The Planting Of Cover Crops

There is less of a chemical output on the crops since the year GMO’s have decreased pesticide use by 8.8%. They will also improve water quality. GMO crops allows a “no-till” which decreases soil erosion. Less soil erosion means there is less of runoff.

One of the biggest issues accompanied with modern agriculture is land use. In the United States, for example, around 60 percent of land is used to grow produce and livestock. With such an extensive use of land

A cash crop is one that is grown to be sold for profit, as opposed to subsistence crops, which are intended to feed the farmers’ families that can be use to help people to get money for a living or to go some else to live.

When summertime comes, nobody wants to see a garden full of wilted flowering plants that just can’t take the heat. If you want to make sure you still have a thriving garden when the temperatures climb up, check this list of heat- and drought-tolerant plants.

There are many ways to conserve soil. Windbreaks, cover crops and crop rotation are some methods to conserve soil. Windbreaks are tree lines that are planted around crop fields to provide shelter from the wind which in turn protects the topsoil from erosion. Cover crop is a crop that is planted just to occupy the land but they are not always harvested because the land is occupied by crop year round this reduces soil erosion. Crop rotation is a set of crops planted in order and repeated yearly. Examples of crop rotation are corn could be planted one year, wheat the following year and hay the third year. Crop rotation has various benefits such as the soil health is increased, the water absorption into the soil is increased and most importantly soil erosion is

Mayan civilization underwent massive developments in agriculture and within their society. According to historian Sylvanus Griswold Morley, Maya Maize agricultural practices have remained the same as they were over three thousand years ago. (Morley 128) A uncomplicated process of felling the forest, burning dried trees and bushes, planting, and switching up the spots of the cornfields every few years. This system is known as the milpa agriculture, pulled from the Aztec word for cornfield. Agricultural tools were fire-hardened, the Maya xul, a pointed planting stick, the baat, a stone axe, chim, a fiber bag for carrying the seed corn. At first, they used sticks to punch holes into the ground, but progressively obtained more advanced farming techniques. Their main crops they grew were maize (corn), beans, squash, avocados, chili peppers, pineapples, papayas, and cocoa, which was used for

In order for farmers to have a successful shift, they will need to scrap the plants that they have been so used to planting and invest on less water intensive plants.

No-till farming limits the amount of anthropogenic involvement, which can contribute to the degradation soil by exposing the upper soil horizon, re-introducing noxious weeds to germination, allowing for leeching and erosion of topsoil which is already in short demand. This paper discusses the benefits of no-till farming with comparisons and studies that suggest the benefits of the no-till system. This paper takes an in depth look at the history of tillage, as well as the topics of nutrients, mulch and stabilization, habitat, aggregation and aeration, and the nutrient cycle. Although in some cases tillage may have similar results when compared to the no-till system, implementation of the right cover crop on a given soil reduces evaporation, limits water and nutrient leeching, builds or enhances the soil ecosystem which has the potential to promote better plant nutrient absorption.

Row cultivation of crops is practiced in China. This is done using intensive hoeing to weed and conserve moisture. This is a method of effective weed control that is still used today. It was designed so that farmers could conserve the water they need to irrigate by eliminating weeds around their crops.

Gardens, the final frontier. When I was little my mom and I would rototill our yard and dig out a couple trenches. After we dug out the trenches my mom and I would spend a couple of hours walking around the garden section of Lowes, we would find several veggie plants that we would then take home for the home-made garden. Her and I would sit outside for hours as she taught me how to plant the veggies and take care of the roots and put them in the dirt the right way. She would have me take care the plants in the garden that I wanted to plant and she would teach me the proper way to do it. She taught me the responsibility of planting a garden and then taking care of it, she taught me that you can not give up on something just because it is too hard or too much work. See, Gardens can be used for much more than just farming and gaining crops, these gardens can be used to teach children, help

The capability to withstand water shortages and the havoc caused by the harvest passes makes the plants to mature early with its productivity level being high. Regions suffering from food shortages can only undergo starvation for short period before it can start to enjoy the food. On the other hand, the abovementioned advantages make farmers engage in profitable farming business with the low level of costs of farm inputs and high outputs. This aspect benefits not only the farmers but also the population that stands to enjoy a large variety of food stuff at their disposal.

Farming in Africa is inadequate and inefficient. The fertility of the soil is becoming depleted and severely reducing the amount of crops from each harvest (Ayieko). This problem is due to over farming the land and not allowing for crop rotation to replenish the nutrients in the soil. This is a practice that is used by most farmers around the globe. Continuing on this trend will risk the land becoming barren and unable to support plant life.

Cover crops: reduce soil erosion, captures, recycles and redistributes nutrients, suppresses weed growth, minimizes and reduces soil compaction, increases soil organic matter.

The squash which should be planted in slow rooted squash becomes the living mulch. It’s thickness shades the weeds emerging from the cocoon upon which they were planted, and they banish any evaporation from the the tender soil. This greats help impress the chance of the crops survival, especially during the dry years. To discourage evil predators from approaching the corn, the squash protects it with it’s thick needly skin. This crop leaves a large amount of residue at the end of crop season, which can be used to build up the organic matter and greatly improve its

This allows for production of healthy food without compromising future generations (GRACE Communications Foundation, n.d). The main objectives of sustainable agriculture is a healthy environment, economic profitability and social and economic equity (UCDAVIS, n.d). Examples of sustainable agriculture would be crop rotation and traditional agriculture techniques. Crop rotation is the practice of growing different types of crops in the same area over seasons (n.a, n.d). Planting the same crop in the same field season after season without rotation leads to decreased yields over the course of several years. The land becomes less fertile because the crop being repeatedly planted in the same field drains the land of nutrients needed for plant growth (n.a, n.d). Crop rotation mitigates these effects since different plants require different types of nutrients from the soil. By changing crops routinely, the land remains fertile since not all of the same types of nutrients are being used each season (n.a, n.d). Additionally, traditional agriculture practices such as the aboriginal peoples planting corn, beans and squash together (also known as the ‘three sisters’) encourages the plant sustainability because the three types of plants are symbiotic (n.a, n.d). The corn provides support for the climbing beans and in return, the