Food Production !!

Increasing food production requires

an increased food yield

Methods used to increase food yield

Use of fertilisers and pesticides

What are fertilisers?

Chemicals added to soil to improve plant growth or crop yield

What do fertilisers provide?

chemicals such as nitrates which increase crop yield

What can be used to kill plants and animals that reduce crop yield?

Pesticides

What happens to nitrates that are dissolved in soil water?

absorbed by plants.

Nitrates are used to produce?

amino acids which are synthesised into plant proteins

Why do animals consume plants or other animals?

To obtain amino acids for protein synthesis

Why can fertilisers be added to soil?

Increase the nitrate content of the soil

What happens when fertilisers leach into fresh water?

They add extra unwanted nitrates?

What can leaching lead to?

An increase in algal populations which can cause algal blooms

What do algal blooms do?

reduce light levels, killing aquatic plants

What happens to dead aquatic plants?

They become food for bacteria which increase greatly in number

What can bacteria use up?

Large quantities of oxygen, reducing the oxygen availability for other organisms

What can happen when pesticides are sprayed onto crops?

they accumulate in the bodies of organisms overtime

What is bioaccumulation?

The buildup of toxic substances in living organisms

What happens to bioaccumulation in a food chain?

As they are passed along food chains toxicity increases and can reach lethal levels, often in the final consumer.

What can be used to reduce the use of fertilisers?

Genetically modified (GM) crops

Alternatives to pesticides

Biological control and GM crops