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UNIVERSITATEA DEŞTIINŢE AGRICOLE

ŞI MEDICINĂ VETERINAR Ă

“ ION IONESCU DE LA BRAD “ IAŞ

I

FACULTATEA DE AGRICULTUR Ă Specializarea Agricultură

ÎNVĂŢĂMÂNT LA DISTANŢĂ

OLGA PÂNZARU

LIMBA ENGLEZĂ Vol. II

Iaşi 2011

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Cuv â nt înainte

Cursul de faţă este destinat studenţilor din anul II, specializarea

Agricultură, I.D. Cursul poate fi utilizat de oricine aflat deja la un nivel mediusau avansat de cunoaştere a limbii englezeşi care doreşte să-şi îmbunătăţească bagajul de cunoştinţe de specialitate.

Obiective generale:

Formareaşi dezvoltarea competenţelor de comunicare orală şi scrisă ale studenţilor (limbaj generalşi de specialitate)

Formareaşi dezvoltarea deprinderilor de studiu academic, informareşicomunicare de profil

Competenţe:1. cognitive: Consolidarea elementelor de construcţie a comunicării în limba

engleză însuşite în ciclurile deşcolaritate anterioare (elemente de fonetică,lexic, morfosintaxă, semantică, organizarea discursului);

Îmbogăţ irea cunoştinţelor de limba engleză cu elemente de construcţiea comunicării noi, cu accent pe: lexic de specialitate, organizareadiscursului profesional, texte din domeniul agronomic;

Identificarea, în mesaje oraleşi texte scrise de profil, a ideilor principaleşi a informaţiilor/detaliilor specifice,şi corelarea lor, în modcoerent, pentru a rezolva o sarcină de lucru;

Oferireaşi solicitarea, oral / în scris, de informaţii şi instrucţiuni clareşi precise pentru îndeplinirea unei sarcini de lucru

Prezentarea, oral / în scris, de descrieri clareşi detaliate, pe subiectelegate de domeniul de specializare

Susţinerea, cu argumente relevante, a unui punct de vedere în cadrulunei discuţii/dezbateri/ al unui schimb de mesaje scrise, pe teme despecialitate

Avansarea, oral sau în scris, a unor ipotezeşi formularea de r ăspunsuriadecvate la ipotezele emise de ceilalţi

Traducerea, oralşi / sau în scris, din limba engleză în limba maternă/din limba maternă în limba engleză a unor texte/ mesaje de dificultatemedieşi ridicată, din domeniile de interes.

2. profesionale: Completarea de formulareşi redactarea de texte funcţionale, cu respectarea

convenţiilor specifice Documentarea în literatura de specialitate Dobândirea unor cunoştinţe profesionale necesare desf ăşur ării unei

activităţ i în limba engleză în întreprinderi sau în alte organizaţii dindomeniul specializării

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3. afectiv-valorice: Pe parcursul studierii limbii engleze în ciclul universitar se va avea învedere cultivareaşi dezvoltarea la studenţi a următoarelor valorişiatitudini:

Manifestarea flexibilităţii în cadrul schimbului de ideişi încadrul lucrului în echipă în diferite situaţii de comunicare

Conştientizarea rolului limbii engleze ca mijloc de acces la piaţa munciişi la patrimoniul culturii universale Disponibilitatea pentru acceptarea diferenţelor şi pentru

manifestarea toleranţei prin abordarea critică a diferenţelor şi astereotipurilor culturale

Dezvoltarea interesului pentru descoperirea unor aspectesocio-culturale şi profesionale specifice, prin receptarea uneivarietăţi de texte în limba engleză

Derularea activităţilor

Lucrarea este împăr ţită în unităţ i. Fiecare unitate este structurată după o schemă comună şi conţine: • un text suport• explicarea termenilor de specialitate ( EXPLANATORY NOTES;

Words and Phrases)• activităţ i de învăţare/aprofundare (COMPREHENSION)• un test de autoevaluare (SELF-EVALUATION)• o lucrare de verificare/control din care o parte din exerciţii vor

constitui materia pentru evaluare (PROGRESS TEST; TESTPAPER)

• bibliografie

Cursul este structurat tematic. Activităţ ile vor fi parcurse în ordinea prezentării.Textele selecţionate din diverse tratate, manuale, cursurişi lucr ări dinliteratura de specialitate engleză şi română, au fost organizate după criterii aledisciplinelor de predare cu profil agricol pentru a facilita asimilarea firească aunor expresiişi cuvinte de uz curent. Fiecare text de specialitate, pe lângă cuvinteleşi expresiile englezeşti cu echivalentele lor din limba română este însoţitde un număr de exerciţii lexico – gramaticale care au drept scop fixareaelementelor de vocabularşi a noţiunilor de gramatică.O atenţie deosebită seacordă activităţilor de traducereşi retroversiune, considerându – se că acesteailustrază cel mai bine competenţa lingvistică a cursanţilor, iar exerciţiile creativesolicită opinii personale din partea cursanţilor privind problema abordată.

EvaluareaTematica evaluării semestriale va constitui o opţiune indicată de către

profesor a unor subiecteşi exerciţii prezentate la finalul fiecărei unităţ i sub titlulTest paper.

Media semestrială va fi constituită din:• 60% r ăspunsuri la colocviu•

15% activităţ i aplicative asistate• 25% lucrare de control Autoarea

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UNIT10 BIODIVERSITY………………………………………………………………... 71Exercises............................................................................................................... 73

UNIT 11EMPLOYMENT CORRESPONDENCE …………………………………….... 78

Exercises............................................................................................................... 89 BIBLIOGRAPHY MODULE IV ........................................................................ 91

BIBLIOGRAPHY (MODULE I-VIII).............................................................. 93

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healthy green colour. Another valuable nitrogenous fertilizer is urea, which ismade from ammonia and carbon dioxide, and contains 46 % nitrogen.

The most widely used phosphatic fertilizer, superphosphate, is made bytreating mineral phosphate with sulphuric acid. Phosphorous stimulates the

formation of a plant’s roots, and promotes fruit and seed production.Finally, wherever high crop yields are expected, potash is used together

with nitrogen and phosphorous. Potassium makes the plant tissues stronger. Thishelps the plant to withstand mechanical damage such as broken branches, and tornleaves. In this way the entry of disease bearing agents, or pathogens, such as bacteria and fungi, is prevented. Potassium is important for all plants but particularly so for those that produce oil and starch or sugars.

All plants are affected by the degree of acidity or alkalinity of the soil. Theless the nutrient supply, the more acid the soil becomes. Because mineral salts are basic, an acid soil has a low base content. Acidity makes some elementsunavailable to plants. If a soil is very acid, with a pH value of less than 5-0, limecan be added to correct this acidity. The main constituent of lime is calcium, animportant plant food. The presence of lime helps to make essential elements of plant food more easily available to plants. Nitrogen, phosphorous and potassiumare more easily available in a well-limed soil than in an acid soil.

Plant hormones and growth regulators

Plant hormones and growth regulators are chemicals that affect flowering;aging; root growth; distortion and killing of leaves, stems, and other parts; prevention or promotion of stem elongation; color enhancement of fruit; prevention of leafing and/or leaf fall; and many other conditions. Very small

concentrations of these substances produce major growth changes.Hormonesare produced naturally by plants, whileplant growth regulators are applied to plants by humans. Plant growth regulators may be synthetic compounds (e.g., IBA andCycocel) that mimic naturally occurring plant hormones, or they may be naturalhormones that were extracted from plant tissue (e.g., IAA). Appliedconcentrations of these substances usually are measured in parts per million (ppm)and in some cases parts per billion (ppb). These growth-regulating substances

most often are applied as a spray to foliage or as a liquid drench to soil around a plant's base. Generally, their effects are short lived, and they may need to bereapplied in order to achieve the desired effect. There are five groups of plant-

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growth-regulating compounds:auxin, gibberellin (GA), cytokinin, ethylene, andabscisic acid (ABA). For the most part, each group contains both naturallyoccurring hormones and synthetic substances.

