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Crop rotation and cover crops prevent soil erosion, by protecting topsoil from wind and water. [32] Effective crop rotation can reduce pest pressure on crops, provides weed control, reduces disease build up, and improves the efficiency of soil nutrients and nutrient cycling. [128] This reduces the need for fertilizers and pesticides. [127]
The negative impact of agriculture is an old issue that remains a concern even as experts design innovative means to reduce destruction and enhance eco-efficiency. [2] Animal agriculture practices tend to be more environmentally destructive than agricultural practices focused on fruits, vegetables and other biomass. The emissions of ammonia ...
Agricultural chemistry often aims at preserving or increasing the fertility of soil with the goals of maintaining or improving the agricultural yield and improving the quality of the crop. Soils are analyzed with attention to the inorganic matter (minerals), which comprise most of the mass of dry soil, and organic matter, which consists of ...
The word pesticide derives from the Latin pestis (plague) and caedere (kill). [5]The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has defined pesticide as: . any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, or controlling any pest, including vectors of human or animal disease, unwanted species of plants or animals, causing harm during or otherwise interfering with the ...
Other important soil organisms include nematodes, mycorrhiza and bacteria. A quarter of all the animal species live underground. According to the 2020 Food and Agriculture Organization’s report "State of knowledge of soil biodiversity – Status, challenges and potentialities", there are major gaps in knowledge about biodiversity in soils ...
Agriculture is both a cause of and sensitive to environmental degradation, such as biodiversity loss, desertification, soil degradation and climate change, which cause decreases in crop yield. [196] Agriculture is one of the most important drivers of environmental pressures, particularly habitat change, climate change, water use and toxic ...
The Passaic Agricultural Chemical Works in Newark, New Jersey, 1876. An agrochemical or agrichemical, a contraction of agricultural chemical, is a chemical product used in industrial agriculture. Agrichemical typically refers to biocides (pesticides including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and nematicides) alongside synthetic fertilizers.
Systematic ploughing, manuring, weeding, irrigation and crop protection was practiced for sustained agriculture. [45] Water storage systems were designed during this period. [1] Kallanai (1st-2nd century CE), a dam built on river Kaveri during this period, is considered to be one of the oldest water-regulation structures in the world still in ...