Designing a Sustainable Agroecosystem
Instructions
Complete the following:
Part 1: Agroecosystem
Select a food crop. Any food crop EXCEPT corn, soy, or coffee is a-okay. Maybe it’s lemons, or almonds, or pumpkins, or quinoa, or fennel, or melons, or blackberries, or… you get the idea.
You will need to do some outside research on your selected crop. Where does it grow? How does it grow? Pests? Nutrient requirements? Etc. Be thorough, as if this was your farm, and your livelihood.
Then, design and draw a complete sustainable agroecosystem for your selected food crop, including the following:
- Soil management techniques
- Biodiversity
- Nutrient cycles
- Water
- Integrated Pest Management
- Livestock (optional)
- Surrounding Ecosystem(s)
Take this as an opportunity to apply what you’ve learned to a real-world-type scenario. The expectation is that your sustainable agroecosystem will be substantive & reflective of the themes and concepts we have covered so far in class.
Scan or take a CLEAR photo of your diagram and submit to Canvas.
Part 2: Summary
Provide a summary of your sustainable agroecosystem, in a few well-written paragraphs. Highlight each element that you included on your farm. How are the elements you’ve selected beneficial, and contributing to the sustainability of your farm, and our planet? Again, this should reflect what we’ve learned to far in Modules 2 & 3.