Project Ideas for Capstone and Thesis of Agriculture and Agronomy
Looking for someone to do your school work, Capstone, Thesis or some other academic work? Click here and make your budget right now!
In this post we want to provide a complete list of topics for Capstone and Agriculture Thesiss. The list also presents Project Ideas for other academic works such as scientific articles. I hope you make good use of this list of suggestions and Project Ideas for academic training in Agriculture or Agronomy.
The choice of the topic of Agriculture is the most important thing that the student needs to take for an optimal development of Academic Work, which ends up generating a lot of distress and indecision.
Among the thousands of options for Thesis and Capstone topics, a good choice will allow the student to create his Research Paper with more clarity and less exhaustion.
For this reason, before we share a giant list of Project Ideas for your academic work, we prefer to offer some tips and suggestions to do your Capstone perfectly, saving you time and effort.
Pay Studybay to Create Your Academic Agriculture Work
Have you heard of Studybay? It refers to a Platform where you can hire professors and other graduates to prepare your academic work of all types such as writing, scientific article, Capstone and Research Paper of Agriculture or other training. You can put an end to any problem of making a scientific article or academic work in Agriculture or Agronomy by spending little money and almost no time.
With Studybay you can create Reviews, Business Plan, Portfolios, Doctoral Thesis and much more. If it is of interest to you, you can also provide services by writing to the thousands of students who access the StudyBay website daily, including accesses from around the world.
You just need to access the button below and make a budget advising the type of work you want to do. They can also help you in developing a theme. It is like a website to hire freelancers, you receive quotes at different prices and you are fully insured by the company StudyBay, a worldwide company that arrived in Brazil a few years ago to help you in the project of Agronomy or Agriculture.
Advisor Research Papers - Making your Research Paper Faster
If you do not want to pay anyone to do your Research Paper, another honest suggestion is to use a tool that will help you in creating your academic work. Such a tool helps in the creation of your Capstone taking all the hard work and delivering it the way the bank wants to receive.
We recommend the tool called Monografis Orientador Capstone, it is a super complete tool able to help you do your Capstone, Research Paper or any other academic work in a simple and fast way, with the objective of getting the highest grade in the course.
Dissertations, theses and many other works can be done faster with the help of software that helps you with Project Ideas for Capstone, simulates the Capstone project on the computer, assistance in creating blocks, evaluates your writing, searches for books and sources for your theme and exports every project configured in ABNT standards.
Tips for Academic Agriculture Jobs
Here are some tips for making your academic work in Agriculture and Agronomy, perfect tips for your Thesis or Final Paper:
If you work or know what you want to work with, look for topics related to your area of interest. You need to have sympathy with the topic. See also in the research source, make sure that there is enough reference source for this theme of Capstone. Consult your Advisor - It is important that the Advisor Educator agrees with the theme.
Be careful not to use the first person in the text; firm and write only what is necessary, avoiding adjectives; Be careful not to repeat the same words over and over, use synonyms; Avoid complicated forms: writing should be simple; Don't forget the important data: show it whenever necessary.
The Books and Courses Below can also help you learn more about creating Academic Papers, Capstones and Research Papers on Agriculture and Agronomy:
Books on Academic Works for Agriculture and Agronomy
Academic Work Courses for Agriculture and Agronomy
List of Agriculture Capstone and Theses Project Ideas
See below some suggestions for topics for creating academic papers such as Thesis and Agriculture Capstone:
- The Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA)
- The agrarian issue in Brazil
- Soy Exported to China and the United States
- Water in agriculture
- Foliar fertilization
- Nitrogen fertilization
- Fertilizers and fertilizers
- Biodynamic agriculture
- Contemporary Brazilian agriculture
- Peasant agriculture in Brazil
- Business Agriculture
- family farming
- Latin American Agriculture
- Agriculture in Northeast Brazil
- Organic agriculture
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Agrominerals to strengthen plants
- Agribusiness in the Brazilian Economy
- Agronomy can be sustainable
- Agrochemicals and pesticides
- Biodigestors
- Commercial characteristics of beans
- Citriculture
- Soy Harvest
- How the US-China Trade War Influence on Brazilian Agricultural Production
- How to make sustainable land clearing
- Dealing with Agrarian Issues in Brazil
- How to produce without damaging the environment
- Cultivation of jaboticaba
- Growing Organic Food
- Cultivation of papaya in Brazil
- Tomato cultivation
- Cultivation of fruit trees
- Coffee growing
- Organic pepper cultivation
- Transgenic food culture
- Fruit culture in a protected environment
- Challenges for future agronomists
- Performance of soybean crops
- Sustainable rural development
- Diseases in banana plantations
- Effects of hail on plantations
- Effects of the Bolsa Família Program
- El Ninõ and la Ninã: impacts on climate, vegetation and agriculture
- Chemical Elements and Soil Contamination
- Chemical elements in the soil
- Soil erosion and conservation
- Export of Agricultural Products
- Soy exports
- Soil fertility
- Citrus fruits
- Fruit growing in urban areas
- Agricultural Business Management
- Management, Strategic Planning, Agribusiness Definition
- Globalization and agriculture
- Hydroponics
- Horticulture
- Lanigerous aphid infestation
- Irrigation and drainage
- Irrigation in rice cultivation
- Environmental Licensing
- Ecological soil management
- Post-harvest management of apples
- Marketing for agronomists
- Environment and innovations in agriculture
- Genetic improvement applied to food
- New National Yerba Mate Policy
- Growing Onions
- Growing Apples
- Growing Tomatoes
- The Challenge of Risk Management in Agriculture
- Soy Planting in Brazil
- Pesticides and poisons
- Natural Pesticides
- Natural pesticides on farms
- Black rice plantation
- Red rice plantation
- Agricultural Policy
- Organic food production
- Coffee production
- Production of shitake mushrooms
- Production of Shitake Mushrooms.
