NCERT Solutions Curiosity Chapter 12 .9.1 Human-made ecosystems / 12.9.2 How do healthy ecosystems serve our farms?

Q1.

Can you name any human made ecosystem in your area?

Answer

Yes — humans have created artificial ecosystems like fish ponds, farms, and parks to meet their needs. Around most schools you can find several:

the school garden and the kitchen garden;
an agricultural field, an orchard or a plantation;
a village fish pond or a tank used for irrigation;
a city park, a roadside avenue of trees, an aquarium.

Sample answer: the paddy field behind our school is a human-made ecosystem. Its biotic components are the paddy plants, weeds, frogs, spiders, dragonflies, earthworms and birds; its abiotic components are the water we let in, the soil, sunlight and temperature.

Why it happens: when well designed, these ecosystems can help reduce pollution, support biodiversity and provide recreational spaces. But unlike natural ecosystems, they need human care and management — because we choose what grows there, we have also taken on the job of keeping the balance that a natural ecosystem keeps by itself.

Q2.

How do these practices harm both the environment and human health?

Answer

The practices in question are the ones the chapter names as unsustainable: overuse of synthetic chemicals, excessive groundwater extraction, and growing only one type of crop for commercial gain. Each harms the farm itself before it harms anyone else.

Practice	What it does to the environment	What it does to health
Overuse of synthetic fertilisers	Reduces soil fertility by decreasing friendly microorganisms and lowering organic matter (humus); without humus the soil becomes prone to erosion	Excess chemicals run off into ponds and wells and enter drinking water
Overuse of pesticides	Kills natural predators as well as pests, so pest populations finally increase; some pests develop resistance and become hard to control	Residues reach us through food; farmers are exposed while spraying
Excessive groundwater extraction	Water table falls; wells and ponds dry, affecting the whole neighbourhood	Less safe water for drinking and for animals
Monoculture — one crop, repeatedly	Reduces biodiversity, affects pollinators, and degrades the soil	Less varied food, and a crop failure hits everything at once
Heavy irrigation and repeated ploughing	Disturbs soil organisms like earthworms and snails that maintain ecological balance	Poorer soil means poorer harvests over time

Why it happens: a farm is an ecosystem too. These practices work by removing organisms — microbes, earthworms, predatory beetles, pollinators — that were doing useful work for free. Once they are gone, the farmer has to do their work with machines and chemicals, which costs more and removes still more organisms. That is the loop that makes the practice unsustainable.

NCERT Solutions Curiosity Chapter 12 .9.1 Human-made ecosystems / 12.9.2 How do healthy ecosystems serve our farms? — In-text Questions