NCERT Solutions Curiosity Chapter 12 .9.2 How do healthy ecosystems serve our farms? — Activity 12.10: Let us survey

Keep the questions short, open, and about what the farmer actually does — not about what he or she thinks is correct. A good list to carry:

1. Which crops do you grow, and in which season?
2. Do you grow the same crop on the same field every year, or do you rotate crops?
3. Which fertilisers do you use — farmyard manure, compost, synthetic fertiliser? In what quantity?
4. Which pesticides do you spray, how many times in a season, and how do you decide when to spray?
5. What protection do you wear while spraying?
6. Do you use crop residue, cattle dung or kitchen waste to make compost?
7. Where does your irrigation water come from — canal, pond, or borewell? Has the water level changed?
8. Which birds, insects and earthworms do you see in your field now, compared with earlier?
9. What is your seed source — saved seed or bought each year?

Sample answer given by a farmer: "When I was young we sowed a mixture — bajra with moth bean — and we manured with cattle dung from our own animals. From about the 1990s I moved to a single crop, hybrid seed, urea and DAP, and a borewell, because the yield per bigha was higher and the market wanted one crop in quantity. Now I spray at least three times a season, which we never did earlier."

Reasons a farmer usually gives:

• higher yield and a better price for a single marketable crop;
• fewer cattle in the household, so less farmyard manure available;
• new seed varieties that respond to fertiliser;
• labour shortage, which pushed the shift to machines and chemicals.

Sample answer given by a farmer: "The crop greens up quickly after urea and the yield is good in the first years. But now I have to put more to get the same result. After spraying, the pest goes for a fortnight and comes back stronger, and the ladybird beetles and spiders that used to be in the crop are gone. There are fewer earthworms when I plough."

Effects to look for, and the reason behind each:

Sample answer given by a farmer: "The soil has become hard and pale. It takes more water than before and dries fast. Earlier the top layer was dark and crumbly and full of earthworms; now after rain the topsoil washes off into the drain."

Signs of falling soil health, and why each appears:

• Soil becomes hard and pale — the organic matter (humus) that helps bind soil particles has fallen.
• Topsoil washes away — without enough humus, soil becomes prone to erosion.
• Fewer earthworms and snails — heavy irrigation and repeated ploughing disturb these soil organisms, which are important for maintaining ecological balance.
• Water drains away or stands too long — a soil low in humus holds water badly.

Structure the report in four parts: (i) where and when you went and how many farmers you spoke to; (ii) a table of their answers; (iii) what most of them said in common; (iv) your inference.

Model inference: Synthetic fertilisers and pesticides have played a vital role in improving crop production and helped countries like India become food secure. But every farmer we met described the same slow change — more input needed for the same yield, pests returning stronger, fewer earthworms and pollinators, and topsoil washing away. So the gain came first and the cost came later, and the cost falls on the soil itself.

The inference that follows is the chapter's own: understanding ecosystems can help us adopt better and more sustainable farming practices. Some farmers we met are already trying organic and natural methods, which aim to reduce synthetic inputs and keep interference with natural ecosystems to a minimum.