- Grain Production in the Midwest of Brazil
- Vegetable Production
- Production of ecological strawberries
- Onion seedling production
- Feed production
- Agribusiness Projections
- Post-harvest quality of the orange
- Recovery of degraded areas
- Agrarian Reform in Brazil
- Corn harvest
- Rural sanitation
- No-till seeders
- Watermelon growing system
- Sustainability in food production
- Agricultural Technology
- Food Technology
- Technology In Agribusiness
- Technology in the field
- IT applied to agribusiness
- IT Directed to Agribusiness
- Use of pesticides in rural properties
- Use of Drones as a Form of Agricultural Monitoring
- Use of drones in agriculture
- Use of fertilizers
- Agricultural zoology: ecological pest management
- Areas Degraded by Cultivation;
Videos with Suggestions and Project Ideas of Agriculture for your Thesis and Capstone
Structure Rules for Agriculture Capstone
The structure of the Agriculture Capstone must follow the following parameters:
- Cover (Required)
- Spine (Optional)
- Cover Page (Required)
- Errata (Optional)
- Approval Sheet (Required)
- Dedication (Optional)
- Acknowledgments (Optional)
- Epigraph (Optional)
- Summary in vernacular/native language (Required)
- Foreign Language Summary (Required)
- List of Illustrations (Optional)
- List of Tables (Optional)
- List of Abbreviations and Acronyms (Optional)
- Symbol List (Optional)
- Summary (Required)
- Introduction (Required)
- Development (Required)
- Completion (Required)
- References (Required)
- Glossary (Optional)
- Appendix (s) (Optional)
Sustainable agriculture and its effectiveness - Capstone research project
This research paper was for the Environmental Studies 400 capstone class at Central Michigan University. In this paper, I strive to understand why industrial agriculture is so unsustainable, what is being done to reach a more sustainable system, and whether or not these strives in sustainability are effective. This research project allowed me to develop my interest in the agriculture industry and learn more about this field. Coupled with a presentation to faculty members and students of the Environmental Studies program, this project allowed me to practice my research and communication skills through a topic that deeply interested me.
Recommended
More Related Content
Slideshows for you ( 20 ).
Similar to Sustainable agriculture and its effectiveness - Capstone research project ( 20 )
Recently uploaded ( 20 )
- Sustainable efforts in industrial agriculture and their effectiveness. Name: Matthew Belanger Environmental Studies Capstone 400WI Instructor: Dr. Austin Jena Krause April 19, 2018
- Belanger 1 Abstract The global agriculture industry is a dynamic entity. Industrial scale farming has a very large influence on how resources, such as water, soil, and energy are utilized and distributed. The agriculture industry has a reputation of operating using more resources than it can give back to the environment for the sake of profitability. Large allocations of resources are earmarked for major agriculture processes that in turn pollute and degrade the ecosystem of the natural and urban world. This paper is an introspective look at the development of twentieth and twenty-first century agriculture, and how it has grown to have negative environmental impacts on a global scale, and strive to understand if sustainable agriculture has been effective in going green. Additionally, this research will touch on efforts being made towards sustainability and how industries can employ them to lessen the harsh effects of agriculture. Investigating how the agriculture industry has contributed to the global climate change concern through inattention has offered many insights about this industry, and how a change can be made through decreasing water usage, and promoting clean energy. Although this industry is one of the largest contributors to climate change, technologies are being developed to diminish the contribution. Prototype technologies promote a sustainable industry by combining the economic and environmental aspects of large scale agriculture, thus making this a desirable trend for famers, lawmakers, and the general public. This research shows it is possible to move to a more sustainable future and that these technologies are effective in being sustainable, such as new irrigation techniques, eutrophication mitigation techniques and eco-friendly pesticides can combat issues such as excess water usage, and poor air quality.
- Belanger 2 1. Introduction Agriculture is defined as the science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products. This ancient practice generated a large-scale change in our society from a hunting and gathering culture, to one that favored permanent settlements. There have been different eras within the history of agriculture that have led to the modern model of industrial agriculture. Early agriculture helped refine techniques that became popular throughout the Asian continent, where cultures could add their own techniques to increase productivity and efficiency. Ancient Egyptians especially showed an understanding for sustainable agriculture in their own society by perfecting irrigation techniques that increased production, while holding sacred the natural environment they worshiped (Hughes 1992). They showed an understanding of how remaining aware of the environment can still work in favor of the people, because they respected the environment, and knew that in order to keep harvesting the land, that they would have to take care of it. It was not until agriculture traveled to Europe did massive large-scale farming become popular. Their sustainable practices with rotating crops and raising livestock increased production and maintained the Earth. What is important to note in the very brief history of agriculture is that civilizations always adapted to make their practices more sustainable, whether that be maintaining the nutrients in the soil, or being aware of the water they are using on their farms. Small innovations were put in place to make a more sustainable system and increase productivity. Today, agriculture is much larger, however, we do not see sustainable initiatives that are proportional to the impact we leave on the Earth today. Although it’s getting better, there is a lot of work to be done to have more effective sustainable practices.
