GEED 010:

PEOPLE’S AND
EARTH’S
ECOSYSTEM
MODULE 3: PEOPLE & AGRICULTURE
 WHY IS AGRICULTURE IMPORTANT?

It provides raw Creates a strong Encourages economic

materials supply chain development
 1 2 3 4
Enumerate the Examine the Identify common Reflect how to
different processes environmental medicinal plants and exercise caution in
and uses of impacts of their uses; and selecting and using
agriculture. agriculture and find medicinal plants.
ways to mitigate its
effects.

OBJECTIVES
AGRICULTURE
AGRICULTURE

Agriculture
¡ is the science of cultivating crops and livestock.
¡ It created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities.

Initially, early humans tried to survive through hunting and gathering. As the human population grew bigger,
it became harder to sustain. This is because of the following reasons:

1. Land use was extensive and not intensive.

2. There were no real permanent settlements; and
3. Unpredictable and hard.
AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTIONS

¡ The agricultural revolution is the name given to a number of cultural

transformations that initially allowed humans to change from a hunting and
gathering subsistence to one of agriculture and animal domestications.
 1ST
AGRICULTURAL
REVOLUTION

The first agricultural

revolution allowed humans
to become more sedentary
and avail themselves of a
more reliable source of food.
They tamed wild animals for
human benefit and focused
on subsistence agriculture.
 2ND
AGRICULTURAL
REVOLUTION

This occurred during

Industrial Revolution. It
made use of technology as
a means to increase
production and distribution
of products. Agriculture has
shifted from mere family
consumption to commercial
agriculture.
 3RD
AGRICULTURAL
REVOLUTION

This is sometimes called

“Green Revolution” and it
happened in the later half of the
20th century. It corresponded
with exponential population
growth occurring around the
world and it involved the use of
biotechnology (genetic
engineering).
TWO TYPES OF FARMING

Types of Commercial Farming

¡ Truck Farms - farm where farmers produce fruits for market.
Farmers will bring in produce to City Market on the weekends.
Sales will take place there, but the farm is somewhere else.
¡ Commercial Grain Farming - selling of wheat, corn, millet,
other grains
¡ Livestock Ranching - uses most land per farm of any other
zones
TWO TYPES OF FARMING
¡ Subsistence Farming - food production to survive on a
daily basis
¡ Extensive Subsistence Agriculture
¡ It needs a lot of land, therefore extensive.
¡ This kind of agriculture is productive, but its drawbacks
include possible soil erosion, water degradation, and other
environmental problems.
¡ Ex. pastoral nomadism and shifting cultivation.
¡ Intensive Subsistence Agriculture
¡ It needs more work than extensive subsistence agriculture to
have the same level of production to the latter.
¡ This is usually done in areas that it is harder to continue to
farm.
¡ Ex. dairy farming
VARIATIONS OF FARMING

¡ Shifting Cultivation - moving farm fields ¡ Slash and Burn agriculture - leaves
after several years in search of more barren soil behind and moves on to the
productive soil after depleting nutrients in next area and clears it by burning, this puts
original field nitrogen in soil
VARIATIONS OF FARMING

• Crop Rotation - planting of different types • Pastoral Nomadism - moving animals on

of crops each year to replenish the soil with a seasonal basis to areas that have the
nutrients used up by previous crop necessary resources to meet the needs of
the herd
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

¡ refers to the breeding and raising of

animals for meat, milk, eggs, or
wool, and for work and transport.
Livestock production systems can
be defined based on feed source,
as grassland-based, mixed, and
landless.
 TYPES OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
Dairy Farming - the agricultural technique concerned with
the long-term production of milk, which is then processed to
obtain dairy products such as curd, cheese, yoghurt, butter,
cream, etc. It involves the management of dairy animals such
as cows, buffaloes, sheep, goat, etc.

Poultry farming - is concerned with raising and

breeding of birds for commercial purposes. Birds like
ducks, chickens, geese, pigeons, turkeys, etc. are
domesticated for eggs and meat.
 TYPES OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
Fish farming - is the process of raising fish in closed tanks or
ponds for commercial purposes. There is an increasing
demand for fish and fish protein. Fish species such as
salmon, catfish, cod, and tilapia are raised in fish farms.

