Agroecosystem

Agroecology is the science of sustainable agriculture; the

methods of agroecology have as their goal achieving
sustainability of agricultural systems balanced in all
spheres.

Self-sufficient and sustaining agriculture

Basic ecological principles for how to study, design and

manage agroecosystems that are both productive and
natural resource conserving, and that are also culturally
sensitive, socially just and economically viable
 Concept of Agro-ecosystem
Agriculture + ecosystem =Agroecosystem

Human involvement for food, fibre and fodder

Agroecological research is the idea that, by

understanding ecological relationships and processes,
agroecosystems can be manipulated to improve
production and to produce more sustainably, with
fewer negative environmental or social impacts and
fewer external inputs
Functional Diagram of Natural Ecosystem
Functional Components of Agro ecosystem
 Energy Flow
 Nutrient cycling
 Population Regulation Mechanism
 Stability
 Difference between manipulated Agroecology
and Natural Ecology

 Monoculture
 Crops generally planted in rows
 Simplification of biodiversity
 Plough which exposes soil to erosion
 Use of genetically modified organisms and artificially selected
crops
Structural and Functional Ecosystem Differences
between Natural and Agro-ecosystem
 Semi-domesticated ecosystems that fall on a gradient between
ecosystems that have experienced minimal human impact, and
those under maximum human control.

 E.g.- Integrated pest management aims to control problematic

pests through introduction of other species, not application of
pesticides or herbicides to kill that pest. Method of
intercropping.

 Elimination of unsustainable practices such as increasingly

intensified pesticide use.
Soil Contamination: Impact on Human
Health
 A soil’s unique composition will affect how much water it
can hold, the living organisms it supports, which chemical
reactions are likely to occur, and how it cycles nutrients.

 All of these factors will determine what happens to

potentially harmful contaminants in soils, how they may be
transported or transformed, and the extent to which they
may be available in chemical forms that are harmful to
human health.
 Soil pH (acidity) is of particular importance because it controls the
behaviour of metals and many other soil processes.

 Heavy metal cations (positively charged metal atoms) are most

mobile in acid soils.

 This means that metal contaminants are more available for uptake by
plants, or to move into the water supply.

 Making soil less acidic, by adding lime, is one way to reduce the
bioavailability of metals
 Farmers often use the term ‘soil health’, which is similar to the term
‘soil quality’ used by soil scientists.

 A healthy soil has several physical, chemical and biological properties:

it needs to incorporate adequate organic matter, have a good structure,
and be home to a diverse mix of organisms.

 These properties allow the soil to carry out important functions, and
may be achieved in a natural setting by a soil reaching equilibrium
with its surroundings, or in managed settings by human intervention to
improve the soil’s health.
 Agricultural soil health is linked to human health, as poor soils yield
fewer crops with decreased nutritional value.

 Healthy soils also limit erosion, and help improve air and water
quality

 Contamination can seriously affect soil’s ability to perform some of

its key functions in the ecosystem.

 Soil is a living resource, but once contamination exceeds a certain

threshold, the soil may be considered ‘functionally dead’.

 Pollution by heavy metals and many organic contaminants is

practically irreversible
Health Impact of different Heavy Metals found
in Soil
Health Impact of Agro-ecosystem
 Although the primary purpose of agriculture is to maintain human
health and human health depends upon agriculture, there have been
few efforts to integrate the two.

 The concept is emerging that effective agro ecosystem

management may provide a cost-effective approach to improving
human health.
 Without food, good health is not possible.

 People are an integral component of all agro ecosystems.

 It follows that both the condition and management of agro

ecosystems have a direct influence on the health of people.
 Agro ecosystems cover 30% of the world's land area

 Farmers manage more land area than any other group of people.

 During the last 50 years, scientific progress (the green revolution)

in plant and animal breeding, irrigation, pest and disease control,
labour-saving technologies, and food processing enabled food
production to keep pace the demands of a growing human
population
 Without these technological breakthroughs and compared to 1961,
three times more land in China and the United States and two
times more in India would have to be under cultivation in order to
achieve the food production levels obtained in 1995

 To meet the demand caused by the continuing increase in

population and the increasing demand for animal products in the
developing countries, food production must double over the next
30 years.
 The apparent success of production agriculture depended on the
exploitation of the world's capital held in the form of soil organic
matter and nutrients.

