Question:
Explain some harmful effects of agricultural practices on the environment.
Solution:
- Soil: Fertilizer added to soil not only changes the chemistry of the soil but also kills many useful microbes.
- Ground Water: A part of fertilizer always leaches down into soil and reaches ground water. It raises the salt content of ground water.
- Eutrophication: Run-off from fields sprayed with fertilizer reaches water bodies. It results in their eutrophication.
- Pesticides: Pesticides sprayed over crops reach water bodies killing the biota. Persistent pesticides undergo biomagnification and prove highly harmful to higher organisms.
- Ground Water: Continued use of ground water in agriculture has resulted in lowering of water table at most of the places.
- Irrigation: It causes water-logging and salination of soils.
- Genetic Erosion: Use of only selected high yielding varieties has resulted in genetic erosion of the crop plants.
- Damage to Nature: Natural ecosystems and habitats have been damaged during clearing land for agriculture.