6.1.3

Intensive Farming - Pest Control

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Pest control

Pests can significantly reduce crop yield. They can eat vital parts of plants, compete with plants for resources or spread disease to a crop. Farmers can use methods to reduce the impact of pests on yield.

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Pesticides

  • Pesticides are chemicals that can be sprayed onto crops to kill insect pests.
  • However these chemicals often contain heavy metals that build-up in food chains. They often reach the top apex predators at deadly levels.
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Biological control

  • Biological control is an alternative method to using pesticides to reduce the impact of pests on crop yield.
    • A species that is a predator of the pest is introduced.
    • For example, ladybirds are sometimes introduced by farmers into fields or glasshouses to prey on whitefly pests.
    • Biological control must be monitored very closely, because introducing a species into a non-native habitat risks it becoming an invasive species.

Jump to other topics

1The Nature & Variety of Living Organisms

2Structure & Functions in Living Organisms

3Organism Functions

3.1Respiration

3.2Gas Exchange

3.3Transport

3.4Excretion

3.5Coordination & Response

4Reproduction & Inheritance

5Ecology

6Biological Resources

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