Gce Model Questions Vol1 2018 Agricultural Science Question 5

Practice essay / theory question 5 from the 2018 Gce Model Questions Vol1 Agricultural Science examination. This question covers Crop Production .

Gce Model Questions Vol1 2018 Agricultural Science Essay / Theory
Topic: Crop Production
Question 5 GCE_MODEL_QUESTIONS_VOL1 • 2018 • AGRICULTURAL_SCIENCE • essay

A farmer has 2 hectares of land and intends to practice a three‑year crop rotation as follows: Year 1 – maize Year 2 – cowpea (a legume) Year 3 – wheat. Average grain yields are expected to be 5 t ha⁻¹ for maize, 2 t ha⁻¹ for cowpea and 4 t ha⁻¹ for wheat. Nitrogen (N) removal with the harvested grain is 25 kg N t⁻¹ for maize and 20 kg N t⁻¹ for wheat. Cowpea fixes 30 kg N ha⁻¹ into the soil during Year 2. The farmer applies synthetic N fertilizer at 120 kg ha⁻¹ in Year 1 and 100 kg ha⁻¹ in Year 3; no fertilizer is applied in Year 2.

Question Parts

( a )
Calculate the total amount of nitrogen removed from the soil by the harvested grain over the three‑year rotation (express the answer in kilograms of N for the whole 2‑ha farm).
( b )
Determine the net change in the soil nitrogen stock after the three years, taking into account fertilizer applications and the nitrogen fixed by the cowpea.
( c )
Discuss two agronomic benefits of including a leguminous crop such as cowpea in the rotation.

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About This Question

This is Gce Model Questions Vol1 2018 Agricultural Science Question 5. It is one of the essay questions from the 2018 Gce Model Questions Vol1 Agricultural Science examination.

The question covers Crop Production .

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