Lesson: Crop Production and Management
Exercise:

Select the correct word from the following list and fill in the blanks.

Float, water, crop, nutrients, preparation

a)      The same kind of plants grown and cultivated on a large scale at a place is called _________.

b)      The first step before growing crops is ________ of the soil.

c)      Damaged seeds would _________ on top of water.

d)      For growing a crop, sufficient sunlight, _________, and _________ from the soil are essential.

a)      The same kind of plants grown and cultivated on a large scale at a place is called crop.

b)      The first step before growing crops is preparation of the soil.

c)      Damaged seeds would float on top of water.

d)      For growing a crop, sufficient sunlight, water, and nutrients from the soil

are essential.

Match items in column A with those in column B.          

A	B
(a) Kharif crops	(a) Food for cattle
(b) Rabi crops	(b) Urea and super phosphate
(c) Chemical fertilisers	(c) Animal excreta, cow dung, urine and plant waste
(d) Organic manure	(d) Wheat, gram, pea
	(e)  Paddy and maize

A	B
(a) Kharif crops	(a) Paddy and maize
(b) Rabi crops	(b) Wheat, gram, pea
(c) Chemical fertilisers	(c) Urea and super phosphate
(d) Organic manure	(d) Animal excreta, cow dung, urine and plant waste

Give two examples of each:
(a) Kharif crop
(b) Rabi crop

(a) Kharif crop: Paddy, maize, millet
(b) Rabi crop: Wheat, barley, Peas

Write a paragraph in your own words on each of the following:
(a) Preparation of soil

(b) Sowing
(c) Weeding 

(d) Threshing

a)      The basic and the most important step in growing of crops is to at first prepare the soil for agriculture. Tilling or ploughing helps to turn the soil and loosen it, which allows the root to penetrate deep into it. Several soil microbes, earthworms, etc., thrive well when the soil is loosened. These microbes enrich the soil with humus and other essential nutrients, and also help to bring the nutrient rich soil to the top so that the plants can easily absorb its nutrients. Ploughing is done using a plough, hoe, and cultivators, wherein large pieces of soil are broken by a process called levelling with the help of a leveller.

b)      Sowing is the process of planting seeds into the soil for growing crops, after the field is ploughed. Using good quality seeds for sowing gives better yield and thereby high returns. Sowing is done manually or using mechanical equipment like seed drills. Seeds can be directly sown in the field or can be transplanted to the field as a sapling, for example, rice plant.

c)      The unwanted plants that grow along with crops, in a field, are called weeds, and the removal of weeds is known as weeding. The different ways of weeding are:

                    i.            Tilling: Tilling of fields before sowing the seeds uproots the weeds. These weeds then dry up and mix with the soil.

                  ii.            Manual removal: Weeds are removed manually with the help of trowel or harrow.

                iii.            Weedicides: There are certain chemicals available to control the growth of weeds which are known as weedicides. These are sprayed on the fields to kill the weeds even before they can grow,

d)      After harvesting, the thresher is used to remove the chaff from the grains. Threshing is the process of separating grains or seeds from the chaff. It can be done manually or by using a machine called Combine, which can both harvest and do threshing.

Explain how fertilisers are different from manure.

Fertilizer	Manure
Fertilisers are artificially created plant nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, etc. made from chemicals.	Manures are natural substances prepared by the decomposition of animal excreta, bones, blood, flesh and decaying plant residue.
Fertilisers are mostly of mineral origin and are inorganic in nature, with high nutrient content.	Manures are of organic origin, with low nutrient content.
Fertilisers ensure healthy growth of plants and provide them with nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, etc. necessary for their development.	Manures help to enrich the soil with organic matter and nutrients.
The addition of fertilisers to the soil requires special guidelines, such as, right dosage proportion and time, post addition precautions, etc.	Adding manures to the soil does not require any special guidelines.
Fertilizers do not provide any humus to the soil.	Manures increase the fertility of the soil by providing humus.
Fertilisers are harmful as they cannot replenish organic matters of the soil.	Manures protect the environment by recycling farm wastes.

What is irrigation?

Describe two methods of irrigation which conserve water.

Irrigation is the process of providing water to the land or soil through artificial means. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops.

The time and frequency of irrigation varies with season, crop requirement, and soil type. Two methods of irrigation, which help in conservation of water, are sprinkler system and drip system.

Sprinkler system: 

In this method, water is supplied using pipes where perpendicular pipes have rotation nozzles on the top. When, with the help of a pump, water is allowed to flow under high pressure, it is sprinkled on the crops, thus conserving water. It is very useful for watering sandy soil, especially during summer, when water is scarce.

Drip system:

In this system, water is released to fall drop by drop just at the position of roots. This method can be the most water-efficient method of irrigation because chances of water loss by evaporation and run off are minimized. This method is effective in areas where water availability is poor.

If wheat is sown in the kharif season, what would happen?

Discuss.

Kharif season (from June to October) is the rainy season, and if wheat is sown during this period then the whole crop might be destroyed because of various factors, such as, excessive water, lack of optimum temperature, lack of adaptability, harm caused by pests, etc. Kharif season is not favourable for the germination and growth of wheat crop, which requires less water. The clogging of the soil with water will reduce the air spaces and hinder germination of wheat seeds. Therefore, wheat crop should not be sown during this season.

Explain how soil gets affected by the continuous plantation of crops in a field.

Continuous plantation of crops leads to gradual depletion of the necessary nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, from the soil. Plants require nutrients for their proper growth and functioning. Loss of these nutrients affects quality of the soil and thereby the yield. So, the nutrients consumed by one crop must be replenished. This is done by rotation of crops and by adding manures and fertilizers to the soil.

What are weeds? How can we control them?

When seeds are sown in soil and grown, some unwanted wild plants often grow naturally along with the crops. These unwanted wild plants are called weeds.

Weeds compete with crops for nutrients, light, and space. As a result, crop plants get lesser nutrients, light, and space for their development. Therefore, weeds are considered harmful for plant growth. Hence, their removal becomes a necessity.

Weeds can be controlled by implementing the following methods:

·         Weeds can be checked by using weedicides, which are sprayed in the fields to kill all the weeds. Bio-weedicides called herbicides as well as chemical weedicides are used. Anyway, weedicides are not harmful to crops.

·         Tilling is done before sowing of crops, which helps in removing weeds by uprooting them. The best time for removal of weeds is before they start producing flowers and seeds.

·         The manual method of removing weeds is done with the help of a trowel or harrow. It involves regular uprooting or cutting of weeds close to the ground.

Arrange the following boxes in proper order to make a flow chart of sugarcane crop production.

Sending crop to sugar factory	Irrigation	Harvesting	Sowing
1	2	3	4
Preparation of soil	Ploughing the field	Manuring
5	6	7

 

 

Complete the following word puzzle with the help of clues given below.

Down:

1. Providing water to the crops.
2. Keeping crop grains for a long time under proper conditions.
5. Certain plants of the same kind grown on a large scale.
Across:
3. A machine used for cutting the matured crop.
4. A rabi crop that is also one of the pulses.

5. A process of separating the grain from chaff.

 

Down:
1. IRRIGATION
2. STORAGE

5. CROP

Across:
3. HARVESTOR
4. GRAM

6. WINNOWING