Key Area 5: Food Production Flashcards
What does increasing human population require?
An increased food yield
What is a population explosion caused by?
Better healthcare
Why do we need to improve farming methods?
To produce food for bigger population
To produce food for a bigger population, farmers can do 3 things:
-Use fertilisers to boost nutrient levels
-Use herbicides to kill weeds
-Use pesticides to kill pestd which eat crops
What do plants need to be healthy?
Nutrients
Where do nutrients come from?
-Manure/compost
-Chemical fertilisers
-Decomposing plant matter
What is the cycle of nutrients?
waste and death
/ \
nutrients in nutrients in
living organisms dead bodies
| and waste
| |
absorption by decomposition
living things by bacteria and
| decomposers
\ /
nutrients in
environment
What can fertilisers be?
Natural - Compost
Artificial - chemicals
What is NPK
Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium
Type of fertiliser
What do pesticides reduce?
Crop yield
What can pesticides do?
Damage crops/spread disease
What is an example of issues with monoculture?
When growing spruce trees, a disadvantage is draining the nutrients from soil
What do plants and animals need
Nitrogen
Nitrogen -> ?? + ??
Nitrogen -> amino acids + protein
What are problems with fertislisers?
Using too much can be harmful
Can run off into waterways
What are three exampled of GM
Pest resistant
Disease resistant
Less fertilisers
What is bioaccumulation?
The build-up of toxic substances in living organisms
What is biological control
When the predator of a pest is attracted
What is an example of biological control?
Flowers planted next to tomatoes, attract ladybirds, eat greenfly
How is nitrate used
To make amino acids for protein synthesis
How do fertilisers increase yield
Boost nutrient levels in soil
How do pesticides increase yield
Kill pests and stop them eating crops
How do plants get nitrates?
Absorbed through plant roots
How do fertilisers cause algal blooms?
Nitrates (fertiliser) causes an algal bloom
Plants cant photosynthesis and die
Plants are decomposed by bacteria
Bacteria number increases which used up oxygen
Oxygen levels deplete and fish die
What are alternatives to pesticides
GM crops
Biological control
