A
lack of sustainability is a major factor for the world's food
production
Can we increase food production rates
without endangering the needs of future generations?
I realise the preceding section sounded all
very negative, but there are ways to help the situation with good
practice in land and sea management and protect the environment for the
future.
We must be POSITIVE in our outlook and we are
an intelligent animal that can solve these problems!
Methods of
how to appropriately increase
efficiency in food production
BUT there are
still issues to be addressed!
We need sustainable methods of food production
to provide enough to feed the world's growing population.
Sustainable food production means
producing enough food to give everyone food security without
consumption outstripping supply AND without damaging the environment
and its
ecosystems.
This includes using, as far as possible, renewable resources of
food, materials and energy.
We need a variety of methods to increase food production
and avoid food insecurity because situations differ around the world.
Plants are the producers at the start of any
food chain.
Producers (mainly plants) take in
the chemicals they need from their environment.
Molecular compounds like
water, carbon dioxide and mineral ions e.g.
nitrate for nitrogen, phosphate for phosphorus and small
quantities of metal ions like magnesium, calcium, iron, potassium and
zinc.
If plants don't get enough of
theses nutrients their growth is inhibited giving lower crop yields.
There can be lack of nutrients
in soil due the previous uptake of them by the previous crop or
the soil is poor in nutrients in the first place.
Farmers can replace the missing nutrients used
by the previous crop or enrich poor soils by applying artificial
fertilisers - but this can adversely affect the environment.
Overuse of fertilisers and pesticides can
lead to pollution problems.
see
biodiversity notes.
By boosting soil nutrition, growth is
increased and the subsequent yield increased.
Note: Yield can be defined as the
quantity of food produced by a specified area of land (the
growing time might be specified too).
Increased crop yields means increased food
production, whether the yield is measured as a grain crop
directly for food or the plant crop is fed to help raise herds
of animals.
See also
Photosynthesis, food chain
importance
explained
Parts 4(a) to 4(j) outline ways to help food
production
BUT, there are often issues to
take into account,
with
advantages and disadvantages to take into consideration.
(a) GM crops can help, but it is only one approach
to increasing food production:
(b)
Organic fertilisers best, but poor soil improved with inorganic fertilisers,
but overuse causes environmental problems.
(c) An assortment of agrichemical and
pharmaceutical products to increase yields
(d) You can use biological methods to control
pests.
(e) To avoid overfishing and keep fish
stocks at sustainable levels, fish farms?
(f) Livestock management
(g) Mycoprotein - another application of
biotechnology using fungi
