EXCERCISES 1 Write the questions to these answers. It refers to the crop sequences and management techniques used on a particular agricultural field. It is the practice of growing only one crop in a piece of land, year after year. Farmers use chemicals to compensate the loss of nutrients. Changing crops each season or each year can have many benefits, including healthier soil and improved pest control. With crop rotation the types of crops are changed each season or each year. Because a faulty crop rotation may cause problems in the years to come. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 2 Use the words given below to complete some sentences about the advantages/disadvantages of cropping systems. biodiversity • fertility • interfere • less • market • nutrients • one • pest • structure • yield 3 Watch the video about crop rotation and fill in the gaps with the missing words. By choosing a conservation crop rotation, farmers grow ............................................... in the same area. Besides corn and soybeans, farmers can grow ................................................ Soil health is improved when adding diverse ................................................ Use of ............................................... is reduced in case of rotations with alfalfa and other legumes. Loss of ............................................... from the soil is due to corn and other grain crops. Crop rotation helps reduce ............................................... costs, too. Grass helps protect water supplies from being damaged by excess ............................................... and chemicals. Small grain crops may guarantee ............................................... control. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. IowaNRCS INSERIRE VIDEO: Conservation Choices practice Spotlight: Crop rotations posted by FOCUS An example of how monoculture can lead to disaster is the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s. The severity of this famine was mainly due to the lack of genetic variation in Irish Lumper potatoes, which were grown extensively and were extremely susceptible to blight (caused by ). IRISH POTATO FAMINE Phytopthora Infestans GLOSSARY : : : : cropping system sistema di coltivazione famine carestia monocropping monosuccessione profitability reddititivà