Question

Why does a farmer plough his fields in summer?
a.To prevent alkalinity of the soil
b.To prevent acidity of the soil
c.To prevent the surface from becoming hard
d.To fertilize the soil

Answer 1

Hint: The technique of loosening and turning of the soil is called ploughing and it is done by using a tool called plough. The fundamental purpose of ploughing is to turn over the upper layer of the soil, giving rise to fresh nutrients to the soil, while burying weeds and the remains of prior crops and enabling them to break down.

Complete Answer: Ploughing involves loosening and digging of soil and has several advantages associated with it :
-During ploughing, the soil opens and the nutrients in deep soil come to the top.
-Aeration of soil will improve thus air is available for inhaling as roots are easily permeated between soil.

Ploughing can be done after the yield or after the first rains. After the harvest, at the outset of the dry season, the soil is not too hard, and one can start to plough fields. Then the first rains will fall on the already opened up soil.

In summer, due to breaking of a hard-crusted upper sheet of the soil and deep ploughing, the infiltration ability and permeability of the soil rises which results in increase in moisture conservation. This is the reason why farmers plough their field during summer.
Moreover, insects and pests slumber underneath the soil crust during the hot summer season, overturning of the soil in summer ploughing aids the rays of the sun to penetrate the soil and destroy the eggs, larvae and pupae of soil-borne insects and pests.

Hence, the correct answer is option 'c'.

Note: Ploughing by halai making is the technique which is most practised. It is the effortless method of ploughing. There are 3 modes of ploughing:
-Continuous ploughing method.
-Round and round ploughing.
-One way of ploughing.