Modern Agriculture And Its Impact On The Environment
India is an agricultural country. The main occupation of most Indians is farming. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood of around two-third of the population of India. Agriculture is the practice or art of growing crops and raising animals for livelihood. The term agriculture is derived from the Latin words. The first word is ager which means soil, and the second word is ‘cultura’ which means cultivation. Farming needs skilful management and the art of performing corp operations and raising animals. As a business agriculture targets maximum return through the management of water and capital, land labour, employing the knowledge of various sciences for the production of food, fibre, feed, and fuel.
Modern agriculture can be defined as the advanced techniques of science and technology used for the production of fibre, crop, and livestock raising. Several farmers around the world work using the most innovative practices and growing techniques for the production of food, fuel, and fibre. With the modern techniques of agriculture, they minimise the environmental footprint at the same time.
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Impact of Modern Agriculture on Environment
Modern agricultural practices are the reason for the improved production of food supply and biofuels. It also gives surety about food security. It also creates environmental problems because of its high input- high output techniques with the use of hybrid seeds. In many countries where the population is growing rapidly, modern agricultural techniques are used to increase the productivity of food. The impact of modern agriculture on environment are given below;
Soil Erosion
The topsoil of land is used for cropping, and it has nutrients. But due to modern techniques now an excessive amount of water is used in farming which causes soil erosion and makes the soil less fertile. Mono cropping is a technique of growing the same crop on the land every year. It reduces the nutrients of the soil, and over time soils become less productive. It creates global warming as the slit of water bodies releases carbon from organic material. Most of the techniques of modern agriculture are chemical-based. These chemicals are called agrochemicals and are mixed with soil to increase production when a nucleus of these chemicals emits radiation. Modern farming also inhabitants of some natural creatures which cause soil erosion.
Contamination of groundwater
A huge amount of water is needed for agricultural purposes. Around 70% of the world’s water consumption is used in farming. Groundwater is one important source of water for farming. Excessive use of fertilisers is contaminating the groundwater. These fertilisers reach into soil and then finally contaminate water. Pesticides used in farming can contaminate both groundwater and surface water. The use of wasteful water can cause microbiological and chemical pollutants in crops, livestock products. Various natural water resources such as rivers, ponds, lakes are used for irrigation. The use of pesticides and fertilizers are polluting natural water resources. The contamination of the groundwater affects negatively the environment. When the nitrate level of groundwater ranges over 25 milligrams per litre, it can cause a serious health problem. Blue Baby Syndrome is a disease caused by polluted groundwater, which affects infants ad can lead to their death.
Water-logging and salinity
The improper management of farm drainage can cause salinity of the soil, which leads to low productivity. The roots of plants do not get plenty of air for respiration which causes low crop yield as well as low mechanical strength. Waterlogging reduces the oxygen level in the roots, which disturbs the growth of plants and reduces the potential of the soil.
The excessive usage of water for farming, non-cemented canals and a bad drainage system are the reasons for waterlogging and salinity in the farmland.
Eutrophication
Eutrophication is made of two words: ‘eu’ meaning more and ‘trophication’ meaning nutrition. This is performed to gain more nutrients from soil and water. Eutrophication is related to the addition of two substances, one substance used to be artificial and other non-artificial, like nitrates and phosphate, through fertilisers to a freshwater system. Excessive use of fertilisers that consists of nitrogen and phosphorus leads to over nourishment of the water bodies and rises to the phenomenon of eutrophication.
Excessive use of Pesticide
Pesticides are used to kill pests and increase the productivity of crops. Some common pesticides are Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane (DDT), arsenic, sulfur, lead, and mercury. Some pesticides are non-biodegradable, which links with the food chain and harm the health of human beings.
