Question

A farmer grows maize crop in a field year after year. He finds that the yield becomes
low. Give one possible reason for it.

Answer 1

A farmer grows maize crop in a field year after year. After few years, he finds that the yield of crop has become low. This is because the respective crop uses the same nutrient from the soil ,nitrogen or potassium, which makes the soil deficient of the minerals. This can be overcome by adding the fertilisers or manures that contains the required amount of the nutrient. This act of adding fertilisers to replenish the soil is known as manuring. Other method of overcoming this problem is crop rotation. Crop rotation is the practice of growing two or more varieties of crops in the same region in sequential seasons. A common example of crop rotation is to cultivate maize followed by soyabean. The crops selected, vary in nutrient requirements. This ensures complete and uniform utilization of nutrients thereby preventing crops from pests and diseases, without causing loss to soil fertility.