Organic farming for sustainable agriculture

Meaning Of Refuse Refuse are dirty substances or unwanted wastes we have used at home and are ready to be disposed. Refuse should not be kept within the home for a long time to avoid breeding space for pests and bacteria which could bring various infections and dangerous diseases. We can clear refuse by sweeping our surroundings and gathering used items such as can, food remnants, leaves, banana peel, etc. in other to avoid infections and dangerous diseases. The following are the materials used to gather refuse. 1. Brooms 2. Packers 3. Waste basket 4. Dust bins 5. Incinerators Types of Wastes 1) Organic Wastes: These are perishables wastes. They can decay easily. Examples are Yam peels, banana peels, fish wastes etc. These wastes could be burnt when dried . 2) Solid Wastes: These are non-perishable wastes. It takes a long process before these wastes can decay. Examples are cans, tins, broken glasses and bottles. These wastes can be buried. It can also be re-cycled for new things. The following are ways of disposing refuse. 1) Gather the refuse at safe distance and burn them. 2) Bury the refuse by digging hole and pouring them. 3) By recycling refuse to become fertilizer for gardening or farming.

Title (Slide 0): "Digging Deeper: The Truth About Tillage" Subtitle: How turning the soil affects plants, microbes, and the planet Slide 1: What Is Tillage? Tilling the soil means digging, turning, and loosening it using tools or machines. It's a common farming practice to prepare the land before planting. Slide 2: Why Do Farmers Till? Tillage is usually done before planting to: • Soften and aerate the soil • Mix in nutrients • Remove weeds • Bury crop residues for decomposition and fertility Slide 3: Tools Used for Tillage Farmers use tools like: • Ploughs: Cut deep into the soil • Harrows: Break up clumps and smooth the surface Slide 4: Ploughs vs. Harrows • Ploughs: Used first, go deep, lift and flip soil • Harrows: Used after ploughs, work on the surface to break clumps and level the soil Slide 5: Types of Tillage Systems From most to least soil disturbance: • Conventional Tillage: Deep ploughing • Minimum Tillage: Light disturbance • Conservation Tillage: Only disturb seed zone, keep residues on top • Zero Tillage (No-Till): Plant directly into undisturbed soil Slide 6: Problem 1 – Soil Erosion Tillage removes protective cover, exposing soil to wind and rain. Result: topsoil—the most fertile layer—is easily washed or blown away. Slide 7: Problem 2 – Disruption of Soil Life Soil is a living ecosystem! • Worms, fungi, and bacteria help aerate soil and release nutrients • Tillage destroys their habitat, reducing fertility and soil health Slide 8: Problem 3 – Loss of Soil Structure Healthy soil has pores for air, water, and roots. Tillage breaks the sponge-like structure, and soil compacts over time—like flattening it into a pancake. Hard soil = poor plant growth. Slide 9: Problem 4 – Decreased Organic Matter Microbes "eat" organic matter through aerobic respiration (using O₂ and releasing CO₂). Tillage adds oxygen, microbes speed up, and burn through the soil’s “pantry” of organic matter—leaving it empty and poor. Slide 10: Problem 5 – Greenhouse Gas Emissions Faster decomposition = more CO₂ released. Tillage boosts microbial activity, which increases carbon dioxide emissions—contributing to climate change. ✅ Conclusion (Slide 11): 🌱 Tillage: A Double-Edged Tool Tillage can help prepare the soil and control weeds—but it comes at a cost. Over time, repeated tilling can strip away organic matter, destroy soil life, and release greenhouse gases. It's like spending all your savings for quick results—and being left with nothing for the future. The smarter path? Use reduced or no-till methods that protect soil health, keep carbon in the ground, and support long-term farming success.

