Question

The practice of controlling water erosion by cultivation of alternate erosion permitting and erosion resistant crops is called as

• A. Mixed cropping
• B. Intercropping
• C. Strip cropping
• D. Relay cropping

Hint:

Think of a field divided into long bands where row crops and close growing crops alternate across the slope.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The question asks for the name of the soil conservation practice in which erosion permitting crops (row crops) are grown in alternate strips with erosion resisting crops (close growing crops) on sloping land.

Step 2: Key Concept:
On sloping or erosion prone fields, one way to slow down runoff and stop soil loss is to break the length of the slope into short segments using bands of different crops laid across the slope.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Mixed cropping means growing two or more crops together with no row arrangement, mainly to guard against total crop failure, and has nothing to do with erosion strips.
Intercropping means growing two or more crops together in a set row pattern mainly to use land, light and nutrients better, again without any rule about alternating erosion permitting and erosion resisting crops.
Relay cropping means sowing a second crop into a standing first crop before it is cut, so it is a timing based system, not a slope based one.
Strip cropping is defined exactly as growing erosion permitting row crops in alternate strips with erosion resisting close growing crops, usually across the slope, so each resistant strip slows and filters the runoff coming from the strip above it.

Step 4: Final Answer:
The correct term is strip cropping, option (3).