Key Area 3.3 Crop Protection

Question 1

What is crop protection?

Answer 1

The science and practice of managing plant diseases, weeds and other pests that damage agricultural crops.

Question 2

Why is crop protection essential?

Answer 2

To ensure a sustained supply of good quality harvests and food security.

Question 3

Why are weeds not good for crops?

Answer 3

They compete with the crops for the natural recourse.

Question 4

What natural resources might weeds and crops compete for?

Answer 4

Light
Water
Soil nutrients
Space.

Question 5

What do weeds do to the productivity of a crop?

Answer 5

Decrease it.

Question 6

What are the 2 types of weeds?

Answer 6

Annual and Perennial.

Question 7

What is an annual crop?

Answer 7

A crop that grows from seeds and completes its life cycle in one year.

Question 8

What is a perennial crop?

Answer 8

One which regrows each year.

Question 9

What are the adaptations of an annual weed?

Answer 9

Rapid growth following germination
Have a short life cycle
High seed out put
Long term seed viability (seeds remain dormant but still viable for long periods in the soil).

Question 10

What are the adaptations of a perennial weed?

Answer 10

Have competition advantage through being established before crop growth
Have storage organs from the previous year (an energy source during the winter months)
Are able to reproduce vedgativley using specialised structures such as runners and bulbs.

Question 11

What are plant pests?

Answer 11

Plant pests are unwanted organisms that feed on plant crops.

Question 12

Why are plant pests unwanted?

Answer 12

They decrease yield as the pests damage the leaves and this reduces the plants ability to photosynthesise and lowers the energy available for plant growth.

Question 13

How does disease affect the crops?

Answer 13

They reduce plant productivity and therefore decrease the crop yield.

Question 14

What is the definition of a cultural means of crop protection?

Answer 14

A method that has been developed over long periods of time and are carried out by humans.

Question 15

What is the basis of a cultural method?

Answer 15

Trial and error.

Question 16

What are cultural means said to be?

Answer 16

Preventative rather than curative.

Question 17

What are some example of cultural methods for crop protection?

Answer 17

Ploughing,
Weeding,
Crop rotation.

Question 18

How does ploughing work at protecting the crops?

Answer 18

Perennial weeds are damaged or buried.

Question 19

How does weeding work at protecting the crops?

Answer 19

Early removal of annual weeds before they can affect the growth of young plants.

Question 20

How does crop rotation work at protecting the crops?

Answer 20

Specific pests die out between planting of the same crops.

Question 21

What are the 5 types of pesticides?

Answer 21

Herbicides,
Fungicides,
Insecticides,
Mollusicides,
Nematicides.

Question 22

What do herbicides kill?

Answer 22

Weeds.

Question 23

What do fungicides kill?

Answer 23

Fungal diseases.

Question 24

What do insecticides kill?

Answer 24

Insect pests.

Question 25

What do molluscicides kill?

Answer 25

Mollusc pests.

Question 26

What do nematicides kill?

Answer 26

Nematode pests.

Question 27

What is a selective pesticide?

Answer 27

Pesticides which target a specific pest and have minimal impact of other organisms.

Question 28

What is a systemic pesticide?

Answer 28

Pesticides which are absorbed by the plants. They circulate through the plants tissue killing of insects that feed on it. This pesticide cannot be washed off.

Question 29

What determines wether farmers should apply a fungicide?

Answer 29

Disease forecast.

Question 30

What conditions are good for fungal growth?

Answer 30

Mild and humid conditions.

Question 31

Are fungicides preventative or curative?

Answer 31

Preventative.

Question 32

What should pesticides do in order to be considered safe?

Answer 32

Be specific to the pest,

Break down naturally into simple chemicals which are harmless to the host plant, environment, and human consumer.

Question 33

What are some disadvantages of pesticides?

Answer 33

They may be toxic to non-target species
Persist in the environment
Bioaccumulate and magnify in food chains
Produce resistant populations of pests.

Question 34

What is bioaccumulation?

Answer 34

The build up of substances in the tissues of living organisms.

Question 35

What is biomagnification?

Answer 35

An increase in the concentration of a chemical moving between trophic levels.

Question 36

What is a natural alternative to pesticides?

Answer 36

Biological control.

Question 37

What is biological control?

Answer 37

The use of natural predators to kill pests.

Question 38

What other living organisms can be used to infect the pests?

Answer 38

Parasites and pathogens.

Question 39

What are some benefits of biological control?

Answer 39

The natural enemy acts as the control agent in place of the pesticide
No persistent or harmful chemicals in the food chain
No selection pressure which could lead to the production of a resistant population.

Question 40

What are some risks of biological control?

Answer 40

The predator does not kill all pests; instead they control pest numbers,
The predator itself may become a problem in the environment by eliminating other native species.

Question 41

What should happen first before a predator is introduced?

Answer 41

The effect on the native species should first be tested in an enclosed area such as a green house.

Question 42

What is overall the best way of managing pests?

Answer 42

Integrated pest management.

Question 43

What is integrated pest management?

Answer 43

The use of both biological control and chemical control to control pests.