A solution is composed of a solute dissolved in a solvent. In the sugar water described in Figure 5-1, the solute was sugar and the solvent was water, and the solute molecules diffused through the solvent. It is also possible for solvent molecules to diffuse. In the case of cells, the solutes are organic and inorganic compounds, and the solvent is water. The process by which water molecules diffuse across a cell membrane from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration is called osmosis (ahs-MOH-sis). Because water is moving from a higher to lower concentration, osmosis does not require cells to expend energy. Therefore, osmosis is the passive transport of water. Direction of Osmosis The net direction of osmosis depends on the relative concentra- tion of solutes on the two sides of the membrane. Examine Table 5-1. When the concentration of solute molecules outside the cell is lower than the concentration in the cytosol, the solution outside is hypotonic to the cytosol. In this situation, water diffuses into the cell until equilibrium is established. When the concentration of solute molecules outside the cell is higher than the concentration in the cytosol, the solution outside is hypertonic to the cytosol. In this situation, water diffuses out of the cell until equilibrium is established. Observing Diffusion Materials 600 mL beaker, 25 cm dialysis tubing, funnel, 15 mL starch solution (10 percent), 20 drops Lugol’s solution, 300 mL water, 100 mL graduated cylinder, 20 cm piece of string (2) Procedure 1. Put on your disposable gloves, lab apron, and safety goggles. 2. Pour 300 mL of water in the 600 mL beaker. 3. Add 20 drops of Lugol’s solution to the water. CAUTION: Lugol’s solution is a poison and eye and skin irritant. 4. Open the dialysis tubing, and tie one end tightly with a piece of string. 5. Using the funnel, pour 15 mL of 10 percent starch solution into the dialysis tubing. 6. Tie the other end of the dialysis tubing tightly with the second piece of string, forming a sealed bag around the starch solution. 7. Place the bag into the solution in the beaker, and observe the setup for a color change. Analysis What happened to the color in the bag? What happened to the color of the water around the bag? Explain your observations. Quick Lab www.scilinks.org Topic: Osmosis Keyword: HM61090 mb06se_homs01.qxd 11/27/07 8:52 AM Page 98 HOMEOSTASIS AND CELL TRANSPORT 99 When the concentrations of solutes outside and inside the cell are equal, the outside solution is said to be isotonic to the cytosol. Under these conditions, water diffuses into and out of the cell at equal rates, so there is no net movement of water. Notice that the prefixes hypo-, hyper-, and iso- refer to the relative solute concentrations of two solutions. Thus, if the solution outside the cell is hypotonic to the cytosol, then the cytosol must be hyper- tonic to that solution. Conversely, if the solution outside is hypertonic to the cytosol, then the cytosol must be hypotonic to the solution. Water tends to diffuse from hypo- tonic solutions to hypertonic solutions. How Cells Deal with Osmosis Cells that are exposed to an isotonic external environment usually have no difficulty keeping the movement of water across the cell membrane in balance. This is the case with the cells of ver- tebrate animals on land and of most other organ- isms living in the sea. In contrast, many cells function in a hypotonic environment. Such is the case for unicellular freshwater organisms. Water constantly diffuses into these organisms. Because they require a relatively lower concentration of water in the cytosol to function normally, unicel- lular organisms must rid themselves of the excess water that enters by osmosis. Some of them, such as the paramecia shown in Figure 5-2, do this with contractile vacuoles (kon-TRAK-til VAK-y ̄ ̄o ̄ ̄o-OL), which are organelles that remove water. Contractile vacuoles collect the excess water and then contract, pumping the water out of the cell. Unlike diffusion and osmosis, this pumping action is not a form of passive trans- port because it requires the cell to expend energy. Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved. (a) (b) Vacuole filling with water Vacuole contracting TABLE 5-1 Direction of Osmosis Condition External solution is hypotonic to cytosol External solution is hypertonic to cytosol External solution is isotonic to cytosol Net movement of water into the cell out of the cell none H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O The paramecia shown below live in fresh water, which is hypotonic to their cytosol. (a) Contractile vacuoles collect excess water that moves by osmosis into the cytosol. (b) The vacuoles then contract, returning the water to the outside of the cell. (LM 315) FIGURE 5-2 100 CHAPTER 5 (a) HYPOTONIC Cell walls (b) HYPERTONIC (a) ISOTONIC (b) HYPOTONIC (c) HYPERTONIC Other cells, including many of those in multicellular organisms, respond to hypotonic environments by pumping solutes out of the cytosol. This lowers the solute concentration in the cytosol, bring- ing it closer to the solute concentration in the environment. As a result, water molecules are less likely to diffuse into the cell. Most plant cells, like animal cells, live in a hypotonic environ- ment. In fact, the cells that make up plant roots may be surrounded by water. This water moves into plant cells by osmosis. These cells swell as they fill with water until the cell membrane is pressed against the inside of the cell wall, as Figure 5-3a shows. The cell wall is strong enough to resist the pressure exerted by the water inside the expanding cell. The pressure that water molecules exert against the cell wall is called turgor pressure (TER-GOR PRESH-er). In a hypertonic environment, water leaves the cells through osmosis. As shown in Figure 5-3b, the cells shrink away from the cell walls, and turgor pressure is lost. This condition is called plasmolysis (plaz-MAHL-uh-sis), and is the reason that plants wilt if they don’t receive enough water. Some cells cannot compensate for changes in the solute con-