- Belanger 3 Although this practice has shifted greatly from what it first was – the cultivation of vegetation such as wild rice, chick peas, wheat and other crops in India, China and the Middle East, to the business-oriented lifestyle we see today – it is still a trade engrained with tradition, that still upholds its values of honesty, hard work, humanity, success and many others (Gasson 1973). Sustainability and sustainable practices are being utilized on the global scale, and are being implemented to match these values and reflect the hard work and responsibility that farmers do within industrial agriculture. While some farmers and industrial farms are in favor of sustainable options to mitigate the negative effects they have on the environment, others express a large push back and do not support these initiatives due to their large financial investment and discourse as to whether these methods are effective or not. Intense regulations prevent industrial agriculture farms from making the largest profit margin possible, as well as increased red tape makes farms meet a certain code, and if they do not pass certain standards, fines and other consequences are to follow. The farmers who operate the farm for the company are sometimes not in favor of increased sustainability because companies who contract out the farms require farmers to pay for the sustainable equipment out of pocket in order to meet regulation standards. Farmers often take out millions of dollars in loans in order to keep their contract with the company, and can oftentimes lead to bankruptcy. Industrial agriculture is a large industry, with 11% of the total employment in the United States centered in this; it is a delicate system that could affect many different groups of people if not approached carefully. Such a delicate system with such large economic investments has influence on other trades, and by quickly implementing sustainable motivations it could have negative implications if not done properly. When sustainable methods are put into action too forcibly or quickly, it reflects poorly on the cause, and makes people less willing to adapt to a
- Belanger 4 sustainable system. The effectiveness of sustainable agriculture is influenced by the perception of the manufacturer base, and when people are consistently weary of these systems, it can push back the cause drastically. This paper will examine the idea of sustainable agriculture and answer the question of what is being done to mitigate the negative environmental impacts, specifically studying the negative effects of water consumption, water quality, and air quality and assessing whether sustainable practices in these areas are effective. 2. Methodology The research question that is trying to be answered and understood throughout this work is whether or not sustainable methods in industrial agriculture, that is, large industrialized farms, especially those which cultivate and harvest large numbers of livestock and crops which are raised with the intention of maximizing production at a minimal cost, are effective and whether or not more can be done about this issue. This agriculture is intensive and has negative implications on the environment, and it would be beneficial to analyze what sustainable efforts are being put into these large corporate farms, and whether they are worth continuing research to achieve a more sustainable future. Rather than focusing just on the United States, this paper will examine other nation’s agriculture production as well. Instead of having an ethnocentric view of these practices, this paper will remain unbiased, and only analyze the data that these case studies and research projects show, and use that data to apply it to the world view of industrial agriculture. This paper will answer this question using mainly resources and scholarly journals from various databases on the web. Various publications and case studies from sources such as ProQuest, Web of Science, and the Environmental Studies and Policy Collection reaches an assortment of information that gives specific data regarding each subsection (water consumption,
- Belanger 5 water quality, and air quality) within the research paper. Many of these papers do not match a certain agenda, as other internet sources do, and would be more useful in this research paper. The sources that were sought out were articles that had hard data, or information that could support or deny the research questions about whether sustainable methods of industrial agriculture were effective. Sources that were opinion based, or completely subjective were often avoided, unless under circumstances that would make it relevant to the section it would be integrated into, specifically a person explicitly states or implies that sustainable practices are or are not effective in their personal experience. Additionally, preference were given to sources that contained information and data that had a better representation of multiple social groups or people, as it was important to have data fit multiple demographics to get a more representative sample of information for assessment. 3. Water Section1: The GlobalWater Shortage The agricultural industry contributes to the global water shortage. Allocations for water usage in the world are incredibly unbalanced and remains an unsustainable system. Water is used for many purposes such as irrigation, pesticide management, fertilizer dispersion, and frost control (Center for Disease Control 2016). In the United States today, 85% of the entire world’s freshwater consumption – the amount of freshwater used and not returned to the source – is used for irrigation and livestock production (“Water and Energy - Withdrawal vs. Consumption” n.d.). The largest contributor to agricultural water waste, however, are irrigation techniques. Within the United States, 39% of the water that is used in agriculture goes to irrigation alone (Fredenburgh 2015). Over one-third of the water is used just for watering crops, and much of this allocation is wasted through inefficient methods. Of the 39% of water used for irrigation, much
- Belanger 6 of that does not even reach the crops that are meant to be watered as it quickly evaporates from the source. In smaller countries around the world, such as tea farms in Vietnam, the mean water use efficiency was only 42.19% (Hong & Yabe 2017). This is detrimental to the global water scarcity issue. The 57.81% of water wasted could have been used in a variety of more efficient ways, such as providing water for the community, but is now put back into the water cycle – a slow process that is exhausted by agriculture. Water waste through irrigation happens not only in Vietnam, but in other parts of the world as well, especially in the Southwestern United States. More water is being wasted than being used, resulting in an acceleration in drought. In recent years, drought in the United States has increased in many Western states. There is a slight correlation with the amount of water allocated to irrigation of agriculture crops, and the drought associated with an area (Figure 1 and Figure 2). There is a correlation with the states experiencing the most drought and the states who irrigate the most water. This relationship remains consistent for many years and is due in part to the types of crop that grow in these areas simply require more water as well as poor methods of irrigation. It is important to note that most of the irrigation happens in the Western states where water is scarce. When water evaporates or transpires in the irrigation process, it is almost unusable as it takes a great amount of time to recharge the water cycle. In states where water is valuable, this model cannot be considered sustainable. One unsustainable method of crop irrigation is center pivot irrigation. This method is one of the most popular as it is cost efficient and requires little management. Using machinery, thousands of gallons of water at a given time are sprayed over crops. The machinery pivots in order to reach a majority of the crops and distribute water as evenly as possible. This so unsustainable for a multitude of reasons. Maintenance is frequently not done on the machinery
