Question

Arjun’s father was growing a crop continuously in the same field for many years. He noticed the crops were getting infested by insects. This reduced the yield. Arjun suggested growing soybeans in five rows and maize in another five rows and following this same pattern throughout his one acre of land. Arjun’s father agreed to do so in hope of a better yield.
a) What is the given suggestion called?
b) On what basis crops are to be selected for such a practice?
c) What are the values noticed in Arjun?

Answer 1

Hint: For pests to take strong hold of a particular area, they need to remain undisturbed. With monoculture techniques, the ideal environment is maintained, and the pests don’t need to move in search of food.

Complete answer:
This practice that Arjun suggested is known as intercropping. To elaborate, this is the practice of growing different crops alongside each other on the same plot of land. By doing this, the health of the soil improves drastically as different crops have different nutritional requirements. Soil fertility and crop yield improve as well. This can involve only a couple of crops, or have several different crops being planted.

The choice of crops depends on what the farmer is trying to achieve. For instance, planting legumes like alfalfa will increase the amount of available nitrogen in the sol to support plants that need greater amounts of nitrogen. Another advantage of intercropping is that different crops are ready for harvest depending on their life cycle, and it is easy to harvest them separately.

Arjun appears to be an individual of foresight and intelligence. He is also obviously aware of different agricultural practices and how they can be used to advantage and is ready to try out these techniques.

Note:Crop rotation is another technique where crops are alternated on the same plot. This also helps control weeds, and increases the soil biodiversity. There is less dependence on pesticides which means that helpful insects can also thrive and assist the farmer in dealing with the pests.