 One unintended outcome of production oriented agriculture is recent

global degradation of soil and water resources and the consequent
loss of biodiversity
 High yielding production systems accelerated the "mining" of soil
capital

 Replenishment of soil nutrients by dependence on chemical

fertilizers failed to maintain the structure and biological diversity
essential for long term production.

 Expansion of agriculture into forests and the conversion of range

lands into crop lands aggravated this deteriorating situation.
 Under nutrient and water-stressed intensive agricultural
production systems, farmers increasingly rely on the use of
herbicides, pesticides and pharmaceutical drugs to control a wide
range of diseases and parasites that threaten their crops and
livestock.
 Agriculture now faces the tasks of further enhancing food production
while simultaneously reversing soil degradation (Borlaug, 1995),
replenishing soil capital (Sanchez, et al., 1977), and overcoming the
harmful effects of agricultural chemicals
 Recognizing this, the international community responded,
particularly since the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development in 1992, by establishing numerous agreements,
international conventions, and research and development
programmes that endeavor to transform exploitative agricultural
activity into sustainable development.
Health Impact Of Agro-ecosystem
 Malnutrition
 Water-associated vector-borne diseases
 Food borne illnesses
 HIV/AIDS,
 Livestock-related illnesses (zoonoses),
 Particular occupational health risks.
Conceptual Framework of Link between
Agriculture and Health
 Human health is directly linked to and dependent on the state of
health of the ecosystems that support them

 Particularly in subsistence agricultural systems, nutrition is a

primary factor.
 Although, increased food production in terms of quantity
has largely kept pace with the demands of a growing
population, the quality of food available may be declining
and maintaining the high rate of production may be
difficult.

 Food shortages affect about 800 million people, but more

than two billion people suffer from malnutrition
 For example, iron deficiency alone affects 40 to 50% of women
worldwide (IFPRI, 1996).

 Two hundred and fifty million children suffer from severe or

moderate Vitamin A deficiency with up to 500 thousand
preschoolers becoming blind annually (IFPRI, 1996).

 Other widespread deficiencies include zinc and iodine. There is

growing evidence that even in developed countries, deficiencies in
fiber, folic acid, etc., threaten human health.
 Apart from nutrition, naturally occurring heavy metals, vector-
borne and non vector borne diseases, naturally occurring toxins,
agricultural chemicals, and imports and exports associated with a
cash economy contribute to the health risks faced by people
within the context of their agro ecosystem
 Mercury contamination of fish in the Amazon basin and the
consequent rise in symptoms of toxicity in people who depend on
fish has focused attention on the perceived negative impact of gold
mining.

 However, new evidence suggests that gold mining is not the only
source of this heavy metal.

 Rather, forest clearance followed by cultivation resulted in the

leaching of mercury from exposed soil into adjacent aquatic
ecosystems where it entered the food chain.
 The introduction of irrigated rice production into the savanna-
humid forest transition zone of West Africa raised the prospect of
increased malaria.

 In addition to malaria, irrigation affects health risks associated

with other diseases such as Japanese encephalitis and
schistosomiasis
 Transformation from a subsistence cash economy can generate a
number of adverse health consequences.

 In Uganda highland farmers used milk from their local cows to

enhance the nutritional standard of their family's diets.
 Collecting 4 litres of milk per day did not justify the effort required
to sell the milk at the nearby city market.
 However, after receiving improved hybrid cows, milk production
jumped to about 16 litres per day.
 This large amount encouraged farmers to make the extra effort to
sell the milk.
 Consequently, all the milk was sold.
 The cash generated was used to purchase maize meal, beer and
other goods.
 The outcome of introducing improved dairy cows was a decline in
the family's nutritional regime.
 Introducing improved dairy cows was a decline in the family's
nutritional regime.

 The move to cash economies can result in externalized health

risks.

 For example, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and

fungicides applied to food crops can be leached into the ground
water supplies contaminating downstream and underground water.
 Having sold their harvest, many cash croppers in turn use the
proceeds from the sale of their crops to purchase food for their
families.

 Unknowingly, they are in danger of purchasing contaminated food.

 In Africa, the high incidence of aflatoxin contamination of grain
and ground nuts is in part a consequence of the cost and inability
of farmers to pay the cost of properly drying them.