- Belanger 7 due to its large cost, resulting in low pressure tubes pumping out an increased amount of water necessary and reaching fewer crops. This forces farmers to pump water out of these tubes for longer and move the machinery around the field more often. Additionally, a majority of this water sprayed into the air evaporates before it touches the crops, and the small droplets blow away from the field, meaning only 65% of the water used in this system is used for the crops. With 35% wasted water, this contributes to water scarcity issues. This method is also considered a threat to public safety as it increases the likelihood of sinkhole formation as water is extracted from underground reservoirs, leaving unsupported caverns that collapse in on themselves. (Alexander & Anonymous 2016). Because water is extracted from groundwater basins and aquifers at an incredibly fast rate, without the necessary rainfall to refill these aquifers due to increased drought, ground collapses and creates large sinkholes. Section2: Contaminated Water Contaminated water is also a large issue within the agricultural world. Agricultural pollution is an incredibly prevalent problem as contamination enters the world’s rivers and watersheds, allowing for contaminants to circulate through the system. Runoff, a form of nonpoint source pollution, involves water leaving fields and croplands and carrying pollution and depositing them in bodies of water such as river basins, wetlands, coastal regions and groundwater along the way (Environmental Protection Agency 2005). This form of pollution is often harder to track. Unlike point source pollution, which is easily identifiable from sewage deposits and industrial treatment plants, nonpoint source pollution gets contaminated from water moving along the ground. It is important to understand where this pollution is coming from, whether or not it is due to the farming industry, and, if so, how can the effects be mitigated. Farming operations and large-scale crop yield require heavy fertilizer application. Fertilizers play
- Belanger 8 a large role in this process, and the overloading of nutrients into a system can cause major short- term and long-term difficulties. The most popular fertilizers are ones rich in chemicals such as nitrogen and phosphorus (The Fertilizer Institute 2016). Both of these nutrients are considered to be the most vital nutrients plants can get while growing out of the seventeen they are exposed to in their entire growing cycle. Nitrogen provides the plant with energy for growth and helps retain essential nutrients for after cultivation. Without the influence of Nitrogen, crops would have little to no nutritional value when being consumed. Phosphorus does this too, as well as encourage photosynthesis in the outer layers of the leaves (The Fertilizer Institute 2014). These nutrients are co-dependent on each other, and a deficiency in one can lead to deficiency in the others, as both contribute to the plant’s ability to absorb and retain energy. This is a delicate system, and the science is hard to balance. Farmers tend to not want to risk having deficiencies in either nutrient as it could have a negative effect on their overall crop yield. Instead of taking this risk, it is common to add slightly more fertilizer to plants, so none is lost, regardless of the excess nutrients flowing away to large bodies of water. These chemicals accelerate eutrophication, excessive richness of nutrients in a body of water that causes dense growth of plant life, thus killing the animal life through lack of oxygen. Studies in Europe have shown that harmful pesticides and fertilizers containing nitrogen, phosphorus, and ammonia are linked to this algal blooms and kill animal life, and make water nearly unusable for human consumption (Di Lorenzo et al. 2014). This happens frequently in Lake Erie due to the Ohio River Basin, and has experienced 285,451 acres of algal blooms just in 2003 (Bourne, Vincent, & Anonymous 2012). Cities in China have had inadequate water supplies due to this problem, and has reached a point of environmental injustice (Yu & Yu 2006). Researchers are becoming more aware of how to track this problem and find where the
- Belanger 9 most threatened areas for this problem are. By using remote sensing data – data from satellites – scientists can create maps that target areas with the need for most attention for eutrophication moderation (Huang 2009). Steps have been taken to combat the problems with water allocations in industrial agriculture. They have been designed to withdraw and use less water, as well as keep the natural water clean from pollution, while still maintaining a high crop yield and economic return. The data will be explained and examined to determine effectiveness. Section3: AssessmentofEffectiveness ofSustainable WaterTechniques Work and research has been done to employ more sustainable irrigation options. Many ways have been found to engage the agricultural community in these changes at low costs. The current most popular source of sustainable irrigation is through drip irrigation. This method is done in a couple ways from inserting drip taps just below the surface directly to the plants root, or centimeters above the soil to drip water directly onto the plant. The method that farmers can choose to use is completely dependent on the type of crop they are growing and the region in which they are growing. Especially arid regions would likely use taps inserted in the ground in order to completely minimize the amount that would be evaporated, while less arid regions could use the out of surface method, which would save them time and money that would be spent inserting the taps into the ground. Drip irrigation has proven to be effective with research showing between 68% and 74% more effective than other irrigation methods (Essah and Delgado et al. 2008). This results in 26% less water being used in irrigation alone, preserving public health by draining less aquifers, and lessening the effects of drought in dry regions. Developing countries are also in favor of these systems as well, because they can focus their resources on other forms of development rather than agriculture and save money in the process.
