Growing of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field in a definite pattern is known as
- (a)mixed cropping
- (b)inter cropping
- (c)mixed farming
- (d)hybrid farming
Correct — B, inter cropping. Three words in the stem decide it: 'simultaneously', 'same field' and 'definite pattern'. Growing two crops together on one field at the same time covers both intercropping and mixed cropping; what separates them is the pattern. In intercropping the crops go in as set rows — one row of the second crop after every one, two or three rows of the first, and the ratio is planned in advance. In mixed cropping the seeds of the two crops are simply mixed and broadcast together, with no arrangement at all. Intercropping is done to raise yield from the same piece of land, and the two crops are chosen so that their demands differ — different rooting depths, different nutrient needs, different heights — and they can also be harvested and threshed separately. Soyabean with maize, and groundnut with sunflower, are the standard Indian examples.
- (a)mixed cropping — The closest wrong answer, and identical to the correct one except on the point the stem singles out. Mixed cropping sows the two crops together without any row arrangement, so the produce is also harvested mixed.
- (c)mixed farming — Mixed farming is not a cropping pattern at all. It means running crop cultivation and livestock on the same holding, so that the animals supply manure and draught and the crops supply fodder.
- (d)hybrid farming — Not a recognised term in the syllabus. Hybridisation is a plant-breeding method for combining desirable traits from two varieties; it says nothing about how crops are laid out in a field.
Multiple cropping means taking more than one crop from a field in the same year. Where the crops overlap in time on the same land, the pattern is either mixed cropping — seeds mixed and sown together — or intercropping, where each crop occupies its own rows in a planned ratio. Where the crops follow one another in sequence instead, the practice is crop rotation.
This is a definition item, and the examiner has written the deciding phrase into the stem rather than hiding it. 'In a definite pattern' rules out mixed cropping; if the paper had stopped at 'on the same field', mixed cropping would have been just as good an answer. That is not a hypothetical: the NDA paper of 2020 asked almost the same sentence without the pattern clause and keyed it to mixed cropping. Read the last clause before choosing. The two farming options are there to catch candidates who match on the word 'mixed' rather than on the idea.
- Intercropping grows two or more crops together on the same field in a definite row pattern, in ratios such as one row to two.
- Mixed cropping sows the seeds of both crops together with no row arrangement.
- Crops in an intercrop are chosen for differing nutrient demands, so both can be fed by the same field.
- Intercropped produce can be harvested and threshed separately; mixed-cropped produce cannot.
- Mixed farming combines crop production with livestock rearing on one holding — a farming system, not a cropping pattern.
Only the first two are simultaneous, and only the first has a pattern — which is the word the stem turns on.
- Skipping the phrase 'in a definite pattern', which is the only thing separating the answer from option (a).
- Matching mixed cropping to mixed farming because both start with the same word.
- Treating crop rotation as a form of intercropping — rotation is sequential, not simultaneous.
As a straight definition item, with the deciding clause about pattern or sequence buried in the stem.
Which one of the following terms describes the practice of growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land?
- (a) Crop rotation
- (b) Mixed cropping
- (c) Intercropping
- (d) Mixed farming
Answer(b) Mixed cropping
Nearly the same sentence with the deciding clause removed, and a different answer as a result. Where that paper asked only for two crops grown at once on one piece of land, the answer is mixed cropping; adding 'in a definite pattern' here moves it to intercropping.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Growing different crops on the same piece of land in successive seasons, in a planned sequence, is called
- (a)mixed cropping
- (b)intercropping
- (c)crop rotation
- (d)mixed farming
Answer(c) crop rotation — the crops follow one another in time rather than sharing the field in the same season.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is the chief reason for choosing crops with different nutrient requirements for an intercrop?
- (a)To make harvesting harder for pests
- (b)So that both crops can be fed by the nutrients of the same field
- (c)To reduce the need for sowing
- (d)To make the two crops ripen on the same day
Answer(b) So that both crops can be fed by the nutrients of the same field — differing demands mean the two crops compete less and the land supports both.