SOSC 2000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Vegetable Oil, British Agricultural Revolution, Soil Retrogression And Degradation
25 Nov 2017
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Document Summary
The agrarian revolution had an indelible mark in the production process. The industries wanted some raw materials (oilseed) and remains were many to feed the livestock. The industrial grain-oilseed-livestock complex traces its way back to areas with extensive fields of monocultured crop. The areas which have been dominated by this includes the temperate regions such as argentina. The crop led to increased food for livestock and thereby multiplying the number. People have adopted meat in their diets and livestock become the sole supplier. The population increase demands for more meat which in return triggers the production of crop. However, the system is overwhelmed with biophysical problems such as soil degradation. In addition, mechanization do away with the vegetative cover of the soil making it vulnerable to erosion and losing the natural aeration. Chemicals that are used such as fertilizers and pesticides consistently increases acidity of the soil hence do away with equilibrium of the ecosystem.
