APEX APES 6.3.6 Read Raven 9th Edition Sustainable Practices

Industrialized Agriculture

High-yield farming using fossil fuel energy.

Subsistence Agriculture

Farming that feeds only the farmer's family.

Monoculture

Cultivation of a single crop type.

Polyculture

Growing multiple crops simultaneously in one field.

Intercropping

Planting different crops together to enhance yields.

High Yields

Large quantities of food produced per area.

Soil Degradation

Decline in soil quality due to farming practices.

Pesticide Resistance

Pests evolve to survive chemical treatments.

Energy Inputs

Resources required for agricultural production.

Draft Animals

Animals used for farming labor instead of machines.

Crop Diversity

Variety of crops grown to improve ecosystem resilience.

Effective fertilizers and pesticides

Developed by researchers in the 1940s to improve crop yields.

Selective breeding

A technique used to develop plant varieties that are easier to harvest and better able to withstand storm damage.

Green Revolution

The period during the 20th century when plant scientists developed genetically uniform, high-yield varieties of important food crops, such as rice and wheat.

Initial success of the Green Revolution

It led to an increase in crop yields in both highly developed countries and food-insecure regions.

Problems with modern crop varieties

They are generally more susceptible to insect pests and disease and less able to adapt to environmental changes.

Loss of biodiversity

Caused by the widespread use of modern crop varieties leading to the extinction of many traditional varieties.

Efforts to undo Green Revolution problems

Include preserving seeds, plants, and plant tissues of traditional varieties and providing growers with materials and training.

Genetic engineering

The manipulation of genes by taking a specific gene from a cell of one species and placing it into a cell of another species.

Difference between genetic engineering and traditional breeding

Genetic engineering can involve genes from multiple species that cannot interbreed.

Nutritional enhancement through genetic engineering

Can produce plants that contain essential amino acids or vitamins, such as beta-carotene.

Improving crop resilience through genetic engineering

Can produce plants resistant to insect pests, viral diseases, heat, cold, herbicides, salty or acidic soils, and drought.

Concerns with genetic engineering

Include threats to homegrown varieties, uncontrolled gene spread, and potential human health risks.

Sustainable agriculture

The use of agricultural methods that maintain soil productivity and a healthy ecological balance with minimal long-term impacts.

Minimizing pest problems in sustainable agriculture

Farmers can enhance natural predator-prey relationships, maintain biodiversity, and select regionally suitable crops.

Preserving soil quality in sustainable agriculture

Farmers can use crop rotation, conservation tillage, contour plowing, and manure instead of inorganic fertilizers.

Intercropping and strip cutting

Cultivation techniques that provide habitats for natural predators and parasites of pest species near growing crops.

Biological control

A method of pest control that uses naturally occurring disease organisms, parasites, or predators.

vedalia beetle

An example of a biological control agent introduced from Australia to control cottony-cushion scale pests in the United States.

nematodes

A biological control agent sprayed on corn crops to kill corn borers.

biological control agents

Organisms that can become pests themselves if introduced to an area where they grow out of control or cause unintended harm to threatened species.

weevil

An example of a biological control agent that became a pest by feeding on a threatened native species of thistle after being introduced to control the invasive Eurasian musk thistle.

types of biological control agents

Insects, cats, toads, nematodes, bacteria, fungal spores, and viruses.

Bt toxin

A natural pesticide produced by the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis that can kill insect pests when sprayed on crop plants and eaten by insect larvae.

genetically modified crops

Crops that can produce the Bt toxin by incorporating a gene from another organism into their DNA.

problems with Bt toxin crops

Insects became resistant to the Bt toxin, and pollen containing the toxin can kill non-pest insects like monarch butterflies.

integrated pest management (IPM)

A combination of biological, chemical, and cultivation pest-control methods that keep pest populations low enough to avoid substantial economic loss.

fundamental premises of IPM

Management of pests, not eradication, and educating farmers on effective strategies for specific situations.

industrialized agriculture

Modern agricultural methods using large inputs of energy, mechanization, water, and agrochemicals to produce large crop and livestock yields.

subsistence agriculture

Traditional agricultural methods dependent on labor and land to produce enough food for oneself and family, with little surplus.

intercropping

A form of intensive subsistence agriculture involving growing several crops simultaneously on a single field.

monoculture

The cultivation of only one type of plant over a large area.

polyculture

A type of intercropping where several kinds of plants that mature at different times are planted together.

Green Revolution

The period during the 20th century when plant scientists developed genetically uniform, high-yield varieties of important food crops.

genetic engineering

The manipulation of genes by transferring a specific gene from one species to another.

genetically modified (GM) organism

An organism that has had its genes intentionally manipulated.

sustainable agriculture

Agricultural methods that maintain soil productivity and ecological balance with minimal long-term impacts.

biological control

A method of pest control using naturally occurring disease organisms, parasites, or predators.