CROP PRODUCTION

SYLLABUS: History of agriculture, Horticulture, advantages of horticulture, types of crops, basic agriculture practice,
preparation of soil, advantages of ploughing, leveling, advantages of leveling, tools for ploughing, knowing about whether the
soil is fertile or not, sowing, transplantation, advantages of plantlets and transplantation, adding manures and fertilizers, need of
manures and fertilizers, manures, types of manures, fertilizers, disadvantages of fertilizers, difference between manures and
fertilizers, irrigation, importance of water for plants, methods of irrigation, weeds, weeding, weedicides, harmful effect of
weedicides, harvesting, threshing, storage, dry storage, grain silos, cold storage, advantages of food storage, cropping patterns,
waste management’s, agricultural revolution, conventional plant breeding techniques, green revolution, genetic engineering,
Animal husbandry

INTRODUCTION
All living organisms require energy to carry out various life processes. They get this energy from
the food.
Plants produce energy for themselves by synthesizing their own food by the process of
photosynthesis in presence of sunlight and so they are known as Autotrophs.
Whereas all animals depend on plants or on other animals for their food and are known as
Heterotrophs.
Humans are also Heterotrophs as they obtain their food from either plants or animals. The
energy which we get from food is utilized for various body functions such as digestion,
respiration etc.

1. HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE
Early man was basically a hunter and use to collect food from the forest. In those days, human
beings consumed plant parts and animals as raw without cooking. When the early humans
settled at different places, they started growing plants for food. Slowly, this activity of growing
plants became systematic and began to take place on a large scale.
The practice of growing plants at a place is known as Agriculture. When plants of same kind are
grown and cultivated for food at one place on a large scale, it is called a Crop and such plants
are called as Crop Plants. The word crop refers to anything produced from soil eg – fruits,
grains, tea or coffee.

Crop Group Crops Crop Group Crops

1. Cereals 1. Wheat, rice, maize, millet 6.Fiber crops 6.Cotton, jute, hemp
(bajra), barley, oats.
2.Pulses 2. Peas, green gram (mong), 7.Beverages 7.Tea, coffee, cocoa
pigeon pea (arhar), beans.
3.Vegetables 3. Tomato, potato, cabbage, 8. Spices 8. Chillies, turmeric, garlic,
onion, cauliflower. cardamom, ginger.
4.Fruits 4. Apple, plum, peaches, grapes, 9. Sugar 9. Sugarcane, sugar beet.
guava. yielding crops.

5.Medicinal 5. Belladonna, mint, tulsi, 10. Oil seeds 10. Mustard, groundnut,
crops isabgul, cinchona coconut.

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The study of agriculture is known as Agricultural Science.

Common crops and Crop Plants-

2. HORTICULTURE
The science of cultivation of plants for human use is known as Horticulture. This practice is
done at individual level in a garden. The word horticulture comes from Latin. Hortus means
“garden” and cultura means “cultivation”. Therefore it is a garden cultivation.
It includes soil preparation as well as planting of seeds or cuttings. Research involved in
horticulture includes genetic engineering, plant breeding, biochemistry, and physiology and
plant reproduction. Horticulturists work with fruits, berries, nuts, vegetables, trees, flowers and
even turf grass.

COMMON HORTICULTURE CROP:

Crops Crop plants
1. Vegetables 1.Tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, beans, radish, carrot, onion, etc
2. Fruits 2. Mango, banana, papaya, apple, grapes, berries, cherry etc
3. Ornamental 3. Rose, jasmine, marigold, dahlia, cacti ,petunia, china rose ,etc.

3. ADVANTAGES OF HORTICULTURE
1. In Horticulture, it is practiced to increase nutritional value of fruits or vegetables that plant
yields.
2. It helps in increasing resistance to pests.
3. It involves smaller crops, because of which all factors for growing, like soil content, water,
pests can be controlled.
4. It accelerates plant growth.
5. It involves comparatively reduced area requirement for cultivation.
The horticulture sector has emerged as economically rewarding and most viable option in
diversification of agriculture.
It refers to a wide variety of crops suitable for cultivation under different climatic conditions;
hence it has immense potential and lot of scope for future.

