Class 8

Science
Chapter 1
Crop production and management

Q1. Difference between compost and green manure.

A1. The major difference between compost and green manure lies in their composition.

Adding compost to the soil enriches the soil with organic matter while green manure increases
the nitrogen level of the soil.

Q2. Difference between compost and fertilizers.

A2. The main difference between compost and fertilizer is :

Compost feeds the soil and fertilizer feeds the plants.

Q3. Difference between pesticides and weedicides.

A3. Pesticides: pesticides are useful to control insects and pest they are also helpful to protect plants
from fungi.

Weedicides: weedicides kill weeds that is the unwanted plant which grow along with the maincrop.

Q4. Difference between nitrification and denitrification.

A4. Nitrification: conversion of Dead decaying matter into Ammonia and then into nitrites and nitrates
by nitrifying microbes is called nitrification.

Denitrification: conversion of nitrites and nitrates from decaying organic matter into gaseous
nitrogen by denitrifying microbes is called denitrification.

Q5. Difference between crop and intercrop.

A5. Crop refers to a plant of a particular kind, grown on a large scale in a proportion of area, for
commercial purposes.

Intercrop: when two or more crops are cultivated simultaneously on the same piece of land, in a definite
pattern, it is called as intercropping.

Q6. List the tasks a farmer needs to perform for the cultivation of a crop?

A6. Farmer performs the following task for cultivation of a crop. These are also called agricultural
practices. It includes

A preparation of soil b) selection of seeds c) sowing of seeds d) improving soil fertility e) irrigation
f) wedding g) protection of crops h) harvesting i) storage of farm produce.

Q7. Name one plant each from a kharif crop, Rabi crop and the season in which each one of them is
sown and harvested?

A7. Kharif crop: these are rainy season crops. They are sown in June or July and are harvested in late
September or early October every year. Examples are paddy, millet, groundnut, cotton, soya bean etc.

Rabi crops: these are winter crops. Rabi crops are sown in the month of October or November and
are harvested in March or April every year. They include wheat, oat, Barley, mustard and some winter
vegetable crop such as potato, sweet potato, Pea etc.

Q8. What are the different foods which we get from animals?

A8. Milk, meat, flesh, seafood, eggs and honey.

Q9. List some animal sources of seafood.

A9. Food comes from animals such as prawn, crab, oyster, snail, squids and many others which are taken
as delicacies from sea. We got tons of fish from sea every day.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :

Q1. How do we separate healthy seeds from a mixture of seeds?

A1. The seeds are placed in a beaker half filled with water for 5 to 10 mins. Healthy seeds sink and
weak or insect eaten seed float on water. Water is drained out along with the week and damage
seeds. healthy seeds left after draining the water are used for sowing.

Q2. What is intercropping? Name of few crops cultivated as intercrops.

A2. Growing of a leguminous crop in between two crops is called intercropping. The most common goal
of intercropping is to produce a greater yield on a given piece of Land by making use of that would
otherwise not be utilised by a single crop.

Examples :chickpea and upland rice b) sweet potato with corn.

Q3. What is ‘Rotation of crops’?

A3. Soil is enriched with nutrients through crop rotation. Growing of leguminous crop in between two
cereal or vegetable crops is called rotation of crops.

Q4. Give the advantages and disadvantages of using chemical fertilizers for the cultivation of crop.

A4. Fertilizer is a natural or synthetic, chemical based substance containing one or more nutrients
essential for enhancement of plant growth and soil fertility.

Advantages : a) fertilizers are predictable and reliable.

b) it can be used in poor soil to make it fertile immediately.

 c) they add a sufficient amount of nutrients needed by the plant.

d) they are cheaper than organic fertilizers and easy to use.

e) allowed the growth of the same vegetable plants in the same area, eliminating the need
for crop rotation.

Disadvantages : a) they are highly soluble in water and go into groundwater without fully benefiting
the plant.

b) they encourage plant disease.

c) the acidity of chemical fertilizers adversely affect the soil PH.

d) continuous use of chemical fertilizers on soil depletes the soil of essential nutrients. .

