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Monocropping

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This picture shows a cross-section of land with rows of identical corn stalks growing on top. The word 'Monocropping' is written in all-capital letters, slightly obscured by the first two rows of corn.

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Monocropping - Design,

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This design was created as part of a school assignment on monocropping, which is a type of crop rotation that has been becoming increasingly prevalent in agriculture since the 1980s. It was done in Adobe Photoshop with the basic tools over about an hour, plus some time to research the information that appears in the "Words" variant. Although I am happy with it, I'm not satisfied with how the "rocks" look in the cross-section. I think they look rushed and could have been done much better.

Transcription

Wordless Variant

Partially obscured by the first and second rows of corn:

"MONOCROPPING"

Words Variant

Above the graphic:

"Monocropping means planting one crop on one plot of land, year after year.
It's often used for staple crops due to its scalability & efficiency.
It leads to a lack of diversity, which harms the soil.
It also creates an artificial niche for pests, lowering crop resilience.
Low-quality soil necessitates synthetic fertilizer, & infestation necessitates pesticides.
Excessive use of these chemicals can harm the long-term health of the soil.
Effects on the surrounding environment are amplified by a monocrop's massive size.
Its prevalence is due to increased consolidation & technology on the farms of the 1980s.
Government subsidies encourage monocropping of staple crops.
Climate change will worsen many of the problems with monocropping.
You can discourage monocropping by voting for smarter farm subsidies & by buying organic."

Partially obscured by the first and second rows of corn:

"MONOCROPPING"

In the bottom-left corner of the cross-section:

"By Walsh Giarrusso"

Bibliography

  1. Besky, S. (). Monoculture. Retrieved from https://culanth.org/fieldsights/monoculture

  2. Evan. (). Monocultures in America: A System That Needs More Diversity. Retrieved from https://blogs.umass.edu/natsci397a-eross/monocultures-in-america-a-system-that-needs-more-diversity/

  3. Government, U. S. (n.d.). Pesticides in Groundwater. Retrieved from https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/pesticides-groundwater?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

  4. Marias, A., Hardy, M., Booyse, M., & Botha, A. (). Effects of Monoculture, Crop Rotation, and Soil Moisture Content on Selected Soil Physicochemical and Microbial Parameters in Wheat Fields. Hindawi, , 1-14. doi: 10.1155/2012/593623

  5. Mead, R., Riley, J., Dear, K., & Singh, S. P. (). Stability Comparison of Intercropping and Monocropping Systems. Biometrics, 42(2), 253. doi: 10.2307/2531048

  6. Rochford, S. (). Indiana University-Monocropping. Retrieved from https://blogs.iu.edu/sustainthefuture/2014/02/06/monocropping/

  7. Schulte, J. R., McGuire, A., & McGuire, A. (). Washington State University. Retrieved from http://csanr.wsu.edu/theories-meta-analysis-monocultures/

  8. Stewart, R. E. (). Factors in cropping. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/technology/agricultural-technology/Factors-in-cropping#ref558283

  9. Various Authors. (n.d.). Monocropping. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/monocropping