4. TYPES OF CROPS
Countries are diverse in nature in terms of climate. The climatic conditions like temperature,
humidity and rainfall varies from region to region. Different parts of a single country are rich in
different varieties of crops.
Despite the diversity, crops can be categorized on the basis of their growing season as follows:

Kharif Crops– Crops that are planted during rainy season (June-September) and are
dependent on south-western monsoons are called Kharif crops. For example, Rice, maize,
soyabean, groundnut, cotton. These are also called Rainy or Monsoon crops.

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Rabi Crops– Crops that are grown during winter season (October-march) are called Rabi crops.
They are not dependent on monsoon. For example, wheat, gram, pea, mustard, sunflower.
These are called as winter or cold season crops.

Zaid Crops- Crops that are grown in summer (march-June) are called zaid crops. For eg water
melon, pumpkin.

5. BASIC AGRICULTURE PRACTICE

1. Preparation of soil (digging, leveling, manuring)
2. Sowing
3. Applying manures and fertilizers
4. Irrigation
5. Weeding
6. Protection of crops from pests and microorganisms
7. Harvesting, threshing and winnowing
8. Storage

6. PREPARATION OF SOIL
It is the first step towards growing a crop.
One of the important tasks in agriculture is to turn the soil and loosen it.
This includes methods like ploughing.
Ploughing is tilling the land with the help of a plough. It turns soil upside down. Ploughs are
made of wood/iron.
Since only a few centimeters of the uppermost layer of soil supports plant growth, turning and
loosening of soil brings the nutrient-rich soil to the top so that plants can use these nutrients.
Earthworms are called Farmer’s friend because their burrowing action helps to loosen the soil
particles. This also improves the physical structure of the soil and creates channels for the roots
of plants to penetrate.
They also help in formation of humus.
Usually the soil is very dry, watering is done before ploughing.

7. ADVANTAGES OF PLOUGHING
1. Ploughing loosens the soil. It allows easy and deeper penetration of the roots.
2. It improves the circulation of air in the soil. This provides more oxygen to the cells of the
roots.
3. It increases the water retention capacity of the soil.
4. Loosened soil helps in growth of warms and microbes living in the soil. This increases the soil
fertility.
5. Ploughing uproots the weeds growing in the soil.
6. Harmful insects present in the deeper layers of soil are destroyed when exposed to sun rays.
7. Ploughing mixes manures and fertilizers with the soil.

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8. LEVELLING

Ploughing forms big pieces of soil called crumbs (crumbs are broken with a plank). Ploughing is
followed by leveling. The crumbs formed during ploughing are broken by a wooden plank.
Leveling is done with the help of a wooden leveler or a wooden plank attached to a tractor.
Fields may be leveled properly before sowing and irrigation.

9. ADVANTAGES OF LEVELLING
1. The loss of moisture from the ploughed soil.
2. Water logging in the field and, thus, it helps in uniform irrigation.
3. The loss of upper layer of soil being blown away by the wind.
4. It helps in breaking the big humps (crumbs) of soil.

10. TOOLS FOR PLOUGHING

It is necessary to break soil to the size of grains to get better harvest. The main tools used for
this purpose are the plough, hoe and cultivator.
11. HOW WILL YOU KNOW WHETHER THE SOIL IS FERTILE OR NOT?
Soil testing provides the solution to this problem.
Prior to preparation, some amount of soil is collected. This soil is subjected to a series of
chemical tests to know its nutrient potential. If it is found that the soil is lacking in certain
nutrients, then manures and fertilizers are added to the soil.

12. SOWING
This technique introduces seeds to the soil where they can grow.
Selection of Seeds and Sowing Techniques
Sowing is a process which involves planting of seeds in soil. Sowing is an important part of crop
production. To obtain higher crop yields, healthy seeds must be sown.

To identify healthy seeds for sowing.

Take around 100g wheat seeds and put them in a container filled with water. Shake the
container and leave it for some time.
Some seeds start floating, others settle down at the bottom.
Generally, the floating seeds are spoilt or eaten by pests, while the healthy seeds are heavy.
Hence, they sink at the bottom of the container. This is a good method for separatinggood,
healthy seeds from the damaged ones. After selecting the healthy seeds, soil is dug and healthy
seeds can be sown.
Seeds are sown with the help of the following methods:

1. Manual or broadcasting method:-

It involves scattering of seeds by hands. Seeds are later covered with soil by leveler to avoid
wastage. Seeds of maize, wheat and bajra are sown by this method. This results in unequal
distribution and wastage of seeds.

