4. CONTENTS
Section 3 - Increasing agricultural yields
3.1 What is agricultural yield?
3.2 Why is it important to increase yield?
3.3 Intensive Farming Techniques – 4 methods
3.4 Other Modern Methods – 4 methods
6. 3.1 What is agricultural yield?
In agriculture, the yield is a measurement of the amount of a
crop grown, per unit area of land.
Unit: kg/hactare
Agricultural yields have increased steadily throughout the course of
human history both by bringing new land under cultivation and also
by applying greater levels of science and technology to existing
farms so that more can be produced from the same area of land
7. INCREASING AGRICULTURAL YIELD
•Commercial farmers seek to improve profits by increasing yield
•Arable farmers- increase amount of grain or fruit produced
-e.g. normal yield (8 tonnes per sq metre) goes up to 8.5 tonnes per 1000 sq
metres (6.25% increase)
•Livestock farmers e.g. increase milk production over the year
•Agricultural yields have increased over the course of history
•Increased developments in science and technology
•Intensive vs. extensive farming
•Intensive farming techniques- used to increase yield (rotation, fertilizers, irrigation,
controlling pests and diseases)
8. Since 1961, the global production of cereal crops have more than doubled (2.3%
per year)
9. Graph questions:
1. What type of crop holds the highest yield from 1961- 2020?
2. Approximately how much of rice has been produced in 1961?
3. Approximately how much of rice has been produced in 2020?
4. Calculate the approximate difference in production between 1961 and 2020.
10. Graph questions: Ans.
1. What type of crop holds the highest yield from 1961- 2020?
Potaoes/ bannanas
2. Approximately how much of rice has been produced in 1961?
2,4 t
3. Approximately how much of rice has been produced in 2020?
4,9 t
4. Calculate the approximate difference in production between 1961 and 2020.
2,5 t more produced in 2020 in comparison with 1961
11. 3.2 Why is it important to
increase agricultural
yield?
1. To tackle world hunger
2. To increase profitability
3. To encourage sustainable farming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iloAQmro
RK0
12. 01 ROTATION
02 FERTILISERS
03 IRRIGATION
04 CONTROLLING PESTS AND FERTILISERS
Used to increase agricultural yields….
3.3 Intensive Farming Techniques
13. 3.3.1 ROTATION
• This practice involves regularly changing the
crop that grows in a particular place
•not a modern practice (there is evidence of
this being done in the Middle East 8000 years
ago.)
•E.g. year one potatoes are planted, the next
year peas are planted and the following year
maize
•Growing the same type of crop every year in
that area can deplete the soil
•Different crops draw on different nutrients in
the soil, so with rotation some nutrients are
returned back to the soil
17. FERTILISERS
natural or synthetic substance added to soils to
supply one or more nutrients removed by crops
When plants are removed the nutrient cycle is
broken
Natural ecosystems- plants die and decompose and
nutrients are returned to the soil
Heavy ploughing
Intervention by farmer
Synthetic- chemical based fertilizers
Organic fertilizers
Overuse of fertilizers Eutrophication
18. 3.3.2 FERTILISERS (Cntd)
Fertilisers replace lost nutrients (N, P and K) and maintain the
productivity of the land for optimum plant growth
Problem with overuse of fertilisers:
Eutrophication – fertilisers are washed off the land by rain water
into lakes and rivers, this cause an increase in nitrate and
phosphate in water causing rapid algae growth.
Such algal blooms are dangerous for aquatic life as they cover the
water surface and prevent light and oxygen to reach other water
plants, fish and insects.
20. IRRIGATION
artificial supply of water (why?)
