4038A Integrated Agricultural Systems: Assessment Answer

Requirements for the assessment

The pair must first agree a suitable area of the world on which to base their case study. Once decided, each pair must use a real farming systems situation (not an individual farm) to address the following issues:

a) A description of the overall farming system and the way it is shaped by climate and soil type.

b) A brief analysis of the political, economic and social pressures which have led to the development of the farming systems in the area chosen.

c) An analysis of the current and future threats to sustainable food and non-food agricultural production

d) An analysis of the progress made in the area towards a more sustainable approach to production using integrated methods e.g. Integrated Farm Management, Integrated Pest Management, Integrated Weed and Disease Management, Integrated Crop Management to name but a few.

You should then provide a brief summary of the effects that any integrated methods have had on the area’s environmental and production resources.

The case study can be based in any part of the world, either developed or developing, resource-poor or resource-rich, under any political system, and commercial or non-commercial farming.

These are big topics and you only have 4000 words, so use them wisely. Use illustrations where appropriate, including any photographs that you feel are relevant.

Learning outcomes

3. Use a case study approach to analyse the effects of integrated farm management approaches on sustainability of agricultural systems around the world.