Answer the following questions.
(a) Besides using plants for food, in which other ways do we make use of plants?
(b) Write the three stages of the tilling of land in the proper order.
(c) What are the advantages of the pre-sowing tilling activities?
(d) What are the activities at the post-sowing stage of tilling?
(e) Explain the difference between ‘thinning the crop’ and ‘weeding’.
(f) Explain the difference between preventive and curative spraying of chemicals.
(g) What is the method used for sowing each of the following crops:
wheat, rice, sugarcane, pumpkin, jowar, cotton.
(h) How many methods are there of sowing seeds?
Answer the following questions.
(a) Besides using plants for food, in which other ways do we make use of plants?
(b) Write the three stages of the tilling of land in the proper order.
(c) What are the advantages of the pre-sowing tilling activities?
(d) What are the activities at the post-sowing stage of tilling?
(e) Explain the difference between ‘thinning the crop’ and ‘weeding’.
(f) Explain the difference between preventive and curative spraying of chemicals.
(g) What is the method used for sowing each of the following crops:
wheat, rice, sugarcane, pumpkin, jowar, cotton.
(h) How many methods are there of sowing seeds?
(a) Besides using plants for food, they are also used:
• as a source of timber, fuel, paper, medicines.
• for decoration, soil stabilization, building purposes etc.
(b) The process of loosening and turning of soil is called tilling. The main three stages involved in tilling are:
(i) Pre−sowing stage: In this stage, the land is ploughed and harrowed to make soil loose.
(ii) Sowing Stage: In this stage, the soil is arranged, evened out for sowing seeds or planting seedlings.
(iii) Post−sowing stage: This stage begins when the roots emerge from the crop. It includes weeding, thinning the crop, watering, spraying pesticides and adding fertilizers etc.
(c) Pre−sowing tilling activities involve ploughing and harrowing of land. It has following advantages:
• It helps in the retention of moisture.
• It helps in uprooting weeds from the soil.
• It enhances the water retention capacity of the soil.
• It helps to loosen the soil. Hence, it improves air circulation in the soil.
(d) The post−sowing stage of tilling begins once the roots emerge from the crop. The important activities carried out during this stage are:
(i) Thinning the crop: It involves pulling out some plants to prevent overcrowding. This helps the remaining plants to get adequate water, fertilizers and sunlight to grow vigorously.
(ii) Weeding: The pulling out of the weeds present near the crop plant prevents competition for nutrients with unwanted plants. It also helps in better aeration.
(iii) Watering and adding fertilizers: The growing crop is watered at regular intervals and fertilizers are added in proper amounts to get a good yield.
(iv) Spraying pesticides: Pesticides such as germicides, insecticides and fungicides are sprayed on the crop to protect it from insects and diseases that cause loss of yield.
(e) The thinning of the crop involves pulling out some useful crop plants to avoid overcrowding. This is done so that the remaining plants get adequate water, fertilizers and sunlight to grow properly. The weeding is the removal of unwanted plants growing along with crop plants in the field. This is done to prevent the competition of crop plants for nutrients with unwanted plants and also to provide better aeration for the roots of the crop plants.
(f) Preventive spraying of chemicals is done to prevent the crop from being attacked by the insects or being infected by germs or fungi while curative spraying is done on the crops that have already been affected by insects, germs or fungi.
(g)
Crops
Method of sowing
Wheat
Scattering
Rice
Transplanting seedlings
Sugarcane
Poking or planting
Pumpkin
Poking
Jowar
Scattering
Cotton
Poking
(h) There are many methods of sowing seeds depending upon the type of the crop. Some of the important methods are:
(i) Broadcasting or scattering: It involves the scattering of seeds over the prepared field by hand. Seeds such as wheat are sown by this method.
(ii) Transplanting: It involves the raising of seedlings in nurseries and then transplanting them in other field. Seeds such as rice, vegetables are sown by this method.
(iii) Planting: It involves the planting of vegetative parts such as root, stem or leaves of plants into the field that develop into a complete plant. For example, potato tubers and sets of sugarcane
(iv) Poking: It involves the sowing of seeds into the soil one by one. For example, pumpkins, bitter gourd seeds are sown by this method.
(a) Besides using plants for food, they are also used:
• as a source of timber, fuel, paper, medicines.
• for decoration, soil stabilization, building purposes etc.
(b) The process of loosening and turning of soil is called tilling. The main three stages involved in tilling are:
(i) Pre−sowing stage: In this stage, the land is ploughed and harrowed to make soil loose.
(ii) Sowing Stage: In this stage, the soil is arranged, evened out for sowing seeds or planting seedlings.
(iii) Post−sowing stage: This stage begins when the roots emerge from the crop. It includes weeding, thinning the crop, watering, spraying pesticides and adding fertilizers etc.
(c) Pre−sowing tilling activities involve ploughing and harrowing of land. It has following advantages:
• It helps in the retention of moisture.
• It helps in uprooting weeds from the soil.
• It enhances the water retention capacity of the soil.
• It helps to loosen the soil. Hence, it improves air circulation in the soil.
(d) The post−sowing stage of tilling begins once the roots emerge from the crop. The important activities carried out during this stage are:
(i) Thinning the crop: It involves pulling out some plants to prevent overcrowding. This helps the remaining plants to get adequate water, fertilizers and sunlight to grow vigorously.
(ii) Weeding: The pulling out of the weeds present near the crop plant prevents competition for nutrients with unwanted plants. It also helps in better aeration.
(iii) Watering and adding fertilizers: The growing crop is watered at regular intervals and fertilizers are added in proper amounts to get a good yield.
(iv) Spraying pesticides: Pesticides such as germicides, insecticides and fungicides are sprayed on the crop to protect it from insects and diseases that cause loss of yield.
(e) The thinning of the crop involves pulling out some useful crop plants to avoid overcrowding. This is done so that the remaining plants get adequate water, fertilizers and sunlight to grow properly. The weeding is the removal of unwanted plants growing along with crop plants in the field. This is done to prevent the competition of crop plants for nutrients with unwanted plants and also to provide better aeration for the roots of the crop plants.
(f) Preventive spraying of chemicals is done to prevent the crop from being attacked by the insects or being infected by germs or fungi while curative spraying is done on the crops that have already been affected by insects, germs or fungi.
(g)
|
Crops |
Method of sowing |
||
|
Wheat |
Scattering |
||
|
Rice |
Transplanting seedlings |
||
|
Sugarcane |
Poking or planting |
||
|
Pumpkin |
Poking |
||
|
Jowar |
Scattering |
||
|
Cotton |
Poking |
(h) There are many methods of sowing seeds depending upon the type of the crop. Some of the important methods are:
(i) Broadcasting or scattering: It involves the scattering of seeds over the prepared field by hand. Seeds such as wheat are sown by this method.
(ii) Transplanting: It involves the raising of seedlings in nurseries and then transplanting them in other field. Seeds such as rice, vegetables are sown by this method.
(iii) Planting: It involves the planting of vegetative parts such as root, stem or leaves of plants into the field that develop into a complete plant. For example, potato tubers and sets of sugarcane
(iv) Poking: It involves the sowing of seeds into the soil one by one. For example, pumpkins, bitter gourd seeds are sown by this method.
