Differentiate between Multiple Cropping and Modern farming. Also state the advantages and disadvantages of
Green Revolutio /explanation
Answers
Answer:
Multiple Cropping :
. It is a traditional method of farming.
. It includes growing more than one crop on a piece of land during the same year.
. This method involves using of traditional seeds that requires less irrigation, wooden tools and equipments, ancient machinery, etc.
. Thus, the productivity of this method tends to remain low.
Modern Farming :
. It is a modern method of farming.
. It includes growing of one crop on a single piece of land at one point of time.
. This method involves using of high yield varieties (HVY) of seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides in large quantities, modern machinery, etc.
. Thus, the productivity of this method is high, however, it is not environment friendly.
Advantages:
1. It allows agricultural operations on a large scale.
The Green Revolution has brought farming to a massive scale. Looking at the previous agricultural sector, crops that were grown in huge volumes are only those that required extensive human intervention to grow healthy, which means that it was not that easy. But now, we have made things easier, where most crops are being grown on an industrial scale even by the smaller farming community.
2. It has the potential to be able to grow any crop anywhere.
This innovative farming process has made it possible for agriculture to be done almost everywhere. Though you still cannot grow potatoes on a beach, you will be able to utilize most types of terrain or land to grow crops with it. This means that farmers do not have to be at the most fertile lands to be able to do their thing, as the Green Revolution has made it possible for agriculture to be more doable everywhere.
3. It eliminates the need to fallow lands.
This agricultural method has allowed farmers to re-plant similar crops without fallowing their lands, which is known to be a costly process. Though there are some crops on which soil still needing to be fallowed, the Green Revolution has certainly made farming cost-efficient.
Disadvantages:
1. It can cause pests and weeds to develop hazards.
This modern method of farming is believed to cause the emergence of poisonous weeds and pests that are difficult to control. Aside from this, there is also the concern of cross pollination between genetically modified organisms and traditional plants that could result in invasive species.
2. It employs mono-culturing.
One of the biggest arguments against this modern technology is that it uses mono-culturing. This practice is known to require large tracts of land, which are not often available, intensive amounts of fertilizers and large volumes of water, bring about difficulties to farmers.
3. It would have difficulties with varied soil type by location.
As the Green Revolution does not take into consideration the type of soil for farming, only considering the area and doing what it needs for crop cultivation, it does not do anything to ensure soil fertility is replenished or retained.