How has agricultural intensification facilitated famine reduction? Biotechnology How has agricultural intensification facilitated famine reduction?

Agricultural intensification ensures sufficient food is grown to meet population demands.

Agricultural intensification can involve fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, and other techniques.

However, pesticides can have harmful effects on the environment and… Some fertilizers can be costly and contribute to eutrophication.

Biotechnology: genetic manipulation of organisms for the purpose of improving food production.

Biotech improves livestock and crop quality and quantity.

What kinds of traits are desirable in livestock What kinds of traits are desirable in livestock? Use this time to rest your fingers while you watch this short video. NO TALKING!!!

Livestock improvements: breeding, nutrition, health, and growth of the animals used for food.

Biotech breeding techniques: Artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, cloning, and embryo transfer. These techniques allow the nonsexual reproduction of breeds with desirable genes.

Biotech crop techniques: biopesticides, biofertilizers, and cultivars.

Cultivar: a plant variety that has been produced in cultivation by selective breeding.

Cultivars with resistance to drought, salinity, spoilage, or pH extremes can be produced with biotech.

Nitrogen fixation: the conversion of inorganic nitrogen in the atmosphere to organic nitrogen compounds that plants can use. Some bacteria can fix nitrogen.

Biofertilizers: microorganisms added to soil that increase nitrogen fixation. Rhizobium and Azospirillum are examples.

Biopesticide: substances or microorganisms that control pests.

Biotech is possible because organisms use the same genetic code, which means… Genes from one species can be inserted into the genome of another species.

Some plants produce insect-killing proteins thanks to genes added to their genomes. These genes are harmless to people and the environment….or are they???