Energy Balance of Agriculture
Energy Balance of Agriculture
Introduction
Agriculture is an energy intensive practice, as it uses fuel for machines, fertilisers, pesticides, human labour, etc. The energy output from agricultural practices is primarily the calorific value of the harvest. In the context of climate change, it is worth pondering over the energy efficiency of agricultural practices. It is also worth considering the energy balance in agricultural practices in developing countries with agrarian economies (such as India and its ’Green Revolution’) and comparing it against Canada. Finally, it is important to consider how agricultural practices impact the local soil, air and water. Are certain agricultural practices more ethical than others? Discuss how ethical organic farming is. Please feel free to use the references given in this document.
Write an article with about 2000 words. The article should answer the question, “How can we improve the energy balance of agriculture to make them more efficient?” Please use, but don’t confine yourselves, to the resources provided to you in this document.
References
• Yan Z, Li W, Yan T, Chang S, Hou F. Evaluation of energy balances and greenhouse gas emissions from different agricultural production systems in Minqin Oasis, China. PeerJ. 2019 Jun 26;7:e6890. doi: 10.7717/peerj.6890. PMID: 31289697; PMCID: PMC6599452.
• Digitalcommons@university of Nebraska – lincoln (no date). Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027amp;context=envstudtheses (Accessed: October 31, 2022).
• Smith, L., Williams, A., Pearce, B. (2015). The energy efficiency of organic agriculture: A review. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 30(3), 280-301. doi:10.1017/S1742170513000471
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