"History celebrates

ROCKS IN battlefields whereby we

meet our death. It scorns

AGRICULTURE to speak of ploughed

fields whereby we thrive.
It knows the names of the
King's bastards, but
cannot tell us the origin of
wheat. This is the way of
human folly."

Farmers around the world actively engage in cultivating the Earth's

resources to produce the food and fibre that feeds, clothes and shelters
the world.
Relative inputs of Land, Labour, Capital and Fossil fuel
energy in four agricultural systems

Industrialised

Nomadic
agriculture

herding
Agriculture
Traditional

‘Science has two functions: to enable us to know things and to enable us

to do things.’
Soil is formed over many years. It originates from rock, that is slowly
ground into smaller particles by friction, temperature changes,
freezing water, and chemical action. Another component of soil is
organic matter, or humus.

Soil is made of many

things. Minerals,
pieces of rock, living
organisms, bits and
pieces of decaying
plants and animals,
water, and air can all
be found in different
amounts, depending
on the soil type
Soils can be classified as sand, Soil scientists say if you
sandy clay, sandy loam, have a bacterial explosion,
loam, loamy sand, clay loam, etc you don't have to worry
about nitrogen—your
source is dead bacteria
bodies.
bacteria,
fungi, algae, Finer rock
and other increase
micro life trap the
and hold minerals
water and exposed to
nutrients in bacterial
soil. action.

A one pound stone has a surface area of 12 square inches. If

ground to medium sand, its surface area becomes 3,200 square
inches. As very fine sand, it's surface area is 16,000 square inches;
as clay, 564,000.
 Soil Erosion Soils take a few
hundred years to
Structure form and just a few
of idealised hours hours to be
soil washed away.

Brown
earth soil
profile
Chernozem Tundra soil
Savannah
Soil profile profile
soil profile
Typical Latosol Soil (Tropical Typical Podsol Soil (Boreal forest)
rainforest)
ƒPhosphate minerals are used mainly for the manufacture of fertilisers
such as Super-phosphates
ƒThe chief igneous rock mineral of phosphate is apatite {(Ca5PO4)2
(F,Cl,OH)}
ƒLeading producers of Apatite are Beldhi in Purulia dist. &
Visakhapatnam, Andra Pradesh.
ƒWest Bengal apatite occurs as quartz-magnetite apatite veins in a
brunch about 100m long and 30m wide near Beldhi in Purulia dist. in
phyllites and schists in association with granulites and granitic rocks.
ƒSedimentary phosphates –phosphorite originate in large shallow marine
basins. The provide 80% of all the phosphates. Leading producers in
India are Rajasthan, MP and UP.
ƒDomestic production of about 1.4 million tonne per year could meet
hardly 35% of the total demand Current annual domestic demand of
apatite and rock phosphate - 4 millions tonnes.
ƒEffective steps should be taken to identify resources and if required,
develop technologies for utilisation of low grade phosphate as fertiliser.
 Farmers protect their soil from wind and water erosion.
Slash & burn agriculture destroys soil
¾Crop cover protects the soil from
being washed or blown away.
¾Contour ploughing, at right angles
to the slope prevents erosion.
¾Constructing terraces that divert
the water off the field slowly, in a
particular direction.
¾When crops are harvested the
stubble is left to provide cover for the
soil.
¾Grass prevents erosion, while at
the same time allowing the farmer or
to raise cattle, sheep, goats etc.
¾Where erosion is a problem,
farmers plant trees as wind breaks.
 SOIL EROSION MAP OF THE WORLD

"The purpose of agriculture is not the production of food,

but the perfection of human beings."
Masanobu Fukuoka in One Straw Revolution: