Crop Plants

AS Biology Module 2
J. Gilbert Feb 04 www.biologymad.com

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What factors are important to consider to produce a good harvest?

Light Water Temperature range Availability of inorganic ions i.e. nitrates, phosphates and potassium.

In this unit we will look at:

Producing a high crop yield
Cereal plants have adaptations that allow them to grow in different environment conditions Farmers have found ways of altering habitats e.g. fertilisers, greenhouses and pesticides

In this unit we will look at:

Problem with crop plants
After harvesting, the inorganic ions are removed from the soil. Farmers need to maintain high yield:
Use of Fertilisers
Not enough fertiliser yield will be poor Too much fertiliser waste of money and pollution of nearby lakes and rivers

Cereal Crops
Account for over 50% of all human energy and protein needs Occupy two-thirds of cultivated land Cereal grains contain a very low proportion of water All the plants have adaptations that enable them to survive and grow well in particular environmental conditions

Cereal Crops
Rice
(completed - 01/03/04)

Maize
(completed - 01/03/04)

Sorghum

Wheat

Rice

Grown manly in Asia Swamp Plant Main source of food for nearly half the worlds population
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Rice
Minimum temp. 20oC Grown partly submerged in paddy fields Fields are flooded and then ploughed Young rice plants are planted in the rich mud Oxygen concentration of this mud falls rapidly

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Rice - Adaptations
The stem has large air spaces (hollow arenchyma) running the length of the stem.
Allows oxygen to penetrate through to the roots which are submerged in water.

The roots are also very shallow

allowing access to oxygen that diffuses into the surface layer of the waterlogged soil.
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Rice - Adaptations
When oxygen levels fall too low, the root cells respire anaerobically, producing ethanol (seedling only).
Ethanol is normally toxic to cells, but the root cells of rice have an unusually high tolerance to it
they have large levels of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase in their cells

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Maize

Grown in central America and tropics where temperature and light intensity are high. Tropical plant
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Maize
It is grown as a staple food in much of Africa.
Major draw back - deficient in the essential aminoacids tryptophan and lysine
This causes children after weaning (i.e. about 4-7 years old) to become ill. Their livers greatly enlarge in an attempt to synthesise the missing amino-acids and they suffer from Kwashiorkor.
Note that these children are not starving they may have plenty of calories in their diet but they are malnourished.
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Maize
High temperatures increase the rate of transpiration, leading to the closure of the stomata.
Closing the stomata can cause a build up of oxygen from photosynthesis in the leaves this can reduce the photosynthetic yield.

If plants are grown close together, then there will be competition for carbon dioxide.

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Maize - Adaptations
Slightly different biochemical pathway for photosynthesis.
Called the C4 pathway
The plant can fix carbon dioxide at low levels as a fourcarbon molecule. This allows photosynthesis to continue at high rates

The roots are shallow, so maize has small aerial roots at the base of the stem
Increases ability to withstand buffeting winds

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Sorghum

Grown in very hot (+35oC) regions of Africa and Central India Called a Xerophyte Plant (found in dry conditoins)
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Sorghum
Is the fifth commonly grown cereal in the world and is another tropical C4 cereal, like Maize In the drier regions of Africa and Central India it is often a staple food, being made into a tasteless porridge, but in the rest of the world it is used as animal feed or as a source of oil and fibre.
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Sorghum - Adaptations
adapted to hot, arid, low-soil nutrient conditions Can withstand high temperatures by synthesising special heat-shock proteins very rapidly when the temperature rises.

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Sorghum - Adaptations
A dense root system
efficient at extracting water from the soil (both wide and deep).

Thick waxy cuticle

prevents evaporative water loss through the leaf surface

Motor cells on the underside of the leaf

causes the leaf to roll inwards in dry conditions. This traps moist air in the rolled leaf and reduces water loss

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Sorghum - Adaptations
Small number of sunken stomata
fewer openings out of which water vapour can diffuse (transpiration). Sunken so that water vapour builds up near the opening, reducing water potential gradient, slowing diffusion.

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Wheat
(not directly in the specification)

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Wheat

Is the worlds most widely-grown crop Grown throughout the temperate regions of the world human (flour) and animal feed
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Wheat
Bread wheat (drum wheat)
Heard wheat High protein (gluten) content enables dough to stretch when rising, also excellent for making pasta!

Winter wheat
Soft wheat Low gluten content and is good for making cakes and biscuits.
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Summary
Crop
Wheat Maize

Growth requirements

Adaptations

Warm, frost free climate, NA fertile soil, drought intolerant Adapted to a wide range of C4 pathway, arial temperature climates and roots soils Arenchyma, tolerance to ethanol Dense roots, thick waxy cuticle, sunken stomata, motor cells,
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Tropical, paddy varieties are aquatic, drought intolerant Sorghum Wide range of soils. Drought tolerant. Grown in regions too dry for maize

Rice