food production

Question 1

what is food production?

Answer 1

the humna population is increasing, this means more food needs to be produced from the same area of land (increased food yeild)

Question 2

what are ways we can produce more food from the same area of land?

Answer 2

increase food yeilds (amount of food per plant) by using fertilizers and gm crops

prevent pests using pesticides, gm crops, biological control

Question 3

what chemical do fertilizers provide

Answer 3

nitrates (increases crop yeild

Question 4

what is a fertilizer?

Answer 4

is added to soil or plants to provide essential nutrients that help grow them grow better

Question 5

what are some alternatives to fertilizer

Answer 5

pesticides - pests
insecticides - insects
herbicides - weeds
fungicides - fungi, mold
biological control - natural enemies

Question 6

what does crop yeild mean?

Answer 6

amount of crop thier is per unit of land

Question 7

what is the process of using fertilizer?

Answer 7

1. fertilizer is added to soil to increase the nitrate content of soil
2. Nitrates dissolved in water are absorbed into plants
3. the nitrates are used to make amino acids, these are combined to make plant proteins
4. animals eat plants or other animls to get amino acids for protien synthesis

Question 8

what is leaching

Answer 8

when fertilizers fall into fresh water, adding extra unwanted nitrates

Question 9

what is the process of leaching?

Answer 9

1. fertilizers fall into water
2. there is an increase in algal populations which causes the algal bloom
3. algal bloom reduces light, killing aquatic plants
4. the dead plants and dead algae become food for bacteria which increases bacteria greatly.
5. The bacteria uses up alot of oxygen (O2) reducing oxygen availability for other organisms such as fish. this reduces biodiversity

Question 10

what are manmade fertilizers?

Answer 10

chemical fertilizers with nitrogen

Question 11

what are manure fertilizers?

Answer 11

plant waste
animal manure

Question 12

what are gm crops?

Answer 12

reduce use of fertilizers. they have new genes introduced into thier dna to give them improved characteristics which can lead to bigger plants

Question 13

what are pesticides?

Answer 13

pesticides preyed onto crops can accumulate the bodies of organisms over time. as they are passed along the food chains, toxicity increases and can reach lethal levels. (bio accumulation

Question 14

what is bioaccumulation?

Answer 14

the build up in an individual organism

Question 16

what is biomagnification?

Answer 16

the build up along the food chain