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2. Mechanical Method
a. Traditional Tool- This method of sowing seeds includes the use of a funnel-shaped tool.
Seeds to be sown are filled in the funnel and are passed to the soil from them. Ends of these
funnel like structures pierce through the soil and sow the seeds in soil.

b. Structure of seed drill- These are the automatic devices, through which seeds are sown at
an equal depth. Seeds drills are used with the help of tractors for sowing seeds. They reduce
manpower and time consumption in the process.

The use of seed drill is beneficial because:

1. It allows sowing seeds at an appropriate depth.
2. Seeds are at a depth from where they cannot be picked up by birds.
3.Seeds are sown in proper rows which results in uniform growth and reduces overcrowding,
thereby providing sufficient nutrients, water and sunlight to all plants.
4. Sowing seeds with seed drill saves time and labor.5.Prevents wastage of seeds due to
unequal distribution.

13. TRANSPLANTATION
In plants like tomato, rice, chilies etc., the seeds are not put in the field directly but are sown in
seedbeds in nurseries. The seedlings are selected and then transplanted (transferred) to the
fields.

14. ADVANTAGES OF PLANTLETS AND TRANSPLANTATION

1. Only healthy seeds are transferred through this method.
2. It promotes better root and shoot development.
3. It allows sowing of the plantlets at proper distances and proper depth.

15. ADDING MANURES AND FERTILIZERS

Manures and fertilizers are substances which are added to the soil to increase the nutrient
content of soil for healthy growth of plants.
Manures are organic in nature whereas fertilizers are chemicals.

16. NEED OF MANURES OR FERTILIZERS

Sometimes, farmers grow the same crop year after year in a field. This leads to the deficiency of
a particular nutrient (nitrogen or potassium) which is used up by that particular crop in the
field. Thus, farmers add manures and fertilizers to replenish soil, which is deficient in nutrients.

17. MANURES
Manures are the decomposed, organic matter. These include cattle dung, oil cakes, vegetable
wastes. These animal or plant wastes are decomposed by micro-organisms such as bacteria and
fungi. This decomposed matter is used as manure. It contains essential nutrients required by
plants for their growth.
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18. TYPES OF MANURES
1. Farmyard Manure –It is prepared from cattle dung and urine, straw, leaves etc. Farmers
prepare manure by dumping plant and animal wastes in some corner of their field. It gets
decomposed by soil bacteria and fungi.
2. Green Manure – It is formed by ploughing green plants and burying them under the soil.
3. Compost Manure –Prepared by the decomposition of vegetables refuse, farm litter,
kitchen waste, sugarcane trash, weed, sewage, sludge and animal waste by the action of soil
bacteria.
Vermicomposting – Is composting the waste using earthworms.

19. MANURING IS ADVANTAGEOUS BECAUSE

1. It improves the soil texture.
2. It improves the water retaining capacity of soil.
3. It replenishes all the nutrients of soil.
4. It increases the number of useful micro-organisms in soil.

20. FERTILIZERS
They are the substances, which are rich in inorganic nutrients.
Fertilizers provide specific nutrients like Nitrogen and Phosphorus to the soil. Substances like
Urea, Ammonium Sulphate, Potassium Chloride, and Potassium Sulphate, NPK (Nitrogen,
Phosphorus and Potassium) are some examples of fertilizers used by farmers.
Fertilizers help farmers to obtain a better yield of crops, but still the use of chemical fertilizers
are not encouraged.
This is because they have a number of disadvantages:

21. DISADVANTAGES OF FERTILIZERS

1. These fertilizers can enter water bodies through runoff water and can cause water pollution.
2. From water, they can also enter in the body of humans and can be harmful to human health.
3. Excessive use of fertilizers can reduce the natural replenishing ability of soil.
4. Excessive use of fertilizers can change the chemical nature of soil and makes it less fertile.
5. Its overdose may adversely affect the crop.