Auxin causes several responses in plants:

• Bending toward a light source (phototropism)• Downward root growth in response to gravity (geotropism)• Promotion of apical dominance• Flower formation• Fruit set and growth• Formation of adventitious roots

Auxin is the active ingredient in most rooting compounds in whichcuttings are dipped during vegetative propagation.

Gibberellins stimulate cell division and elongation, break seed dormancy,and speed germination. The seeds of some species are difficult to germinate; youcan soak them in a GA solution to get them started.

Unlike other hormones,cytokinins are found in both plants and animals.They stimulate cell division and often are included in the sterile media used forgrowing plants from tissue culture. If a medium's mix of growth-regulatingcompounds is high in cytokinins and low in auxin, the tissue culture explant(small plant part) will produce numerous shoots. On the other hand, if the mix hasa high ratio of auxin to cytokinin, the explant will produce more roots. Cytokininsalso are used to delay aging and death (senescence).

Ethylene is unique in that it is found only in the gaseous form. It inducesripening, causes leaves to droop (epinasty) and drop (abscission), and promotessenescence. Plants often increase ethylene production in response to stress, andethylene often is found in high concentrations within cells at the end of a plant'slife. The increased ethylene in leaf tissue in the fall is part of the reason leaves falloff trees. Ethylene also is used to ripen fruit (e.g., green bananas).

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a general plant-growth inhibitor. It inducesdormancy and prevents seeds from germinating; causes abscission of leaves,

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fruits, and flowers; and causes stomata to close. High concentrations of ABA inguard cells during periods of drought stress probably play a role in stomatalclosure.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Words and Phrases

manure = îngr ăşă mânt natural, gunoi, bălegarto manure = a îngr ăşa pământulgreen manure = îngr ăşă mânt verde, îngr ăşă mânt sideralfarmyard manure = gunoi de grajd, bălegardung = balegă, bălegarlitter = aşternut de paie folosit în grajduriexcreta pl. (fiziol.) = excreţiileguminous crop = leguminoaseto plough = a ara, a să pa (brazdă)

EXERCISES

COMPREHENSION• Rewrite the following using other words and construction from the

text where possible.

a) A mixture of litter, solid excreta and urine improves the physical conditions ofthe soil and makes up for lost plant nutrients.

b) The most commonly used fertilizer which contains nitrogen is made bycombining ammonia with sulphuric acid.

c) When applied to the soil, the product which results from treating mineral phosphate with sulphuric acid promotes the production of fruit and seeds.

d) Broken branches and torn leaves allow pathogens such as bacteria and fungi toenter the plant and destroy it.

e) Essential elements of plant food are not readily available in a soil with a pHvalue of less than 5-0.

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SELF - EVALUATION

• Combine each pair of sentences into a single sentence. Change thesecond sentence into a relative clause and insert it into the first sentence at

the point indicated by the dots.

a) A leguminous crop ……………… will add as much nitrogen to the soil peracre as 3 to 10 tons of farmyard manure. A leguminous crop is ploughedunder

b) Solid excreta, or faeces, is the material ……………….. The material has passed through the animal without being digested.

c)

Ammonium sulphate ……………… is the most commonly used nitrogenousfertilizer. Ammonium sulphate supplies the soil with nitrogen and sulphur.

d) When crude salt is purified it is called muriate of potash …………………Muriate of potash contains 50-60 % K 2O

e) Another fertilizer ………………… is urea. This fertilizer contains nitrogen.f) A soil ……………….. will contain quite a high proportion of calcium. Such a

soil has a pH value of 6-5 or more.g) The roots of leguminous crops such as clover bear nodules …………………

The nodules contain bacteria ………...…….. These bacteria accumulatenitrogen from the air.

h) A compost is a mixture of partly broken down material ……………….. Thismaterial is usually made up of leaves or grass cuttings.

i) Fungi ………………. can be controlled by means of chemical substances………………Fungi attack the aerial parts of the crop, the leaves, stems etc. These chemicalsubstances are known as fungicides.

j) In addition to the method of disease control ……………….. there are othermethods of control ………………… Disease control attacks the diseaseorganism. These other methods are particularly important in crop production.

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☺ PROGRESS TEST

Translate into Romanian:Manure is added to the soil for several reasons. It improves the physical

condition of the soil. It also keeps up the level of humus in the soil, and maintainsthe best conditions for the activities of soil organisms. Finally, it makes up for the plant nutrients which have been removed by crops or lost by leaching and soilerosion. Green manure includes leguminous crops which grow quickly such asclover and lucerne. Such crops supply additional nitrogen as well as organicmatter. A leguminous crop which is ploughed under will add as much nitrogen tothe soil per acre as 3 to 10 tons of farmyard manure.

Compound fertilizers are multiple nutrient materials supplying two orthree plant nutrients simultaneously. Mixed fertilizers containing all the three principal nutrients (N, P and K) usually meet nutrient deficiencies in a more balanced manner and require less labour to apply them than straight fertilizersused separately.

Plant hormones, known as phytohormones, are chemicals that regulate a plant's growth. According to a standard animal definition, hormones are signal

molecules produced at specific locations, that occur in very low concentrations,and cause altered processes in target cells at other locations. Unlike animals, plants lack specific hormone-producing tissues or organs. Plant hormones areoften not transported to other parts of the plant and production is not limited tospecific locations. Plant hormones are chemicals that in small amounts promoteand influence the growth, development and differentiation of cells and tissues.Hormones are vital to plant growth; affecting processes in plants from flowering

to seed development, dormancy and germination. They regulate which tissuesgrow upwards and which grow downwards, leaf formation and stem growth, fruitdevelopment and ripening, as well as leaf abscission and even plant death.

TEST PAPERTranslate into English:

TERRAFERTIL este un îngr ăşă mânt 100% natural, mineral-organic,neavând în compoziţia sa nici un fel de conservant. Este un produs obţinut în urma prelucr ării la temperaturi înalte a composturilor animaliere. Materiile primefolosite sunt 100% de origine animală neavând în compoziţie nici un ingredient

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(plant-killing) chemicals. Another technique is to introduce insects that attackonly the unwanted plant and destroy it while leaving the crop plants unharmed.

The inadequacy of the cultural, mechanical, and biological controlsystems, however, stimulated the rapid development of chemical usage and since

World War II have had an impact on crop production,changing many cultural andmechanical agricultural operations.

Herbicides are formulated as wettable powders, granular materials,emulsions, and solutions. Any of them may be applied as a spot treatment, broadcast, placed in bands, or put directly on a specific plant part. Whenformulated as solutions or emulsions, the chemical is mixed with water or oil.

Spraying is the most common method, permitting extremely small

amounts to be applied uniformly because of dilution. Sprays can be accuratelydirected underneath growing plants, and calibration and rate control are easierwith spray machines than with granular applicators. Granular formulations haveadvantages under some conditions, however. The use of herbicides must beintegrated into the overall farm program because the optimum date andapplication rate depend on the crop stage, the weed stage, weather conditions, andother factors.

Careful use of herbicides in farm production lowers cost, resulting in amore economical product for the consumer. Herbicides cut the costs of raisingcotton, for example, by reducing labour requirements for weed control up to 60 percent. Herbicides replace hand labour in growing crops, labour that is no longeravailable in developed nations at costs the farmers can afford. Machines forchemical application are widely available.

Plant diseases controlPlant diseases are caused by organisms which use the crop plant as a

‘host’. These are mainly micro-organisms e.g. fungi, bacteria and viruses. These parasitic micro-organisms live off the food nutrients in the tissue cells of the plants. They frequently kill the host tissues, and either the whole plant or a part ofit is damaged and killed. Micro-organisms are reproduced and spread by minute bodies such as spores, fungi and bacteria. Wind, water, diseased plants, cuttingsand tubers, animals, men and insects are some of the means whereby disease is

disseminated.

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EXERCISES

COMPREHENSION

Rewrite th following using other words and constructions from the textwhere possible.

a) Weeds which grow quickly and spread far are difficult to get rid of. b) A way which is frequently advised to eradicate weeds which last a long time is

to plough first and then cultivate lightly.c) Plant diseases are spread in a variety of ways – by wind, water, animals, men

and insects, for instance.d) In order to control soil-borne diseases a chemical that easily change into a gas

or vapour can be injected into the soil under a polythene sheet.

