Crop Production and Management

When plants of the same kind are grown and cultivated in one place on a large scale, they form a crop. In India, crops are grouped by season: kharif crops such as paddy, maize, soyabean, groundnut and cotton are sown in the rainy season from June to July, while rabi crops such as wheat, gram, pea and mustard are sown in winter, from October to November. In this chapter you will study the agricultural practices that a farmer follows: preparing the soil by ploughing, levelling and adding manure; sowing healthy seeds at the correct depth and spacing with a seed drill; adding manure and fertilisers; irrigation; and protecting the crop from weeds and pests. You will learn about traditional irrigation methods such as the moat, chain pump, dhekli and rahat, and modern sprinkler and drip systems that save water. Finally, you will study harvesting with a sickle or harvester, threshing and winnowing, safe storage of grain in silos and granaries, and animal husbandry.

Detailed Worksheet: Crop Production and Management Section A - Definitions (10 marks) 1. What is a crop? Distinguish between kharif and rabi crops, giving two examples of each. (2 marks) 2. What is ploughing or tilling? Give two reasons why the soil is loosened before sowing. (2 marks) 3. Distinguish between manure and fertilisers, giving one example of each. (2 marks) 4. What is irrigation? Name two traditional methods and two modern methods of irrigation. (2 marks) 5. Define weeds, harvesting and threshing. (2 marks) Section B - Calculations and Applications (15 marks) 6. Urea contains about 46% nitrogen. (i) How much nitrogen is present in a 50 kg bag of urea? (ii) A field needs 92 kg of nitrogen. How many bags of urea are needed? (3 marks) 7. A farmer harvested 4.8 tonnes of wheat from 2 hectares. After using good quality seeds and timely irrigation the next year, he harvested 3.0 tonnes per hectare. Find the yield per hectare in the first year and the percentage increase in yield. (3 marks) 8. Flood irrigation of a vegetable plot uses 6000 litres of water a day. A drip system uses only 40% of this amount for the same plot. Find the water saved per day and in 30 days. Why is drip irrigation especially useful in dry regions? (3 marks) 9. A farmer put 100 wheat seeds in a beaker of water and stirred. After a few minutes, 12 seeds were floating. (i) What percentage of the seeds were healthy? (ii) Why do damaged seeds float? (iii) Why should only healthy seeds be sown? (3 marks) 10. Classify the following as kharif or rabi crops: paddy, wheat, maize, gram, soyabean, mustard, groundnut, pea, cotton. On what basis is this classification made? (3 marks) Section C - Diagrams (10 marks) 11. Draw a neat labelled diagram of a traditional plough showing the ploughshaft, ploughshare, beam and handle. State the function of the ploughshare. (4 marks) 12. Draw a labelled diagram of the traditional funnel-shaped tool used for sowing seeds. Write two advantages of sowing with a seed drill. (3 marks) 13. Draw a labelled diagram of a drip irrigation system, showing the main pipe, the lateral pipes and the drippers near the plants. (3 marks) Section D - Analysis and Higher-order Thinking (15 marks) 14. A farmer has been using only chemical fertilisers for many years and finds that his soil has become hard and less fertile. Explain why this happened. Give three advantages of manure over fertilisers, and suggest how he can restore the fertility of his soil. (5 marks) 15. A farmer grows wheat in one season and gram or pea in the next. Explain how this practice, called crop rotation, helps to replenish the soil with nitrogen. Name the bacteria involved and where they live. Why is this better than adding more urea? (5 marks) 16. Freshly harvested grain has to be stored for many months. Explain the causes of loss of grain during storage and describe how farmers and large agencies such as the Food Corporation of India protect stored grain, mentioning drying, neem leaves, silos and granaries and fumigation. (5 marks) Instructions: Time allowed 2 hours. Attempt all sections. Draw all diagrams neatly in pencil and label every part clearly.