Chemicals+for+Farming

How can we get more food from the crops and animals we grow? Neolithic solution: Since the beginning of agriculture, farmers have continually innovated ways of increasing the quantity and quality of their yields (the amount of food produced). One way to make crop yields higher is by making the soil have more nutrients. Another way is to reduce how much we loose to other pests who eat plants and their seeds. A third way is to kill weeds that grow up and take nutrients and sunlight from our crops.
 * Neolithic problem:**

In the last century, farmers multiplied their yields/acre by adding manufactured chemicals in place of traditional natural materials & methods: >
 * **Fertilizers ** - Chemicals that add nutrients to the soil to make it more fertile for plants to grow much better. The amazing Green Revolution we have benefited from today, was possible because we learned to achieve much higher crop yields by adding chemical fertilizers instead of our traditional ways of farming to keep soil fertile. (Learn more about the fascinating story of Fritz Haber, the innovator who figured out how to make nitrogen fertilizer.) We now add chemical Nitrogen, Phosphorous & Potassium (NPK) to our fields. But where do we get these chemicals from and can we continue getting and using them the way we have been? Some experts say we are running out! How can these cause [|problems for our environment]?
 * **Pesticides** - Chemical Insecticides to kill insects that eat food crops & fungicides to kill microorganisms that destroy food crops. We are much much bigger than these bugs, so it would take a lot more to kill us, but these pesticides can still cause health problems for us, too. Even though farmers should stop using them several weeks before harvest, small amounts or residues can end up in our food. Find out which crops imported to and grown in America had the most pesticide residues in The Dirty Dozen Watch it in the news story here. Some [|pesticides may be killing bee populations] (which in turn are very important for pollinating many crops). Also, check out this [|video about pesticides]


 * **Herbicides** - Chemicals that kill unwanted plants that compete with food crops also end up in our food and water.


 * **Antibiotics & hormones** - Drugs that kill bacteria and promote growth are given to animals we eat. How might they be affecting us & our environment? Watch [|PBS Lexicon of Sustainability: Antibiotic - Free]. Check out more alarming facts on the [|use of antibiotics in factory farming].

What are the costs of these chemicals for our health and environment?

Are there other ways we can farm without using these chemicals?

=Innovations= Read how these teenage girls won the 2014 Google Science Award for their innovative way to improve soil nutrients and crop yields without chemicals!
 * Could organic farming help the environment? What is [|organic farming]?**
 * Can we innovate new ways to use this age-old idea: Aquaponics**