erosion – Sitopian Pollution

Review: Air Pollution, Food Production and Food Security

Jialing Zhong agriculture, the big picture November 12, 2020air, dust, erosion, farmers, fertiliser, foodsecurity, foodwaste, health, ozone, pesticide, review, sitopia, transport 0 Comment

harvesting crops in field — Harvest season in Pesotum, Illinois, by James Baltz, 2019, Unsplash.

When it comes to food production, air pollution is arguably much more prone to being overlooked than soil and water pollution, due to how it cannot be easily identified by the naked eye.

However, another bigger issue is how we tend to only consider the impacts of air pollution from the perspectives of agriculture and public health. On the contrary, there have not been many studies performed on the wider implications of air pollution on food security. Today, our review of a journal article, Air pollution, food production and food security: A review from the perspective of food system, by Sun, Dai and Yu (2017) will focus on how air pollution brings about changes in our food system.

An Alternative Approach to Farming

Jialing Zhong agriculture October 6, 2020October 6, 2020erosion, farmers, fertiliser, foodsecurity, sedimentation, sitopia 0 Comment

plants in soil — Plants growing healthily in the sun – an ideal depiction of agriculture, by Dylan de Jonge, 2017, Unsplash.

Hi there! Today, we will look at what some may consider to be a subset of organic farming – natural farming. This is an approach established by Japanese farmer and philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka in his book, The One-Straw Revolution, released in 1975.

Discussion: Keeping the Cows at Bay

Jialing Zhong agriculture October 2, 2020October 2, 2020animals, erosion, farmers, grazing, livestock, nitrogen, phosphorus, sedimentation, water 0 Comment

cows grazing in field — A herd of cows grazing freely in a field, by Priscilla Du Preez, 2017, Unsplash.

When I was taking a massive open online course hosted by Esri in end-August, one of the activities required us to monitor the impact of livestock grazing on water quality in Oregon, United States of America. Personally, I think we may need to give more attention to the nonpoint-source water pollution caused by livestock grazing. And the problem is not just limited to cattle – even chicken, which is often touted as a more environmentally-friendly option, can facilitate freshwater pollution.

Discussion: A Perennial Plan

Jialing Zhong agriculture September 25, 2020September 25, 2020erosion, farmers, foodsecurity, fruits, perennialcrops, sedimentation, water 0 Comment

Apple – an example of a perennial crop, by Priscilla Du Preez, 2019, Unsplash.

In our last four posts, we explored the consequences agricultural pollution can have on the environment. But the ultimate goal of educating people on the harmful impacts of pollutants is to inspire them to take action to prevent and mitigate these issues with consistent efforts. Today, I present some agriculture-related tips provided by government agencies from various countries, to guide farm owners on how to reduce the negative impacts of farming.

Did They Forget The Coffee Filter?

Jialing Zhong agriculture September 20, 2020September 25, 2020erosion, eutrophication, fertiliser, flood, foodsecurity, hydrology, phosphorus, sedimentation, water 0 Comment

(Spoiler: no, they didn’t. In all honesty, I don’t think anyone has ever considered the use of filters to resolve sedimentation issues caused by agriculture, so that’s probably the wrong question to ask.)

(Also, I would like to apologise for not being able to update this blog for the past two weeks. I have been struggling with some mental health issues, but hopefully, things will continue to improve in the future.)