Q5. Why should we make use of sprinklers on drip for irrigating cross instead of flood irrigation?

A5. When the fields are flooded with water from tubewell or Canal, too much of water goes waste in
flood irrigation. It is required only for paddy crop. For Judicious use of water, we should use sprinkler
system and drip system.

Sprinkler system is useful for sandy soil and uneven land where sufficient water is not available. Water is
sprinkled similar to rain from the revolving nozzles on the crops.

In drip system, water falls drop by drop near the roots of the plant. This technique minimises the
wastage of water.

Q6. What are the aims and objectives of animal husbandry?

A6. Animal husbandry is the science of taking care of the domestic animals regarding:

1. Safety, shelter, cleanliness and hygiene of animals

2. Proper feeding of the animals
3. Breeding and multiplication of animals.

OBJECTIVES:

1. To satisfy the need for food of the growing population.

2. To do proper management of the domestic animals.
3. To increase the production of milk, egg, meat, fish
4. To increase the standard of living of farmers.
5. To help a systematic disposal of animal waste and maintaining a healthy environment.

Q7. How do earthworms help the farmers?

A7. Earthworm are known as best decomposer. The former by-product after decomposing the plants
and animals waste which is called vermi compost . This is rich in nutrients and several enzymes which
are really beneficial for maintaining the soil and plant health.

1. Make the small holes in soil which provides oxygen to roots of the plants.
 2. During the decomposition earthworms released some amino acids which are helpful to fight the
disease in crops.
3. They improve the physical and chemical properties of soil.

Q8. How biological control on weeds is practiced?

A8. Some worms and insects have a special affinity to certain weeds with which they flourish well. They
eat, kill and eliminate the weeds, without harming the crop plants. Such worms and insects are cultured
to destroy weeds.

Q9. What is nitrogen fixation? List all the ways in which nitrogen fixation takes place in nature.

A9.. Conversion of Nitrogen into nitrites and nitrates by nitrogen fixing microbes, lightning and blue
green algae is called nitrogen fixation.

There are three ways:

1. By lightning
2. By bacterium azotobacter
3. By Blue green algae

Q10. Discuss the necessity of weeding. How this can be done?

A10. Weeds are undesirable plants. Growth of weeds is fast and they draw more nutrition from the soil
than the crop plants. It deprives the crop plants of their space and nutritional needs. Weeds also block
full sunlight and air from the crop plants. They should be removed well before they flower and bear seed
so that they are not able to multiply.

Weeding is done by:

1. Use of hands or manual

2. Use of trowel or khurpa
3. User of seed drill
4. Use of weedicides like 2,4-D
5. Biological control.

Q11. How do leguminous crops help in increasing soil fertility?

A11. A bacterium, rhizobium is present in the root nodules of leguminous plants. Rhizobium is capable
of absorbing Nitrogen and oxygen from the air and combines that two to form nitrogen oxide. This
nitrogen oxide enriches soil with nitrogenous mineral in a natural way. The roots of leguminous plant
left Behind in the soil continue to add nitrogen mineral to the soil. Another microorganism which is
capable of fixing air nitrogen is blue green algae which is common in paddy fields and other wet places.

Q12. What are the different ways in which a farmer draws groundwater for irrigation?

A11. There are different methods of using groundwater for irrigation:

Moat, rahat dhekli, Chain pump. Tubewell, sprinkler system, drip irrigation.

Flood irrigation is required only for paddy crop.

Q13. How and why did Human start practicing agriculture?

A13. Man was basically a food gatherer. When the weather got rough, man’s family had to eat stale
food or had to go without food. For improving that condition, man obtains his food from plants as well
as animals, he started cultivating crops and rearing animals.

Cultivation of food is called farming or agriculture. To meet the requirements of a large population, a
man had to arrange for regular production of food, farm management and distribution of farm produce.
This was the beginning of agriculture.