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 * Questions #2 and #6 ** **By: Manwinder. K **
 * #2. Why do monocultures require large inputs of weed killers and pesticides? **

﻿Monoculture is when only one crop is grown in a large area. By doing so, farmers are "inviting" diseases to spread across the whole crop. To stop this spread, farmers use lots and lots of pesticides and weed killers to stop the disease or weed from spreading any more. The problem arises because its only one crop, where if it was many the spread of disease is limtied to only one spieces, thus reducing the use of pesticides.




 * #6. What role does biodiversity play in protecting food crops? **

Biodiversity, is like an insurance policy. By growing multiple varieties of a crop, we increase the chances that if one fails, another will have the genetic traits that enable it to thrive. Maintaining pest resistance through Biodiversity can reduce the need to use pesticides. Biodiversity aids recovery when the dominant cultivar is attacked by a disease or predator. Several recent studies show that biodiversity influences cropping systems in unexpected and beneficial ways. In Sweden, researchers have found that extracts of quack grass, applied to barley plants, repel aphids, thus lowering aphid attacks on barley.




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