Subject: Agricultural Science

Class: X

There will be one paper of two hours duration carrying 80 marks and Internal Assessment of 20 marks.

The paper will be divided into two sections, A and B.

Section A (Compulsory) will consist of questions requiring short answers and will cover the entire syllabus. There will be no choice of questions in this section.

Section B will consist of questions that will require detailed answers. There will be a choice of questions and candidates will be required to answer four questions from this section.

1. Agricultural Economics

(i) Contribution of agriculture to the national economy.

(ii) Food production, self-sufficiency in food grains production, agricultural productivity, the Green Revolution.

(iii) Land holdings, fragmentation and consolidation, land ceiling, common property and village lands, land reform.

(iv) Agricultural labour.

(v) Agricultural credit, crop insurance, role of institutions such as NABARD.

(vi) Subsistence farming, food grain production, cash crops, changing patterns of agricultural production in India, horticulture, food processing.

(vii) Problems faced by agriculture in India (with a discussion of their possible resolution).

2. In-depth study of Crop Production

(i) With reference to one locally grown cereal crop, the study of crop cultivation and production; recognition of the suitability of the crop to local environmental and soil conditions.

(ii) With reference to the cereal crop locally grown, study of the soil and climatic requirements; land preparation; sowing/planting/harvesting cycle; manure and fertilizers; prevention of pests, weeds and
diseases; maturity and storage of the cereal crop.

3. Agriculture and Energy

(i) Photosynthesis; food webs and energy flows; energy pyramid; trophic levels; pyramid of numbers; pyramid of biomass; biomass energy.

(ii) The energy cost of agriculture; differences of energy usage in traditional and technological agricultural practices.

(iii) Conventional energy sources for agriculture (thermal, hydroelectric and nuclear - all in the form of electricity; petroleum - as motor fuel); alternative energy sources (solar, biogas, gasohol, wind and geothermal energy).

4. Agricultural Technology

(i) Mechanisation in agriculture.

(ii) Hybridisation, genetic engineering, tissue culture, hydroponics, microtechnology (for  example, mushrooms, orchids), artificialecosystems (for example, on the moon).

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT

Suggested Project Work

1. The students should attempt to prepare a small piece of land and grow a suitable local crop on it.  They must document the process they used in growing the crop.

2. Test and study the effect of seed depth, spacing  and soil preparation on plant growth.

3. Field study of soil erosion or conservation in a local area near the school.

4. Laboratory growth of plants or tissue cultures.

EVALUATION

The assignments/project work is to be evaluated by the subject teacher and by an External Examiner. (The  External Examiner may be a teacher nominated by the Head of the school, who could be from the faculty,
but not teaching the subject in the section/class. For example, a teacher of Science of Class VIII may be deputed to be an External Examiner for Class X projects.)

The Internal Examiner and the External Examiner will assess the assignments independently.

Award of marks (20 Marks)

Subject Teacher (Internal Examiner) 10 marks

External Examiner 10 marks

The total marks obtained out of 20 are to be sent to the Council by the Head of the school.

The Head of the school will be responsible for the entry of marks on the mark sheets provided by the Council.

Courtesy: cisce.org