Question

Discuss two natural methods of manuring.

Accepted Answer

Plants require nutrients for growth. The nutrients get used up when land is cultivated for a long time. This causes the crop yield to start falling. Therefore, these nutrients need to replenished from time to time. Crop rotation, field fallow and mixed cropping are the three natural methods to add nutrients into the soil.

Crop rotation: In crop rotation method, farmers change their crops in each season. Each crop uses some nutrients more than others. Farmer's therefore, change their crop so that the soil is not depleted of any particular nutrient. For example, wheat or rice uses up large amounts of nitrogen from the soil. This can be naturally replenished, if next crop grown is that of a legume, like pea or groundnut. The nitrogen fixing bacteria, Rhizobium is found in the root nodules of leguminous plants.

Field fallow: It is allowing land to naturally regain the nutrients by leave it free for one or two seasons. In this method, the parts of plants, dead animals and other organic matter that collect on the land are decomposed by the action of microbes. Thus, nutrients are returned to the soil.

Mixed cropping is also a natural method of manuring in which two or more crops are cultivated in the same land during one growing season instead of just one crop.

A C Sehgal Solutions for Exercise 4: EXERCISES

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