Ch. 13 Flashcards
Advanced tissue culture
Bioengineering that can mass produce stuff without using much land.
Agroforestry / Alley cropping
Crops and trees are grown together.
Anadromous species
Live part of life in freshwater and part in salt water like salmon.
Anemia
Caused by lack of iron. Causes fatigue increases infection and increases change of female haemorrhage death. Could be fixed by strains of golden rice.
Aquaculture
Raising fish and shellfish for food instead of going out and hunting them.
Biological pest control
Introduce pest predators parasites or diseases that is nontoxic. Difficult to implement, slow to catch on, and controls can become pests themselves.
Chimeraplasty
Insert a chemical instruction that attaches to a gene and alters it for the desired traits, instead of a foreign gene.
Commercial inorganic fertlizer
Active ingredients are usually nitrogen phosphorus and potassium. Can pollute nearby water
Compost
When microorganisms break down organic matter in presence of oxygen
Conservation tillage farming
Uses special machines that disturb the soil as little as possible while planting crops.
Contour farming
Plowing and planting crops in rows across the slope of the land rather than up and down. Rows hold soil and slow water runoff.
Crop rotation
Add nutrient depleting crops, then plant legumes that add nitrogen to the soil. Also reduces erosion by keeping soil covered with vegetation.
Cultivation practices
Rotate the crops, adjusting planting times, and growing crops in areas devoid of pests
DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)
Became most used pesticide, subject Silent Spring, causes bird egg shell destruction, and began pest control revolution with its discovery in 1939 by Paul Muller.
Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)
Supposed to assess health risks of pesticides, but has failed to do so. EPA doesnt have enough money to do so
Feedlots / Animal Factories
Dense areas in large buildings that use a lot of energy and water and produce a lot of waste that can pollute many areas.
First green revolution
Large increase in global food production between 1950 and 1970, use monocultures then produce a lot of fertilizer pesticides and water, then increase number if crops per year.
Pastures / Rangelands
Produce meat, 16% of global food supply
Persistence
Length of time pesticides remain deadly in the environment.
Pheromones
Sex attractants that lure pests into traps and attract predators into crop fields
Plantation agriculture
Used in tropical developing countries, grows cash crops like bananas, soybeans, sugarcane, cocoa, peanuts, vegetables, and coffee on monoculture plantations that decrease biodiversity.
Polyvarietal cultivation
Plot with many genetic varieties of the same crop.
Pyrethrum
Natural pesticide obtained from the head of chrysanthemum flowers.
Rachel Carson
Biologist that warned against pesticide use especially DDT because of effect on birds.
Rill erosion
Fast flowing little rivers make small channels in the soil.
Rodenticide
Rat and mouse killer
Rotenone
Natural pesticide extracted from the roots of tropical forest legumes.
Salinization
When irrigation water in dry climates leads to the accumulation of salts in the upper soil layers. Stunts crop growth lowers crop yields kills plants and ruins the land.
Second green revolution.
1967 -1985, fast growing rice and wheat made by Norman Bourlag produced more food on less land.
First generation pesticides
Natural chemicals borrowed from plants that had been defending themselves against insects eating and herbivores grazing.
Fish farming
cultivating fish in a controlled environment and harvesting them when they reach the desired size
Fish ranching
Holding anadromous fish that are released and adults are harvested.
Food factory systems
Cell factories that produce food independent of weather conditions and reduce long distance shipping costs.
Food Quality Protection Act
Requires EPA to reduce allowed levels of pesticide residues on food when there is inadequate information on the harmful effects on children.
Fungicides
Fungus killers
Gene revolution / third green revolution
Used genetic engineering to develop genetically improved strains of crops and livestock animals.
Gully erosion
Like severe rill erosion. Happens on steep slopes where most vegetation is removed
Herbicides
Weed and plant killer
industrialized agriculture / High-input agriculture
Uses large amounts of fossil fuels, water, fertilizers, and pesticides to produce monocultures and livestock animals for sale.
Integrated pest management
Each crop and pest are part of an ecological system. Farmers combine cultivation, biological, and chemical approaches at different times.
Intercropping
Two or more crops are grown at the same time.
Iodine
Required for proper thyroid gland function, found in seafood and crops in iodine rich soil, and lack of causes goiter.
Iron
Component of hemoglobin that causes anemia. Transports oxygen in blood.
Mad cow disease
Destroys the proteins in the brain of cattle, causes animals to become disoriented, and can spread lethally to humans
Marginal land
Land with poor fertility or steep slopes
Microlivestock
Edible insect species that are sources of protein vitamins and minerals.
Natural enemies
Predators that control the populations of pests
Ocean fisheries / aquaculture
Supply 7% of world’s food, through fish
Croplands
Produce mostly grains, 77% of world’s food
Second generation pesticides
Began with DDT, all other pesticides are slight alterations in molecules of various chemicals
Sheet erosion
Surface wind or water perl off thin layers of soil, so is not noticeable for years until topsoil is all gone.
Windbreaks / shelterbelts
Trees around crops to reduce wind erosion, retain soil moisture, supplt fuelwood, increase crop productivity, and provide new habitats.
Strip cropping
Planting alternating strips of a crop and another crop that covers the soil, other crop catches and reduces water runoff
Silverleaf whitefly
Established in Florida, has short generation time few predators attacks many plants and resistant to many pesticides.
Terracing
Convert steeply sloped land into terraces that run along its contours.
Traditional intensive agriculture
Farmers increase their inputs of labor to produce enough food to feed their families and sell.
Traditional subsistence agriculture
Uses human labor and draft animals to produce enough food for the family’s survival.
Waterlogging
Irrigation water rises above the water table and saline water reaches the plants, lowering their productivity.
Winged bean
Fast growing plant that is a good source of protein and had mnay edible parts. It also needs little fertlizer.