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22. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MANURE AND FERTILIZER
Manure Fertilizers
1. Manures are the natural substances. They 1. Fertilizers are salts or inorganic compounds.
Are formed from dead, decaying organic They are produced in factoriesfrom chemicals.
matter and animal wastes like cow dung, plant
residues and bird droppings.
2. Manures contain all the essential nutrients 2. They are rich in plant nutrients like nitrogen,
required for plants but in small amounts. phosphorus and potassium.
3. They provide humus to the soil and also 3. They do not provide any humus to the soil
improve its quality.
4. Manures are not absorbed quickly by the 4. They are soluble in water and can be readily
soil as they are not easily soluble. and directly absorbed by the plants.
5. These are nutrient specific. 5. These are not nutrient specific.
6. Manures are required in large amounts. 6. They are concentrated and hence required
in small amount.
7. These are inconvenient to store, transport 7. They can be conveniently transported,
or apply as it is very bulky. supplied and stored.
8. They take long time to show results and 8. They show immediate result and take less
require long time for their preparation. time in their manufacturing.
9. They are eco friendly. 9. They pollute the environment.

23. IRRIGATION
It is the practice of supplying water to crops through canals, wells and other water bodies.
The amount of water supplied to crops is extremely important as excess water can also cause
damage to the crops.
Due to excessive heat, water evaporates from soil and plant surfaces. Therefore plants require
frequent watering.
Water is essential for survival of plants as it is the most important constituent of plants body
and helps plants to perform many of the life processes.

24. IMPORTANCE OF WATER FOR PLANTS

1. Germination does not take place in absence of water, so seeds require water to carry out
process of germination.
2. Water is required by plants to transport nutrients from soil to other parts of plants in a
dissolved state.
3. Water protects the crops from frost and hot.
4. Water is one of the important reactants in the process of photosynthesis.
Hence, crop fields need to be watered regularly to maintain healthy crops.

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25. METHOODS OF IRRIGATION
A. Traditional Methods
It involves different ways of obtaining water from wells, lakes and canals and transporting to
the fields with the help of cattle’s or by human labor. Various examples of traditional ways of
lifting water are –
1. Moat (pulley system)
2. Rahat (lever system)
3. Dhekli,
4. Chain Pump,

B. Modern Methods
Modern methods of irrigation help to save water. Pumps are used to lift water from water
sources and can be run on biogas, electricity or solar energy.
These are of two types:
(i) Basin Irrigation-The entire field is filled with water and made over flooded as in case of
paddy crops which need lot of water.
(ii)Furrow Irrigation - Water runs in the field through channels or furrows which is made
between two crop plants, growing on the ridges.
(iii )Sprinkler System:This system consists of perpendicular pipes with a rotating nozzle on
top. Pipes are joined to main pipeline at regular intervals. Water flowsat high pressurethrough
these pipelines and gets sprinkled on crops. It is useful in irrigating sandy soil.
(iv)Drip system:It is the best technique to irrigate crops as it prevents wastage of water.
Waterfalls drop by drop on the position of roots. Water is necessary for plant’s growth but
excess water reduces the supply of air in soil. This causes death of roots, due to lack of oxygen,
which leads to death of the plant or its uproot.

Some other conditions of excess water and their effects on plants:

Sometimes, crops get damaged due to excess water because of natural calamities like untimely
rains and hailstorms. Hailstorms can result in the fall of mature crop plants.
The fall of mature crops is called lodging.
Water logging is a condition when water supplied to a field is not properly drained. This excess
water accumulates in the area around roots and thus damages the crops.

26. WEEDS
Uncultivated and undesired plants, which grow at any place and utilize space, water and
nutrients of that area, are known as weeds. Oxalis, plantego are some common weeds.

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27. WEEDING
Weeding is the process of removing weeds from fields.
For the following reasons weeds are unwanted
1. Weeds compete with crops for nutrients, water and space. Thus they reduce crop yield.
2. They interfere in the process of harvesting.
3. Some weeds are poisonous in nature.

Removal process –
1.Weeds can be uprooted and killed by tilling before sowing.
2. Weeds can be removed by uprooting, or by cutting their shoots close to ground with the help
of a khurpi or a harrow.
3. They can be removed by using weedicides.

