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Level 2 Question from Garden Planning
by Janet Prescott - Wednesday, 30 May 2018, 11:33 AM
 

R2113 Feb ‘17

 Q4a) Describe a four-bed system of crop rotation, with the use of a clearly labelled table.(4 marks)

b) State THREE benefits and THREE limitations of crop rotation.  (6 marks)

This question relates directly to 3.6 of the syllabus:


3.6 Describe a four-bed system of crop rotation.

To include an appropriate succession of plant groups over four years.

 

 Part a) requires a simple table to be drawn. An example of an answer for this would be: 

Bed

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

1

Brassicas

 

potatoes

roots

legumes

2

Potatoes

 

roots

legumes

brassicas

3

Roots

 

legumes

brassicas

potatoes

4

Legumes

 

brassicas

potatoes

roots

 

An important part of the order of crop rotation is to follow legumes which may add nitrogen to the soil with the heavy feeding brassicas. Onions are often included with the root crops. The table may be easier to fill in correctly if you write the crops in diagonally!

Part b) has the numbers of benefits and limitations typed in bold and italics to make it clear. It is a good idea to answer these types of questions using numbers or bullet points to check you have the correct number of points.

The examiner’s comments state that the following answers were acceptable: benefits and limitations:

‘Benefits

  •  Reduces/limits soil borne pests and diseases.
  •      Enables crops e.g. brassicas to benefit from nitrogen fixed by legumes.
  •  Enables specific soil preparation to be carried out for individual crops.
  •   Avoids a build-up of specific weeds.

Limitations

  • Difficult to include permanent crops.
  • Difficult to implement in small areas.
  •   Not effective for the control of long term soil borne pests and diseases e.g. eelworm and white rot of onion.
  • the same area of land may not be required for each crop.’

It is important to provide a heading for benefits and limitations, and to only include three points for each part.