Environmental Science 2

Part A
Agriculture has been the backbone and the primary source of food globally. However, as a result of rapid population increase, improved methods of cultivation are essential to ensure that there is a constant supply of food to serve the growing population. However, the resources necessary to support the required high level of agricultural production are vast. In the real world, the rate of population growth has been seen as geometric as the food supply is arithmetic (Malthus, 1978).

The central concept portrayed in the modules is that the population growth rate has been considered as a threat to food security. Therefore programs have been put in place to provide individuals with knowledge and skills which will help them deal with the problem of food security. The plans also help them on how to make use of naturally available resources together with other management strategies to enable them to eliminate poverty within their communities. The program’s primary goal is to improve the conditions which limit agricultural production the rural areas and some of the peri-urban areas. Mainly its done through the advancement of skills and values in the community. As other countries especially the developing countries are trying to deal with the problem of food insecurity other countries, for instance, developed nations like the USA where the supply of food is higher than the demand, more land has been withdrawn from cultivation and has been converted to other uses due to technological advancements.

This diversion from agriculture comes to be as a result of competition from more developed countries.

There are quite many terminologies used in the modules. They include:
Horse collar – this is a metal or leather which encircles a horse’s neck. It allowed the farmers especially from China to harness their livestock during ploughing to pull ploughs especially in heavy soils which they couldn’t manage in case they used their hands.

Agro-Ecological zoning- it gives out the characteristics of land that is most suitable for carrying out agriculture.
Ecosystem- this is a community made up of the living organism and non-living things and their interaction with the surrounding system.
Enzyme RUBISCO- this merely is ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase. The enzyme helps in catalysing carbon (IV) oxide incorporation, especially in organic molecules.

Organochlorines- These were chemicals especially pesticides which were used in agriculture to control insects and other household pests.
The following diagrams are have been considered to be used primarily to large-scale farmers who carry out agriculture to deal with the problem of food insecurity.

The program was launched in 1986 by Indonesia. The main aim of the plan was to show farmers on how they will control brown planthopper; the pest lays its eggs inside the stalks of the rice plant. The agents trained the farmers to monitor their crops against planthoppers and any other predator. They advised the farmers that in case of an outbreak they should apply pesticides or use any other biological control measures. After the training and during the harvest the production increased by 15 percent and the pesticides declined by 60 percent.

The most important thing that I have learned is on ways and the various means of improving food production and on how to apply the value-added skills so that I can contribute in eliminating poverty and control the population increase rate by encouraging family planning.
The questions that I have concerning the model are as follows.
The stagnation of agricultural production is seen as a crisis. Explain?
What are the problems likely to face farm managers?
Will the decision made on agriculture in future be different from those produced today?
What will be the changes made in the agricultural sector to improve food security?

Work cited.
Annenberg Foundation. “The Habitable Planet Textbook.” Annenberg foundation 2017 HYPERLINK “http://www.learner.org/cources/envsci” http://www.learner.org/cources/envsci.