AgriculturAL SYSTEMS

​Globally cultivated crop lands extend to about 12% of the worlds land area. Additionally another 35% of grasslands and open woodlands can be considered as agriculture due to grazing. Finally 28% of land is forest land.  

Our food production systems are complex and occupy many different land types across the globe. With a focus on the United Kingdom we can divide agriculture into several broad  groups:

1. Lowland arable and field scale horticulture
2. Intensive lowland pasture
3. Extensive upland and coastal pasture
4. Woodland grazing

Each of these systems has been subjected to improvement ranging from draining, nutrient enrichment, de-stoning, fencing off, woodland clearing. However, before 1939, the pace of this agricultural intensification was relatively slow, in particular the use of agrochemicals and artificial inputs really only started in earnest post 1960's.

Indeed if we consider the history of agriculture in the UK, archaeology dates grains as far back as 5000 years. The relatively slow pace of agricultural expansion during the previous 4940 years has allowed numerous species to adapt and co-exist in the agricultural landscape.

Example of such species include:

1. Stone curlew
2. Arable flora
3. Cirl bunting 
4. Yellowhammer
5. Invertebrate predator-prey relationships

Working left to right, from top left: Traditional plough, minimum tillage cultivation equipment, cereal crop establishment and regional variety trials, poor establishment on headlands, tramlines, ears of winter barley, wheat nearly ready for harvest, wheat harvest, daffodil crop, a range of daffodils, peas and winter oil seed rape.   

Crops in the UK are constantly under threat from disease, pests and weeds. These are very difficult to control in many parts of the UK and in particular fungal disease in the South West (Devon and Cornwall) can be very damaging. A number of fungal diseases infect cereal crops such as:

1. Leaf and glume blotch
2. Crown rust of oats
3. Brown rust
4. Take-all
5. Fusarium foot rot and head blight 

To protect their crops and their investment farmers have to treat their crops with a range of pesticides, this is often seen as very detrimental to wildlife, which is not incorrect. However, without pesticides we would have a serious food shortage. The best approach to using pesticides is a programme known as integrated pest management, where we aim to use a mixture of control measures to protect the crop.  

Working left to right, from top left: Brown rust on onion, vein clearing virus of potato, leaf blotch on wheat, brown rust on grass weeds, crown rust of oats, fusarium dry rot of potato, powdery mildew on sweat peas, aphids on aloe vera and volunteer oats in barley. These are just some examples of the threats to crop production. The disease and pest featured in the non crop plants illustrate how these organisms can find reguge in adjacent flora.

The information on this page is just a very brief introduction to the topic of agriculture and land use. Over the coming months I will add more information and examples of global agricultural practice and share models of best practice.  

A TYPICAL MIXED RURAL LANDSCAPE

This landscape is very typical in Western Britain, relatively small, sloping and irregular shaped fields with a dense wooded hedge boundary. Crops range from winter and spring cereals, break crops like oil seed rape short term grass leys and peas or beans. Interspersed with permanent pasture and wooded valleys, which often have a small stream running through them.
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References:

1. Burchett, S and Burchett, S. Introduction to wildlife conservation in agriculture, Wiley-Blackwell, (2011).
2. Burchett, S and Burchett, S. Plant Pathology, Garland Science, (2016).
3. FAO, State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Agriculture. Available at http://www.fao.org/3/i1688e/i1688e03.pdf Accessed July 2020.

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