NB to increase yield
Subsistence and commercial
Older forms- dug canals
New- mechanised
Advantage- control of water
Main types: surface, localised, sprinkler, sub/seepage and in-
ground
21. Surface Irrigation
Most common
Controlled by mud dikes (barrier used to
regulate or hold back water)
Known as flood irrigation
Terraced rice fields use this technique (flows
from one field to another)
Water loss occurs through evaporation
22. Localised irrigation
More precise, targeted approach
Drip irrigation- small drops of water delivered
through roots through narrow rubber pipes located
above or just below surface)
Highly efficient (evaporation is minimised)
23. Sprinkler irrigation
Imitates rainfall
Water piped through hose and distributed over
fields as a fine spray from above
they rotate slowly- avoids water logging of areas
Some are on wheels for easy movement to other
fields
25. Sub or seepage irrigation
This system provides plant roots with water from under
the soil
It is effective where the water table is close to the surface
Combination of pumping stations, canals and weirs used
to raise water level
Less wasteful compared to surface and sprinkler irrigation
systems (why?)
Needs careful management (why?)
Also needs to be careful of salination
27. In-ground irrigation
Entire irrigation system (pipes, sprinklers,
drippers and valves) is buried underground
Mainly to service individual properties/ plots
Not suitable for farms (financially and spatially)
28. Activity:
Copy and complete the following table:
Types of irrigation
Type How it works? Advantage/Disadvantage
Surface irrigation
Localized irrigation
Sprinkler irrigation
Sub or seepage irrigation
In- ground irrigation
29. 3.3.4 CONTROLLING PESTS AND
DISEASES
Fungicides
Herbicides – used against weeds (for cereal crops)
Pesticides
Insecticides
Problems
1. Bioaccumulation – Gradual build up of toxins in the food chain
affecting top predators such as animals and birds
2. Overuse leads to insects and weeds becoming resistant to
toxins over time
30. CONTROLLING PESTS AND DISEASES
If pests or diseases attack agricultural crops the yield
will decrease
Intensive commercial farmers- spray crops with a range
of synthetic chemicals (pesticides)
Pesticides kill or control insects
There are three main types of pesticides namely;
Fungicides (chemicals used to kill fungi)
Herbicides (chemicals used to kill weeds)
Insecticides (chemicals used to kill insects)
The used of pesticides have proven to increase
agricultural yields
31. Use of pesticides have however had serious
ecological impacts (*how? And why?)
Bioaccumulation: increase in the concentration
of a chemical in a biological organism over time
(more compared to the chemical’s concentration
in the environment)
Systemic pesticides: pesticides that are absorbed
or transported gradually through the food chain
(e.g. from plants to insects to reptiles etc.)
DDT: type of insecticide that was banned
CONTROLLING PESTS AND DISEASES
32. Activity:
Write a paragraph to explain how pesticides can
harm people, their food supply and their
socioeconomic circumstance.
34. Other methods of
increasing agricultural yields
Mechanisation (use of machinery/ technology e.g. remote sensing
and GIS use)
Selective breeding (breeding from certain individual plants/ animals)
Genetic modification or engineering (scientific process- genetic
structure is changed)
Controlling growing environments (remove plants or animals from
natural environment and cultivate or look after them in artificial
conditions)
35. Group Activity – Comparative Analysis
Problem Statement - You have been
approached by a farmer who wants to
increase his agricultural yield
You are to advise him on the best way in
which he can adopt to increase the yield…..
Constraint – He has budget to apply only
one method to his crops
36. Group Activity – Comparative Analysis
Group A:
Rotation OR
Selective Breeding
Group D:
Irrigation – surface, localized,
sprinkler, sub-seepage or
inground OR Mechanisation
Group B:
Fertilizers OR
Controlling pests and Diseases
Group C:
Genetic Modification
OR Controlled
Environment
37. Case Study - Identify 7 Methods adopted by
Israel to increase agricultural yield
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1DT4yvxpMw
For each method, write 3-4 lines in your copybook of why
you think it was a good option to adopt for Israel to
increase its agricultural yield
Note: You may use your device to conduct additional research
Editor's Notes
Intensive farming: Farming that uses a lot of machinery, labor, chemicals etc. in order to grow as many crops or keep as many animals as possible on the amount of land available
Extensive farming: Farming that uses traditional methods and uses less labor and investment than modern methods in order to farm large areas of land
Weir- low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow and characteristics of water and usually results in a change in height of the river level