SELF - EVALUATION

• Write down and complete the sentences by filling in the blanks with a

past participle modifier or a present participle modifier. Form each modifierfrom one of the verbs in the list.

fix spray lime operaterecommenddrive cultivate dust beardraw compose

Example: Leguminous plants have nitrogenfixing bacteria growing on theirroots, which extract nitrogen from the soil air, use what they need themselves, and pass on the rest to the host plant.

a) For carrying out heavy jobs which need a lot of power, such as ploughingor land reclamation, tractor ……………….. implements are superior inevery way to manually ………………. or bullock ………………..implements.

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b) Nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium are more easily available to plants ina well-……… soil than in a soil which has a low pH value and is thereforeacid.

c) Due to the fact that grasslands have diminished in many countries in recent

years ………………… fodder crops have become increasingly important, particularly for dairy cattle.

d) In the case of soil-……………. diseases where the fungus living in the soilattacks the seeds or seedlings, soil disinfectants or sterilizers such asformaldehyde or formasan are helpful in destroying the fungus.

e) One of the ………………. methods of eradicating the paddy stem borer isdipping the seedlings in 0-1 % DDT suspension before transplanting.

f)

As most vegetable crops are usually affected by a variety of fungus andvirus diseases and a number of insect pests, it is better for the farmer toequip himself with the necessary ……………… and ………………..machines.

g) ……………….. manure, or compost, can be made from different sorts ofwaste material including padi-straw, grass clippings, sugar-cane refuse,etc.

☺ PROGRESS TEST

Translate into Romanian:

Weed-killers are of two basic types: selective and non-selective. Theformer remove certain weeds from certain crops. Non-selective weed killers may be used for removing all vegetation e.g. as brush killers. They must be usedextremely carefully for the simple reason that they will eradicate all plants oncontact – which includes the crop itself. They are usually used before sowing or before the emergence of the crop itself.

The future of chemical pesticides and herbicides is under debate by thosewho manufacture, sell, and use them and by those who are concerned about

environmental quality. The value of an assured food and fibre supply atreasonable cost is undeniable, and chemicals contribute much toward this. These

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substances also cause undesirable effects upon the environment, however, andindeed can be toxic to a wide range of organisms. This fact will demand anincreasing amount of care in using chemicals, perhaps enforced by law, alongwith increasing use of nonchemical control techniques.

Plant disease may be defined as a condition in which the plant as a whole,or many part of it, does not perform its normal function. It may be brought about by a number of organisms which are all microscopic in size such as fungi, bacteria, viruses etc., or by physiological causes. These micro-organisms obtaintheir food in two ways: by breaking down dead plants or animal remains(saprophytes) or by attacking living plants and animals (parasites).

Fungi are micro-organisms that can be controlled by means of chemical

substances known as fungicides. There are many kinds of fungicide but they areall used by spraying or dusting them on to the plant surfaces. Bacteria aremicroscopic cellular organisms. They occur, like fungi, both in the air and in thesoil.Virus diseases are usually spread by direct contact, through diseased cuttingsand grafts and by insects. Virus diseases cannot be prevented or cured bychemicals. Thus, the use of disease-free seed is essential to reduce infection. To prevent the disease seeds should be planted early and close. Clean seed should beused and infected plants uprooted and burnt.

It is very difficult to kill fungi and bacteria and to inactivate virus once it isinside the host plant. Hence, the control of plant disease increasingly lies in preventing infection. The development of disease resistant varieties has, however,revolutionized methods of disease control. Nowadays, varieties of most of theeconomic crops which are resistant to certain important diseases are available tofarmers.

TEST PAPERTranslate into English :

La fel ca oameniişi animaleleşi plantele sufer ă de diverse boli. Apariţialor este adesea o consecinţă a condiţiilor nefavorabile în care sunt crescute. Încazul unei plante, boala este determinată de efectele adverse ale agenţilor patogeniinfecţioşi care se multiplică pe suprafaţa sau în interiorul unei plante, având potenţialul de a se extindeşi la alte plante. Agenţii patogenişi diver şi dăunători ai

plantelor (nematozii) pot deteriora orice parte a acestora determinând: defolierea,cloroza, oprirea creşterii, încetarea fotosintezei, leziuni, necrozeşi în final

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moartea plantei. Mult mai de temut decât atacul diver şilor dăunători, suntdiuversele boli transmise prin intermediul ciupercilor microscopice (bolilecriptogamice), bacteriilor (bacteriozele) sau virusurilor (virozele). Ele semanifestă prin diverse pete, decolor ări sau deformări care se extind rapid la

nivelul întregii plante.

UNIT 3

THE ORIGIN AND COMPOSITION OF SOIL

To properly grow into profit – making crops, plants require a certainenvironment. This environment can be divided into two parts: theundergroundenvironment in which thr roots live and grow, and theabove ground environment in which the visible part of the plant exists.

THE UNDERGROUND ENVIRONMENT

Although some plants require a more specialized undergroundenvironment, there are certain factors that affect the growth and development ofall plants. Themedium ( soil or soil substitute ) in which plants are grown is avery important factor. Through their roots which anchor them in the soil, plantstake in air moisture, and minerals – all vital to plant life. Many times, plant food isadded to the soil to encourage better growth.

Soil is a residue composed of two main ingredients: mineral material andorganic material. Organic material originates from dead plants and animals andmaterials other than this are derived from rocks of various kinds. These rocks are broken down into small particles by mechanical disintegration and chemicaldecomposition. This breaking down process, known asweathering , may thus be both physical and chemical.

When weathering processes are largely physical – by heat or wind, forinstance - the composition of the soil is very similar to that of the parent rock. Inarid regions weathering is mostly by physical means. But in humid regions

chemical processes of weathering are equally important. In such regions rock particles are affected by water which may contain carbonic or other weak acids.

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These acids dissolve some of the particles in the rocks. The mineral material thatis left behind is insoluble. Consequently, the insoluble mineral residues in thesoils have less resemblance to the original rocks. There are larger amounts oforganic matter in the soil, too.

The process of soil formation results in the development of the soil profile.This is made up of a succession of horizontal layers, or ‘horizons’, of varyingthickness, from the surface to the parent rock . Generally speaking, there are threedistinct horizons, known as A, B and C. A is the top soil, which is coarse-grained, and dark in colour because of the presence of humus. B is known as thesub-soil which contains some of the products leached, or washed, out of thehorizon. The C horizon consists of parent material which has been weathered in

the upper part, and unweathered rock below.Any sample of soil contains particles of different sizes. These have beendivided into the following size groups:

TABLE 1

Material Diameter (mm)

gravelcoarse sandfine sandsilt

clay

more than 2.02.0 – 0.20.2 – 0.020.02 – 0.002

less than 0.002

Soils range from pure clays to pure sands. Most of them contain various proportions of sand, silt and clay and these varying proportions make up a soil’stextural class. The principle classes in order of increasing fineness of material are

sand, loamy sand, loam, silt loam, silty clay loam, clay loam, silt and clay.

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Any soil contains both mineral and organic matter. Clay particles are themost important of the mineral particles because they are the smallest. Smallersized particles have a greater exposed surface area than larger sized particles. Thesmaller the size of a particle, the greater is its reactivity. That is to say, smaller

sized particles can react or combine with water, nutrients and humus more easilythan larger sized particles. Thus, a clay soil is more reactive than any other type ofsoil.

Humus from decomposed organic matter is vital to a soil as it makes aheavy soil lighter. In addition, it helps to bind the mineral particles together in‘crumbs’.

Types of Soils

Types of Soil: Clay

Clay soils contain very fine, flat particles which tend to stick together.They feel heavy and sticky and form a little ball when you rub a small amount between finger and thumb. A handful of damp clay will retain the impression ofyour fingers and may appear shiny on the surface.