Effects of Modern Agriculture
Modern Agriculture has both negative and positive effects. Ancient techniques were better in terms of pollutants but to define modern farming, some scientific techniques came in modern farming, which pose a hazard to the environment. The growth of the population of India is very rapid. With the help of modern technology, India can have artificial employment to fulfil the requirement of crops. India can export grain to other countries. Certain farming practices in modern agriculture help mitigate the flood risks. Effects of modern agriculture on the environment in a negative way are soil erosion and environmental pollution. It is also dangerous for the health of human beings. Fertilisers and pesticides are using in excessive amounts to increase yield which results in dangerous diseases such as skin cancer, respiratory issues amputations in human beings and also in gazing animals. However, modern agriculture techniques make agriculture easier by reducing labour and loss but have high social and environmental costs.
List All the Steps involved in Modern Agriculture:
Modern India is implementing the new techniques of agriculture with the help of science and technology to improve the quality and quantity of the crop. Here is the list of all the steps involved in modern agriculture is given below with an explanation of each step.
Crop Selection
The crop selection depends on different factors such as availability of water, type of land and climate etc. In modern farming or agriculture, hybrid seeds are used.
Land Preparation
In agriculture technology, preparation of land before sowing new crops is very necessary. It is useful in controlling crop disease and pest invasion. Nowadays, machinery like tractors is used for land preparations.
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Seed Selection
The selection of seeds decides the yield of crops, so the selection of seeds should be of good quality. Hybrid and high yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds are used in modern agriculture.
Soil Preparation
Soil preparations are performed in three main steps. In the first step of soil preparation, ploughing of the field is done. Ploughing is the process of loosening the soil of the farming land and turning hard soil into soft soil. The second step is levelling, where land is set to a finite level with the beheld of the modern technique of levelling such as tractors, soil leveller machines and other means. The last step of soil preparation is manuring, where fertilisers are added to increase the production of crops.
Sowing of Seeds
There are different methods of sowing seeds such as broadcasting, drilling or line sowing, dibbling, which is done manually, transplanting, planting etc. With the help of modern technology of sowing of seeds, it had become easy before the technology farmers used to manually put a seed in the ground, which takes much effort and time.
Irrigation
The modern method of irrigation is surface irrigation, where water is absorbed on the surface of the land, drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, subsurface irrigation. The modern-day irrigation systems are more efficient than traditional irrigation systems such as rivers and rain.
Fertilisers
Fertilisers are used to increase the quality and quantity of crops. They are added to soil or plant tissues to give them nutrients to grow.
Pesticides
Before the evolution of modern pesticides, crops were damaged by the pests such as ants, bugs, cockroaches, beetles, cricket, moth etc., but nowadays, crops are preserved from pests.
Harvesting
The process of cutting and collecting grains from the corps is called harvesting. In modern techniques, this is done by the machinery of harvesting. Harvesting of corps involves different methods. These methods are cutting the crops, hauling threshed, stacking and threshing.
Did You Know?
The Green Revolution was introduced in 1960 for the Indian farmer to cultivate wheat and rice.
Agriculture provides around 28% of employment in the world.
Modern agriculture is becoming a threat to the environment and health issues, so every farmer should try to reduce those techniques. The government of India should ban fertilisers and pesticides, which are highly responsible for environmental pollution. The effects of modern agriculture can be reduced by taking some necessary steps to save our environment.
FAQs on Modern Farming
1. What is the impact of modern agriculture on the environment?
Modern agriculture techniques are also one of the reasons for environmental pollution. The major impact of modern agriculture on the environment is the degradation of the soil, deforestation, biodiversity loss, pest problems and disposal of agricultural waste. The burning of by-products of agricultural waste, paddy straw and rice husk pollute air and water. Because of the excessive water supply, the top layer of the land is removed, which used to be very fertile.
2. What are the effects of modern agriculture on the environment?
The adverse effects of modern agriculture are in the form of pollution of the environment. Natural sources of water are getting polluted day by day. The product of modern agriculture is not suitable for good health. It is creating health hazards. The use of pesticides and fertilisers are continuously polluting the soil of the farming lands. Forests are being cut to get land for farming which is not good for the wildlife. On the other hand, polluted water does not suit marine life.