- Belanger 10 Overall, sustainable methods to control and mitigate water usage due to industrial agriculture are largely effective. Big gains are being made in short amounts of time about communities affected by these tragedies. In terms of irrigation, large farms in the Southwest, especially California, are receiving large subsidies to convert to drip irrigation to conserve water in the state’s worst drought in history. This is being done as it will reduce water consumption by 20% by the year 2020. The figure 20% is relatively a large number, especially for a state with limited water supply, and sums up to be a very large volume of water being conserved while still increasing crop production. They have nearly reached the 15% mark for water conservation since 1991, and will even hopefully exceed the 20% water conservation estimate (Weiser 2014). Farmers are more willing to be a part of the change, and economic incentive from the federal government is helping make that cultural shift. Big strives are being made in water conservation, and although it is expensive, with assistance this proves to be an efficient and effective means to being a sustainable agricultural system. Eutrophication mitigation techniques, however, are gaining a little ground with advancement of monitoring capabilities through work with Geographic Information Systems. Remote sensing equipment is not traditionally affordable, however, and leaves poorer developing countries without means to eradicate this problem in their home front. More affordable techniques are being applied around the globe to capture fertilizer chemicals in groundwater before they reach the rivers. The use of buffers, or filter strips, involve planting vegetation along the border of rivers to absorb harmful nutrients (Azevedo 2009). This improves quality of the water and ensures that harmful nutrients can still be used in crop production, without as many harmful effects. This is incredibly important to poorer countries. With this method, they do not have to sacrifice the yield of their crops for the environmental justice in communities. Small 2-
- Belanger 11 meter-long filter strips applied to rivers are easy to plant, and require little maintenance for smaller countries, and are a good alternative to expensive remote sensing equipment. With this, they can slowly cut the source of the problem, and eventually reduce it enough to have water become drinkable again. Additionally, organic fertilizer is a good alternative to chemical based fertilizers. By substituting 50-75% of the chemicals in chemical fertilizer with organic matter. Using organic matter, harvests rise by 10-20% productivity, income back to farmer’s increases, and water pollution could be reduced by up to 50% (Manilla 1997). Farmers are implementing systems to use less water and keep the water being pumped for public use clean, and this is becoming more popular and the norm for many industrial sized farms for production. The data shows this increases production, as well as keeps the public health in mind. These efforts of monitoring the water use in industrial agriculture are on the right track and will continue to develop in the future. 4. Air Quality Section1: Air Quality Researchand Analysis Industrial agriculture has a history of having a negative impact on the air quality of surrounding areas and populated communities. The livestock production involved in industrial agriculture contributes the greatest amount of greenhouse gas emissions, compared to crop production. In 2011, farms around the world emitted nearly 6 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions including methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide (Brink and van Ierland et al. 2005). This is a serious problem, as one of the greenhouse gases included in this list – methane – is 72 times more harmful to the atmosphere than other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. It is important to understand where a majority of these emissions come from, and what farmers and consumers can do to avoid contributing to this problem.
- Belanger 12 Universities, research centers, and public agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency have conducted a great amount of research to understand where these emissions originate from. Table 1 represents a breakdown of the total percentages of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. This research was conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2005, and associated livestock production as one of the greatest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Enteric fermentation was recognized as contributing 1.5% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. Enteric fermentation is the technical term for the digestive process of livestock, especially cattle, and how gasses such as methane are released at large rates from this process. A total of 55%-70% of annual methane emissions are directly related to enteric fermentation (Thorpe 2009). More methane, and other greenhouse gases, are produced from the next category on the table, manure management. This accounts for 0.7% of the total greenhouse gas emissions from industrial agriculture, and not only adds to the total methane in the atmosphere from enteric fermentation, but also the microbial byproduct of the breakdown of organic matter creates ammonia and nitrous oxide (Department of Natural Resources 2010). This differs from enteric fermentation as it is more than just cattle that produce this gas, but pigs and other large livestock manure emits this gas. The third greenhouse gas that is largely emitted from agricultural production is carbon dioxide. Unlike livestock production, this greenhouse gas is produced mainly from the fossil fuel consumption throughout production of crops. Large amounts of diesel and gasoline are utilized in crop harvesting and livestock feeding. Diesel fuel is used primarily for tractors and other large pieces of farm machinery. These high horse-power vehicles eat up diesel fuel at astoundingly fast rates, roughly 0.048 gallons per hours, and emit 22.94 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon
- Belanger 13 of diesel fuel burned, whereas regular gasoline burns 0.068 gallons per hour (Downs H.W. and Hansen R.W. 1998). This is not only economically inefficient for farmers, but it also has negative consequences for the atmosphere and surrounding communities. All of these gases going into the air have consequences for surrounding communities and affect environmental health and well-being. Fine particulate matter and other gases get into the air and find their way to highly populated areas through air currents (The Earth Institute - Columbia University 2016). On its own, this problem could easily be mitigated through policies that reduce emissions on farms. However, the pollution that does find its way to city environments react with emissions from vehicles and other sources to create even worse pollution for the people that live there. Smog is prevalent in these areas, and many citizens cannot escape this onslaught of pollution. Data supports that particulate matter and other greenhouse gases are found in neighborhoods with a higher concentration of African Americans, Asians, and poor individuals (Schweitzer & Zhou 2010). This is only intensified when agricultural emissions find their way to these communities and make conditions far worse. Additionally, industrial farms tend to be located in low income, rural areas (Stingone & Wing 2011). This means that not only are highly populated low-income areas affected by irresponsible greenhouse gas emissions, but so are less dense areas, that have an even worse accessibility to health centers. This is more direct and arguably hits these communities worse than highly populated areas. The commonality between these two situations is the low-income areas. People of low income areas cannot escape the constant poor air quality as they cannot afford to move, and municipalities rarely create technology to reduce this issue in these areas. Assessment of industrial agriculture’s impact on these communities must be monitored to understand what actions can be made to better serve these communities.