28. WEEDICIDES
Weedicides are the chemicals, which are sprayed in crop fields to kill weeds whenever weeds
are found growing with the crops.
Weedicides like 2,4-D are diluted in water and sprayed on fields using sprayer. They are sprayed
during vegetative growth phase of weeds that is before flowering and seed formation.

29. HARMFUL EFFECTS OF WEEDICIDES

Harmful Effects of Weedicides -
Spraying weedicides can affect the health of farmers and farm animals. Therefore, appropriate
precautions should be taken while spraying weedicides on crops.
They can also enter the food chain and can sustain in them causing serious health hazards.

30. HARVESTING
The process of collecting mature crops from fields is known as harvesting. Different crops
mature at different times, therefore, the yield is obtained at different times.
For example, wheat takes a few months (sown in October-November and harvested in
February- March), whereas sugarcane takes 2-3 years.
Grains obtained after harvesting are called produce and represent the crop yield. Harvesting
methods vary, depending on resources and crops.
They are of following types:
1. Harvesting can be done manually with the help of a sickle.
2. It is also done by using tractor-driven machine called harvester.
3. By plucking in case of fruits and vegetable.
Use of sickle and plucking with hands, come under traditional methods whereasuse of tractor
driven machines, for example, harvester come under modernmethods.

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31. THRESHING
The process of separating grains from chaff is called threshing.
Farmers having small piece of land, use winnowing method to separate grains from chaff.
Farmers used to do it by using cattle in traditional methods. This is in practice nowadays too,
but now it is also being done by using a machine called combiner.
Combiner works efficiently, but produces less amount of fodder in case of wheat. It
simultaneously performs harvesting and threshing.

32. STORAGE
The crops produced, which are harvested, need to be stored safely to prevent from getting
eaten by pests and rodents. Therefore, farmers employ various storage methods to protect
their produce and prevent it from getting damaged.

33. DRY STORAGE

In this method, food grains are dried in the sun to bring down the moisture contentbelow 14%
by weight to prevent the attack by pests. The dried food grains arestored in jute bags or
metallic bins.
Granaries and silos are used for large-scale storage of grains.
This protects the grains from pests like insects and rodents.
Dried neem leaves are also used for storing grains at home (traditional method).
On a large scale, various chemicals are used to protect grains from pests and micro-organisms
(modern and large-scale storage method).
The godowns are kept free from pests by spraying various pesticides from time totime.

34. GRAIN SILOS

These are specially designed tall cylindrical structures for bulk storage of food grains.
These silos can store different stocks of food grains at different levels.
The required food grain can be taken out from the openings provided in the silos.

35. COLD STORAGE

This method is used for storage of food materials that have very short life. So these materials
are stored at low temperature.
Icebox or refrigerator is used at home to store fruits, vegetables, milk, milk products, fish, etc.
On commercial scale, such food materials are stored in either a deep frzer or a cold storage.

36. ADVANTAGES OF FOOD STORAGE

1. It prevents the food from being damaged/spoiled by the action of enzymes, microorganisms,
moisture, insects and rats.
2. It increases the storage period of food materials.
3. It helps in the availablity of off season fruits and vegetables round the year.
4. It makes the transportation of food material easier.
5. It helps to maintain prices in the market.

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 6. It helps in maintaining buffer stock to meet an emergency in the country.

37. CROPPING PATTERNS

Three different cropping patterns are generally practiced to increase the yield

1. Mixed Cropping:It allows two or more crops to be sowed simultaneously in the same land.
Wheat and gram, wheat and mustard, groundnut and sunflower are few examples of mixed
cropping. In mixed cropping, two such crops are sowntogether which require different
amount of minerals. It increases soil fertility by maintaining microbial diversity.

2. Intercropping: It allows farmers to grow two or more crops simultaneously in the same field in
a definite pattern. Cauliflower and chilli plants are grown together in alternating rows in
intercropping. Crops are selected in such a way that their nutrient requirements are different
to ensure maximum utilization of nutrients supplied.

3. Crop Rotation: Since different crops have different nutrient requirements, a new crop with
different nutrient requirements can be grown in the next season instead of the same crop to
replenish the lost nutrients of soil. For example, in a field, where legumes (fodder crops) are
grown in one season, wheat can be grown in the next season. Legumes contain Rhizobium
bacterium in their root nodules, which fixes the atmospheric nitrogen in soil, converts nitrogen
into its assimilable form, that is, into nitrates and nitrites, which can be used by wheat crop
when grown after legumes.

