Week 1 Lecture
Agriculture is shaping human existence
Conflict between food production and biodiversity
Agriculture is changing the Earth
It can be unsustainable
It exacerbates climate change
The “Green Revolution” from about 1950 has achieved intensification of agricultural production
large scale monocultures
crop breeding,
weed and pest control and mechanisation
Modern Agriculture is feeding the increasing population
925 million people
remain hungry
Green Revolution” increased crop productivity ≈4-fold with
improved crop varieties, pest and weed control, mechanisation
and fertilisers
Fertiliser
Strongly enhances crop growth
Synthetic nitrogen fertiliser rapidly dissolves in soil,
If not used by crops, it can be lost to the environment
Detrimental to the barrier reef
Crown of thorn starfish larvae thrive in
nutrient-rich, algae-rich waters and attack
corals in the Great Barrier Reef
Algal blooms
Coastal dead zones
Polluted ground water
Anoxia
Planetary Boundaries
Haber-Bosch process
Making reactive Nitrogen from inert air Dinitrognen
Synthetic N fertiliser: urea, ammonium, nitrate
Impacts
We often see a mismatch between nutrient availability and crop
demand which leaves fertiliser vulnerable to loss from soil
Fertilised agricultural soils contribute - 10% to global warming
as they emit potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide
2nd Green Revolution
New crop varieties and crop systems with high yields but that use less water, fertilisers and other inputs
Farming based on ecological principles and organic agriculture
Sustainable intensification of agriculture that “does not cost the earth”
Animal Welfare
NextGen
environmentally responsive and synchronise nutrient supply and crop demand
Re-imagine fertilisers: crop needs,
new materials and re-purposed wastes