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Landline: Feeding soils to grow hungry crops

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Landline: Feeding soils to grow hungry crops

SUBJECTS:  Geography

YEARS:  9–10


How do today's farmers improve their crop yields?

One school of thought is to go high-tech and use agricultural technologies designed to improve efficiencies and yields. See the role that soil condition plays in gaining those high yields.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Imagine that you've planted an area with your favourite crop. How would you know from year to year if you were getting better yields (amount of produce from the area)? What things could you do to improve the yield from this plot? What strategies do you think farmers might use to improve crop yields?
  2. 2.Look at farmer Mark Branson's high-tech method of improving crop yields. What two things does the reporter say he varies to suit the soil? With less fertiliser and chemicals being available, what does Mark say he will do to increase output (yield)? Professor John Crawford of Sydney University discusses soil loss and says soil could run out by when? What does he think could speed up innovation in soil research?
  3. 3.Prof. Crawford believes soil could provide some solutions to addressing food shortages. Explain what you now know about the importance of soil in food production and the issues around its availability, quality, and management for the future. What role might agricultural innovation, technology and research play?
  4. 4.Find out more about the causes and effects of soil degradation in Australia. How have past agricultural practices contributed, and what are the possible consequences for future crop yields and food security? Precision agriculture, or farming practices that adopt new technologies, may provide some solutions. Research the use of technology in modern agriculture and its role in sustainable food production.



Date of broadcast: 26 Jun 2011


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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