38. WASTE MANAGEMENT

Composting is the biological decomposition of organic waste such as food or plant material by
bacteria, fungi and other organisms in the presence of oxygen. The end result of composting is
an accumulation of partially decayed organic matter called humus. It is a way of reducing yard
waste such as leaves, grass, brush etc and converting the waste material into a useful one.

39. AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION

An agricultural revolution was a period of agricultural development between 18th and 19th
century, which showed rapid increase in agricultural productivity and improvement in farm
technology.

40. CONVENTIONAL PLANT BREEDING TECHNIQUE

Conventional plant breeding involves mixing the genes of a plant so that a new and better
variety is developed. New varieties of plants are bred to suit different climate conditions, to
improve taste or nutritional value, to cope up with diseases or pests better, or to use water or
nutrients more efficiently.
For example, a wheat variety that produces high yields in one region may be susceptible to a
new disease. Another wheat plant may have very low yield, but has resistance to the new
disease. Breeders can cross and backcross these two parent wheat varieties and their progeny,

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with the aim of combining the high yielding qualities from one parent and the disease
resistance from the other parent. Conventional plant breeding may also use ‘wider crosses’ that
involve crossing such species or even genera that are quite unrelated. These crosses cannot
occur without external help, hence sophisticated techniques are employed.

41. GREEN REVOLUTION

Green Revolution was a period when new agricultural practices were created to help farmers
all over the world.
It was an international effort that was planned to eliminate hunger by improving crop
performances.
This practice allowed farmers to produce more of the same product by using same piece/area
of land.
Farmers could get more out of their land than they used to get. This practice included –
introduction of newer higher yielding seeds and follow up of other modern techniques.
This had led to increase in agricultural productivity at a global scale.
The Green Revolution was a technology package comprising material components of improved
high yielding varieties of two staple cereals (rice and wheat), irrigation or controlled water
supply and improved moisture utilization technique, fertilizers, and pesticides, and associated
management skills. Yellow revolution meant for the cultivation of mustard as a part of crop
rotation. Mustard prevents the soil from getting eroded and at the same time, enriches crop
with some nutrients. It also relates to cropping of pulses.

42. GENETIC ENGINEERING

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) are organisms whose genetic material has been altered
by genetic engineering techniques generally known as recombinant DNA technology and
transgenic.
Genetic engineering has expanded the genes available to breeders to utilize them in creating
desired germ lines for new crops.
After mechanical tomato-harvesters were developed in the early 1960s, agricultural scientists
genetically modified tomatoes to be more resistant to mechanical handling. More recently,
genetic engineering is being employed in various parts of the world, to create crops with other
beneficial traits.

43. ANIMAL HUSBANDARY

Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock. Techniques such
as artificial insemination and embryo transfer are frequently used today, not only as methods
to guarantee that females breed regularly but also to help improve herd genetics. This may be
done by transplanting embryos from high-quality females into lower-quality surrogate mothers
- freeing up the higher-quality mother to be impregnated.
This practice largely increases the number of offspring which may be produced by a small
selection of the best quality parent animals. ‘

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On one hand, this improves the ability of the animals to convertfeed to meat, milk, or fibre
more efficiently, and improve the quality of the final product, on the other hand, it decreases
genetic diversity, and increases the chances of severity of disease outbreaks among other risks.
Hence, it needs to be handled in an efficient and beneficial manner.

Traditional Method Modern Method

Traditional method involves walking up and
down the field row by row with a plough that
was pulled by cows/bulls
It is more environment friendly and
sustainable
It involves more manpower, less chemical and
technological power
It takes time and profit is less
It involves the use of manures
Crops are watered by hands
Modern method involves use of machines
such as combine, harvester.
It is less environment friendly
It involves less manpower, more chemicals
and technology
It is done more quickly and brings in more
profit to farmers
It involves the use of chemical fertilizers
Methods of irrigation are surface irrigation,
localized drip, sprinkler, center pivot and
many others

PLOUGH

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 HOE

SEED DRILL

DHEKLI

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 CHAIN PUMP

RAHAT

MOAT

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OBJECTIVE
1. Which of the following crops comes under pulses crop groups?
a. Apple b. Tomato
c. Beans d. Wheat