Disadvantages: When wet they are sticky and hard to work, and when drythey set hard and crack. They are prone to waterlogging and tend to warm up laterin the spring than more open sandy soils.

Advantages: They are usually very rich in nutrients and their texture andworkability can be improved by adding grit and bulky, very well rotted, organicmatter. Improved clay soils will support quite a wide variety of plants.

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Types of Soil: Silt

Silty soils fall between clay and sand in terms of particle size, and feelsmooth, silky or soapy when rubbed between your fingers. They may form a fairly

cohesive ball in the palm of your hand although they cannot be moulded in thesame way as clay.

Disadvantages: When wet they tend to pack down and become heavy,cold and poorly drained rather like clay, although not to the same extent. Theywarm up quicker than clays but more slowly than sandy soils.

Advantages: They are generally quite fertile and will support a wide range

of plants.

Types of Soil: Sand

Sandy soils have a much larger particle size than clays and silts and feelquite gritty between your fingers. If you squeeze them when wet they don'tusually hold their shape.

Disadvantages: The larger particle size means they are very free drainingand tend to lose nutrients easily.

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Advantages: They are easy to work and warm up quickly in spring so youcan get your season off to a flying start. The texture and fertility can be improved by adding rich organic matter.

Types of Soil: Chalk

Chalk soils were described by Geoff Hamilton as 'pale and hungry looking'which sums them up really well! They feel dry and crumbly in your hand, areusually greyish white in colour, and contain fragments of white chalk.

A ball of chalky soil will collapse into fairly large particles.

Disadvantages: They tend to be very stony and shallow and will notsupport deep rooted plants. They are very free draining and lose nutrients easily.Importantly, these types of soil are also very alkaline and will not support acidloving plants.

Advantages: They can be improved with the addition of organic matterand are reasonably fertile. There is also a good range of lime tolerant plants.

Types of Soil: Peat

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Peat soils have a very high organic content so are very dark, almost black,in colour. In your hand they feel moist and spongy and are hard to roll into a ball.If you look closely you will see that they contain many fibrous plant remains.

Disadvantages: In general they easily become waterlogged and areusually acidic so you will not be able to grow lime loving plants. The acidity alsomeans that they support only a limited range of beneficial soil organisms.

Advantages: They are potentially very fertile and can be cultivated quiteintensively. The addition of lime to selected areas will enable you to grow fruitand vegetables. You can make the most of your ornamental garden by growing themany beautiful acid loving plants.

Types of Soil: Loam

In practice, most cultivated soils fall somewhere in between these broadcategories and are a blend of different particle sizes. These types of soil are knownas 'loams'. The main characteristics of these loams are those of the predominantmineral.

Disadvantages: Clay loams tend to be heavy and slow draining and are

difficult to work when wet. In very dry conditions they harden and form surfacecracks. Sandy loams, on the other hand, are free draining. They are quite easy towork but dry out easily and nutrients are quickly lost. Silty loams are prone tocompaction and tend to settle into a dense airless mass.

Advantages: The fact that loams contain a broader range of particle sizesmeans that they do not display the extreme characteristics and behaviour of, say, a pure clay or sandy soil, and are easier to work with.

http://www.enjoy-your-garden.con

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EXPLANATORY NOTES

Words and Phrases

weathering = alterare, ansamblu al schimărilor fizice, chimiceşi biologice, produse în roci sub influenţa agenţilor atmosferici, plantelorşi microorganismelor. parent rock = rocă mamă soil profile = profil de sollayer = strat, stratificaţiecoarse-grained

coarse = aspru, gros, de calitate inferioar ă, prostgrained = granulat, gr ăunţos, zgrunţuroscoarseness = asprime, microgranulaţieleach = 1. a filtra, 2. a trata cu leşieleaching = levigare, spălaresand = nisipsilt = nămol, mâl, aluviune

clay = argilă, lut, humă texture = textur ă loam = lut, pământ argilos, pământ rodnic, fertilcrumb = f ăr ămituri, f ărâme, fragmentehumus = humus, pământ vegetalsandy clay = argilă slabă, nisipoasă clay ground = sol argilos, pământ gleicgravel = pietriş prundiş silty clay = argilă pr ăfoasă clay loam = lut argilossilt loam = lut pr ăfos

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EXERCISES

COMPREHENSION

• Rewrite the following sentences replacing the words printed in italicswith expressions from the text which have the same meaning.

a) Material other than mineral material is derived from dead plants andanimals.

b) Breaking down rocks into small particles is performed mostly byheat orwind in arid and semi-arid regions.

c) The remains of mineral materials that cannot be dissolved in waterhavelittle similarity to the parent rocks in humid regions.

d) The succession of horizontal layersin a soil are called the top soil, thesubsoil and the parent material.

SELF – EVALUATIONMatch the terms on the left with their definitions on the right:

1.parent material a) a soil with well developed soil horizon produced by the natural processes of soilformation and essentially in equilibrium with its present environment

2.horizon b) the unconsolidated mineral material on theimmediate surface of the earth that serves as naturalmedium for the growth of land plants

3.soil c) a layer of soil or soil material approximately paralledto the land surface and differing from adjacentgenetically related layers in physical, chemical and biological properties or characteristics such as colour,structure, texture, consistency

4.top soil d) the science dealing with soils as natural resources onthe surface of the earth, including soil formation,classification, and mapping, and the physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils

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5.weathering e) the upper and most weathered part of the soil profile; the A and B horizons

6.mature soil f) the unconsolidated and more or less chemicallyweathered mineral or organic matter from which the

solum of soils is developed by pedogenic processes7.solum g) all physical and chemical changes produced in rocks, at

or near the earth’s surface, by atmospheric agents8.soil science h) the layer of soil removed in cultivation

☺ PROGRESS TEST

Translate into Romanian:The soil system is made up of mineral particles which are mixed withdecomposed organic matter. The top soil consists of this mixture, which is so vitalfor plant growth. Below the top soil is the sub-soil which is largely composed ofmineral matter. In addition to the mineral and organic matter, called the soilsolids, there are spaces between the soil particles which are taken up by water andair to make up the non-solid part of the soil.

Soil solids consist mainly of particles of various sizes. All particles between 0.002 mm and 0.02 mm are silt. Particles larger than 0.02 mm are sand particles, coarse sand and fine sand. Particles smaller than silt are clay particles.Clay is able to absorb a great deal of water owing to the amount of pore space between the particles. Sand does not have this property. Therefore, a soil whichcontains more clay is able to hold more water than a soil with less clay.

The mineral material in all soil is derived from parent material by the process of weathering which breaks down rocks into smaller particles bymechanical disintegration and chemical decomposition.


Pentru definirea texturii solului, particulele elementare de sol sunt grupate,în funcţie de mărimea lor, în mai multe categorii, denumite frac ţ iuni granulometrice. Principalele fracţiuni granulometrice sunt cele de nisip, prafşi

argilă. În funcţie de textur ă, solurile se împart în clase sau specii texturale, caresunt determinate de propor ţiile dintre fracţiunile granulometrice din sol, mai exact

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de suprafaţa specifică a solului. Clasele texturale sunt denumite după fracţiuneagranulometrică determinantă şi pot fi determinate, pe baza rezultatelor analizeigranulometrice, în funcţie de conţinutul în argilă şi praf al solului.

UNIT 4SOIL EROSION AND ITS CONTROL

Soil is naturally removed by the action of water or wind: such 'background'

(or 'geological') soil erosion has been occurring for some 450 million years, sincethe first land plants formed the first soil. Even before this, natural processesmoved loose rock, or regolith, off the Earth's surface, just as has happened on the planet Mars. In general, background erosion removes soil at roughly the same rateas soil is formed. But 'accelerated' soil erosion — loss of soil at a much faster ratethan it is formed — is a far more recent problem. It is always a result of mankind'sunwise actions, such as overgrazing or unsuitable cultivation practices. These

leave the land unprotected and vulnerable. Then, during times of erosive rainfallor windstorms, soil may be detached, transported, and (possibly travelling a longdistance) deposited.