 They see little point in spending money to dry grain only to have
it weigh less thereby reducing the cash they receive from the sale
of it.
 Aflatoxins, Agriculture and Health
 Aflatoxins are highly toxic metabolites produced by a fungus which
develops during the production, harvest and storage of staple crops.

 Eating foods contaminated with high levels of aflatoxins leads to

acute aflatoxicosis, and regular consumption even of low levels is
associated with stunting and underweight among children and the
development of hepatocellular cancer in low- and middle-income
countries.
 In West Africa, studies by Gong et al. and Egal et al. have shown
that 90% of children in Benin and Togo were exposed to aflatoxins
in maize and groundnuts, which led to a measurable impairment of
child growth.
 One consequence of soil degradation is reduced water holding
capacity and greater likelihood of drought stressed crops.

 Peanuts subjected to drought develop high concentrations of pre-

harvest aflatoxin
 Aflatoxin is believed by many to cause acute liver damage and
cancer.

 Not only do the condition and management of agroecosystems

affect the health of people that depend on it for sustenance,
human health also directly influences the ability of people to
manage the system itself.
 For example, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) causes
major labour shortages and the diversion of family income to cover
increased health care costs.

 Thereby, they contribute significantly to a decline in soil fertility,

an increase in agricultural pests and diseases, changes and delays
in cropping practices, a decline in the variety of crops grown, and a
decline in the people's access to and ability to purchase external
farm inputs.
 HIV/AIDS apparently discourages farmers from making
long term investments in soil conservation measures that do
not provide immediate income and that carry a significant
labour cost.
 HIV/AIDS also contributed to a 20 to 50% loss of working time
for extension services in Uganda and a loss of agricultural skills
at both professional and farm levels.

 Beyond HIV/AIDS, other aspects of poor health make effective

management of agro ecosystems more difficult.
 SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

A whole-system approach to food, feed, and fiber

production that balances environmental soundness, social
equity, and economic viability among all sectors of the
public, including international and intergenerational
people.
BiodiversificationAnd Agroecology

 Objective of Agroecology is to provide balanced environments,

sustained yields, biologically mediated soil fertility and natural
pest regulation through the design of diversified
Agroecosystem and the use of low-input technologies.
 By designing farming systems that mimic nature, optimal use
can be made of sunlight, soil nutrients and rainfall.
 The optimal behavior of Agroecosystems depends on the level
of interactions between the various biotic and abiotic
components and keeping synergies among them is the key
word.
 SUSTAINABLE AGROECOSYSTEMS

 Maintain their natural resource base.

 Rely on minimum artificial inputs from outside the farm

system.

 Manage pests and diseases through internal regulating

mechanisms

 Recover from the disturbances caused by cultivation and

harvest
 Agroecology and the Design of Sustainable
Agroecosystems
Combining the different components of the farm system,
i.e. plants, animals, soil, water, climate and people, so that
they complement each other and have the greatest possible
synergetic effects.
Reducing the use of off-farm, external and non-renewable
inputs.
Relying mainly on resources within the agroecosystems
by replacing external inputs .
Improving the match between cropping patterns and the
productive potential and environmental constraints of
climate and landscape.
 Agroecology provides the knowledge and methodology necessary

for developing an agriculture that is on the one hand

environmentally sound and on the other hand highly productive,
socially equitable and economically viable.
 Agroecological design is to integrate components so that overall

biological efficiency is improved, biodiversity is preserved, and

the agroecosystems productivity and its self-regulating capacity is
maintained.
 CONCLUSION

Agroecology is improved economic and ecological

sustainability of the agroecosystems, with the proposed
management systems specifically in tune with the local
resource base and operational framework of existing
environmental and socioeconomic conditions.
 REFERENCES

BOOKS
 Altieri Miguel A.1987, Agroecology: The Scientific Basis of
Alternative Agriculture, Westview Press, Boulder

 Altieri, M.A. 1995. Agroecology: the science of sustainable

agriculture. Westview Press, Boulder

 Altieri, M.A. 1992. Agroecological foundations of alternative

agriculture in California. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
39: 23-53.

WEBSITES
 www.cnr.berkeley.edu
 www.agroeco.org
 www.communityagroecology.net
 www.perseusbooksgroup.com/westview