Agricultural Methods and Pest Management

Flashcards about agricultural methods and pest management.

Shifting Agriculture

Involves cutting down and burning vegetation in a small area of the forest to release nutrients into the soil for 2-3 years of use; particularly useful on thin tropical soils but not suitable for large, densely populated areas due to the need for long recovery times.

Polyculture

The planting of a mixture of plants, often employed in shifting agriculture.

Monoculture

Promote more efficient planting cultivating and harvesting

3 primary soil nutrients

Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium

Labor-intensive Agriculture

Agriculture that relies heavily on human labor, often favored when mechanization is not possible due to the growing site, the crop, or economic conditions.

Mechanized Monoculture Agriculture

Typical of industrialized countries, this method uses fossil fuels to replace human muscle power, requires large amounts of energy and flat land, and promotes efficient planting, cultivating, and harvesting of single crops (monocultures).

Micronutrients

Nutrients that are needed in small amounts

Macronutrients

Nutrients that are needed in large amounts

Pesticide

Any chemical used to kill or control populations of unwanted fungi, plants, or animals (pests).

Insecticide

Control insects populations

Fungicides

Control fungus populations

Rodenticides

Control mice and rats

Herbicide

Control plant pests

Biocides

Kill a large variety of organisms

Target Organisms

The organisms that pesticides are intended to kill or control.

Persistent Pesticides

Pesticides that remain active for long periods.

Nonpersistent Pesticides

Pesticides that break down quickly.

DDT

Became the 1st synthetic organisms produced

Auxins

Synthetic plant growth regulates ,imic natural growth regulators

Organophosphate carbonates

Are short lived pesticides that do not persists in the environment

Chlorinated Hydrocarbons

A group of complex, stable-structure, long-lasting, persistent pesticides that tend to accumulate in soil and animal bodies; their use is restricted in many areas but continues in developing countries.

Bioaccumulation

The process of accumulating higher and higher amounts of a material within an organism’s body, often seen with fat-soluble persistent pesticides.

Biomagnification

The process of acquiring increasing levels of a substance (like DDT, mercury, or PCBs) in the bodies of higher trophic-level organisms.

Alternative agriculture

Includes all non traditional agriculture methods

Pesticide Resistance

The evolved tolerance to a pesticide in a population, where surviving individuals pass on genetic characteristics for tolerance, making subsequent pesticide applications less effective.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Uses a variety of methods to control pests rather than relying solely on pesticides. Requires information about the crop plant metabolism, biological interactions between pests and their predators, climatic conditions, and techniques to encourage beneficial insects.

Sustainable Agriculture

Seeks to produce adequate, safe food supplies in an economically viable manner while protecting or enhancing ecosystem health.

Organic Agriculture

Distinguished by methods that do not involve the use of artificial fertilizers, chemical growth regulators, antibiotics, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms.

Precision Agriculture

A technique using modern computer technology and geographic information systems to automatically vary the chemicals applied to the crop at different places within a field, based on soil and topography.

Integrated pest management

Uses a variety of methods to control pests rather than relying solely on pesticides