Bee farming or apiculture - is the practice of maintaining

bee colonies by humans in man-made hives. Honeybees are
reared on a large scale. The bees are domesticated for
honey, wax, and to pollinate flowers. The place where bees
are kept is known as an apiary or a bee yard.
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Found in More Developed Countries

¡ Mixed Livestock and Crop Production –
cows are grown for meat and other
products. Cows are fed with crops (corn
and soybeans) grown on the same farm.
¡ Livestock Ranching - done on the fringes
of productive farmland, so it requires huge
areas of land (like the Midwest). It involves
the feeding of livestock done by allowing
animals to roam fields without assistance of
farmer. “Put animals to pasture”.
VON THÜNEN’S MODEL OF LAND USE

¡ Farmers will choose what crops are grown in direct

relation to how far the farm is from the market. In order
of distance (closest farms up first):
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Effects and costs

¡ Agriculture asserts external costs on society through effects such as pesticide
damage to nature (particularly herbicides and insecticides), nutrient runoff,
immoderate water usage, and loss of natural environment.
¡ Agriculture’s aim is to increase yield and to reduce costs. Yield increments with
factors like fertilizers and removal of pathogens, predators, and competitors
(such as weeds).
¡ Costs decrease with growing scale of farm units, like making large fields. While
the use of pesticides seems beneficial to better crop yield, this and other
measures have decreased biodiversity on an intensively farmed land.
¡ Current studies reveal that agriculture and food consumption are two of the
most important drivers of environmental pressures, particularly habitat change,
climate change, water use and toxic discharges.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Livestock issues
¡ Livestock production engages 70% of all land used for agriculture,
or 30% of the land surface of the planet.
¡ It is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases and that
livestock expansion is a key factor driving deforestation.
¡ An example would be that about 70% of the previously forested area
of the Amazon basin is currently occupied by pastures, while the
remainder is used for feed crops.
¡ Deforestation and land degradation for livestock has caused
reductions in biodiversity.
 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Land and water issues

¡ It severely alters the Earth's ecosystems and is blamed for the loss of
biodiversity and is led to rise in Zoonotic diseases because it degrades
natural buffers between humans and animals, reduces biodiversity, and
creates big groups of animals that share genetic similarities.
¡ Inordinate fertilization and manure utilization to cropland, and high livestock
stocking densities cause nutrient (mainly nitrogen and phosphorus) runoff
and leaching from agricultural land.
¡ These substances are major nonpoint pollutants that contributes to eutrophication
of aquatic ecosystems and pollution of groundwater.

¡ Agriculture accounts for 70% of withdrawals of freshwater resources.

Utilization of water for agriculture can also drive environmental problems like
devastation of natural wetlands, the spread of water- borne diseases.
FOOD AND MEDICINAL PLANTS
HISTORY OF HERBAL MEDICINE

¡ The use of herbal medicine has been traced as far as 60,000

years. Primitive humans remedied illnesses using plants, animal
parts, and minerals that were not included in a common diet.
¡ Back in the 1970’s, people have rekindled their interest in herbal
medicine when modern medicine had become costly and it has an
inability to cure everything. The partisans who advocated for
herbal medicine were enthusiastic rather than knowledgeable.
There were no regulating laws then and people had been claiming
outrageous healing abilities of herbal medicines, even without
scientific basis.
¡ At present time, FDA considers some herbal remedies to be
worthless or potentially dangerous. Should a herbal product be
marketed, it must have FDA’s approval to make specific health
claims. This is not to undermine the importance of plants in
medicine, but rather to safeguard the consumers’ health and
wealth.
 Physical

USES OF ¡ treatment of sickness and disease

¡ Athletic and Weight-loss purposes
MEDICINAL
Mental
PLANTS ¡ treatment of memory loss, depression, sleep, and
stress
COMMON MEDICINAL PLANTS
COMMON MEDICINAL PLANTS

