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Agriculture & Permaculture Problems and Solutions
The following are a list of agriculture & permaculture problems and solutions. Click on a heading to read the full description of the problem, add a solution or comment, and rate the problem. Submit a new agriculture & permaculture problem by clicking on the Post Problem button. The most popular agriculture & permaculture problems are listed first. Voting on a problem may move it up or down on the list.59 153
  Limited water for farmingSolutions (17) Comments (5)Worldwide, agriculture accounts for more than 70 per cent of freshwater consumption, mainly for irrigation of agricultural crops. In Africa and Asia, agriculture accounts for nearly 80 per cent. Agric... 12 35
Destruction of agricultural landSolutions (7) Comments (1)Over 23 sq km of rural land in the USA are developed every day (1993). At the same time, each year around 400,000 hectares of cropland are lost to erosion 34 55
Chemical contamination of seedsSolutions (7)Seeds are increasingly coated chemically as a delivery system for chemicals and biologicals to the field and as a means of avoiding protest against excessive crop spraying. Thus chemicals enter the gr... 25 41
Creation of transgenic plants and animalsSolutions (2) Comments (2)In the 1990's, major concern arose over techniques have been developed to insert genetic material from one species of plant, bacteria, virus, animal or fish into another species with which it could ne... 10 18
Capture and use of wild animals as petsSolutions (5)There are a number of species of wild animals which are found in reasonable abundance and are hardy and adapted to captivity. These make admirable pets it they are properly housed and fed. Parakeets o... 7 14
Unwanted pet animalsSolutions (12) Comments (4)As the result of the domestication of animals, their birth rate in domesticated environments has escalated in an uncontrolled manner, often without any adequate means to house and feed them. There is ... 5 12
Colombia - Lack of Viable Crop AlternativesSolutions (7) Comments (4)As land confiscation and upheaval resulting from years of conflict have displaced Colombians from their lands, farmers have relocated to increasingly remote - and less fertile - regions. Even if the ... 3 9
Destructive wildlifeSolutions (6)Wild animals compete with cattle for food and require land which could otherwise be used for agricultural purposes. When large areas of hitherto virgin territory are divided and developed into an intr... 3 9
Cure Heath Pond from Toxic AlgaeSolutions (1) Comments (1)An Australian company, Phoslock Water Solutions, contacted Petersfield Town Council's Heath Pond working party and said adding modified clay to the water could rid it of phosphorus. However, the work... 6 12
Experimental exposure of animals to painSolutions (1)As a means of obtaining insights in human psychology, animals are subjected to prolonged isolation as well as being exposed to pain and stress. Such experiments may include withholding postoperative p... 13 19
Cat litter boxes smell bad, cause undue waste in landfills, and are time consuming to maintainSolutions (14) Comments (1)Cat people love their cats, but everyone hates litter boxes: The smell, time consuming daily cleaning, having to continually buy litter, some of which is bad for the environment. It has also been re... 2 7
Excess use of chemical fertiliser and pesticides in agricultureSolutions (2)The above problem is of concern as excessive use of chemicl fertiliser and pesticides not only detoriate soil,contaminate water bodies and leads to contamination of ground water also but if these thin... 5 9
Cruel culling of sealsSolutions (1)The population of certain species of seal using well-defined breeding grounds increases to the point that culling is considered necessary to prevent over-crowding and to maintain a stable population. ... 24 28
Water pollution caused by manure from factory farmsSolutions (12) Comments (3)Water contaminated with manure from factory farms (Chickens, Pigs, Cows, etc.) leaches into the water supply, resulting in unsafe drinking water, and killing fish. 1 5
Unethical patenting of plant genetic resourcesThere is huge ethical concern over patenting; to claim patents on plants is to try to patent parts of creation. The granting of patents concentrates power in the hands of a few, and means the poor and...12 16
Cultivation of marginal agricultural landSolutions (4)Prime agricultural land in developing countries has been taken over for the production of cash-crops which tends to push peasants onto marginal lands which, more often than not, is totally unsuitable ... 7 11
Cruelty to livestock during transportationSolutions (5)Common abuses in the transport of animals include: poor facilities; overcrowding; insufficient trained attendants; lack of supervision of attendants; lack of coordination in providing opportunities fo... 4 7
Proliferation of petsSolutions (2)Large numbers of pets and domestic animals are maintained in households, particularly in developed countries. These pets consume considerable amounts of food at a time of increasing food shortage. The... 8 11
Overdependence on few crop speciesSolutions (3)Although there are at least 20,000 species of edible plants worldwide, fewer than 150 are cultivated widely. This creates a great deal of vulnerability to plant diseases which could ravage the commonl... 20 22
