Lecture 2

Question 1

How many acres to a hectare?

Answer 1

2.5 Acres

Question 2

What is a Phytolith?

Answer 2

Found in archeological sights
Remains of plants silicon particles
Form rock-like microscopic shape to determine characteristics

Question 3

The 3 main MACROnutrients…

Answer 3

N, P, K

Question 4

Why do we need N to live?

Answer 4

Nitrogen makes up amino acids

Question 5

What are need for plants to grow (not macro but…)

Answer 5

MESOnutrients –> Calcium, Sulfur, and Magnesium

Question 6

These are needed in small amounts to grow…

Answer 6

MICROnutrients

Question 7

Why legumes?

Answer 7

They fix Nitrogen levels, and take N out of the atmosphere and convert into a form the plant can use

Question 8

Inventor of the radiometer and the cathode ray tube, as well as studied land and fertilizer use in Ag.

Answer 8

Sir William Crookes

Question 9

He is known as the Father of Chemistry, also finding that N is shown to be the major component of air and ammonia and to be a significant component of all living matter. Who is he?

Answer 9

Antoine Lavoisier

Question 10

This person found that the cultivation of legumes can restore N to N-depleted soil.

Answer 10

Jean Boussingault

Question 11

This person fount that the crop yields that increased from application of manures/mineral fertilizers are dependent on the N content of those applications.

Answer 11

John Bennet Lawes

Question 12

This person found that legume crop plants grow much more rapidly and produce root nodules when the sterile sand in which they are growing “inoculated” with soil extract.

Answer 12

Martinus Beijerinck

Question 13

What part of the legume “house” the N fixing bacteria Rhizobium?

Answer 13

The Root Nodules

Question 14

This person established the conditions under which Nitrogen gas and Hydrogen gas will combine to generate ammonia.

Answer 14

Fritz Haber

Question 15

The Haber synthesis was developed into an industrial process by this person.

Answer 15

Carl Bosch

Question 16

Natural gas prices account for ____ of the cost of synthetic N fertilizer derived from ammonia used in U.S. Ag.

Answer 16

80-90%

Question 17

Fertilizer costs are ___ of production costs

Answer 17

~30%

Question 18

What does a Combine do?

Answer 18

Cuts the grains –> threshes it –> removes it –> cleans it

Question 19

Any substance/mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest, what is it?

Answer 19

A pesticide

Question 20

What are the “modern” pesticides?

Answer 20

Insecticides, fungicides, herbicides

Question 21

The first and most widely used organic insecticide is…

Answer 21

DDT

Question 22

DDT advantages

Answer 22

Cheap and low mammalian toxicity

Question 23

DDT problems

Answer 23

Insects developed resistance
Endocrine disrupter in mammals and birds
High toxicity to fish
High chem. stability
Fat soluble 
Accumulates with cont. exposure