Factors That Affect The Productivity Of Agricultural Crops

Due to its biennual life cycle Brassica oleracea is exposed to seasonal changes in temperature that could limit its production. Brassica oleracea are the family of vegetables such as, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, etc. The most predominant types kale and cabbage were the ones used to conduct the experiment. Temperature variations are one of the principal factors that drive plant phenology. In agriculture some stresses can be minimized by using irrigation and fertilization. While others, however, are difficult to overcome due to fluctuations in air temperature. Seasonal changes in temperature limit geographical distribution and productivity of many important crops. The part of plants that are reactive to climate change are the plasma membrane

This is important because without proper absorption of light, plants could be over exposed to UV radiation and eventually die. This brings into question the extent of the potential damage of global warming and possibly new challenges for the agricultural industry. Global warming is caused by greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide. The effects of global warming are measurable and can be described as the gradual increasing of Earth’s temperature (Freiji et al-2017). Not only does the climate change introduce an overall increase in temperature, it also can be linked to extreme weather, such as the drought that affected more than half of the continental US in 2012, Midwestern tornadoes, and tropical storms, like hurricane Katrina. (Renner-2013). All of these factors create even harsher conditions for plant life which would mean that there is a great need for the enzyme tyrosinase to work at maximum efficiency to protect plants from very harsh environments. It is important to understand what factors affect tyrosinase, namely heat, especially when considering big environmental issues such as global warming. All of this

High salinity is a prominent abiotic stress that negatively effects plant survival and growth by causing water to move out of the cells resulting in osmotic stress. Initially this causes nutrient imbalances, membrane disruption and a reduced capacity to neutralise reactive oxygen species, later manifesting as cellular toxicity produced by an influx of ions into the cell (HanumanthaRao, 2016). Higher plants are also confined to habitats that have a pH greater than 2, as highly acidic environments cause enzymes to denature as charges between amino acids become disrupted. Additionally, low pH’s increase heavy metal solubility. Therefore environments that

Arid and semiarid regions are seriously lacking in fresh water. Water shortages in these regions have become the basic norm rather than the exception. Most importantly, the situation of water shortage is growing worse due to abrupt climatic changes and continuous population growth. All of these factors will decrease the amount of water allocated to the agricultural sector, which consumes about 75% of the available water supply. Therefore, as the water supply for agronomic purposes becomes insufficient, development of new germplasms with higher yield potential becomes more imperative and it will be one of the major adaptation strategies to sustain crop productions under arid and semiarid conditions. In order to improve the germplasms for these conditions, it is essential to evaluate a large number of genotypes using multiple selection criteria. Several morpho-physiological traits, particularly those related to crop processes, yield characteristics, and drought-tolerance mechanisms such as relative water content, canopy water content, SPAD value and normalized relative canopy temperature are usually effective as useful complementary selection criteria for screening germplasms under different environmental conditions (Chen et al., 2012; Elsayed et al., 2015). Direct measurements of those traits by traditional methods are destructive and time-consuming and some of them are difficult to do when a large number of genotypes need to be evaluated across different

Genetic engineering is a complex environmental health issue that presents several benefits and risks to both consumers and the environment. Genetic engineering is a technique used to produce genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which are genetically altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating or natural recombination (WHO, 2014). In other words, genetic engineering is an unnatural cell invasion technology. This technology is used to grow genetically modified (GM) plants, which are then used to produce GM crops. Genetically modified plants for food consumption include those engineered for herbicide tolerance, those engineered for insect resistance, and those engineered for viral resistance (Baite, 2003). The most common GM food crops include soybeans, corn, cotton, canola, potatoes, and tomatoes (Bonetta, 2001). Genetic engineering is used to express a gene that is not found naturally in the plant or to modify endogenous genes (Key, Ma, & Drake, 2008). For example, this technology can be used to engineer resistance to abiotic stresses, such as drought, extreme temperature, and biotic stresses, such as insects and pathogens which would normally be harmful to plant survival. In addition, this system can be used to enhance the nutritional content of the plant to combat malnutrition in developing countries. Genetic engineering was initially established to increase farmers’ crop yields, but has now shifted to be more of a benefit to consumers and those suffering

The topic I will address throughout this project focuses on the relationship between the land and the farm when permaculture techniques are incorporated into the system. Moreover, we will question if permaculture, in its entirety, is a viable/economically justifiable method of farming. The reality is that for the past one hundred years farming has grown towards primarily annual crops and monoculture practices. With the mindset of “producing as much food as possible” us agriculturists start to deprive the land. We have come to forget, or simply ignore, the consequences poor farming practices can bring to the table. Reckless modern agriculture has burdened the land with poor crop diversity, introduction of pesticide use, and limited nutrient cycling. Permaculture might have the answers to helping us set back the clock on the damage we have thus far brought to the land.