Ions Ions are charged substances that have formed through the gain or loss of electrons. Cations form from the loss of electrons and have a positive charge while anions form through the gain of electrons and have a negative charge. Cation Formation Cations are the positive ions formed by the loss of one or more electrons. The most commonly formed cations of the representative elements are those that involve the loss of all of the valence electrons. Consider the alkali metal sodium (Na) . It has one valence electron in the n=3 energy level. Upon losing that electron, the sodiu ion now has an octet of electrons from the second energy level and a charge of 1+ . The electron arrangement of the sodium ion is now the same as that of the noble gas neon. Consider a similar process with magnesium and aluminum. In this case, the magnesium atom loses its two valence electrons in order to achieve the same arrangement as the noble gas neon and a charge of 2+ . The aluminum atom loses its three valence electrons to have the same electron arrangement as neon and a charge of 3+ . For representative elements under typical conditions, three electrons is usually the maximum number that will be los. Representative elements will not lose electrons beyond their valence because they would have to "break" the octet of the previous energy level which provides stability to the ion. Anions Anions are the negative ions formed from the gain of one or more electrons. When nonmetal atoms gain elections, they often do so until their outermost principal energy level achieves an octet. For fluorine, which has an electron arrangement of (2, 7), it only needs to gain one electron to have the same electron arrangement as neon. Forming an octet (eight electrons in the outer shell) provides stability to the atom. Fluorine will gain one electron and have a charge of 1− . The electron arrangement of the fluoride ion (2, 8) will also change to reflect the gain of an electron. Oxygen has an electron arrangement of (2, 6) and needs to gain two electrons to fill the n=2 energy level and achieve an octet of electrons in the outermost shell. The oxide ion will have a charge of 2− as a result of gaining two electrons. Under typical conditions, three electrons is the maximum that will be gained in the formation of anions. Subatomic Particles in an Ion Since ions form from the gain or loss of electrons, we can also look at the number of subatomic particles (protons, neutrons, and electrons) found in an ion. Remember that the number of protons determines the identity of the element and will not change in a chemical process. Example 2.5.1 How many protons, neutrons, and electrons in a single oxide (O2−) ion? Solution Oxygen has the atomic number 8 so both the atom and the ion will have 8 protons. The average atomic mass of oxygen is 16. Therefore, there will be 8 neutrons (atomic mass−atomic number=neutrons) . A neutral oxygen atom would have 8 electrons. However, the anion has gained two electrons so O2− has 10 electrons. We can also use information about the subatomic particles to determine the identity of an ion. Example 2.5.2 An ion with a 2+ charge has 18 electrons. Determine the identity of the ion. Solution If an ion has a 2+ charge then it must have lost electrons to form the cation. If the ion has 18 electrons and the atom lost 2 to form the ion, then the neutral atom contained 20 electrons. Since it was neutral, it must also have had 20 protons. Therefore the element is calcium. Polyatomic Ions A polyatomic ion is an ion composed of two or more atoms that have a charge as a group (poly = many). The ammonium ion (see figure below) consists of one nitrogen atom and four hydrogen atoms. Together, they comprise a single ion with a 1+ charge and a formula of NH+4 . The hydroxide ion (see figure below) contains one hydrogen atom and one oxygen atom with an overall charge of 1− . The carbonate ion (see figure below) consists of one carbon atom and three oxygen atoms and carries an overall charge of 2− . The formula of the carbonate ion is CO2−3 . The atoms of a polyatomic ion are tightly bonded together and so the entire ion behaves as a single unit. The figures below show several examples. Soult Screenshot 2-2-1.png Figure 2.5.1 : The ammonium ion (NH+4) is a nitrogen atom (blue) bonded to four hydrogen atoms (white). Soult Screenshot 2-2-2.png Figure 2.5.2 : The hydroxide ion (OH−) is an oxygen atom (red) bonded to a hydrogen atom. Soult Screenshot 2-2-3.png Figure 2.5.3 : The carbonate ion (CO2−3) is a carbon atom (black) bonded to three oxygen atoms. The table below lists a number of polyatomic ions by name and by structure. The heading for each column indicates the charge on the polyatomic ions in that group. Note that the vast majority of the ions listed are anions - there are very few polyatomic cations. 