Introduction to Crop Production Test - 1

The correct answer is Wheat.

 Key Points

Rabi Season 

• It starts with the beginning of winter and continues till the beginning of summer (October-December to April-June).
• The Rabi crops include wheat, barley, gram, and oilseeds.
• Availability of precipitation during winter months due to the western temperate cyclones help in the success of these crops.

 Additional Information

• Jowar, Bajra, and Ragi are the important millets grown in India.
• Jowar, Bajra, and Tur are Kharif Crops.

The correct answer is Sesamum.

• Sesame is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum and in India, it is in smaller in numbers.                                                               
• Other species of Sesamum is S. Indicum.
• Sesamum is also known as Benne.
• The mustard plant is a plant species in the genera Brassica and Sinapis in the family Brassicaceae.

Additional Information

• Major crops are as follows-
  • Kharif Crops- Bajra, Jowar, Maize, Millet, Rice, and Soybean.
  • Rabi Crops- Barley, Gram, Rapeseed, Mustard, Oat, Wheat, and Bajra
  • Kharif Crops- Pumpkin, Cucumber and Bitter Gourd.

The correct answer is ​Arhar.

•  The pulse 'tur' is also known as Arhar or pigeon pea and is widely cultivated in all tropical and semitropical regions world.

Important Points

• The cultivation of the pigeon pea or tur dates back to at least 3,500 years.It is believed to be originated in India and from there it travelled to East Africa and West Africa.
• Pigeon pea or tur main legume crop of rainfed agriculture in the semiarid tropical regions.
• The pigeon pea or tur is promoted by International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) as a drought-resistant, nutritious alternative crop.
• The pigeon peas or tur is used both as a food crop (in form of dried peas, flour, or green vegetable peas) and a cover crop.
• The pigeon pea or tur is rich in protein.
• It is one of the most popular pulses, being main source of protein in a vegetarian diet.

The correct answer is Coffee.

• There are over 100 coffee species, but the main commercial varieties are Arabica, Robusta and to a lesser extent Liberica.
• Arabica, Robusta and Liberica are three common coffee beans used globally and they vary in flavour, price, body and caffeine content.
• Coffee is more than a beverage. It has evolved from an energising drink into an international phenomenon.
• When the coffee plant, and the beans it produced, was first discovered in Ethiopia in the 10th century.
• Its fame quickly spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula and by the 15th-century coffee cultivation and trade was soaring, particularly in Yemen.
• Coffee became wildly popular across Europe in the 17th century, with coffee houses springing up and quickly becoming centres of social activity in England, Austria, France, Holland and Germany.
• Coffee is cultivated in over 70 countries, with the largest producers being Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia and Ethiopia.
• Coffee beans vary in size, shape, colour and flavour depending on the region and the conditions in which they were grown.

Additional Information

The correct answer is Relay cropping.

• It refers to the planting of the succeeding crop before harvesting the preceding crop.
• The field is never left fallow or there is no gap at all between two successive crops, hence, relay cropping can also be called as overlapping cropping.
• Paira (Bihar and West Bengal) or Utera (M.P) cropping are the example of relay cropping.
• Examples: Rice –cauliflower – onion-summer gourd, maize-potato-wheat-moong.
• Advantages:
  • Less risk since yields does not depend on one crop alone.
  • Some diseases and insects appear to spread less rapidly under intercropping.
  • Better erosion control due to better ground cover.
  • Any legumes involved may add some nitrogen to the soil.
  • Better distribution of labour.

The correct answer is Rice.

• Rice is an important Kharif crop in India.
• Aman, Aus, and Boro are rice varieties. Rice is usually sown thrice.
  • Aman: This variety is sown in the rainy season (July-August) and harvested in winter. This is mainly produced.
  • Aus: Rice is sown in summer along with the pre-monsoonal showers and harvested in autumn. The quality of this rice is rough.
  • Boro: Rice is sown in winter and harvested in summer. This is also called spring rice.

Additional Information

• Based on the climatic conditions, crops in India are broadly classified into two categories:
  • Kharif crops
  • Rabi crops
• The Kharif cropping season starts with the onset of the Indian subcontinent’s monsoon.
  • Kharif cropping is known as Monsoon crops/ Autumn Crops.
  • Kharif crops require good rainfall. The output of these crops depends upon the time and amount of rainwater.
  • Paddy, maize, bajra, jowar are a few of the Kharif crops grown in India.
• Rabi crops are known as winter crops.
  • These crops require frequent irrigation because they are grown in dry areas.
  • Wheat, gram, barley are some of the rabi crops grown in India.

The correct answer is Field fallow.

• Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles.
• The goal is to allow the land to recover and store organic matter.
• To retain moisture and disrupting the lifecycles of pathogens by temporarily removing their hosts.
• Fallowing is also essential to biodiversity,which ensures the presence of predators which can control pests.
• It is a technique often used in crop rotation.

The correct answer is Wetland farming.

Key Points

Types of Farming

• On the basis of the main source of moisture for crops, the farming can be classified as irrigated and rainfed (barani).

• There is a difference in the nature of irrigated farming as well based on the objective of irrigation, i.e. protective or productive
• Rainfed farming is further classified on the basis of the adequacy of soil moisture during cropping season into dryland and wetland farming.
• In India, dryland farming is largely confined to regions having an annual rainfall of less than 75 cm.
• These regions grow hardy and drought-resistant crops such as ragi, bajra, moong, gram and guar (fodder crops) and practise various measures of soil moisture conservation and rainwater harvesting.
• In wetland farming, the rainfall is in excess of the soil moisture requirement of plants during the rainy season.
• Such regions may face flood and soil erosion hazards.
• These areas grow various water-intensive crops such as rice, jute and sugarcane and practise aquaculture in the freshwater bodies.
• Hence the correct answer is option 3. 

The correct answer is Maize.

Key Points

• Maize is a crop that is used both as food and fodder.
  • It is a Kharif crop that requires a temperature between 21°C to 27°C and grows well in old alluvial soil.
  • In some states like Bihar maize is grown in the rabi season also.
  • The use of modern inputs such as HYV seeds, fertilisers and irrigation have contributed to the increasing production of maize.
  • Major maize-producing states are Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Additional Information

• Kharif Crops: Paddy, Jowar, Bajra, Maize, Ragi, Arhar(Tur), Moong, Urad, Cotton, Groundnut, Sunflower Seed, Soybean Black, Sesamum, Nigerseed.
• Rabi crops: Wheat, Barley, Gram, Masur (Lentil), Rapeseed/Mustard, Safflower, Toria.
• Other Crops: Copra, De-Husked Coconut, Jute, Sugarcane.

The correct answer is Sulphur.

Key Points

• Mustard commonly known as Raya, rai or lahi is an important oilseed crop among the Brassica group of oilseeds.
• Sulphur is also an important nutrient and plays an
  important role in physiological functions like the synthesis of cysteine, methionine, chlorophyll and oil content of oilseed crops. Hence option 2 is correct.
• Nitrogen is the most important nutrient, which determines the growth of the mustard crop and increases the amount of protein and yield.
• Phosphorus and potash are known to be efficiently utilized in the presence of nitrogen.
• Phosphorus and potash promotes flowering, setting of siliqua and increases the size of siliqua and yield. 
• Brassica has the highest sulphur requirement owing to the presence of sulphur-rich glucosinolates.
• The oil content of the yellow mustard seeds ranges from 31- 37 % and 20-40 % protein.