20.1

Food supply

Cambridge IGCSE Biology (0610)  · Unit 20: Human influences on ecosystems  · 11 flashcards

Food supply is topic 20.1 in the Cambridge IGCSE Biology (0610) syllabus , positioned in Unit 20 — Human influences on ecosystems , alongside Habitat destruction, Pollution and Conservation.  In one line: Monoculture is the agricultural practice of growing a single crop species in a large area of land. This can make planting and harvesting more efficient.

This topic is examined in Paper 1 (multiple-choice) and Papers 3/4 (theory), plus Paper 5 or Paper 6 (practical / alternative to practical). Past papers from 2022 to 2025 record 2 explicit questions on this topic — though the concept underpins many adjacent topics, so it is tested far more often than that figure suggests.

The deck below contains 11 flashcards — 1 definition and 10 application cards — covering the precise wording mark schemes reward.  Use the definition card to lock down command-word answers (define, state), then move on to the concept and application cards to handle explain, describe and compare questions.

Key definition

A monoculture

Monoculture is the agricultural practice of growing a single crop species in a large area of land. This can make planting and harvesting more efficient.

Example: Growing only wheat in a large field year after year.

What the Cambridge 0610 syllabus says

Official 2026-2028 spec

These are the exact learning objectives Cambridge sets for this topic. Match the command word (Describe, Explain, State, etc.) in your answer to score full marks.

  1. Describe Describe how humans have increased food production, limited to: (a) agricultural machinery to use larger areas of land and improve efficiency (b) chemical fertilisers to improve yields (c) insecticides to improve quality and yield (d) herbicides to reduce competition with weeds (e) selective breeding to improve production by crop plants and livestock
  2. Describe Describe the advantages and disadvantages of large-scale monocultures of crop plants
  3. Describe Describe the advantages and disadvantages of intensive livestock production
Key Concept Flip

How does agricultural machinery increase food production?

Answer Flip

Agricultural machinery, like tractors and combine harvesters, allows farmers to cultivate larger areas of land more efficiently. This leads to increased crop yields, allowing more food to be produced from the same amount of land.

Example: A combine harvester can harvest wheat much faster than manual labor.
Key Concept Flip

What is the role of chemical fertilizers in increasing food production?

Answer Flip

Chemical fertilizers provide essential nutrients like nitrates, phosphates, and potassium to crop plants, promoting faster growth and higher yields. This compensates for nutrient depletion in the soil.

Example: Nitrate fertilizers promote leaf and stem growth in crops like maize.
Key Concept Flip

How do insecticides improve food production?

Answer Flip

Insecticides kill insect pests that damage or consume crops, reducing crop losses and improving both the quality and yield of the harvest. This prevents significant damage to harvests.

Example: Spraying potato crops with insecticide to prevent potato beetles from eating the leaves.
Key Concept Flip

What is the purpose of using herbicides in agriculture?

Answer Flip

Herbicides are used to kill weeds that compete with crop plants for resources such as sunlight, water, and nutrients. Reducing weed competition allows crop plants to grow more vigorously, resulting in higher yields.

Example: Using glyphosate to control weeds in soybean fields.
Key Concept Flip

Explain how selective breeding improves crop production.

Answer Flip

Selective breeding involves choosing parent plants with desirable traits (e.g., high yield, disease resistance) and breeding them together to produce offspring with improved characteristics. This process, repeated over generations, leads to improved crop varieties.

Example: Breeding wheat plants for higher grain yield and resistance to fungal diseases.
Key Concept Flip

How does selective breeding improve livestock production?

Answer Flip

Selective breeding in livestock involves choosing animals with desirable traits (e.g., high milk production, rapid growth rate) and breeding them together to produce offspring with improved characteristics. This leads to more efficient and productive livestock breeds.

Example: Breeding dairy cows for higher milk production and disease resistance.
Definition Flip

What is a monoculture?

Answer Flip

Monoculture is the agricultural practice of growing a single crop species in a large area of land. This can make planting and harvesting more efficient.

Example: Growing only wheat in a large field year after year.
Key Concept Flip

What are the advantages of large-scale monocultures?

Answer Flip

Advantages of monocultures include increased efficiency in planting, harvesting, and pest control due to uniformity of the crop. It also allows for specialization and economies of scale, reducing production costs.

Example: Large-scale rice farming can utilise specialised machinery for planting and harvesting.
Key Concept Flip

What are the disadvantages of large-scale monocultures?

Answer Flip

Disadvantages include increased vulnerability to pests and diseases, depletion of soil nutrients, and reduced biodiversity. Monocultures can also lead to the overuse of pesticides and fertilizers, causing environmental pollution.

Example: A fungal disease can wipe out an entire wheat monoculture, leading to significant crop losses.
Key Concept Flip

What are the advantages of intensive livestock production?

Answer Flip

Intensive livestock production allows for efficient use of resources, rapid growth rates, and high yields of meat, milk, or eggs. It can also reduce land use compared to extensive farming methods.

Example: Keeping chickens in battery cages maximizes egg production in a small space.
Key Concept Flip

What are the disadvantages of intensive livestock production?

Answer Flip

Disadvantages include animal welfare concerns due to crowded conditions and limited natural behaviors, increased risk of disease outbreaks, and environmental pollution from manure and waste. It can also contribute to antibiotic resistance due to overuse of antibiotics.

Example: The spread of avian influenza in densely populated chicken farms.

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19.4 Populations 20.2 Habitat destruction

Key Questions: Food supply

What is a monoculture?

Monoculture is the agricultural practice of growing a single crop species in a large area of land. This can make planting and harvesting more efficient.

Example: Growing only wheat in a large field year after year.

More topics in Unit 20 — Human influences on ecosystems

Food supply sits alongside these Biology decks in the same syllabus unit. Each uses the same spaced-repetition system, so progress in one informs the next.

20.2 Habitat destruction

11 flashcards
20.3 Pollution

12 flashcards
20.4 Conservation

12 flashcards

Cambridge syllabus keywords to use in your answers

These are the official Cambridge 0610 terms tagged to this section. Mark schemes credit responses that use the exact term — weave them into your answers verbatim rather than paraphrasing.

agriculture farming intensive farming fertiliser pesticide herbicide biological control organic farming fish farming aquaculture

Key terms covered in this Food supply deck

Every term below is defined in the flashcards above. Use the list as a quick recall test before your exam — if you can't define one of these in your own words, flip back to that card.

Monoculture

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How to study this Food supply deck

Start in Study Mode, attempt each card before flipping, then rate Hard, Okay or Easy. Cards you rate Hard come back within a day; cards you rate Easy push out to weeks. Your progress is saved in your browser, so come back daily for 5–10 minute reviews until every card reads Mastered.