Questions regarding (4.1.2) Chemical fertilizer and the soil ecosystem
According to some Guatemalan citizens, what is the source of some of their recent increase
in food production?
a) Global warming and its associated changes in weather patterns
b) Conversion of Catholics to Evangelical Christianity
c) Disease killing local rat populations
d) Conversion of collective farms into private property
According to a Guatemalan economist, this increase was actually caused by
a) Chemical fertilizers
b) New seeds
c) New [varieties of] crops
d) None of the above
e) a, b, and c
Roughly _____ of all the nitrogen in an average American’s body can be traced back to
fertilizer plants.
a) 5%
b) 25%
c) 50%
d) 75%
e) 95%
f) 100%
According to journalist Dan Charles of the National Geographic, fertilizer and _____ are two
technologies that are particularly intertwined.
a) Tractors and combines
b) Pesticides
c) Crop-dusters
d) High-yielding seed varieties
e) New breeds of dairy cattle
The fertilizers described as N, P, and K stand for
a) Nitrogen, phosphorus, and kadenium, respectively
b) Nitrogen, potassium, and klorine, respectively
c) Nitrogen, polonium, and kadenium, respectively
d) Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, respectively
e) None of the above
[True or False?] In the ancient world, the Mongolians could defeat the Chinese in battle
because the high selenium content in Chinese soils made their horses bones weak.
[True or False?] Humans can acquire the iodine they need from consuming plants that grow
in soils with ample iodine. You can generally tell if a soil is lacking in iodine because the
plants will not grow well.
[True or False?] Crops in North Dakota are often deficient in iron, and that is because its
soils are basically devoid of any iron.
[True or False?] When soils in the state of Washington became deficient in chlorine and
sulfur, fertilizer companies successfully developed and sold a fertilizer to restore their levels
in soils.
The nutrient content of some foods has fallen over time. The most likely reason is
a) Selecting higher yielding varieties of crops
b) Falling nutrient content in the soil
c) Pests, which can suck the nutrients out of crop seeds and vegetables
d) Falling pH level of the soil
[True or False?] Although the nutrient content of some foods has been falling, the U.S.
produces more total nutrients per person than a century prior.
[True or False?] If a country produces more nutrients per person, then nutrient intake per
person must rise also.
[True or False?] Because organic farming uses complete fertilizer, and not just NPK, organic
food has a higher nutritional content.
[True or False?] A healthy soil is an ecosystem, replete with bacteria, fungi, worms, and the
like.
Every teaspoon of soil contains as many as _____ bacteria
a) One thousand to one million
b) One million to one billion
c) One billion to one trillion
d) Well over one trillion
[True or False?] Plants have 15-20 different senses, compared to the 5 senses of humans.
[True or False?] A special breed of earthworms colonizes at the roots of legumes, and these
legumes can extra nitrogen from the air and feed it to the plant.
[True or False?] Fields that are heavily tilled tend to have more earthworms.
[True or False?] Unfortunately, there is no way to add microbial colonies to the soil as one
would add N, P, and K.
[True or False?] Increasing the organic matter in the soil by adopting no-till methods can
improve the soil’s productive capacity.
[True or False?] Transgenic crops has made it easier for farmers to adopt no-till production
methods, thereby reducing soil erosion.
[True or False?] The amount of soil eroding every year has risen since 1982.