Chapter 10 - Agriculture, Biotechnology, and the future of Food

Question 1

soil degradation

Answer 1

a deterioration of soil productivity, resulting primarily from forest removal, cropland agriculture, and overgrazing of livestock

Question 2

land degradation

Answer 2

a general deterioration of land that diminishes its productivity and biodiversity, impairs the functioning of its ecosystems, and reduces the ecosystem services the land can offer us

Question 3

dust bowl

Answer 3

an area that loses huge amounts of topsoil to wind erosion as a result of drought and/or human impact. first used to name the region in the North American great plains severely affected by drought and topsoil loss in the 1930’s. the term is now used to describe that historical event and others like it

Question 4

conservation districts

Answer 4

a county-based entity created by the soil conservation service (now the natural resources conservation service) to promote practices to conserve soil

Question 5

natural resources conservation service (NCRS)

Answer 5

u.s. agency that promotes soil conservation, as well as water quality protection and pollution control. prior to 1994, known as the soil conservation service

Question 6

overgrazing

Answer 6

the consumption by too many animals of plant cover, impending plant regrowth and the replacement of biomass. overgrazing can exacerbate damage to soils, natural communities, and the land productivity for further grazing

Question 7

contour farming

Answer 7

the practice of flowing furrows sideways across a hillside, perpendicular to its slope, to help prevent the formation of rills and gullies, the technique is names so because the furrows follow the natural contours of the land

Question 8

terracing

Answer 8

the cutting of level platforms, sometimes with raised edges, into steep hillsides to contain water from irrigation and precipitation, terracing transforms slopes into series of step like staircases, enabling farmers to cultivate hilly land while minimizing their loss of soil to water erosion

Question 9

intercropping

Answer 9

planting different types of crops in alternating bonds or other spatially mixed arrangements

Question 10

shelterbelts (windbreaks)

Answer 10

a row of trees or other tall plants that are planted along the edges of farm fields to break the wind and thereby minimize wind erosion

Question 11

conservation tillage

Answer 11

agriculture that limits the amount of tillage (planting, digging, harrowing, or chiseling) the soil

Question 12

crop rotation

Answer 12

the practice of alternating the kind of crop grown in a particular field from one season or year to the next

Question 13

genetically modified food

Answer 13

food derived from a genetically modified organism

Question 14

genetically modified organism (GMO)

Answer 14

an organism that has been genetically engineered using recombinant DNA technology

Question 15

genetic engineering

Answer 15

any process scientists use to manipulate an organism’s genetic material in the lab by adding, deleting, or changing segments of its DNA

Question 16

landrace

Answer 16

a locally adapted domesticated variety of agricultural crop native to a particular area

Question 17

transgenic

Answer 17

term describing an organism that contains DNA from another species

Question 18

transgene

Answer 18

a gene that has been extracted from the DNA of one organism and transferred into the DNA of an organism of another species

Question 19

undernutrition

Answer 19

s condition of insufficient nutrition in which people receive less than 90% of the daily caloric needs

Question 20

food security

Answer 20

an adequate, reliable, and available food supply to all people at all times

Question 21

malnutrition

Answer 21

the condition of lacking nutrients the body needs, including a complete complement of vitamins and minerals

Question 22

green revolution

Answer 22

an intensification of the industrialization of agriculture in the developing world in the second half of the 20th century that has dramatically increased crop yields produced per unit area of farmland. practices include devoting large areas to monocultures of crops specially bred for high yields and rapid growth; heavy use of fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation water; and sowing and harvesting on the same piece of land more than once per year or per season

Question 23

Norman Borlaug (1914-2009)

Answer 23

american agricultural scientist who introduced specially bred crops to developing nations in the 20th century, helping to spur the green revolution

Question 24

monoculture

Answer 24

the uniform planting of a single crop over a large area. characterizes industrial agriculture

Question 25

biofuel

Answer 25

fuel produced from biomass energy sources and used primarily to power automobiles. examples include ethanol and biodiesel

Question 26

ethanol

Answer 26

the alcohol in beer, wine, and liquor, produced as a biofuel by fermenting biomass, generally from carbohydrate-rich crops such as corn

Question 27

sustainable agriculture

Answer 27

agriculture that can be practiced in the same way and in the same place for into the future

Question 28

feedlot

Answer 28

a huge barn or outdoor pen designed to deliver energy-rich food to animals living at extremely high densities. also called a factory farm or concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO)

Question 29

seed bank

Answer 29

a storehouse for samples of the world’s crop diversity

Question 30

pollination

Answer 30

a plant-animal interaction in which one organism (for example, a bee or a hummingbird) transfers pollen (containing male sex cells) from flower to flower, fertilizing ovaries (containing female sex cells) that grow into fruits with seeds

Question 31

pest

Answer 31

a pejorative term for any organism that damages crops that are valuable to us. the term is subjective and is defined by our own economic interests and is not biologically meaningful

Question 32

pesticide

Answer 32

an artificial chemical used to kill insects, plants, or fungi

Question 33

weed

Answer 33

a pejorative term for any plant that competes with our crops. the term is subjective and is defined by our own economic interests and is not biologically meaningful

Question 34

bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)

Answer 34

a naturally occuring soil bacterium that produces a protein that kills many pests, including caterpillars and the larvae of some flies and beetles

Question 35

biological control (biocontrol)

Answer 35

control of pests and weeds with organisms that prey on or parasitize them, rather than with pesticides

Question 36

integrated pest management (IPM)

Answer 36

the use of multiple techniques in combination to achieve long-term suppression of pests, including biocontrol, use of pesticides, close monitoring of populations, habitat alteration, crop rotation, transgenic crops, alternative tillage methods, and mechanical pest removal

Question 37

organic agriculture

Answer 37

agriculture that does not use synthetic fertilizers or pesticides but instead relies in biological approaches such as composting and biocontrol.

Question 38

aquaculture

Answer 38

the cultivation of aquatic organisms for food in controlled environments