When people talk about pollution, the first thing that comes to mind are images of filthy water supplies, dark industrial smog, and littered grounds. However, there is a lack of understanding regarding agricultural pollution because the exposure of the subject is not as direct. When farms and pastures are mentioned, people think about golden fields, miles of green, living cattle, and a blue sky, but the truth behind such imagery is a hidden threat of agricultural pollution of great magnitude.
Rural areas are alarming us about pollution. On the one hand, industrial and urban pollution are steadily migrating to the rural field, and on the other hand, rural pollution itself is increasing at a fast rate. Fertilizers, pesticides, and other such chemical materials used in agricultural and rural production, in addition to the solid and gas waste produced by cattle in the rural setting, have been inadequately handled and eliminated. These seemingly small causes are damaging the rural environment by a great measure. “Nutrient pollution in ground water – which millions of people in the United States use as their drinking water source – can be harmful, even at low levels. Infants are vulnerable to a nitrogen-based compound called nitrates in drinking water” (“The Problem”, 2016).
The main sources of rural pollution belong in these three categories: widespread contamination of pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals into neighboring lands and waters. “Nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus are essential for growing crops, but they can also trigger algal growth in rivers, lakes, and bays” (Swanson, 2013). The toxic pesticides are killing non-intended organisms and affecting human and other animal life in the ecosystem, and fertilizers are disrupting the marine areas by adding excess nutrients to these supplies.
In order to manage these sources of rural pollution, there needs to be set plans to deal with each individual threat. Cultivation management, first of all, such as strip cropping, allows for separation of fields and higher efficiency so that contamination is lowered and yield is maximized. Secondly, toxic management of pesticides is a plan to treat weeds and pests with non-chemical based formulae and the correct usage and dosage of commercial pesticides, differentiating between types of pests, temperature, humidity and other factors to maximize efficiency and minimize usage.
Lastly, fertilizer excess and nutrient excess should undergo an industrial process to monitor fertilizer and cattle waste, by creating designated structures to store and allocate waste and fertilizer as nutrients for farmlands rather than letting the animals roam free spreading waste in the open.
Sources:
Andrew Moseman (2010, December 17). Industrial Building. Retrieved from http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/12/17/california-blazes-a-trail-with-the-first-u-s-carbon-trading-program/#.WBDSYeErJE4
Swanson, A. F. (2013, July 5). What Is Farm Runoff Doing To The Water? Scientists Wade In. Retrieved October 26, 2016, from http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/07/09/199095108/Whats-In-The-Water-Searching-Midwest-Streams-For-Crop-Runoff
The Problem. (2016, March 1). Retrieved October 26, 2016, from https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/problem