Agriculture, intensive methods

Pesticides are vital agricultural tools that protect food and fiber plants from damage by insects, weeds, diseases, nematodes, and rodents. U.S. agriculture spends about 8 billion annually on pesticides, representing about 70% of domestic pesticide sales. The dependence of agriculture on chemical pesticides developed over the last 60 years as the agricultural sector shifted from labor-intensive production methods to more capital- and chemical-intensive methods. 

Devising an economical method of producing agricultural-grade potassium phosphates from potassium chloride and wet-process phosphoric acid has been the subject of intense agricultural—chemical research (37—39). Limited quantities have been produced industrially. The impact on the overall quantities of phosphoms and potassium compounds consumed by the fertilizer industry is small. Because potassium phosphates are an excellent source of two essential fertilizer elements, this research is expected to continue. 

One particular standardization method, patented by Shenk and Westerhaus in 1989 [112,117], has seen high utility in NIR food and agricultural apphcations. This method involves a wavelength axis shift correction, followed by an intensity correction. More details on the operation of this method can be found in the literature [112], but its basic operations involve the following ... 

With modem methods of intensive farming in which nitrate-based fertilisers are employed, there has been a noticeable increase in nitrate levels from aquifers lying beneath agricultural land. The recommended limit for nitrate has been given as 50 mg/1 by the World Health Organization (WHO). The principal health risk of nitrates involves a condition seen in infants known as methaemoglobinaemia. 

Organic agriculture is a know-how-intensive farming method. To be competitive, organic farmers need to experiment with new techniques, and must manage land, labour, capital and innovations quite differently from conventional farmers. How can research and development improve access for small farmers to this know-how and to specific inputs, such as seeds and biological methods of pest control ... 

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