1.4 Sowing

Submitted by superadmin on 6 May, 2023 - 20:45

NCERT Class 8 Science Textbook for Blind Students made Screen Readable by Dr T K Bansal.

Sowing is an important part of crop production. Before sowing, good quality, clean and healthy seeds of a good variety are selected. Farmers prefer to use seeds which give high yield.

Selection of Seeds

One day I saw my mother put some gram seeds in a vessel and pour some water on them. After a few minutes some seeds started to float on top. I wonder why some seeds float on water!

Activity 1.1

Take a beaker and fill half of it with water. Put a handful of wheat seeds and stir well. Wait for some time.

Are there seeds which float on water? Would those be lighter or heavier than those which sink? Why would they be lighter? Damaged seeds become hollow and are thus lighter. Therefore, they float on water.

This is a good method for separating good, healthy seeds from the damaged ones.

Before sowing, one of the important tasks is to know about the tools used for sowing seeds [Figure 1.2 (a), (b)].

Traditional tool :

The tool used traditionally for sowing seeds is shaped like a funnel [Figure 1.2 (a)]. The seeds are filled into the funnel, passed down through two or three pipes having sharp ends. These ends pierce into the soil and place seeds there.

Figure 1.2 A

This image is showing a traditional method of sowing, two men are on the field one is oprating buffalo Plough, and one is sowing behind

Seed drill :

Nowadays the seed drill [Figure 1.2 (b)] is used for sowing with the help of tractors. This sows the seeds uniformly at equal distance and depth. It ensures that seeds get covered by the soil after sowing. This protects seeds from being eaten by birds. Sowing by using a seed drill saves time and labour.

Figure 1.2 B

figure shows a iron frame which has C clamp under this which is helps to rope the field

There is a nursery near my school. I found that little plants were kept in small bags. Why are they kept like this?

Seeds of a few plants such as paddy are first grown in a nursery. When they grow into seedlings, they are transplanted to the field manually. Some forest plants and flowering plants are also grown in the nursery.

Appropriate distance between the seeds is necessary to avoid overcrowding of plants. This allows plants to get sufficient sunlight, nutrients and water from the soil. At times a few plants may have to be removed to prevent overcrowding.