QUESTION .1 Enumerate the advantages of mixed farming.
Answer:
Following are the main advantages of mixed farming:

• Farmyard manure is made available from livestock which is used again in agricultural farms.
• Organic waste materials like straw, husks and chaffs of grains, household kitchen waste, etc., are converted into human food through the agency of cattle, sheep, poultry, pigs, etc., as per the choice of farmer.
• It provides work to all the members of a family throughout the year, thus providing subsidiary occupation without the need of employing special labour.
• Adopting exact combination in mixed farming, income can be increased, e.g., the number of animals can be increased (as per the food/crop available) to enhance milk production.

Question 2
Give the merits and demerits of fish culture. [NCERT Exemplar]
Answer:
Demerits:

• Threat to biodiversity,
• only economically important and valued fishes will be cultured.

Merits:

• Large amount of desired fishes can be obtained in small area,
• Increased quality of food as fishes are cheaper source of protein.

Question 3
Discuss why pesticides are used in very accurate concentration and in very appropriate manner. [NCERT Exemplar]
Answer:
Pesticides are used in very accurate concentration and in a very appropriate manner because if used in excess it

• harms the soil and causes loss of fertility,
• checks the replenishment of organic matter,
• kills the microorganism of soil,
• causes air, water and soil pollution.

Question 4
(a) Give any three preventive measures for pest control.
(b) What preventive and control measures are used before grains are stored for future use?
Answer:
(a) The three important preventive measures for pest control are:

• Employing crop rotation.
• Use of pest-resistant varieties.
• Employing optimum time of sowing the crops.

(b) Preventive and control measures are used before grains are stored for future use, which include strict cleaning of the produce before storage, proper drying of the produce first in sunlight and then in shade, and fumigations by using chemicals that kill pests.

Question 5
Why is crop variety improvement important in cultivation? Describe the important factors for which variety improvement is done.
Answer:
As we know, weather conditions, soil quality and availability of water are the main factors on which crop yield depends. As weather conditions like drought and flood situation are unpredictable, it is important to have varieties that can grow in adverse climatic conditions. In the same way, varieties that are tolerant to high soil salinity have also been developed. Some of the factors for which crop variety improvement is done are as follows:

• High Yield: To increase the productivity of the crop per acre.
• Improve Quality: Quality considerations of crop products vary from crop to crop. For instance,
  baking quality is important in wheat, protein quality in pulses; oil quality in oilseeds and preserving quality in fruits and vegetables.
• Biotic and Abiotic Resistance: Crop production can fall due to biotic and abiotic stresses under different situations. Thus, varieties resistant to these stresses can improve crop production.
• Change in Maturity Duration: The shorter the duration of the crop from sowing to harvesting, more economical is the variety. It reduces the cost of crop production and allows the farmers to grow multiple crops in a year.
• Wider Adaptability: Developing varieties for wider adaptability helps in stabilising the crop production under different environmental conditions. Also, one variety can then be grown under different climatic conditions in different areas.
• Desirable Agronomic Characteristics: Height and profuse branching are desirable characteristics for fodder crops. Dwarfness is desired in cereals such that fewer nutrients are consumed by these crops. Thus, developing varieties of desired agronomic characters also help in higher yield.

Question .6
Describe the main irrigation systems that are adopted in India.
Answer:
Different kinds of irrigation systems are adopted to supply water to agricultural lands depending on the kinds of water resources available. These include wells, canals, rivers and tanks.

• Wells: They are of two types—dug wells and tube wells. In dug wells, water is collected from water bearing strata while in tube wells water is tapped from the deeper strata. From these wells, water is lifted by pumps for irrigation.
• Canals: Canal system is usually an elaborate and extensive irrigation system. Canals receive water from one or more reservoirs or from rivers. The main canal is divided into branch canals having further distributaries to irrigate fields.
• River lift systems: In this system, water is directly drawn from the rivers for supplementing irrigation in areas lying close to rivers. This system is used in areas where canal flow is insufficient or irregular due to inadequate reservoir release.
• Tanks: Tanks are small storage reservoirs, which intercept and store the run-off of smaller catchment areas.
  Apart from the above systems, some new initiatives have been undertaken for increasing the water available for agriculture. These include rainwater harvesting system and watershed management system. This involves building small check-dams which lead to an increase in groundwater levels. These check-dams stop the rainwater from flowing away and also reduce soil erosion.

Question 7
Enlist the criteria for the selection of crops for mixed cropping.
Answer:
Mixed cropping is employed to minimise risk and as an insurance against crop failure due to abnormal weather conditions. The main criteria’s for selection of the crops for mixed cropping are as follows:

• Duration of Crops: One of the crops should be a long duration and other should be a short duration crop.
• Growth Habit: One of the crops should be growing tall and the other should be growing short. The component crops should have different canopy (i.e., the structure of leaves, stem and flowers found above the ground).
• Nutrient Demand: One of the component crops should require lesser nutrients than the other crop.
• Root Pattern: One of the crop should be deep-rooted while the other should be shallow-rooted.
• Water Requirement: One of the component crops should require lesser water than the other.

Question 8
What are weeds? Enlist the methods employed to control weeds.
Or
Discuss various methods for weed control. [NCERT Exemplar]
Answer:
The unwanted plants in a cultivated field are called weeds. They compete for food, space and light with the main crop plants. They germinate and grow faster, and thus effect the quality and yield of the crop. For these reasons, weed plants need to be removed from the cultivated field in early stage of crop. The methods employed for weed control are as follows:

• Mechanical Method: The weed plants are removed from the field either manually or with the help of agricultural implements like uprooting or hand hoeing or weeding with khurpi, ploughing, etc.
• Cultural Method: This method includes:
  • Proper seed bed preparation
  • Timely sowing of crops
  • Intercropping
  • Crop rotation
• Chemical Methods: By Spraying chemicals that do not harm crop plants but destroy only the weed plants, the latter can be controlled. These chemicals are called weeclicides, e.g., 2, 4-D and atrazine.
• Biological Method: As we know, some insects feed an particular weeds. Thus, we use these insects as biological weed-controlling agents like the use of cochineal insect to control Opuntia weed and the use of the grass carp fish to control aquatic weeds.

Question 9
Differentiate between fertilisers and manures.
Answer:
Differences between fertilisers and manures:

Question 10
How is intercropping different from mixed cropping?
Answer:

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