Food production

• Pest control


  Pests are basically organisms that exist where you (as a farmer) do not want them. They will eat your crops and seriously reduce yields if left unchecked. Pests can be a range of different types or organism including:InsectsBacteriaFungiVirusesPlantsThere are two ways to control pests and they can be divided into organic and inorganic.Biological control can involve the following:Introduction of a predator species (for either animals or plants).Introduction of sterilised males, so no offspring of the parasite are produced.Biological pathogens (microorganisms).Pheromones, sex hormones, which can attract the pests to a location where they can be disposed of.The inorganic method is to use manufactured chemicals to kill the pest (chemical pest control). These can be:PesticidesHerbicidesFungicidesThe advantage of pesticides is that their use is quick and usually very effective. Large areas can be sprayed easily and at relatively little expense compared to the loss of yields if nothing is done about a pest.The downside is that pests can become resistant to the chemicals and can become more difficult to eradicate. The potentially negative environmental impact is enormous if an excess of chemical leaches into a water source. Over the last couple of decades, a number of previously commonly used chemicals have been proved to be extremely dangerous to humans; DDT for example (which is now banned). Some consumers are also not keen to eat food that has been sprayed with chemicals.
• Crop plants

  Farming in the modern world occurs in a number of ways. From subsistence farming in the less economically developed world (LEDC) to super farms in the west.Farmers need to maximise their crop yields i to make a profit and one of the ways they can achieve this is by using greenhouses. The glass (or more likely a transparent plastic) allows natural light into the building so that plants photosynthesise. Artificial lighting can be added to mimic longer days as winter approaches, thus increasing the length of the growing season. Greenhouses also act to trap heat; the so called "Greenhouse Effect".
• Greenhouses

  In the Greenhouse Effect, short wave radiation enters the greenhouse (or indeed the atmosphere) and reflects off various surfaces inside the greenhouse. When this radiation is reflected off a surface, its wavelength changes, becoming longer. This longer wave length radiation cannot exit the glass of the greenhouse and becomes trapped. This then causes the inside of the greenhouse to heat up.

  
• Fertelisers


  It has long been realised that one of the main ways to increase crop yields is to use fertilisers on the soil. Fertiliser is available in two basic types - organic and inorganic.Most organic fertilisers are essentially the waste products of animals, generally mixed with straw or other similar material. Inorganic fertilisers are chemicals that need to be manufactured such as ammonium nitrate. They both serve the same purpose; to add nutrients to the soil
• Selective breeding


  Selective breeding involves choosing plants and animals with the best traits (e.g. most food producing) and breeding them more. It is also known as artificial selection