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SUBJECT: AGRICULTURE SCIENCE
TOPIC: MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURAL ECOLOGY
CLASS: S. S. 1
SUB TOPIC: MEANING OF AGRICULTURE ECOLOGY AND ECO-SYSTEM
The goal of agriculture is to provide food for the nation.
The business of agriculture is carried out within the ecosystem.
Therefore the environment is very important because it constitutes all the physical surroundings around us. All the living organisms that have been domesticated by man in agriculture are all components of the environment.
These domesticated plant and animal species interact together in the environment to form the agroecological system.
Meaning of Agro-ecology and Ecosystem
Ecology is the study of the relationship between organisms and their environment. The study of an individual organism or a single species is termed autecology while the study of groups of organisms is called synecology. Human activities have interfered with complex ecological relationships. Such human activities include agricultural activities like:
- Large scale farming involves the use of pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, etc.
- Expansive land clearing
- Oil exploration.
- Construction
- Urbanization
These have seriously disturbed the natural balance in the ecosystems.
Definition
Agricultural ecology is the study of agricultural ecosystems and their biotic and abiotic components as they function within themselves and in the context of the landscapes that contain them.
Application of this knowledge can lead to the development of more sustainable agricultural ecosystems that are in harmony with their larger ecosystem and eco-region.
The ecological system is usually written simply as an ecosystem and it consists of the complex interactions between plants and animals in their natural environment.
It is a natural system of relationships in which energy and matter are circulated in a continuing cycle in the environment.
It is also a network of systems in which different kinds of organisms depend on one another for food supply and survival.
This complex network of food dependence is often described as food chain or food web.
SUBTOPIC 2
COMPONENTS OF THE FARM ECOSYSTEM
The agricultural ecosystem is made up of both living (biotic) and non living (abiotic) component and together they constitute the ecosystem structure.
The non-living matter constitutes the abiotic factors while the different living organisms such as the plants and animals in their environment are called the biotic factors.
ABIOTIC FACTORS
The abiotic factors are also known as the physical factors of the environment and they consist of: (i) The climatic factors (ii) The physiographic factors (land shape form) (iii) The edaphic (soil) factors.
- The climate is made up to the weather factors such as rainfall, humidity temperature wind and sunshine as they affect the living components.
- The physiographic factors consist of the topography and other features that relate to the shape of the land and terrain.
- The edaphic factors relate to the soil and its characteristics and condition such as the structure, texture, soil air and soil pH.
- Effects of some farming practices on the soil, these includes :
- Bush burning
- Clean clearing
- Grazing/overgrazing
- Mixed farming
- Crop rotation
- Continuous cropping
- Fertilizer application
- Organic manuring
- Tillage
BIOTIC COMPONENT OF THE ECOSYSTEM
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