Download Agriculture and water

AGRICULTURE AND WATER
By Ryan Sims, Alexander Schmucker, Evelina
Gretschko and Philipp Heinzel
WHY IS THE USE OF FERTILIZERS GROWING?
Increasing
population
New techonologies
Economic reasons - export
PESTICIDES
Toxic – nerve poisoners
 Algae bloom
 Pesticide pollution – hard to regulate
 Natural doesn’t mean good.
 Nitrogen and phosphorus
 Problem with photosyntesis
 „dead zones“
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NITRATE
One of the biggest problem is the nitrate content in
the water.
 The problem has emerged because of the use of
nitrogen fertilizers.
 Nitrate ion content in the water in Estonia used to
be: 60 mg/l...100 mg/l, almost 20% of the people
living in polluted area couldn’t use their wells, now
the number has reduced 10%.
 Natural nitrate ion content in the water is 5- 6
mg/l.
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IRRIGATION
Taking water from one place to another.
 Improves crop productivity
 Also an environmental concern.
 The amount of water use varies.
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SALINIZATION
Salinization
is the collection of soluble salts in
soil.
Salinization can be caused due to poor
irrigation techniques.
Nearly half of all land watered in dry areas are
affected by salinization.
By planting saltbush along with barley in the
affected fields, the concentration of salt can be
reduced.
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When fields are irrigated, plants are sometimes provided with
too much water and they cannot take in the whole amount.
The water that is left evaporates leaving all of its minerals
behind. Plants can only take in so much minerals which can
then lead to salinization which if continued on for years can
then lead to the whole field becoming infertile and then having
to wait hundreds of years for the field to produce new soil
leading to it become fertile again. There is no problem in
Germany, Scotland and Estonia because there are no droughts
or very high temperatures. But it can be caused by fertilizer and
road salt
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SOIL DEGRADATION
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Soil degradation is the decline in soil quality caused by
its improper use.
It’s used for agricultural, pastural, industrial or urban
purposes.
Soil degradation is a serious global environmental
problem and may be aggravated by climate change.
Examples of soil degradation is the loss of organic
matter, decline in soil fertility, decline in structural
condition and erosion. Increases in soil carbon can help
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance
adaptation to climate change.
In Germany, more than 30,000 km ² is soil degraded,
which is more than 9% of the total area.
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USED SOURCES
www.elfond.ee
www.maaamet.ee
www.loodusajakiri.ee/eesti_loodus/artikkel107
0_1062.html
www.nationalgeographic.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_degradation
www.eea.europa.eu