Current Issues

2019 Current Environmental Issue

Agriculture and the Environment: Knowledge and Technology to Feed the World

There are many articles that estimate the population of the Earth to be approximately 9 billion by the year 2050. One of the primary concerns for the agricultural industry is how will farmers be able to grow enough food to feed this growing population, while also protecting natural resources such as soil, water, air, wildlife, and forestry resources.

Students will learn the concepts of how agriculture and all natural resource areas are interrelated, and how the use of new technologies is key to increase food production.

Key topics include:

• Sustainable farming
• Climate Change
• Soil Health
• Pollination
• Integrated Pest Management
• Precision agriculture and new technology

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the importance of moving toward sustainable farming systems to conserve natural resources, mitigate climate change, reduce erosion and protect water quality and quantity, and promote pollination;
2. Comprehension of farming practices that build soil organic matter such as composting, crop rotations, cover crops, conservation tillage, and management intensive grazing systems to improve soil health;
3. Understand integrated pest management and biological pest control techniques used to prevent insect pest, disease, and weed problems; and
4. Understand the role of new technology: agricultural biotechnology, precision agriculture, and using UAV (drones, GIS, etc.) to increase farm efficiency for food production.

Reference Materials – 2019

The references are found on the Pennsylvania Envirothon web site under Station Training.

1. 2019 Current Environmental Issue: “Agriculture and the Environment: Knowledge and Technology to Feed the World” (This information is a collection of several articles from different sources. Specific websites and sources are indicated at the top of the different articles.)
   a. Agroecology
   b. Sustainable Agriculture
   c. Soil: The Foundation of Agriculture
   d. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Principles
   e. Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture and Food Supply
   f. Agriculture – Extreme Weather Resilience
   g. Local and Regional Food Systems 101
   h. Precision Agriculture
   i. Ag Technology
   j. Biotechnology
2. Farming for Bees – Guidelines for Providing Native Bee Habitat (The Xerces Society)
3. Farming with Pollinators – Increasing Profit and Reducing Risk (The Xerces Society)
4. Soil Quality (This information is also used as a reference for the Soil/Land Use Station.)
   a. Bulk Density Moisture/Aeration – pp. 1-4 (The measuring soil bulk density section is optional.)
   b. Infiltration – pp. 1-3 (The measuring infiltration section is optional.)
   c. Organic Matter – pp. 1-4 (The measuring soil organic matter section is optional.)
   d. pH – pp. 1-6 (Use Cornell soil pH kit to measure pH or whatever pH kit you have available.)
   e. Soil Health – What is soil health? Why should I care?
   f. Soil Health Matters: Make Your Soil Healthy

Learning Enhancements (not required)
1. Soil Health and Soil Health Institute Video (featured on American Farmer TV)
2. The Hope in Healthy Soil Video
3. High Tech Agriculture – 9 Billion Mouths to Feed: The Future of Farming Video

**You may also see questions relating to the current environmental issue in the soil and land use, forestry, aquatic ecology, and wildlife stations’ reference materials.