NCERT Solutions for Class 5 EVS Chapter 19

Damjibhai was a farmer. He followed traditional methods of farming and used bullocks to plough the field. He stored the grains to be used as seeds

Every year good seeds were stored in dried gourd (lauki) which was coated with mud. But now Damjibhai made a strong wooden box to store seeds. He put different seeds in different compartments of the box and also put neem leaves in them to protect the seeds from insects.

Damjibhai and his cousins lived together. It was a large family. Everyone in the village helped each other, even in farming. When the crop was ready and harvested, everyone celebrated together with big feasts and lots to eat. That year there was a good bajra (millet) crop that is why there was festive mood in the village.

In the winter, it would be time to enjoy the undhiya which is a kind of stew. All the vegetables were
put into a clay pot, along with fresh spices. The pot was sealed and kept between hot coals. The vegetables cooked slowly in this special cooker on the fields. The pot was placed upside down. That is why the dish was called undhiya or “upside down” in Gujarati. Undhiya would be eaten with bajra rotis, freshly cooked on the chulha. Home-made butter, curd and buttermilk were served with it.

Plants like crotons give clear signal about the dryness of soil. These plants do not have very deep root and as the result they collect water from the first layer of the soil. When the soil gets dry these plants can’t suck water from the surrounding layers and tend to get dry. These plants provide the first signal that the soil has turned dry.

A Farmer grows different kinds of crops, grains and vegetables according to the season. They keep enough for their needs and sell the rest of the crops to the shopkeepers from the city. Some farmers also grew cotton. And then at home, the entire family would spin cotton on a charkha (spinning wheel) to make cloth.

Earth worms and termites helped to increase soil health. In the olden days, after the harvest, the top portion of the crop was used for human consumption, the middle portion was used as a feed for animals and the bottom portion went back to the soil and supported the growth of microorganisms, which made the soil fertile. The farmers also used methods like crop rotation and inter cropping to restore soil fertility. Mixed or inter cropping with legumes in cereal and oil seed cultivation were widely used practices.

Earthworms are known as farmers’ best friends because they help the farmers by improving the fertility of soil and thus the plant health. They help to increase the amount of air and water that gets into the soil. They break down the organic matter, like leaves and grass into things that plants can use. When they eat, they leave behind castings that are a very valuable type of fertilizer.

Fertilizers are the chemical substances that are supplied to the crops to increase their productivity. The fertilizers contain the essential nutrients required by the plants, including nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. They improve the water retention capacity of the soil and also increase its fertility.

Pesticides are the chemical substances that are meant to kill pests. The most commonly pesticides are:
• insecticides to kill insects,
• herbicides to kill weeds,
• rodenticides to kill rodents,
• fungicides to control fungi, mould, and mildew.

Organic fertilizers are the natural fertilizers that are obtained from plants and animals. Organic fertilizers increase the organic matter content of the soil, promote the reproduction of microorganisms, and change the physical and chemical properties of the soil. It is considered to be one of the main nutrients for green food.

Bajra and Jowar were the crops that were grown by the farmers. With the coming of the new technology, many changes occurred Bajra and jowar were soon replaced by the cotton crops and wheat as the farmers were getting good prices in the market for such crops.

Vermiculture is the artificial rearing or cultivation of earthworms and using them for the betterment of human beings. This artificial rearing of worms involves the decomposition of organic food wastes into nutrient-rich material.

A compost pit is the hole dug in the garden or park for dumping the biodegradable substances in it so that they decay and form manures and produce fertile substances for the soil.

A compost pit is important as it provides many essential nutrients for plant growth and therefore is often used as fertilizer. Compost also improves soil structure so that soil can easily hold the correct amount of moisture, nutrients and air.

It is not good for the soil to grow the same crop throughout the year because if the same crop is grown continuously throughout the year, then the soil loses its fertility. This happens because the plant drains the same nutrients from the soil every year. This leads to deficiency or depletion of the nutrients and soil infertility.

If the farmers were to use only one kind of seed and grow only one kind of crop there will be following problems:
• There will be no variety of foods.
• It will also harm the soil as the soil will lose its fertility.
• There will be a severe outbreak of diseases.
• The attack of insects on the plants will be more.
• Profit from agriculture will decrease every year.

Farming has become easier dur to the following ways-
• the use of scientific methods.
• the use of modern machines such as tractors, harvesters, thrashers and combines which has made the agriculture easy and time saving.
• Use of new and latest technology and methods of farming

Thresher is a machine that is used to separate grain from the crops by beating the cobs.

Irrigation is the process of providing water to the fields or crops artificially. It is a way to fulfil their water requirements. The various sources of water for irrigation are wells, ponds, lakes, canals, tube-wells and even dams. Irrigation provides water which is required for growth and development, germination of the plant.

Crop rotation is the practice of planting different crops in a series on the same plot of land to improve the soil health, enhance nutrients in the soil, and fight pest and weed pressure. A simple rotation involves two or three crops.

The role of the government in increased agricultural production is that it:
• provides them with funds (loans) to buy the fertilizers, seeds and machinery.
• provides them with irrigational facilities
• buys their production by giving them surplus income
• provides them with HYV seeds for more better production

The different ways through which the farmers get water for their crops through canals, tube wells, hand pumps, step wells, rivers, ponds etc.

Without cows and buffaloes, there was no cow dung, to be used in the fields as fertilizer. Hasmukh had to buy expensive fertilizer. The new kinds of seeds were such that the crops were easily affected by harmful insects. Medicines had to be sprayed on the crops to keep away the insects which had a bad smell and were too expensive.

Natural fertilizers are organic products that have been extracted from living things or from the earth while chemical or artificial fertilizers are manmade or mined, they add nutrients to the soil.
Natural fertilizers improve the texture of the soil and increase the amount of beneficial microorganisms.

Farmers in Andhra Pradesh have been sent to jail as they were not able to pay back their loans. They had suffered a big loss in farming.

A money lender is a person or a group who typically offers small personal loans at high rates of interest.

There are a variety of implements used in the modern scientific agriculture but the most basic implements used in Indian agriculture are: Khurpi, sickle, spade, pickage, desi plough

Pesticides are sprayed on the crops to control the various pests and disease carriers, such as mosquitoes, ticks, rats and mice. Pesticides are used in agriculture to control weeds, insect invasion and diseases.

The disadvantages of modern farming are as follows-
• Quality of the seed decreases due to the use of hybrid varieties.
• Growing same type of crops in the same field makes the soil infertile and poor in mineral contents.
• Causes air pollution due to spraying of insecticides.
• Food crops sprayed with insecticides cause threat to human life causing diseases.

The person puts dried leaves in the pit, along with all the kitchen waste, peels of vegetables and fruits like banana, roti and leftover food. All these things rot and mix with the soil. He also has earthworms in the pit. They turn the waste into compost which is a natural fertilizer.

The process of loosening and turning the soil is called ploughing (tilling). Before sowing the seeds, it is necessary to loosen and turn the soil in the fields as to break it to the size of the grains which is done with the help of three main implements or tools to plough are hoe and cultivator.

Sickle is a curved iron blade which was an agricultural tool. It was used for reaping cereal crops at harvest time. The handle was probably made of wood or bone.

The soil was no longer fertile. Moreover, growing the same crop over and over, and using so many chemicals, had affected the soil so much that now nothing could grow well there. As a result, it was becoming difficult to earn a living by farming alone.