This part of the activity will focus on conventional and sustainable practices i

Question

This part of the activity will focus on conventional and sustainable practices in farming. Chapter 10, Section 2 (labeled 10.2), describes some of the key farming techniques that are used to provide adequate moisture and nutrients for crops. One of these methods is irrigation, which accounts for nearly 2/3 of all freshwater used each year. There can be several problems with irrigation, though, including waterlogging and salinization. There is also often heavy energy use in providing the pumping for irrigation as well. In addition, open farmland is subject to erosion from wind or water. Several methods described in Section 10.2—contour plowing, strip farming, terracing, and the use of cover crops, as well as plantings between fields of shrubs or other vegetation—can help to reduce erosion. Instructions Review the Case Study at the beginning of Chapter 10, entitled “Farming in the Cerrado,” and Section 10.2, entitled “How Do We Use, Abuse, and Conserve Soils?” and Section 10.4, entitled “Organic and Sustainable Agriculture.” Deforestation in tropical regions like Brazil is one negative impact of conventional farming practices in industrial agriculture. Consider other negative impacts put forth in the reading and how this information relates to irrigation circles, systems that pivot around a center point as shown in Figure 10.13 in the textbook. Open Google Earth, and in the search box enter Fellsburg, Kansas. Click Search. Zoom out a little and look for circular shapes; these irrigation systems are frequently seen in the corn growing areas of the Midwest. Based on the text, why is this type of irrigation advantageous?

Explanation / Answer

Centre pivot irrigation offers accurate water distribution at low pressure. After searching the given place on google earth , and after zooming in, we can find that the irrigation sytem used is Center Pivot Irrigation system.

The advantages of center pivot irrigation system are

As it does not require any additional labour to operate and can easily be automated, it is well suited for large scale irrigation projects. That may be another reason large farmland holders irrigate by this method.

With the increase in area, we will require lesser number of towers as after each additional tower you add, the radius of the circle is extended and the area under irrigation increases exponentially to the outside making it cheaper per hectare as the farm becomes larger.

It is the cheapest way of irrigating on a large scale. They save a lot of labour cost.

As it is fully machine operated, there is uniform water distribution.

For taller crops like corns and sugarcane, watering from the top is easier as it is difficult to monitor the uniformity of water distribution in the field.

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