Aloe Vera
• Claims: “Cure all” tonic, for the treatment of acne, burns, minor
wounds
• Effective for the topical treatment of wounds, burns, and frostbite
• Its effectiveness varies with product.
• Advised NOT for internal use.
• Possible side effects: could lead to abdominal cramping, diarrhea,
loss of potassium, discoloration of urine.
COMMON MEDICINAL PLANTS

Garlic
¡ Claims: antibiotic, antiviral, general cure all, lowering of blood
pressure, cholesterol, and regulation of circulatory system
¡ shown to lower cholesterol by 9-12% in 8-16 weeks of use
¡ It is used in Europe as an approved remedy for cardiovascular
conditions and for the use of the flu and colds.
¡ Possible side effect: large doses may cause heartburn
COMMON MEDICINAL PLANTS

Ginger
¡ Claims: treatment of Arthritis, heart tissue, motion sickness and
nausea.
¡ It is possible that it treats heart tissue but not likely.
¡ Possible side effects: inhibition of the chemicals involved in
platelet aggression, that could lead to increased and prolonged
bleeding
COMMON MEDICINAL PLANTS

Peppermint
• Claims: muscle spasms, abdominal pain, diarrhea, irritable
bowel syndrome, chills and nausea, convulsions, headaches
• It has only been observed to decrease muscle spasms.
• Possible side effects: Overuse can lead to heartburn,
esophageal sphincter relaxations, irritation of mucous
membranes, and allergic reactions.
COMMON MEDICINAL PLANTS

St. John’s Wort

• Claims: prevent depression, decrease stress levels, help
nervous conditions, decrease severity of bacterial infection
• Found in this plant is hyperforin.
• It has been studied to be mildly helpful in very mild to
moderate cases of depression
• Possible side effects: in cases of major depression, it may
worsen the case; blurred vision, constipation, urinary
retention, and excessive drowsiness
COMMON MEDICINAL PLANTS
Exercise and Diet Supplements
¡ Today, many people take herbal supplements to help then in their
energy and weight loss. Magazines and tabloids sometimes have
ads for herbal supplements, usually accompanied by a man or
woman who has incredibly slim and toned body.
¡ Despite claims of easy weight loss, some experts have serious
doubts about the effectiveness of these herbal remedies.

Common supplements:
¡ Exercise: Ginseng, Bell pollen
¡ Weight Loss: Ephedra
COMMON MEDICINAL PLANTS
Ginseng
• Most common form is Asian ginseng. A perennial herb of northern
China, Korea, Japan, and Russia
• The root is the most widely used part
• It is suggested that ginseng increases cerebrovascular flow
• Dosage: Usual daily dose is 200mg
• Effectiveness: In a 9-week, double blind, placebo-controlled trial of
30 highly trained athletes, treatment with ginseng produced
significant improvements in aerobic capacity.
• There were negative results in an 8-week, double blind trial that
followed 31 healthy men in their twenties and another 8 week trial
which showed that ginseng improved aerobic capacity in people
who did not exercise, but gave no additional benefit to those who
did.
COMMON MEDICINAL PLANTS
Bee Pollen
• Referred to as nature’s most complete food
• Bee pollen rejuvenates your body, stimulates organs and glands,
enhances vitality, and brings about a longer life span.
• Bee pollen's ability to increase energy levels makes consistently
and noticeably a favorite substance among many world class
athletes and those interested in sustaining and enhancing quality
performance.
• Claims: Produces an accelerated rate of recovery-normal heart
rate and breathing. It provides energy, stamina, and strength, and
enhances performance levels.
• Effectiveness: Studies have shown that taking Bee Pollen does
increase your energy and stamina during exercise and repeated
events.
COMMON MEDICINAL PLANTS

Ephedra
• Also known as “Ma Huang”
• Popular diet supplement in the U.S.
• Has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years
• Claims: enhances energy, stimulates fat metabolism, burns fat and
sugar more effectively, reduces appetite, mobilizes stored fat and
carbohydrate reserves
• Effectiveness: Studies have shown that ephedra helps in weight
loss.
¡ OTHER EXAMPLES OF MEDICINAL PLANTS
MODULE 4: PEOPLE & FOREST
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