- Belanger 14 Section2: Are Sustainable Air Quality Mitigation Techniques Effective? The monitoring of air quality is significantly more difficult than mitigation of water usage in agriculture. Water consumption can be decreased, besides reduced equipment use, however, it is difficult for the farmer themselves to decrease their influence in the quality of air or fix the impact they have already made. The power for change here lies in consumers. The reduction of consumption of large livestock that contribute a substantial level of methane into the atmosphere, such as cattle, could help decrease the percentages that are input into the atmosphere. The consumption of smaller types of livestock, especially poultry, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Not only do these types of livestock require less feed, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions in cultivation, but they also have less impact in regard to enteric fermentation and manure (Eshel and Shepon et al. 2014). Beef consumption requires 28 times more land than other livestock categories; this highlights how simple diet changes can reduce the greenhouse gases input into our atmosphere. With more land and feed needed to yield cattle, a greater amount of diesel fueled farm equipment is required to produce the feed. This further supports the fact that higher cattle production maintains high levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. However, there is disagreement as to whether leaving the power with consumers in their buying habits is enough to be a sustainable solution. Consumer intervention is effective only when the consumers are truly informed, as well as when corporations are truthful in their marketing. While consumers rarely investigate whether packaging claiming to be green and good for the environment is truthful, corporations find ways to trick customers. By greenwashing – portraying a dishonest image of being environmentally responsible to consumers – corporations
- Belanger 15 can claim to be environmentally friendly and sustainable, but in actuality, cut corners and stretch the truth. Additionally, other companies that do not want to hassle of being sustainable, and do not want to greenwash their audience move to different locations with less regulation to produce their same products and harm the Earth. Even understanding the most proficient ways of planting crops can reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Some crops are largely more productive in certain environments and require less management from farmers. For example, just by introducing rice patties to upland cropping areas in tropical climates such as certain parts of Asia during specific growing seasons can reduce the methane produced by almost 94% and increase overall productivity by 54%-60% (Weller et al. 2016). Proper crop rotating, and placement requires farmers to intervene less, and use less resources to keep production yield high. This can even influence water scarcity, as they may not need to apply as much water to the crops. It can take a great amount of energy to pump water. Less water consumption means less pumping with diesel fuel generators to distribute the water to large fields, thus resulting in less carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere (Anonymous 2015). Economic incentive is also pivotal in situations such as this. Carbon offsetting has become a popular practice to give farmers economic incentive for reducing their carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions, while providing consumers with a guilt free method to purchase products from farms who participate in these programs (Kollmuss 2007). This is a win-win for both entities and will encourage buyers to promote sustainable ways of living. Consumers enjoy the peace of mind comes from knowing that their actions will help the earth, without having to inconvenience themselves or disrupt their daily routine. This offsetting can be done by promoting the reduction of fossil fuel emitting machinery with a cap and trade system. Those
- Belanger 16 farms that use less of their carbon incentives can sell these to other farms. This keeps the amount of carbon and other greenhouse gases from large machinery low, as well as prices of food low. Carbon sequestration is also an effective carbon dioxide mitigation technique that is being used by industrial agriculture to keep air quality in check. Carbon sequestration involves taking carbon from the air and storing it within a solid or liquid. This can be done by pumping it back into the ground, to be stored under layers of non-permeable rocks, or to be absorbed by plant life and soil. This is a natural process that can be accelerated and managed by humans to become more efficient. Agricultural entities primarily focus on the use of plant life and soils to sequester the output of carbon and lessen the effects of their pumping of greenhouse gas emissions on air quality. Few problems have been found with carbon sequestration except that it can leak back into the atmosphere when stored improperly under too porous of rock layers. This simply postpones the entering of carbon into the atmosphere, and can even acidify bodies of water if close enough (Shaffer 2010). However, carbon sequestration can be very effective in maintaining a low greenhouse gas contribution when done properly. Using soil for carbon sequestration has proven to be effective in providing food security and lessening up to 78 gigatons of carbon in the air within a year. Farmers have been using techniques such as no-till farming, temperature control, water conservation, and improved grazing to keep soil in better condition for carbon sequestration (Lal 2004). Not only does this decrease carbon in the atmosphere, but it decreases water usage and pumping in the area which would be especially useful in Southwestern states and arid regions that need to store water. Additionally, carbon sequestration within the soil increases crop yields, increasing crop production by nearly 20 to 40 kilograms per hectare, which for large scale farms, is quite a large number. This is done as carbon from the air is absorbed by the soil. The carbon in the soil is then
- Belanger 17 used by the crops for growth, thus increasing how much vegetables farmers can get from them. Plants also absorb carbon from the air during photosynthesis to grow even more rapidly. With the land being used more responsibly, it can be shipped to more places, and supply people with a steadier supply of food, as well as decrease poor air quality in low income areas. No till farming has shown to be the most effective method of carbon sequestration in the soil, decreasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by 137 to 168 kg per year (West and Marland 2002). Not only does this intake carbon, but it also costs less for farmers for they do not need large farm equipment to till the fields. Therefore, less carbon dioxide is put into the atmosphere from the diesel fuel needed to power these machines, and increases the crop yield another fold. Farmers can get involved with direct government incentive programs that encourage carbon sequestering in their methods. Similar to the cap and trade system discussed above, farmers would receive benefits for offsetting their carbon emissions, or fines for not sequestering enough (Antle and McCarl 2001). Payments would be based on per hectare of emissions reduced, meaning that a large farm that offsets more hectares would have more incentive to enroll in this program. The data supports that these small efforts in industrial agricultural sustainability are mostly effective. Science has developed techniques that are at low costs to the government as well as farmers. Although there are minor problems with these techniques – such as carbon sequestration – research continues to be done to refine and develop this process to make it more reliable. Additionally economic incentive has become a paramount in convincing companies and farmers to want to be more sustainable. The research has shown that these groups of people have a better liking towards these processes when it can be beneficial for their economic investments. Educating the public continues to be a large problem, however. Without the public being aware of how their actions exactly affect the environment, consumers are left out of the effort to
