ENVS195 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Food Sovereignty, Comparative Advantage, Canola
23 Mar 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Relies on hybrid and gmo to increase production. High yield crops work well with modern farm inputs: chemical fertilizers, irrigation system, machinery (tractors, combines, threshers), herbicides. Cost effective from economies of scale, results in cheap food (10% of income is spent on food items in n. america) Export market (earn income and meet food demand abroad) There has been a lot of effort to duplicate green revolution in developing countries. Indian farmers try to compete with subsidized farmers from north america. Irrigation depletes water sources (70% of freshwater used for agriculture) Chemical fertilizers (herbicides and insecticides accumulate in ground and surface waters) Monocultures (reduced biodiversity increased vulnerabilities to pessts, disease. Food borne pathogens and contaminants treatment of livestock with antibiotics may lead to resistance to antibiotics in humans. Social costs consolidation of farmland pushed onut small scale farmers today, 3% of na population is in farming sector. Usa has cargill, archer0daniels midlands and smith far control the majority of farmland.
