5.4a Pesticides

• Large fields of crops at the same time is called a Mono culture.
• Mono culture are very susceptible to pests, which use the crop as food sources, which reduces the productivity of farming, loss of food and financial income
• Pesticides - chemicals which are designed to kill the pest.
• Advantages: easy to obtain, easy to apply and very effective.
• Disadvantages: Toxic can kill other plants and animals and may be poisonous to humans, bio accumulation, this can cause problems for animals in higher trophic levels, mutation in the pests leads to resistance which leads to higher concentrations.