- Belanger 18 become more sustainable, no matter how much they wish to influence the current system. Until there is popularity in making sustainable products, this will continue to be challenging and be difficult for consumers to stay involved. 5. Discussion The effectiveness of industrial agricultural sustainability are on the right track. While there are small barriers that prevent sustainable efforts to be implemented in farms throughout the world, people’s perception of the effectiveness of sustainable agriculture are becoming more favorable to the cause. Largely, sustainability is starting to have more benefits than drawbacks, and can actually help farms be more profitable and relevant as sustainability is becoming more popular in the public view. Sustainable agriculture is far more than just making money for the farming industry, or using less water, it has a butterfly effect that has long term effects on farms, farmers, and surrounding communities. Sustainable agriculture promotes environmental preservation. By being knowledgeable in different farming techniques such as crop rotation, conservation tillage, animal husbandry, and more, sustainable farms foster and maintain healthy ecosystems even beyond the pastures. By maintaining biodiversity and protecting crops and livestock from harmful exposure to chemicals, they uphold biodiversity. Chemicals can be harmful not only to the crops themselves, but also the animals and insects that help stimulate growth such as bees and worms and species of birds. These animals pollinate plants, and without their help, surrounding ecosystems would be less diverse and healthy. Sustainability also promotes public health and supports vibrant communities through involvement. Without the use of hazardous chemicals, and using less water for the same amount of crops and livestock, human health is not in jeopardy for the sake of a profit
- Belanger 19 margin. Fruits, vegetables, and meat are safer for consumers and can promote healthy growth in children to become healthy, and productive adults. Also, surrounding communities are not burdened with the poor conditions subjected to them by unclean air or water. People healthier, and they are not at risk of harmful pathogens, or toxins that can become strong with the use of potent antibiotics. Additionally, farming is more than just the owner of the company producing the food, and the farmer itself. There is a whole line of people who influence the production of food that spans from the farmworkers, to food processors, and others employed by the food production system. Even grocery store workers are influenced by how the farms grow and distribute food. As farms become more sustainable, they increase the demand for more workers down the line increases, and wages typically become more livable and safe. Sustainable farms especially strengthen local economies by increasing the demand for farm workers, and competitive wages encourages competition between farms. When farms are sustainable, whether it be by promoting organic foods or other forms of sustainability, there is a trend with gaining more profit. This means that they can employ more workers, as well as pay a more livable wage. Saving money by using less resources goes above and beyond in benefiting local economies. It is known that being sustainable, not just in the agriculture sector, is good for human health as well as good for the economy. Clean energy is being used more frequently around the world, which not only lessens our dependency on dirty energy sources such as coal, but also progresses the world’s society to a more efficient and clean one in general, where sustainability is the forefront of people’s thoughts, and the public makes decisions based on the environmentally friendliness of a product or company. As a society, people can promote
- Belanger 20 the health of themselves and the earth by being more conscious of their choices, and influencing the market towards more sustainable options. The data and results found in this paper support the fact that sustainable measures in agriculture are effective. Large percentages of water can be saved using these techniques, large amounts of money can be budgeted to other areas of productions using these methods, and communities can remain happy and healthy by not leaving traces of production in its wake. Although there is to be a lot of research done on this topic, and people’s perception of sustainability needs to be developed, there are a lot of things being done to be more sustainable, and they contribute to a brighter, greener future.
- Belanger 21 Appendix Figure 1 Figure 1, from the U.S. Drought Monitor is operated by the Drought.gov website. This figure was the drought report in the United States in March 2010. It shows the large drought problem located in the southern states. Figure 2 This figure is taken from the United States Geologic Survey, a national organization for landscaping the United States. This image is map showing how much water is irrigated from each state for agricultural purposes in the year of 2010.
- Belanger 22 Table 1 This table from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 shows where the percentages of greenhouse gas emissions are released from in the agriculture industry.
- Belanger 23 Bibliography Antle J. McCarl B. 2001. The Economics of Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Soils. International Yearbook of Environmental and Resource Economics. 1-61. Alexander E. C. and Anonymous 2016. Irrigation pumping associated sinkhole development in Dakota County, Minnesota. Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America, 48(7), Abstract no. 190-2. Anonymous 2015. What is sustainable irrigation and how can it be promoted? Appropriate Azevedo L. B. 2009. Runoff from irrigated pastures in California: Strategies to improve water quality (M.S). University of California, Davis, United States -- California. Bourne M. G., Vincent R. K., and Anonymous 2012. The effects of nonpoint source pollution on cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Erie from agriculturally applied fertilizers in northwestern Ohio, USA, for the years (1999-2003). Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America, 44(5), 74. Brink C., van Ierland E., Hordijk L., & Kroeze, C 2005. Cost-Effective Emission Abatement in Agriculture in the Presence of Interrelations: Cases for the Netherlands and Europe. Ecological Economics, 53(1), 59–74. Center for Disease Control 2016. Agricultural Water| Healthy Water. Department of Natural Resources 2010. Best Management Practices to Mitigate Air Quality Impacts from Animal Agriculture. 1-11. Di Lorenzo T., Di Marzio W. D., Sáenz M. E., Baratti M., Dedonn, A. A., Iannucci A. P. 2014. Sensitivity of hypogean and epigean freshwater copepods to agricultural pollutants. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International; Heidelberg, 21(6), 4643– 4655. Downs H.W. Hansen R.W 1998. Estimating Farm Fuel Requirements. Colorado State University Extension. 1-3. The Earth Institute - Columbia University 2016. A Major Source of Air Pollution: Farms. Environmental Protection Agency 2005. Protecting Water Quality from Agricultural Runoff.1-3. Environmental Protection Agency 2005. Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks [Internet]. Environmental Protection Agency [cited April 10, 2018]. Available from https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-04/documents/us-ghg-inventory- 2016- main-text.pdf
- Belanger 24 EnvironmentalScience.org 2018. Agriculture: History and Introduction. Eshel G., Shepon A., Makov T., & Milo R 2014. Land, irrigation water, greenhouse gas, and reactive nitrogen burdens of meat, eggs, and dairy production in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(33), 11996–12001. Essah S. Y. C., Delgado J. A., & Anonymous 2008. A response to sustainable crop production in a region facing a decline in groundwater aquifer levels. Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America, 40(6), 67. The Fertilizer Institute 2014. Fertilizer 101: The Big 3 - Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. (2014, May 7). The Fertilizer Institue 2016 Nutrient Science. (2016, September 14). Fredenburgh L.E., Kraft B.D 2015. Effects of inhaled CO administration on acute lung injury in baboons with pneumococcal pneumonia. American Journal of Physiology, 309(8), 834- 846. Gasson R 1973. Goals and Values of Farmers. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 24(3), 521–542. Hong N. B., & Yabe M 2017. Improvement in irrigation water use efficiency: a strategy for climate change adaptation and sustainable development of Vietnamese tea production. Environment, Development and Sustainability; Dordrecht, 19(4), 1247–1263. Huang C. S 2009. Study of water eutrophication monitoring method based on remote sensing data (Master). Wuhan University (People’s Republic of China), Peoples Republic of China. Hughes J. D 1992. Sustainable Agriculture in Ancient Egypt. Agricultural History, 66(2), 12–22. Kollmuss A 2007. Carbon offsets 101: A primer on the hottest - and trickiest - topic in climate change. World Watch, 20(4), 9. Lal R 2004. Soil Carbon Sequestration Impacts on Global Climate Change and Food Security. Science, 304(5677), 1623–1627. Manila B 1997. Reduce farming costs with organic fertilizer. BusinessWorld. Schweitzer L., & Zhou, J 2010. Neighborhood Air Quality, Respiratory Health, and Vulnerable Populations in Compact and Sprawled Regions. Journal of the American Planning Association, 76(3), 363–371. Shaffer G 2010. Long-term effectiveness and consequences of carbon dioxide sequestration.