In developing countries, economic development necessarily implies improvement in agricultural economy. Agriculture has changed worldwide dramatically and particularly in India in recent times mainly due to technological innovation leading to farm mechanization, extensive and widespread use of chemical fertilizers and specialization. This, being the positive side of the development, has also resulted in reduced demand for labour, significant increase in cost of production, besides, of course, depletion of topsoil, contamination of ground water, decline in family farming, neglect of farm labour along with their living and working conditions, reduced cultivable area due to growth of urbanization and industrialization and rampant legal and illegal mining activities. It has also affected in terms of economic and social disintegration of families in rural areas. The first and foremost problem in India is the raising of agricultural productivity. This depends on various factors, such as physical, material, institutional, technical, and agrarian. The role of marketing in this sphere is more crucial. Marketing may help in reducing the charges for marketing service by eliminating the chain of middlemen and to have the minimum difference between the buying and the selling prices. Marketing of agricultural produce is considered as an integral part of agriculture,

The anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses trap heat within the atmosphere, this results in Global Warming, an increase in the planet’s temperature (Vitousek, 1994). Of the potential issues arising due to increased global temperatures, the threat to agriculture is one of the most essential (Cline, 2008). Temperature is crucial to the survivability of plant species, it has been proven to be the key environmental variable in regulation of the dormancy state and germination of seeds (Vleeshouwers, Bouwmeester and Karssen, 1995).

Throughout the report the focus has been on how genetics can contribute to the achievement of food security in the developing world through crop improvement. However, there have been other non-scientific factors involved in the implementation of the science in the development context. For certain examples such as the use of genetic science to increase the productivity in terms of yield increase of a crop (chapter 4), it could be argued that the non-scientific factors such as governance and investment are equally important as science for the achievement of food security as one would not work without the other. Some of the non-scientific factors mentioned were present in more than one chapter and therefore formed a key theme

In addition to helping the economical aspects of the food-consumer market by decreasing the overall cost of food production, genetically-modified species are beneficial to the environment in which they are raised. According to the Ecological Society of America, “Some GEO’s could play a positive role in sustainable agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, bioremediation, and environmental management both in developed and developing countries” (Snow et al.). Studies are underway to develop plants that create less nutrient depletion in the soil, such as is found the in the large-scale growth of many crops like corn. This would decrease the amount of arid land worldwide. Furthermore, GMO’s present a chance to alleviate some of the damage already caused. Research is underway to create plants that can grow in these damaged lands and provide nutrients and life to the seemingly deadened soil.

Anyone can have the globe on their dinner plate. Literally speaking, carbon dioxide (CO2), greenhouse gases, and fossil fuel emissions play a role in imported food as does climate change. Conventional agricultural farms are known for being one of the biggest contributors to climate change. Federal policies and subsidies can aid farmers in the fight against altering the climate. Subsidies first allowed cheap commodity crops to flourish during Nixon’s presidency and while they allow farmers to grow, use, and sell cheap produce today, the machinery and transport of it has otherwise been and is destructive to the climate. The amount of fossil fuels and pollution emitted by crop, meat, and fish farms pose as a climatic risk and can be reduced

Conventional wisdom dictates that improving agricultural productivity, either through irrigation projects or the introduction of genetically modified crops, is the key step in ending rural poverty in sub-Saharan poverty. Our research overturns this assumption. By using a global poverty map and standard soil productivity measures, we find that the regions in sub-Saharan Africa with better soil quality actually experience higher rates of poverty.

There are several essential factors that contribute to the quality of life society enjoys today. One of these factors is the ability to produce crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and several others. On occasion these crops experience stressors. These stressors can be from abiotic or biotic factors. Biotic stressors mainly include insect herbivores, whereas abiotic stressor mainly include temperature and water or lack thereof. It is vital to understand how crop react to these stressor in order to predict and possibly contradict the effect on the crops. When dealing with insect herbivores the outcome can be devastating. Insects can destroy large amounts of crops. To prevent insects from destroying crop, insecticides are used as well as transgenic crops are used. Abiotic factors such as drought can be more difficult. The total amount of semi-arid land on earth is one-third, and the rest of the land experiences unexpected drought occasionally (Fang and Xiong, 2015). This means that nearly all the crops in the world are at risk of experiencing some kind of water shortage. Due to these abiotic and biotic stressors, and extensive amount of research has been conducted and is still being conducted to minimize the negative effects. In the following sections will be an overview of the abiotic and biotic factors along with the crops response to each, as well as the genetic mechanisms studied to improve a crops ability to cope with these stressors.

Factors of production include the items needed in order to produce goods and services. Some examples of factors of production are the machinery or tools needed, the buildings or land including natural resources, as well as the labor or employees. They may also be referred to as land, labor, and capital. (Mankiw, N.G. 2014, P.374) If we are missing any of these items, we would not be able to produce the goods and services intended.

Any residual chemicals, those not absorbed by plant life or consumed by microbes, are then transported to other areas through hydrological processing. The hydrological cycle is very intricate, involving the movement of chemical additives found in synthetic fertilizer by way of water travel. As Killebrew and Wolff detailed in their article, “Environmental Impacts of Agricultural Technologies,” water transport includes leaching, run-off, and erosion, usually caused by over-watering or precipitation, such as rainfall and melting snow. In essence, when water needs to drain, it has two primary alternatives for dispersal. Foremost, accumulated water can percolate into the soil and travel past the root zone, where it soaks into the aquifer. This process, referred to as leaching, allows chemical-containing water to drain into groundwater, which is primarily used as drinking water. Alternatively, a process known as run-off allows water to drain off the surface. Contaminated water can then be leaked into springs, rivers, lakes, bays, and oceans directly, or by man-made channels, such as storm drains. Together, leaching and run-off can induce erosion, which transports vast quantities of tainted soil and water to surrounding areas. Chemicals such as ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3-N), and nitrite (NO2-N) travel to surface waters, both inland and coastal, and groundwater, allowing it to become polluted to the extent that it can no longer be used for consumption or maintain the ability to