Cultivation of illegal drugsSolutions (3)A farmer may begin producing illicit narcotic plants under the threat of violence from criminal traffickers or as a means of supplementing farm income. Cultivation of drug plants is financially more r... 7 9
Dog fightingSolutions (4) Comments (1)Dog fighting is still held in a few places in Japan, the most famous being Kochi and Akita prefectures, but gambling on dogfights is now illegal 0 2
Zebra Mussels and SeaweedsSolutions (1) Comments (1)We live in a lake area which is severely infested with zebra mussels. We need a non-chemical solution and we hear that Cupronickel repels them. Does anyone have any knowledge on this matter. We want ... 5 7
Excessive use of hormones in animal husbandrySolutions (1)Hormones which are intended for occasional therapeutic use are injected into young animals such as calves to fatten them faster. Like athletes taking steroids, this practice results in "fast flesh", b... 5 6
Animal stress in factory farmingSolutions (2) Comments (1)Due to the closely confined conditions of factory farming units, some animals die of stress from overcrowding. Productivity under stress tends to be less. Cannibalism increases in overcrowded conditio... 5 6
Animal road deathsSolutions (2)It has been estimated that in the USA about one million animals are killed every day by vehicles 6 6
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Animal diseasesComments (1)Even in the developed countries, at the present time, losses through animal diseases and parasitic infestations represent a wastage of a considerable proportion of the national economic effort in live... 1 0
No-till Farming Using Railroad TracksSolutions (1) Comments (3)How to use thousands of miles of unused railroad tracks for farming. 1. Bed preparatrion, tree removal, moving gravel, adding fill and sod. 2. Crop selection. Biofuels only in creosote areas. 3. How... 11 10
Cruel treatment of animals for researchBiomedical research makes use of considerable numbers of animals in experiments, the majority of which may be for commercial rather than scientific purposes. Most of these experiments are not carried ...25 23
Destructive fishing methodsSolutions (4) Comments (1)Some fishing techniques, like the drift nets yield not only tons of fish but kill millions of birds, whales and seals and catch millions of fish not intended. Small net holes often capture juvenile fi... 10 8
Degradation of agricultural land by cash cropsSolutions (5)Vast tracts of land which are suitable for growing grazing grasses or trees, but little else, have been torn up to make way for cotton, peanut or coffee plantations. The result is soil that becomes po... 32 30
Animal extinctionSolutions (1)A majority of biologists are convinced that a "mass extinction" of plants and animals is underway that poses a major threat to humans in the next century. The rapid disappearance of plant and animal s... 8 6
Health hazards from mercury in fishSolutions (4)Nearly all fish contain trace amounts of methyl mercury but longer-lived, larger fish that feed on other fish (like tuna) accumulate the most Illness began to appear on the shore of the Minamata Bay... 6 4
Food DisbursementSolutions (5) Comments (1)The many aspects of food control/production/storage/destruction and distribution need to be addressed. We already produce enough food to feed the world. The problem is distributing the food to those t... 8 6
Cruel methods of destruction of stray dogsSolutions (2)The surplus dog populations in many cities, particularly in Asia, is such that effective and economic methods are required to destroy them. Methods most frequently employed, such as the use of strychn... 8 5
Extermination of wild animalsSolutions (3)Animals and their natural habitat exist in a relatively stable, if fluctuating, equilibrium and it is unlikely that primitive hunting much influenced this. But modern man, using the advanced technolog... 20 15
Environmental hazards from rice productionSolutions (3) Comments (1)In rice production, monoculture is the norm in irrigated paddies. Because rice varieties are selected for productivity and are further interbred to maximize this trait, there is growing concern that t... 19 14
Cruel slaughterhouse practicesSolutions (4)Abuses in modern processes include: overcrowded transport facilities with lack of adequately trained and supervised attendants; infection from unrestricted contact with diseased animals; inadequate fe... 18 12
Unsanitary and inhumane food animal conditionsSolutions (1)Under modern systems of livestock production, traditional husbandry has been superseded by advances in technology and associated values of productivity and efficiency. Animals are no longer raised und... 32 21
Marine pollutionSolutions (4) Comments (1)The world's oceans can be divided into two zones: coastal and open. The coastal zone constitutes about 10% of the total ocean area and is the receptacle for wastes from rivers, direct run-off from the... 41 28
Threatened coral reef ecosystemsSolutions (6) Comments (3)Coral reefs are under attack by enormous numbers of starfish of the variety called 'crown-of-thorns', technically <i>Acanthaster planci</i>. These fish eat the soft tissues of the reefs by inverting t... 162 104
Intensive farmingSolutions (3) Comments (2)The use of intensive farming techniques are creating not only localized ecological disasters but in many places having impacts across way sections of the countryside. Intensive farming designs limit t... Notify me of New Entries on this PageYou can receive an email whenever a new problem is added to this category. You can unsubscribe at any time. |
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