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Soil: Agriculture and Food Chain

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Soil: Agriculture and Food Chain
Chapter 11 : Soil: The Foundation for Land Ecosystem

Chapter 11
Brooke Settles

Chapter 11 discusses three major practices that expose soil erosion and how they can be corrected . The three are Over- cultivation, Overgrazing and Deforestation. These are each all major problems in creating an unsustainable society. The good thing is that each of these causes of erosion can be corrected to create a more sustainable society.
First there is Overcultivation which is the practice of repeatedly cultivating and growing crops more rapidly than the soil can regenerate , then that leads to a decline in soil quality and productivity. This is the preparation in growing crops and after the harvest of crop, the soil is left exposed to erosion. The water and wind is what causes the erosion to take place. Plowing is frequently necessary to loosen the soil to improve aeration and infiltration through it , yet all too often the effect is just the reverse. Weight of tractors causes the soil to become impacted which in effect makes the soil become impacted which makes the soil more susceptible to erosion. Overcultivation erosion can be corrected by no-till agriculture . This is a technique that permits continuous cropping , yet it minimizes soil erosion. No – till agriculture is when the field is sprayed with herbicide to kill weeds and then planting apparatus is pulled behind a tractor to accomplish several operations at once . This method prevents the soil from becoming compacted because all the harvesting steps have been minimized to just one step. Some other strategies to minimize overcultrivation are low-till farming and uses of fertilizers. These strategies have minimized the processes of soil erosion. Even though , money is lost and time is needed with the improving the methods used to correct overcultivation it is necessary and beneficial to farmers and consumers in the long run.
Overgrazing is the phenomenon of grazing animals in greater numbers that



References: Anderson, Charles & Johnson (2003). The impressive psychology paper. Chicago: Lucerne Publishing. Smith, M. (2001). Writing a successful paper. The Trey Research Monthly, 53, 149-150.

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