Accelerated soil erosion by water or wind may affect both agriculturalareas and the natural environment, and is one of the most widespread of today'senvironmental problems. It has impacts which are both on-site (at the place wherethe soil is detached) and off-site (wherever the eroded soil ends up). More recentlystill, the use of powerful agricultural implements has, in some parts of the world,led to damaging amounts of soil moving downslope merely under the action ofgravity: this is so-called tillage erosion.Soil erosion is just one form of soildegradation. Other kinds of soil degradation include salinisation, nutrient loss, andcompaction.

The basic definition of the word “erosion” is to wear away. Since the earth

was first formed, there has been a continual wearing away of the surface. Manyagents are responsible, but the discussion here will be limited to cultivated fields.

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Erosion processes

Soil may be detached and moved bywater, wind , or tillage. These threehowever differ greatly in terms of:

• where and when they occur• what happens to the area that is being eroded (on-site impacts)• how far the eroded soil is moved, and• if the soil is moved away from the place where it was eroded, what

happens as a result (off-site impacts)

Erosion that takes place under natural conditions (i.e. when the land

surface and native vegetative cover have not been disturbed by human activities)is called natural orgeological erosion. On the other hand, when timberland iscleared or grassland is broken up, processes of erosion are accelerated, and wehave unnatural orsoil erosion. Whenever erosion is speeded up as a result ofhuman activities so that it removes all or part of the topsoil, we call the processsoil erosion. Geological erosion is a relatively slow process under manyconditions and soil formation may keep pace with the removal of the surface soil.

Soil erosion, on the contrary, is very rapid when environmental factors favorerosion.

TYPES OF WATER EROSION

Soil erosion by water is the result of rain detaching and transportingvulnerable soil, either directly by means of rainsplash or indirectly by rill andgylly erosion. Erosion by water may be divided into four categories: 1)splash, 2)sheet, 3) rill, and 4)gully.

Splash erosion

Rain may move soil directly: this is known as 'rainsplash erosion' (or just

'splash erosion'). Spash is only effective if the rain falls with sufficient intensity. Ifit does, then as the raindrops hit bare soil, their kinetic energy is able to detach

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and move soil particles a short distance. Because soil particles can only be moveda few centimetres at most by this process, its effects are solely on-site. Althoughconsiderable quantities of soil may be moved by rainsplash, it is all merelyredistributed back over the surface of the soil (on steep slopes, however, there will

be a modest net downslope movement of splashed soil). Thus a more descriptiveterm might be 'rainsplash redistribution'. Because rainsplash requires high rainfallintensities, it is most effective under convective rainstorms in the world’sequatorial regions. Rainsplash is relatively ineffective where rain falls with a lowintensity (e.g. because the rainfall is of frontal origin), such as in the north-west ofthe USA or in northern Europe.

Sheet erosion

Strictly speaking,sheet erosionrefers to the quite uniform removal of soilfrom the surface of an area in thin layers. For sheet erosion alone to occur it isnecessary that there be a smooth soil surface, which is seldom the case. Usually asoil surface that is designated “smooth” contains small depressions in which waterwill accumulate. Overflowing from these at the lowest point, the water cuts a tinychannel as it moves down the slope. Duplicated at innumerable points, this

process presently creates a surface cut a multitude of very shallow trenches thatare called rills. None of these may grow to appreciable size of depth, so thesurface soil is rather uniformly removed from the field. Accordingly, sheet erosionand rill erosion work hand in hand; the combined process is usually called sheeterosion, as distinguished from gully formation.

Rill and gully erosion

Although sheet erosion may pass unnoticed by the average observer,gullies attract immediate attention. Rainfall may move soil indirectly, by means ofrunoff in rills (small channels) or gullies (larger channels, too big to be removed by tillage). In many parts of the world, rill and gully erosion is the dominant formof water erosion. They disfigure the landscape and give the impression of landneglect and soil destruction. Not only do gullies result in soil loss but also, theeroded material is usually deposited over more fertile soil at the foot of the slope.

Also, fields dissected by gullies offer many problems in farming operation.Gullying proceeds by three processes: (1)waterfall erosion, (2)channel erosion,

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and (3)erosion caused by alternate freezing and thawing. Usually more thanone process is active in a gully In many cases, individual microrills becomeineffective over time due to sedimentation. A subset, however, grow further to become rills; and a smaller subset may go on to develop into gullies. This process

of ‘competition’ between microrills and rills leads to the self-organized formationof networks of erosional channels which form efficient pathways for the removalof water from hillslopes. It is in such erosional channels that water erosion alsooperates most effectively to detach and remove soil by its kinetic energy. In mostsituations erosion by concentrated flow is the main agent of erosion by water.

The flow-dominated erosional channels are separated by interrill areaswhere the dominant processes are rainsplash and diffuse overland flow; however, boundaries between rill and interrill areas are both ill-defined and constantlyshifting.

In some circumstancessubsurface flow may beimportant in determiningwhere channel erosion

will begin and develop(e.g. at the base of slopes,and in areas of very deepsoils such as tropicalsaprolites). Meltwaterfrom thawing snowoperates in a broadly

similar way to rain-derived overland flow,detaching andtransporting unfrozen soilin areas of concentrated flow. Snowmelt erosion is, though, less well studied andless well understood.

As erosional channels increase in size (i.e.grow to become large rills and

gullies), processes such as gravitational collapse of channel walls and headsincrease in importance. Runoff and sediment from rills and gullies may be moved

Large rills (possibly big enough to be called gullies) on an eroding hillslope.http:// home. staffworks.com

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into ditches, stream and rivers, and so transported well away from the point oforigin. However, sediment may also be deposited within the rill or gully, or beyond the rill or gully’s confines in a depositional fan, at locations where thegradient slackens. Here it may be stored for a variable period of time, possibly

being reworked by tillage activity, until a subsequent erosion event is of sufficientsize to re-erode the stored sediment. It may then be redeposited furtherdownstream, or make its way into a permanent watercourse and thence to lake orocean.

WIND EROSION

Is indirectly related to water conservation in that a lack of water leavesland barren and exposed to the wind. Wind erosion reaches its greatest extent insemiarid and arid regions. Nevertheless, much damage is caused to both crops andsoils in humid areas by soil blowing, although the phenomenon is less spectacularand attracts comparatively little attention in these regions.

Wind erosion involves the detachment, transportation and re-deposition of

soil particles by wind. Wind erosion is common on flat, bare areas with dry, sandysoils, or anywhere the soil is loose, dry, and finely granulated. Sandy soils arevery susceptible to erosion, however clay soils which have been pulverised by powered tillage implements or worked when they are too dry are also susceptibleto wind erosion.

• Most common on flat, bare areas with dry, sandy soils or soils with littlecohesion.

• Removes the nutrient rich clay particles and organic matter, leaving largerinert material behind.

• Wind detaches and transports soil particles according to size:o > 1 mm move by rolling (soil creep)o 0.1 – 1 mm move by saltation, caused by the collision by entrained

particleso < 0.1 mm detach into suspension.

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Prevention and ControlMost soils require at least 30 per cent ground cover to prevent wind

erosion. Vegetation and crop residues prevent wind erosion by reducing soildrying by evaporation, reducing wind speed at ground level and anchoring soil

particles. In crop areas methods such as stubble retention, direct drilling, herbicideweed control and chemical fallows reduce the risk and extent of wind erosion bymaintaining residue cover. In addition, crops with little ground cover can employcover crops of oats or lucerne may be grown through fallow periods to provideshort term protection.

Field shelterbelts can provide extra protection against wind erosion, theytend to reduce the wind velocity for distances up to 30 times the height of the

trees. Field shelter belts usually have yield or quality benefits which help to offsetyield losses associated with taking land out of crop production.Soils with a rougher surface are less prone to wind erosion due to the loweredwind speed at ground level. Surface roughness may be increased by eitherincorporating clays, maintaining residues or mulching.

In crop areas:

• Direct drill crops• Use herbicides as chemical fallows• Maintain crop residue cover• Grow cover crops during fallow• Maintain of soil organic matter• Cultivate at correct soil moisture• Grow field shelterbelts• Increase surface roughness through clay incorporation.

