Essay 4 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

4 - Essay Example the minority) have to share and distribute to those without, and yields are also continuing to drop as the price of fuel needed to transport the crops to various areas increases with reduced fossil fuel. According to the national geographic article by Bourne (2009), this reduction in the food culminated with the increasing population will in future lead to severe food shortage as the production and the distribution continues to dwindle by the day. 2. What are the pros and cons of large scale monoculture farming? Be sure to include its impact things like soil, water, air, nutrient availability, ecosystem services, climate change, disease and pests, etc. Monoculture is the planting of only one type of crop on large tracts of land for industrial purposes (Despommier, 2009). There are several disadvantages associated with this type of agriculture. Since the crops are wanted to yield more as they are for large scale use, there is an increased use of pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and other chemicals all of which end up harming the soil and even reducing the nutrients available in the soil. Nutrients availability is also reduced as most of the crops in monoculture (which include tea, trees, soya and sugarcane among others) do not provide nutrients to the soil when compared to the diversity of crops planted by small scale farmers. Water is mostly contaminated by the chemicals making it not consumable. The advantage of this type of farming as explained by Despommier (2008) is the reduction in diseases and pests as a result of the constant pesticide and herbicides used. As most of the crops are trees, there is reduced wind and soil erosion as well as a reduction in the carbon dioxide which is an advantage to climate changes and reduces global warming. The air is also fresh and cold which is good for the ecosystem. 3. What are some large scale and local scale solutions to providing food, minimizing impacts on ecosystems, enhancing ecosystem services, and building