Plant nutrition is a significant field of science in human life due to the possibility to investigate the chemical composition of the soil, analyze the peculiarities of plant growth, and evaluation of plant metabolism under current living conditions. Understanding a plant nutrition unit is a contribution to science and progress people can achieve in food sustainability. It is not enough to know that plant nutrients are the parts of plant metabolism and that the use of science in plant growth can lead to new outcomes (Barker and Pilbeam 3). It is necessary to be creative and confident with each step even if no certain positive results are expected. The example of such confidence and the desire to achieve success can be taken from the movie The Martian, where the main character is ready to challenge Mars in order to survive and break the rules in plant nutrition and admits that “Mars will come to fear my botany powers” (The Martian). This movie and its character demonstrate impressive experiments and prove the possibility to use science as the best method to increase food sustainability and succeed in plant nutrition.
Every day, people have to prove their rights for existence, including the knowledge of science as the possibility to promote progress in food sustainability. The use of highly productive substances like seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides is a chance for numerous poor nations to participate in the green revolution and achieve high-level production gains (Lawrence et al. 10). The use of science in plant nutrition can be proved by means of a proper introduction of measurements such as the change of height, improved light conditions, the use of water and nutrients. The information is usually given in graphs, diagrams, pictures, and tables. To comprehend how science can be used in food sustainability, it is necessary to explain the essence of food sustainability and its goals. Sustainability aims at reducing poverty and conserving the environment (Oosterveer and Sonnenfeld 28). Sustainability in food is the promotion of quality and safety and the development of the conditions under which values, reasonable prices, and health conditions are created.
Science is any human intervention that contradicts the natural development of the events. For example, in food sustainability, science can be used to affect the process of photosynthesis by means of changes in light intensity or light color. Besides, the appropriate use of H2O or CO2 can improve plant nutrition because water management in irrigated areas is the reason for the food production increase at the global level (Bharucha). If no attention is paid to science in sustainable food growth, people can face the same problems the world had many years ago when no nutrients or water shortages prevented the development.
Though many people think that science and technological development kill nature and bring negative outcomes to all-natural processes, the role of science remains to be a crucial factor. Climate change, air pollution, and other environmental problems cannot be ignored. It is impossible to stop using technological things in order to protect the world. At the same time, it is necessary to create food and use it to survive. Therefore, the use of science can be justified for the growth of food sustainability. Such methods as hybridization or the use of fertilizers and GMOs can be defined as the scientific methods for plant nutrition (Prusak et al. 187). Still, their harmful effects are under numerous discussions of different world organizations due to their possible impact on people and the impossibility to predict the results and define a future usage of these products.
It is necessary to think about the methods that are less harmful than those mentioned above and can be available to all people in any country. For example, it is possible to test soils and identify the presence or absence of chemical compounds that can influence the growth of seeds. There are many types of soils that include such compounds as clay, sand, silt, loam, peat, or chalk. Some of them can be appropriate for growing seeds, and some of them have to be removed in order to create the right conditions.
My participation and understanding of plant nutrition processes have been considerably improved during the last months. I liked the idea that people can have some portion of control over the plants and can use science as the main supporter. It is hard to challenge nature and to make seeds grow without appropriate substances being added. Therefore, it is obligatory to remember simple chemical and biological rules with the help of which new conclusions can be made and clear interpretations can be given. Science and food sustainability are two concepts that have enough rights for existence. Still, this cooperation is fragile and has to be controlled by a person thoroughly. It is easy to change temperature, to add or reduce light, or to add or remove nutrients. Any of these changes have to be properly weighted in regards to the type of soil chosen for plant growth.
Works Cited
Barker, Allen V., and David J. Pilbeam, editors. Handbook of Plant Nutrition. CRC Press, 2016.
Bharucha, Zareen Pervez. “Sustainable Food Production: Facts and Figures.”SciDevNet. 2013, Web.
Lawrence, Geoffrey, et al. Food Security, Nutrition and Sustainability. Earthscan, 2013.
Oosterveer, Peter, and David A. Sonnenfeld. Food, Globalization and Sustainability. Routledge, 2012.
Prusak, Anna, et al. “Is GMO ‘Sustainable’? A Review of the Environmental Risks of GM Plants in Comparison with Conventional and Organic Crops.” Modern Management Review, vol. 19, no. 21, pp. 187-200.
The Martian. Directed by Ridley Scott, performance by Matt Damon, 20th Century Fox, 2015.