2. Which of the following is not the example of horticulture crop?

a. Apple b. Wheat
c. Papaya d. Grapes

3. Crops that are planted during rainy season are known as

a. Kharif b. Rabi
c. Zaid d. None of these

4. Which of the following is an example of zaid crops?

a. Maize b. Soyabean
c. Water Melon d. Cotton

5. Which of the following is the first step towards growing a crop?

a. Ploughing b. Sowing
c. Weeding d. Irrigation

6. What are the advantages of transplantation?

a. Only healthy seeds are transferred through this method.
b. It promotes better root and shoot development.
c. It allows sowing of the plantlets at proper distances and proper depth.
d. All of these

7. Which type of manure is prepared from cattle dung and urine, straw, leaves etc.by dumping
plant and animal wastes in some corner of their field?
a. Farmyard manure b. Green manure
c. Compost manure d. Vermiposting

8. Which of the following process increases the number of useful microorganismin the soil?
a. Ploughing b. Sowing
c. Manuring d. Irrigation

9. In which kind of irrigation practice the entire field is filled with water and made over flooded
as in case of paddy crops which need lot of water.
a. Furrow Irrigation b. Basin Irrigation
c. Sprinkle System d. Drip Irrigation

10. Which irrigation system consists of perpendicular pipes with a rotating nozzle on top?
a. Furrow Irrigation b. Basin Irrigation
c. Sprinkle System d. Drip Irrigation
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11. Weeds are unwanted because
a. Weeds compete with crops for nutrients, water and space. Thus they reduce crop yield.
b. They interfere in the process of harvesting.
c. Some weeds are poisonous in nature.
d. All of the above

12. The process of separating grains from chaff is called

a. Harvesting b. Sowing
c. Threshing d. Ploughing

13. Combiner simultaneously performs

a. Harvesting and threshing b. Ploughing and threshing
c. Ploughing and harvesting d. Sowing and threshing

14. Which cropping pattern allows two or more crops to be sowed simultaneously in the same
land.eg? Wheat and gram
a. Mixed Cropping b. Inter Cropping
c. Crop Rotation d. None of these

15. In mixed cropping, two such crops are sown together which require _____amount of
minerals.
a. Same b. Different
c. No Minerals d. None of these

16. GMO stands for

a. Genetically Modified Organisms
b. General Modified Organisms
c. Genetically moderate Organisms
d. General Moderate Organisms

17. ______ engineering is being employed in various parts of the world, to create crops with
other beneficial traits.
a. Agricultural b. Genetic
c. Chemical d. fertilizer

ANSWERS
1. c 2. b 3. a 4. c 5. a 6. d 7. a
8. c 9. b 10. c 11. d 12. c 13. a 14. a
15. b 16. a 17. b

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SUBJECTIVE
Fill in the blanks –
1. The practice of growing plants at a place is known as ……………...
2. When plants of same kind are grown and cultivated for food at a place on a large scale, it is
called a ……………...
3. Crops are divided broadly into Kharif, Rabi and …………….
4. Soil is enriched with nutrients by adding ……………. and ………………………

Give one word for the following:

1. A place where young trees or other plants are grown for transplanting them into fields/
gardens.
2. Method of scattering seeds manually in the field.
3. Traditional tool used for sowing seeds.
4. A narrow groove made in the ground, especially by a plough.
5. A special implement used for sowing seeds.
6. The process of introducing seeds into the soil.
7. Two or more crops to be sowed simultaneously in the same land.
8. Full form of GMO is.
9. The agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.
10. Specially designed tall cylindrical structures for bulk storage of food grains.

Answer the following questions-

Q1. Why one cannot expect to find fully grown plants in a nursery?
Q2. Write the importance of weeding.
Q3. Agriculture is nothing but commercial use of photosynthesis. Explain your agreement or
disagreement with the statement.
Q4. Arrange the given processes to represent correct sequence of events in crop production:
Sowing, Ploughing, Harvesting, Manuring, Storage, and Irrigation
Q5. Explain the various types of cropping pattern.
Q6. Write the difference between manure and fertilizers.
Q7. Define - crop, agriculture, horticulture, silos.
Q8. Write a short note on the modern method of the irrigation.
Q9. Why do silos have more than one opening?
Q10. Why broad casting is not a good method of sowing?