Cost of Wind Erosion

The cost of wind erosion to the economy and to the environment is large:it impacts on the site from which soil is removed, the air in which it is transportedand the sites at which it is deposited.

• Plant nutrients and organic matter are usually concentrated near the soilsurface, making it more fertile than the soil beneath. Wind erosion acts on

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the soil surface, so the more fertile soil layers are removed. Consequently,wind erosion is damaging to the soil itself, to the general environment andto agricultural productivity.

• Dust is the most visual aspect of wind erosion and dust also causes serious

health issues.• Deposited wind eroded material can bury pasture and crops, choke creeks,

overtop fences and deposit salt.

The cost of wind erosion includes:

• environmental degradation• threat to rare and endangered plants and animals• loss of production• loss of property value• loss of soil nutrients• loss of grazing and cropping area• sandblasting of crops• contamination of wool with sand• loss of aesthetic value

• reduction in air quality• human health issues

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Words and Phrases

erosion = eroziune, distrugere; roaderetimberland = pământ împădurit, pădureenvironmental factor = factor de mediusheet erosion = eroziune de suprafaţă rill = rigolă, râuleţ splash erosion = eroziune prin împroşcare

trench =şanţ, canalrill erosion = eroziune prinşiroire

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dredge = a dragagully erosion = eroziune în adâncimestrip = fâşiesmooth soil surface = suprafaţă netedă de sol

wind erosion = eroziune eoliană saltation = saltaţievegetable cover = covor vegetalsoil erodibility = erodabilitatea solului

EXERCISES

COMPREHENSIONAnswer the following questions:

1.What is natural or geological erosion?

2.What is unnatural or soil erosion?

3.Which types of water erosion do you know? 4.What does sheet erosion mean?5.Which are the three processes by which gullying proceeds?6.What does wind erosion involve?7.What does the cost of wind erosion include?

SELF - EVALUATION

• Match the terms on the left with their definitions on the right:

1. rill erosion a – the removal of a fairly uniform layer of soil fromthe land surface by runoff water.

2. sheet erosion b – an erosion process in which numerous smallchannels of only several inches in depth are formed;occurs mainly on recently cultivated soils.

3. creep erosion c – the spattering of small soil particles caused by

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the impact of raindrop on very wet soils.4. splash erosion d – slow mass movement of soil and soil material

down relatively steep slopes primarily under theinfluence of gravity, but facilitated by saturation

with water and by alternate freezing and thawing.☺ PROGRESS TEST


Wind erosion can be controlled (1) if the soil particles can be built up intoclusters or granules of too large a size to move in saltation; (2) if the wind velocitynear the soil surface can be reduced by ridging the land, by vegetable cover, or

even by developing a cloddy surface; and (3) by providing strips of stubble orother vegetative cover sufficient to catch and hold the particles moving insaltation.


Combaterea eroziunii soluluişi chimizarea agriculturii reclamă, de

asemenea, cunoaşterea amănunţită a proprietăţilor solurilorşi a r ăspândirii lor.Cercetările de sol ofer ă datele necesare stabilirii măsurilor celor mai potrivite pentru combatereaşi prevenirea eroziunii, nevoii de îngr ăşă minte, în funcţie decondiţiile naturaleşi de sol, măsurilor privind prevenireaşi combaterea poluăriisolului.

UNIT 5SOIL DRAINAGE AND IRRIGATION

DRAINAGE

Drainage in agriculture was first practiced in Egypt in 3000 B.C. (theFayyum Oasis). In 2000 B.C., clay drainage systems were used to drain arable

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lands in Mesopotamia, and stone drainage systems were used in the vineyards ofancient Rome. The coastal lowlands of the Netherlands have been drained sincethe ninth and tenth centuries. The first drainage systems using handmade ceramic pipes were built near Bosworth, England, in the 16th century. Open canals were

first used for drainage in Europe in the late 18th century. In the early 19th centurydrain tiles were used in Europe, and by the end of the century, in the UnitedStates.

One meaning of drainage is the natural ability of the soil to allow adownward movement of water. The ease with which water can pass through a soildepends on the proportions in it of coarse and fine particles such as sand and clay.The finer the particles become, the more slowly the water percolates, or passes,

through the soil. So heavy soils such as clay are more impermeable than lightsoils.When there is too much water in the soil, some of it must be drained off.

This is the other meaning of drainage : the removal of excess water from the soil by ditching or tiling, (subsurface drainage). This is done in order to maintain acorrect balance of air and water in the soil. Good drainage makes a soil easier towork. It also helps to increase the feeding area of the soil for the roots of plants.Another advantage is that a well-drained soil will have enough air for aerobic bacteria to break down humus and so provide food for the plant.

Ditching is one of the most important techniques for draining land. Ditchescan be cut at certain intervals between the crops. These will remove surface water.They should be wide and straight, with sloping sides, and they should be regularlycleaned. Another important technique is tile drainage. Porous drainage tiles may be laid in or on the land and these will help to draw off the surplus water. Thedistance between the drains will depend on the level of the land, the permeabilityof the soil, and the amount of rainfall. For very heavy soils mole drainage can beused. This technique is used where water accumulates underground. A tunnel is bored about 3 inches in diameter through the earth at a depth of about 2 feet.

Signs Indicating the Necessity for Drainage :

• Soils have a wet and spongy surface.• Plants have a withered and sickly appearance and are bleached a

yellowish colour.

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IRRIGATION

Effective agronomic practices are essential components of irrigatedsystems. Management of the soil fertility, cropping selection and rotation, and

pest control may make as much incremental difference in yield as the irrigationwater itself. Irrigation implies drainage, soil reclamation, and erosion control.When any of these factors are ignored through either a lack of understanding or planning, agricultural productivity will decline. History is absolutely certain onthis point.

Where and when water is in short supply, irrigation is needed to make upthe deficit. We should distinguish between the collection of water and itsapplication. There are two main sources of irrigation water :surface water andground water. The former may be obtained from rivers, lakes or reservoirs, andthe latter is provided by underground water deposits. Irrigation from rivers ismainly along canals from dams which have been built across the rivers. The watercollects behind the dam during the wet season. And it is applied in the fields laterduring the dry season. Subterranean water is obtained by digging or drilling awell. In either case it is necessary to lift the water before it can be used for

irrigation.

The amount of water which is required for irrigation depends on a numberof factors. It depends, firstly, on the type of soil, and the deficit in the soil. By thiswe mean the amount of water which is needed to bring the soil to full capacity. Italso depends on the type of crop, the stage of growth of the crop and the amountwhich it will use at the particular time. The irrigation requirement of a crop is not

the same throughout its growing period. Most plants require larger quantities ofwater during the later stages than in the earlier stages. Choice of the variousmethods of applying irrigation water is influenced by: seasonal rainfall, slope andgeneral nature of the soil surface, supply of water and how it is delivered, croprotation, and permeability to water of the soil and subsoil. The methods ofdistributing water can be classified as surface, subsurface, sprinkler, and drip ortrickle.

Surface irrigation distributes water down rows or into basins and similarareas that are surrounded by ridges or dikes. Flooding of basins and similar areasis used for pastures, orchards, and the like. Crops commonly irrigated by furrow

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irrigation include row crops such as potatoes, sugar beets, corn grain sorghum,cotton, vegetables, and fruit trees. Furrows are made across the field, leadingdown the slope.

Furrow irrigation. Special furrow systems enhance water management.

Wide-spaced furrows work like alternative-row irrigation, except that every row isirrigated and the rows are further apart.

Subirrigation is irrigation by water movement upward from a free watersurface some distance below the soil surface. In arid regions where almost all ofthe water used to grow crops is from irrigation, subirrigation would cause serioussalt accumulation problems in the upper part of the soil. Subirrigation works bestwhere natural rainfall removes any salts may that accumulate.

