3.5 food production

• why are pesticides and fertilisers used?


  the human population is increasing, and by using chemicals in the soil and to kill pests, the crop yield will be bigger

  
• cons of pesticides

  harmful to the good insects and all the organisms above the food chain (such as us) through bioaccumulation, can be very toxic and lethal

  
• cons of fertilisers

  leech into fresh water and polluting it by adding extra nitrates, increases algal population which reduce light levels that kill aquatic plants, dead plants become food for bacteria that increase in #, bacteria use a lot of oxygen, depriving others of it

  
• genetically modified crops

  altering a plants' genetic information in order to give it different or new characteristics

  
• biological control


  releasing more of the predator of the organism causing damage

  
• nitrates

  compound with nitrogen and oxygen, produces amino acids for protein synthesis to make plant proteins