I have heard that land that has been used to grow cotton for many years acquires some sort of condition that makes the groundwater unusable. Apparently public water must be brought in to some remote places to compensate for this. Is this true?
2006-12-26 00:50:27 · 4 answers · asked by John L 1 in Environment
cotton wont kill the land. its the chemicals. here in ar there are a lot of rice and soy fields. they are always spraying and burning the fields. its terrible and the water here is awful. im from memphis and when i came here i stopped drinking water its so bad. plus their is a high number of crones disease here i think could be a result from the water. however years and years of planting crops without spraying the anhidrous and other minerals as well as not resting the feilds will robb it of its nutrients and be unsuitable for anything.
2006-12-26 02:16:35 · answer #1 · answered by joe citizen 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, John. Growing the cotton by itself doesn't poison the land or water. Growing depletes the nutrients in the soil. The bad things are the chemicals added as fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides used to get the maximum cotton for the area. Cultivation of corn does the same thing. Eventually rain will leach the chemicals out and, as the aquifer cycles, it becomes potable.
Michael
2006-12-26 02:40:16 · answer #2 · answered by m_canoy2002 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hmmm...interesting question. Any crop that is grown above groundwater can poison the land, and the water, if you use pesticides to maintain the crop. So, yes, it can, depending on the chemicals you use on the crop. As for bringing in water from outside sources to compensate for the groundwater lost, I'd imagine that is what they do, if the groundwater was contaminated.
2006-12-26 02:25:43 · answer #3 · answered by Dana Mulder 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, only if certain pesticides are used.
2006-12-26 00:52:41 · answer #4 · answered by Albert H 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