VMBO Year 3 · Sustainable living · Section 7.2

Food production

Increasing food production

Agriculture includes arable farming, horticulture and livestock farming. Arable farmers and horticultural growers produce crops, while livestock farmers raise farm animals. Feeding people requires sufficient production, but access, food distribution and waste also influence whether everyone has enough.

Farmers can increase yields by growing suitable crops over larger areas, supplying mineral nutrients, managing pests and diseases, and improving soil conditions.

Monocultures and crop protection

A monoculture grows one crop species over an area. It can make planting, management and harvesting more efficient. However, a large concentration of similar plants can allow a pest or disease to spread rapidly. Pesticides may be used to control organisms damaging the crop, although they can also affect other organisms and require careful management.

Fertilisation and soil cultivation

Harvesting removes nutrients from farmland. Fertilisation replaces nutrients, for example through manure or manufactured mineral fertilisers. Supplying nutrients that limit plant growth can increase yield, while excessive use can cause pollution.

Soil cultivation, including ploughing or harrowing, changes soil structure. In suitable circumstances it can improve root penetration, aeration and water movement. Too much or unsuitable cultivation can damage soil structure, so the method depends on local conditions.

Selective breeding

In selective breeding, people choose plants or animals with desirable inherited characteristics and breed them. Over generations, this can produce varieties or breeds with higher yield, disease resistance or other useful features. It does not usually produce a new species.

Reproductive techniques in livestock

• Artificial insemination: Semen from a selected male, such as a bull, is introduced into a female's reproductive tract without mating.
• In vitro fertilisation: Eggs are fertilised outside the body. Resulting embryos can later be transferred into a recipient animal's uterus.

These techniques can increase the number of offspring from selected breeding animals and help spread desirable inherited traits.