- Belanger 25 Nature Geoscience, (3), 464-467 Stingone J. A., and Wing S 2011. Poultry Litter Incineration as a Source of Energy: Reviewing the Potential for Impacts on Environmental Health and Justice. New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, 21(1), 27–42. Thorpe A 2009. Enteric fermentation and ruminant eructation: the role (and control?) of methane in the climate change debate. Climatic Change; Dordrecht, 93(3–4), 407–431. United States Drought Monitor. 2010. Map achieves [Internet]. The National Drought Mitigation Center. [cited April 10, 2018]. Available from http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Maps/MapArchive.aspx USDA ERS 2017. Ag and Food Sectors and the Economy. USGS Water Science School. 2010. Irrigation water use [Internet]. United States Geologic Survey. [cited April 10, 2018]. Available from https://water.usgs.gov/edu/wuir.html Weiser Matt 2014. Flood irrigation still common, but drip method gaining ground. The Sacramento Bee, 42(2), 24-26. Weller S., Janz B., Jörg L., Kraus D., Racela H. S. U., Wassmann R 2016. Greenhouse gas emissions and global warming potential of traditional and diversified tropical rice rotation systems. Global Change Biology, 22(1), 432–448. West T. O., and Marland G 2002. A synthesis of carbon sequestration, carbon emissions, and net carbon flux in agriculture: comparing tillage practices in the United States. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 91(1), 217–232. Yu Y. Y., & Yu Y. Y 2006. Study on Simulation of Water Eutrophication in Guanting Reversoir (M.S.). Beijing Normal University (People’s Republic of China), Peoples Republic of China.
Agriculture Capstone Project Ideas
Kings - Climate change research paper sources deliver, example phd thesis proposal law.
Sources journal anthony noto ceo installment plan Orleans, philip green youtubestar essay.
Osteoporosis research paper and presentation of theses and dissertations Hamilton County discounts, scp dissertation competition 2020.
Livingston County - Essay matt greiner expensive, how to write a job description for a general manager.
Optional essay graduate school buy Rensselaer, research people help analyse mars photos.
Words to use in an ap essay and k laser research Onondaga to rent, purpose of undergraduate dissertation.
Wayne - Dissertation on teaching english price list, frankfurt dissertation drucken.
Nurse research articles on malnutrition stocks Niagara, essay alan ayckbourn.
Essay on bria hartley and do my custom dissertation help online Madison cause, mother day essay writing.
Fulton - Essay on emre s ner deliver, sample research proposal mba thesis.
Essay about park seok free research paper apa style purchase Lewis, social media analysis dissertation.
Dynamics research corporation and write for me capstone advisory New York promotional, thesis dissertation difference between two stroke.
Schuyler County - Research mannikins 143 lupine ln ava il selling, good researcher synonym.
La structure de la dissertation discount Otsego, research paper recommendations section.
Research on codeine and capstone environmental for money Suffolk on credit merriam s b 1988 case study research in education a qualitative approach.
Cookies and Privacy Policy.
This site uses cookies for analytics and personalized content. By continuing to browse this site, you agree to these terms of use.
Essay on dee devlin
children's book review sheet
- creative writing
- presentation
- problem solving
- rewiew prompts
- websites tips
Otd capstone project cheap
Capstone project part 2, capstone project ideas for nursing leadership
Page analysis provided by secret search engine labs.
|
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
What agriculture capstone project ideas are best to use in your capstone paper? There are so many topics, but the problem is making that big decision. To help you, see the following sections for
Agriculture Capstone Project Ideas - (Nassau County) How Much Is Agriculture Capstone Project Ideas and Oswego County To Order Agriculture Capstone Project Ideas
This research paper was for the Environmental Studies 400 capstone class at Central Michigan University. In this paper, I strive to understand why industrial agriculture is so unsustainable
Kings - Climate change research paper sources deliver, example phd thesis proposal law. Sources journal anthony noto ceo installment plan Orleans, philip green youtubestar essay
Just in case decided to meet him above laws of humanity of beings, already the building took the whole quarter and only the capstone project ideas for agriculture little conceded on beauty and power to the palace of its majes
Apr 11, 2019 - Otd capstone project cheap, do my agriculture capstone project ideas, senior design capstone project format
Capstone project part 2, capstone project ideas for nursing leadership, capstone project about agriculture, capstone project ideas for school
› high school capstone project ideas. › high school senior capstone project. › agriculture project ideas for students
Filter Type:Best 75 List of IT Capstone Project for Agriculture. Details:This capstone project idea is an online and mobile application for agriculture consultancy and customer service platforms