Different crops and cultivation practices require different climatic conditions, temperature, photoperiod for their growth and completion of life cycle. There are some crops which are grown in rainy season (Kharif crops) while some others are grown during winter season (Rabi crops).

(a) A total of __________ nutrients are essential to plants.
Ans. 16.
(b) __________ and __________ are supplied by air to plants.
Ans. Carbon and Oxygen.
(c) __________ is supplied by water to plants.
Ans. Hydrogen.
(d) Soil supply __________ nutrients to plants.
Ans. 13.
(e) __________ nutrients are required in large quantity and called as __________.
Ans. Six, macronutrients.
(f) __________ nutrients are needed in small quantity for plants and are called __________.
Ans. seven, micronutrients

Compost— Compost formation is the process in which farm waste materials like livestock excreta, vegetable wastes, animal refuse, domestic waste, straw, eradicated weeds are decomposed and used as manure.

Vermicompost— The compost prepared from organic matter by using earthworm which hastens the process of decomposition.

(a) Green plants are decomposed in soil.
(b) Green plants are cultivated for preparing manure or crop plant parts are used.
(c) Plants are ploughed and mixed into the soil.
(d) After decomposition it becomes green manure.

Ans. (b) →(c) →(a) →(d)

Merits of Italian bee variety A. mellifera are—
(a) It stings less.
(b) It has high honey collection capacity.
(c) It stays in given bee-hive for long periods and breeds very well.

In agricultural practices, higher input gives higher yield. This means higher money input to raise the yield. Financial conditions of the farmers allows them to take up different farming practices and technologies. The farmer’s purchasing capacity for input decides cropping system and production practices.

Hybridisation refers to crossing between genetically dissimilar plants. It may be inter varietel, inter specific and inter generic. Two crops of good characters (desired character) are selected and crossed to obtain a new crop having desired characters of parental crops. This method of hybridisation improves crops with respect to yield, disease resistance, pest resistance etc.

(a) Vermicompost— Compost is a kind of manure which is rich in organic matter and nutrients. The compost prepared by using earthworms to hasten the process of decomposition of plants and animals refuse is called as Vermicompost.

(b) Green manure— The manure which is prepared by decomposing green plants in field itself is called green manure. For example — sun hemp is grown in fields, mulched by ploughing and allowed to decompose in field for the preparation of green manure.

(c) Bio fertilizer— Living organisms which are used as fertilizer to supply the nutrients to plants, are called as biofertilizers. For example, blue green algae, which fix nitrogen in soil, rice fields, are called as biofertilizer