Which practice involves rotating fields from crop to crop each year to avoid exhausting the soil?

Study for the IGCSE Geography Agricultural Systems Test. Utilize flashcards and tackle multiple-choice questions that come with hints and detailed explanations. Get set for your exam with confidence!

Multiple Choice

Which practice involves rotating fields from crop to crop each year to avoid exhausting the soil?

Explanation:
Rotating crops across a field each year keeps soil nutrients balanced and helps prevent buildup or exhaustion of any one nutrient. Different crops use nutrients in different ways, and some, like legumes, can even add nitrogen back into the soil, boosting fertility for the next crop. It also disrupts pests and diseases that specialize in a single crop, reducing the need for extra inputs and maintaining yields over time. Leaving land fallow involves no crops for a period, which is about recovery rather than actively managing nutrients year by year. Growing the same crop across years (monoculture) drains the soil of the nutrients that particular crop needs. Subsistence farming describes farming to feed a family and doesn’t inherently address the nutrient management strategy of rotating crops.

Rotating crops across a field each year keeps soil nutrients balanced and helps prevent buildup or exhaustion of any one nutrient. Different crops use nutrients in different ways, and some, like legumes, can even add nitrogen back into the soil, boosting fertility for the next crop. It also disrupts pests and diseases that specialize in a single crop, reducing the need for extra inputs and maintaining yields over time.

Leaving land fallow involves no crops for a period, which is about recovery rather than actively managing nutrients year by year. Growing the same crop across years (monoculture) drains the soil of the nutrients that particular crop needs. Subsistence farming describes farming to feed a family and doesn’t inherently address the nutrient management strategy of rotating crops.

Subscribe

Get the latest from Examzify

You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our privacy policy