Magnitude and Importance of Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is important for a number of reasons. From man’s point of view, its greatest importance is its role in the production of world’s foodstuff and oxygen. It is only the plants which utilize the sun energy to form food by the process of photosynthesis. Food undergoes the process of respiration to release energy which is used in various metabolic activities. Oxygen released is needed by animals and humans.
For all the food we eat, the fuel we burn, the clothes we wear, directly or indirectly we are totally dependent upon plants. This all we get from green plants due to this useful biochemical process called photosynthesis. People use plants for fodder, timber, fibers, etc. Fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum and natural gas are also the products of plants which lived millions of years ago.
Plants growing in oceans and other fresh water algae carry out 90 per cent of total photosynthesis. More than 170 million tones of dry matter are produced annually by this process. The atmosphere contains 0.03 percent carbon dioxide by volume (about 2200 billion tones). This amount of CO2 is sufficient to carry out photosynthesis for a few hundred years. Only 0.2 per cent of light energy incident on earth is used by plants. It has been estimated that plants take up 7×1011 tons of solid plant material.
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