Sprinkler irrigation. Everyone is familiar with the sprinklers used towater or irrigate lawns. Sprinkler systems are versatile and have specialadvantages where high infiltration rates or topography prevents proper leveling ofthe land for surface distribution of water. The rate of application can also becarefully controlled. Sprinkler irrigation modifies the plant environment bycompletely wetting the soil and leaves. Reductions in relative humidity andtemperature reduce water stress in plants. The high specific heat of water makessprinkling an effective means to reduce frost hazard.

“Hand Move” portable sprinkler system

http:// home. staffworks.com

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EXERCISES

COMPREHENSION• Rewrite the following sentences replacing the words printed in italics

with expressions from the text which have the same meaning.

a) Water passes through the soil quickly when theease with which watercan pass through the soil is high.

b) Removing excess water from the soil helps to increase the feeding area ofthe soil for the plant roots.

c) Laying porous drainage tiles on the land helps to remove surplus surfacewater.

d) Water from rivers, lakes or reservoirsmay have to be transported alongcanals a long distance to the fields, whereaswater from undergrounddepositslifted from a well may be close to the crops.

e) How much water a crop requires from irrigation depends partly onthe shortage of waterin the soil.

SELF – EVALUATION

• Complete and then translate into Romanian the following text byfilling in the blank spaces. Some of the expressions you will requireare given below. A dotted line …………… requires a phrase to beadded, and a straight line ____________ requires a word.

digging or drilling provided lenghtget rid of obtained drained

tube-bored function type of cropmust be

Where and when water is in short supply ___________ is needed in orderto make up for natural rainfall. There are two main sources of ___________

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water: surface water and …………………………. Surface water is ____________ by the flowing waters of rivers or is ___________ from the stillwater of tanks, ponds or artificial ___________. Subterranean water is tapped by……………………… wells. Wells may be shallow wells which have been dug by

hand or ____________ wells which have been __________. In either case water……………………………… lifted before it can be used for ____________.

For a given type of soil the amount of water which is required varies withthe …………………………. –the plant, its physiological make-up and the ____________ of the growing season.

Where and when there is too much water in the soil some of it must be _________off. Thus, __________ and __________ are alike two faces of a coin.

While the purpose of irrigation is to arrange for sufficient____________in the soilfor satisfactory ……………………….., the ____________ of drainage is toremove ____________ moisturefrom the root-zone. To avoid an excess of moisture, care must be taken to………………..any collection of water either above or below ground surface. There are threemethods of doing _____________: by ditching, by laying……………………..………...and by using …………………………………….

☺ PROGRESS TEST

Translate into Romanian :

Drainage is the prevention or elimination of the unfavorable effects of

water in human economic activity. Drainage is most important for agriculture,where the removal of excess water from the soil root zone is a type of landreclamation that makes it possible to till new lands and increase productivity.Drainage involves hydraulic engineering methods, agricultural techniques, andmanagement measures based on hydraulic engineering methods of controlledremoval of water from the soil root zone. Drainage improves soil moisture andventilation, accelerates the thawing and drying of the soil in the spring, and

promotes the development of beneficial microflora and the growth of crops.

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Irrigated agriculture faces a number of difficult problems in the future.One of the major concerns is the generally poor efficiency with which waterresources have been used for irrigation. A relatively safe estimate is that 40 percent or more of the water diverted for irrigation is wasted at the farm levelthrough either deep percolation or surface runoff. These losses may not be lostwhen one views water use in the regional context, since return flows become partof the usable resource elsewhere. However, these losses often represent foregoneopportunities for water because they delay the arrival of water at downstreamdiversions and because they almost universally produce poorer quality water. Oneof the more evident problems in the future is the growth of alternative demandsfor water such as urban and industrial needs. These uses place a higher value onwater resources and therefore tend to focus attention on wasteful practices.Irrigation science in the future will undoubtedly face the problem of maximizingefficiency.

TEST PAPER

Translate into English : Drenajul, ca proprietate a solului, poate fi considerat, într-o anumită

măsur ă, ca o rezultantă a proprietăţ ilor hidrofizice ale solului. Prin drenaj seînţelege posibilitatea îndepărtării excesului de apă din sol. Se deosebeşte drenajulextern, drenajul internşi drenajul natural sau global.

Translate into English:

IRIGAŢII PRIN PICURARE : AVANTAJE

Printre avantajele irigaţiilor prin picurare enumer ăm:

• preţ extrem de scăzut pe metru liniar;• ridicarea randamentului culturilor;• producţie de mai bună calitate;• economie de apă şi energie;• economie de îngr ăşă minteşi tratamente chimice;

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• mai puţine buruieni în zona de cultur ă şi evitarea apariţiei de soluricompacte;

• zona de pământ uscat între rîndurile de plante ce permite un acces permanent în zona cultivată’

http: //www.listpicurare.ro

UNIT 6

TILLAGETillage is the practice of working the soil with implements in order to get

conditions favourable to the growth of crops. It is the least lasting of soilimprovements but is very important and depends on skill which comes by practiceand experience. The main consideration in cultivation is the nature of the soil, itstexture or structure, and whether it requires opening or consolidation .

Tillage is the manipulation of the soil into a desired condition bymechanical means; tools are employed to achieve some desired effect (such as pulverization, cutting, or movement). Soil is tilled to change its structure, to killweeds, and to manage crop residues. Soil-structure modification is often necessaryto facilitate the intake, storage, and transmission of water and to provide a goodenvironment for seeds and roots. Elimination of weeds is important, because theycompete for water, nutrients, and light. Crop residues on the surface must bemanaged in order to provide conditions suitable for seeding and cultivating a crop.

Generally speaking, if the size of the soil aggregates or particles issatisfactory, preparation of the seedbed will consist only of removing weeds andthe management of residues. Unfortunately, the practices associated with planting,cultivating, and harvesting usually cause destruction of soil structure. This leaves preparation of the seedbed as the best opportunity to create desirable structure, inwhich large and stable pores extend from the soil surface to the water table ordrains, ensuring rapid infiltration and drainage of excess or free water and promoting aeration of the subsoil. When these large pores are interspersed withsmall ones, the soil will retain and store moisture also.

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Seedbed-preparation procedures depend on soil texture and the desiredchange in size of aggregates. In soils of coarse texture, tillage will increaseaggregate size, provided it is done when only the small pores are just filled withwater; tillage at other than this ideal moisture will make for smaller aggregates.

By contrast, fine-textured soils form clods; these require breakage into smallerunits by weathering or by machines. If too wet or too dry, the power requirementsfor shattering dry clods or cutting wet ones are prohibitive when using tillagealone. Thus, the farmer usually attempts tillage of such soils only after a slow rainhas moistened the clods and made them friable.

Some soils require deepening of the root zone to permit increased rate ofwater intake and improved storage. Unfavourable aeration in zones of poor

drainage also limits root development and inhibits use of water in the subsoil.Tillage, particularly conventional plowing, may create a hardpan, or plow sole;that is, a compacted layer just below the zone disturbed by tillage. Such layers aremore prevalent with increasing levels of mechanization; they reduce crop yieldsand must be shattered, allowing water to be stored in and below the shattered zonefor later crops.

Tillages are of two classes: (1) preparing the soil for crops; (2) keeping thesoil in condition after the crop has been put in. The object of the first operation isto refine and deepen the soil for root development; to cause the soil to dry out onthe surface and warm it for the germination of the seed, and to increase the water-holding power of the soil. In the second case, the object of tillage is to control soilmoisture, keep down the weeds and consolidate the soil.

Tillages are all operations of a mechanical nature. The complete objects oftillage are: (a) the production of a suitable tilth or soil structure; (b) the control ofsoil moisture, aeration and temperature; (c) the destruction of weeds; (d) thedestruction or control of soil pests; (e) burying or clearing rubbish and the mixingof manures in the soil.

THE PRODUCTION OF TILTH. Some crops require a very fine seed bed, while others do best where there are clods. In preparing seedbeds, ploughingis usual, but not always the first operation. The plough cuts the soil intorectangular slices or furrows so that the rubbish is buried and the soil surface isexposed in a rough condition to the weather.There may be a long interval before

the next operation, but later on the land is cultivated by grubber, cultivator,

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harrow,discs, or rollers to give the desired tilth. Very often many implements haveto be used before the desired result is obtained.