1− 2− 3− 1+ Table 2.5.1 : Common Polyatomic Ions acetate, CH3COO− carbonate, CO2−3 arsenate, AsO3−3 ammonium, NH+4 bromate, BrO−3 chromate, CrO2−4 phosphite, PO3−3 chlorate, ClO−3 dichromate, Cr2O2−7 phosphate, PO3−4 chlorite, ClO−2 hydrogen phosphate, HPO2−4 cyanide, CN− oxalate, C2O2−4 dihydrogen phosphate, H2PO−4 peroxide, O2−2 hydrogen carbonate, HCO−3 silicate, SiO2−3 hydrogen sulfate, HSO−4 sulfate, SO2−4 hydrogen sulfide, HS− sulfite, SO2−3 hydroxide, OH− hypochlorite, ClO− nitrate, NO−3 nitrite, NO−2 perchlorate, ClO−4 permanganate, MnO−4 The vast majority of polyatomic ions are anions, many of which end in -ate or -ite. Notice that in some cases such as nitrate (NO−3) and nitrite (NO−2) , there are multiple anions that consist of the same two elements. In these cases, the difference between the ions is the number of oxygen atoms present, while the overall charge is the same. As a class, these are called oxyanions. When there are two oxyanions for a particular element, the one with the greater number of oxygen atoms gets the -ate suffix, while the one with the fewer number of oxygen atoms gets the -ite suffix. The four oxyanions of chlorine are shown below, which also includes the use of the prefixes hypo- and per-. ClO− , hypochlorite ClO−2 , chlorite ClO−3 , chlorate ClO−4 , perchlorate Not your usual ion Soult Screenshot 2-2-4.png "Drink you milk. It's good for your bones." We're told this from early childhood, and with good reason. Milk contains a good supply of calcium, part of the structure of bone. However, there are two other ionic components of hydroxyapatite, the mineral component. Phosphate ion and hydroxide ion make up the remainder of the inorganic material in bone. News You Can Use Bone is a very complex structure. It is composed of protein (mainly collagen), hydroxyapatite (a calcium-phosphate-hydroxide mixture), some other minerals, and contains 10 - 20% water. The calcium/phosphate ratios are not stoichiometric, but vary somewhat from one portion of bone to the next. Bones are very strong but will break under enough stress. Regular exercise and proper nutrition help to increase bone strength. Watch a video about bone structure at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9owEvYdouk Nitrate is an anion with a complex bonding structure. Major sources for this ion in drinking water are runoff from fertilizer, septic tank leakage, sewage, and natural deposits. High concentrations of nitrates represent a significant health hazard, especially to infants. The nitrate in the body is converted to nitrite, which then binds to hemoglobin. This binding decreases the ability of hemoglobin to transport oxygen, thus depriving the cells of the O2 needed for proper functioning. Cyanide production is widespread throughout nature. Forest fires will produce significant amounts of cyanide. Many plants contain cyanide, and it is produced by a number of bacteria, algae, and fungi. Cyanide is used industrially in metal finishing, iron and steel mills, and in organic synthesis processes. This material is also an important component for the refining of precious metals. Formation of a complex between cyanide and gold allows extraction of this metal from a mixture.

Care and Maintenance of Crops • weeding and cultivating • irrigation/water supply • fertilizing • mulching using organic materials • natural prevention and control of common pests and diseases (using natural farming/organic farming)

ORGANIC

ORGANIC CHEMISTRY- Basic Principles and Techniques

Organic chemistry basics

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