NCERT EXRESICE
Q1. 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.

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(d) For growing a crop, sufficient sunlight,___________and ___________from the soil are
essential.
Ans. (a) Crop (b) Preparation (e) Float (d) Water, Nutrients.

Q2. Match items in Column A with those in Column B.

Column A Column B
(i) Kharif crops (a) Food for cattle
(ii) Rabi crops (b) Urea and super phosphate
(iii) Chemical fertilizers (c) Animal excreta, cow dung, urine and plant wastes
(iv) Organic manure (d) Wheat, gram, pea
(e) Paddy and maize
Ans.
Column A Column B
(i) Kharif crops (e) Paddy and maize
(ii) Rabi crops (d) Wheat, gram, pea
(iii) Chemical fertilizers (b) Urea and super phosphate
(iv) Organic manure (c) Animal excreta, cow dung, urine and plant wastes
Q3. Give two examples of each:
(a) Kharif crop
(b) Rabi crop
Ans. (a) Paddy and maize. (b) Wheat and gram.

Q.4. Write a paragraph in your own words on each of the following:

(a) Preparation of soil
(b) Sowing
(c) Wedding
(d) Threshing
Ans. (a) Preparation of soil: Soil is prepared before sowing the seeds. The soil is loosened to
increase the absorption of water and manures. Loosening of soil particles adds humus and
nutrients in the soil that increases crop yields. Tilling or loosening the soil is done by ploughs
which are pulled by a pair of bulls. Tractor driven cultivators are also used to loosen the soil.

(b) Sowing: After preparation of soil it is ready for sowing of seeds. The healthy and clean
seeds should be selected. The sowing is done by seed drills or funnel shaped tools. Seed drills
are the modern instruments which sow the seeds at proper depth and proper distance.

(c) Weeding: The unwanted plants in the crops are called weeds. These weeds absorb the
nutrients from the soil. So it is necessary to remove them. Weeds are either removed manually

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or by mechanical tools. The process of removal of weeds is called weeding. Some chemicals like
2, 4-D are also used to kill the weeds.

(d) Threshing: Separation of grains from the chaff is called threshing. When the crop is
harvested, it is cut along with the stalks. They are then separated and the grains are removed.
Winnowing machine is used to separate grains from chaff.

Q5. Explain how fertilizers are different from manures.

Ans. (i) Manures are organic substances while fertilizers are chemical substances.
(ii) Manures are prepared in fields while fertilizers are prepared in factories.
(iii) Manures contain all the nutrients while fertilizers are rich in certain nutrients.
(iv) Manures provide humus while fertilizers do not provide any humus.

Q6. What is irrigation? Describe two methods of irrigation which conserve water.
Ans. The process of watering the crops is called irrigation.
Two methods of irrigation are:
(i) Sprinklers: Sprinklers work as fountains. Long perpendicular pipes have holes at regular
distances. When water is supplied, it comes out of these holes and spray water in field. These
holes have rotating nozzles which sprinkle water in all directions. They control wastage of
water.
(ii) Drip System: This system is used to save water as it allows the water to flow drop by drop
at the roots of the plants. It is the best technique for watering fruit plants, gardens and trees.
Water is not wasted at all.
Q.7. If wheat is sown in the kharif season, what would happen? Discuss.
Ans. Wheat crop does not require much water to grow, so wheat would not grow in kharif
season. The seeds would get destroyed in excess water due to rainy season.

Q8. Explain how soil gets affected by the continuous plantation of crops in a field.
Ans. If we sow continuously in a field then the lacking of nutrients takes place in the soil. The
field becomes unfertile. It does not give any time to soil to replenish the nutrients.
Thus the soil is unable to sustain any further healthy and good crop.

Q9. What are weeds? How can we control them?

Ans. Weeds are unwanted plants. They grow with crops. They compete for nutrients and
water with main crop. So weeds are very harmful. Process of controlling the weed is called
weeding. Weeding is done manually by using khurpi and by using mechanical machines. Weeds
are also controlled by using some chemical substances like 2, 4-D. These chemicals are called
weedicide and used to kill and destroy the weed.

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