieties". IRRI Knowledge Bank. Archived from the original on 2006-07-13. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
  47. ^ Pimentel, Berger, et al., "Water resources: agricultural and environmental issues", BioScience 54.10 (Oct 2004), p909
  48. ^ "Drip Irrigation System for sustainable agriculture". Agriculture land usa. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  49. ^ "Methane – Rice". ghgonline.org. Archived from the original on 2018-10-19. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  50. ^ "SRI Concepts and Methods Applied to Other Crops". Cornell University. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  51. ^ "The System of Crop Intensification Agroecological Innovations for Improving Agricultural Production, Food Security, and Resilience to Climate Change" (PDF). SRI International Network and Resources Center. Cornell University. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 September 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  52. ^ Intensive Rice Farming in Madagascar Archived 2015-08-24 at the Wayback Machine by H. De Laulanié, in Tropicultura Archived 2014-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, 2011, 29, 3, 183–187
  53. ^ Vidal, John (16 February 2013). "India's rice revolution". The Observer. The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 November 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  54. ^ Answers. "Agriculture". Answers.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
  55. ^ Leu, Andre. "Mitigating Climate Change With Soil Organic Matter in Organic Production Systems" (PDF). Trade and environment review 2013, Commentary V. UNCTAD. pp. 22–32. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  56. ^ Bradley, Kirsten (7 December 2010). "Why Pasture Cropping is such a Big Deal". Milkwood. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  57. ^ Oregon State University – Integrated Farming Systems – Insectary Plantings – Enhancing Biological Control with Beneficial Insectary Plants Archived 2006-06-15 at the Wayback Machine
  58. ^ Oregon State University – Integrated Farming Systems – Nematode Suppression by Cover Crops Archived 2008-09-05 at the Wayback Machine
  59. ^ "Moseley, W.G. 2011. "Make farming energy efficient". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. June 3. pg. 15A". ajc.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-28. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  60. ^ Mbow, C.; Rosenzweig, C.; Barioni, L. G.; Benton, T.; et al. (2019). "Chapter 5: Food Security" (PDF). IPCC SRCCL. pp. 439–442. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-12-20. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
  61. ^ "What is a dead zone?". NOAA. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015. The largest hypoxic zone in the United States, and the second largest hypoxic zone worldwide, forms in the northern Gulf of Mexico adjacent to the Mississippi River. This image from a NOAA animation shows how runoff from farms (green areas) and cities (red areas) drains into the Mississippi. This runoff contains an overabundance of nutrients from fertilizers, wastewater treatment plants, and other sources.
  62. ^ Union of Concerned Scientists Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine article The Costs and Benefits of Industrial Agriculture last updated March 2001. "Many of the negative effects of industrial agriculture are remote from fields and farms. Nitrogen compounds from the Midwest, for example, travel down the Mississippi to degrade coastal fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. But other adverse effects are showing up within agricultural production systems—for example, the rapidly developing resistance among pests rendering our arsenal of herbicides and insecticides increasingly ineffective."
  63. ^ Loarie, Greg (2014-05-02). "The Case of the Vanishing Bees". EarthJustice. Archived from the original on 2015-04-19. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  64. ^ Krossøy, B.; Nilsen, F.; Falk, K.; Endresen, C.; Nylund, A. (2001). "Phylogenetic analysis of infectious salmon anaemia virus isolates from Norway, Canada and Scotland". Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. 44 (1). Inter-Research Science Center (IR): 1–6. doi:10.3354/dao044001. hdl:11250/108366. ISSN 0177-5103. PMID 11253869.
  65. ^ For example:Berbee, J. G.; Omuemu, J. O.; Martin, R. R.; Castello, J. D. (1976). "Detection and elimination of viruses in poplars". Intensive Plantation Culture: Five Years Research. USDA Forest Service general technical report NC. Vol. 21. St. Paul, Minnesota: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station. p. 85. In the north-central States, the intensive culture of certain species and hybrids of poplars presents the greatest opportunity to achieve maximum wood fiber production, provided that adequate provision can be made for control of the many insects and diseases that may attack them. [...] The [...] trend toward monoculture [...] increases the vulnerability of the cropping system to insects and diseases. The greatest potential for insidious disaster due to virus diseases is with monocultures of vegetatively propagated perennial crops.
  66. ^ Mander, Jerry (2002). "Industrializing Nature and Agriculture". In Kimbrell, Andrew (ed.). The Fatal Harvest Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture. Washington: Island Press. p. 89. ISBN 9781597262804. Retrieved 30 November 2019. Industrial monocultures—single crops where there was once diversity, and single varieties of each crop where there used to be thousands—are also blows against biological and genetic diversity. [...] Monocultures are weak, subject to insect blights, diseases, and bad weather.
  67. ^ Macrosocial Accounting Project, Dept. of Applied Behavioral Sciences, Univ. of California, Davis, CA Archived 2003-01-21 at the Wayback Machine
  68. ^ United States. Department of Agriculture (1973). Monoculture in Agriculture: Extent, Causes, and Problems-report of the Task Force on Spatial Heterogeneity in Agricultural Landscapes and Enterprises. Washington. p. 29. Retrieved 30 November 2019. In addition to being relatively unstable agricultural ecosystems, monocultures are also vulnerable to disaster from social and economic disruptions.
edit