Neco 2021 Agricultural Science Question 1

Practice practical question 1 from the 2021 Neco Agricultural Science examination. This question covers Biodiversity assessment, Intercropping .

Neco 2021 Agricultural Science Practical

Topics: Biodiversity assessment Intercropping

Question 1 NECO • 2021 • AGRICULTURAL_SCIENCE • practical

A farmer wishes to evaluate the effect of intercropping maize with cowpea on insect biodiversity in a 0.5 ha field. He uses a sweep net to sample insects from five randomly selected 10 m × 10 m quadrats in the maize‑only section and five quadrats in the intercropped section. The total numbers of individuals of each insect species recorded from the ten quadrats are shown in the table below. | Species | Maize‑only (total individuals) | Intercropped (total individuals) | |---------|------------------------------|----------------------------------| | A | 30 | 20 | | B | 20 | 25 | | C | 15 | 20 | | D | 10 | 15 | | E | 5 | 10 | Using this data, answer the following:

Question Parts

( a )

Calculate the average species richness (average number of different species) per quadrat for the maize‑only section and for the intercropped section.

( b )

Using the pooled data for each section, compute the Shannon‑Wiener diversity index (H') for the maize‑only section and for the intercropped section. Use natural logarithms and give H' to two decimal places.

( c )

Based on the results obtained in (a) and (b), advise the farmer whether intercropping has increased insect biodiversity and give one practical recommendation to enhance the benefit.

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About This Question

This is Neco 2021 Agricultural Science Question 1. It is one of the practical questions from the 2021 Neco Agricultural Science examination.

The question covers Biodiversity assessment, Intercropping .

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