Overuse of Land by Intensive Farming

• Intensive farming uses large quantities of inorganic fertilizers containing nitrate, phosphate and potassium ions also known as ‘NPK’.
• Inorganic fertilisers are very effective but also have undesirable effects on the environment.
• They contain nitrate and ammonium ions which are very soluble and can quickly leach out into local rivers and lakes.
• This results in rapid algal growth particularly in lakes.
• This populations explosion is known as an algal bloom. The enrichment of a body of water with inorganic nutrients is a case of eutrophication.

Resource summary

	Created by oitt_aa about 13 years ago