CONTROL OF MOISTURE, AERATION AND TEMPERATURE. Soiltemperature and aeration are closely associated with soil moisture and the

conditions of cultivation most suitable for supply of soil moisture are thecultivations which give most suitable conditions of air and temperature.

DESTRUCTION OF WEEDS . Annual weeds can be killed by completely burying or by dragging them out and leaving the roots exposed to dry weather.Most weeds are easily destroyed in the seedling stage and one object of tillage isto create soil condition which will make weed seeds germinate so that theseedlings may be destroyed by further cultivation.

THE CONTROL OF SOIL PESTS. Various soil tillages may bring peststo the surface and expose them to the attack of the birds, and some tillages (e.g.rolling) may crush pests, but generally speaking, conditions of cultivation whichfavour the growth of healthy crops are against conditions which favour insect pests.

BURYING RUBBISH AND MIXING MANURE IN THE SOIL . The plough is normally used for burying the remains of plants, rubbish and dung, andone of the chief requirements of good ploughing is that all vegetation should becovered by soil.Cultivators and harrows are often used for mixing fertilizer withthe soil before the crop is sown.Sometimes drills and planting machines place thefertilizers in bands close to the crop.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Words and Phrases

implement = s. (agr.) unealtă, obiect, articol; mijloc, instrumenttillage = s. (agr.) lucrarea soluluitilth = s. (agr.) condiţie fizică caracteristica solului bine lucratto puddle = vt. a bătători (solul în stare umedă )seedbed = s. pat germinativseedling stage = în stadiu de r ăsad

clod = s. bulgăre, bucată (de pamânt sau lut) plough = s. plug

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ploughing = s. ar ătur ă furrow = s. (agr.) brazdă; cută; f ăgaş; urmă de roată grubber = s. (agr.) plug de desţelenit; să păligă pentru scosul r ădăcinilorcultivator = s. cultivator

harrow = s. grapă disc plough = plug cu discurichisel plough = cultivator pentru pregătirea soluluiseeding plough = plug semănătoareseeding machine = semănătoareto drag = v. a trage cu putere; a scoate tr ăgând

EXERCISES

COMPREHENSION• Choose the proper term

1. A roller is used to break up the (clods, ridges) and compact theseedbed.

2. A (seedling, legume) is a crop sometimes used as green manure.3. A ( roller, harrow) is an implement used to compact soil.4. A (ridge, furrow) is a small ditch brtween two (furrows,ridges)

SELF – EVALUATION

• Match the terms on the left with their definitions on the right:

a. saltatation 1. breaking into tiny particles b.fallowing 2. making small hollows to catch waterc. strip farming 3.the blowing of soil particlesd. pulverizing 4. a pile of material made by the winde. erode 5. leaving unplanted,but cultivatedf. precipitation 6. saving or protecting something

g. drought 7. rain or snowh. basin listing 8. wear away

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i. conservation 9. lack of moisture j. drift 10. planting different crops in strips side

by side

☺ PROGRESS TEST


Tilling is used to remove weeds, shape the soil into rows for crop plants andfurrows for irrigation. This leads to unfavorable effects, like soil compaction; lossof organic matter; degradation of soil aggregates; death or disruption of soilmicrobes and other organisms including mycorrhiza, arthropods, and earthworms;and soil erosion where topsoil is blown or washed away. No-till farming avoidsthese effects by excluding the use of tillage. With this way of farming, cropresidues or other organic amenities are retained on the soil surface and

sowing/fertilizing is done with minimal soil disturbance. Continuous no-till needsto be managed very differently in order to keep or increase yield on the field.Residue, weeds, equipment, crop rotations, water, disease, pests, and fertilizermanagement are just some of the many details of farming that change whenswitching to no-till.

TEST PAPER

Translate into English:Lucr ările care se aplică solului pot fi clasificate după mai multe criterii: a)

uneltele cu care se execută; b) după adâncimea de executare a lucr ării; c) după epoca de executare.Aratul este lucrarea principală de pregătire a solului care seaplică înainte de semănatul oricarei planteşi care se execută cu plugul. Prinar ătur ă, volumul solului se măreşte cu 20-30%.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY MODULE III (UNIT 1-UNIT 6 )

ALEXANDRESCU C., Îndreptar de limbă engleză pentru agronomi, Ed.Ceres, Bucureşti, 1984.

ALTIERI MIGUEL, Agroecology: the Science of Sustainable

Agriculture, Westview Press, Boulder, Co, 1995BLAKE FRANCIS, Organic Farming and Growing , WBC Book

Mnufactures Ltd., Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan, 1990CHILĂRESCU M., PAIDOS C., Practical Course of English, Ed.

Polirom, Iaşi, 2006CHIROBOCEA OTILIA, English for natural sciences, upper,

intermediate, advanced , Ed. Ovidius University Press, Constanţa, 2005

LEVIŢCHI LEON, Gramatica limbii engleze, Ed. Stiinţifică, Bucureşti,1967LUNGU SMARANDA ANDA, Agricultural English extension course, Ed.

Salgo, Sibiu, 2008MISZTAL M.,Test your vocabulary, Ed. Teora, Bucureşti, 1994MISZTAL M., Test your English Grammar, Ed. Teora, Bucureşti, 1996MUNTEAN LEON C., BORCEAN I., AXINTE M., Fitotehnie, Ed.

Didactică şi pedagogică, R.A. Bucureşti, l995MURPHY RAYMOND, English Grammar in Use, Cambridge University

Press, 2003PĂUNESCU ANCA, Course for Agriculture English, Ed. Arves, Craiova,

2008RAVEN PETER H. , Biology of plants, Worth Publishers, New York,

1986SIDE R., GUY W., Grammar and Vocabulary for Cambridge Advanced

and Proficiency, Longman, Edinburgh, 2004

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SWAN MICHAEL, Practical English Usage, Oxford University Press,1992

YATES, C. ST., Agriculture (English for Academic Purposes Series),Cassel Publishers Limited, l989

ZAHARIE OANA, Dic ţ ionar Român-Englez specialitate agronomică , Ed.Sitech, Craiova, 2008

DICŢIONARE

Dicţionar englez – româ n, Ed. Acad. Româ nă, 1974

Dicţionar româ n – englez, Ed.Ştiinţifică, Bucureşti, 1973

Dicţionar agricol în opt limbi, Praga, 1970

Dicţionar de ştiinţa solului, Ed.Ştiinţifică şi enciclopedică,

Bucureşti,1977

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English, Oxford, 1964

Collins Business English Dictionary, London 1989

http://www. tettafertil.rohttp://www.enjoy-your-garden.conhttp: //www.listpicurare.rohttp:// www.home. staffworks.comhttp://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au

http://www.soilerosion.nethttp://www.environment.nswhttp://www.answers.comBritanica Concise Encyclopedia on lineFood and Culture Encyclopedia on line

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MODULE IV

UNIT 7FARM MACHINERY

Tillage equipment can be divided into two general classes, namely: (1) primary tillage equipment and (2) secondary tillage equipment.

Primary tillage equipment

Equipment used to break and loosen soil for a depth of six to 36 inches (15

to 90 centimetres) may be called primary tillage equipment. It includesmoldboard, disk, rotary, chisel, and subsoil plows

The moldboard plow is adapted to the breaking of many soil types. It iswell suited for turning under and covering crop residues. There are hundreds ofdifferent designs, each intended to function best in performing certain tasks inspecified soils. The part that breaks the soil is called the bottom or base; it iscomposed of the share, the landside, and the moldboard.

When a bottom turns the soil, it cuts a trench, or furrow, throwing to oneside a ribbon of soil that is called the furrow slice. When plowing is started in themiddle of a strip of land, a furrow is plowed across the field; on the return trip, afurrow slice is lapped over the first slice. This leaves a slightly higher ridge thanthe second, third, and other slices. The ridge is called a back furrow. When twostrips of land are finished, the last furrows cut leave a trench about twice the width

of one bottom, called a dead furrow. When land is broken by continuous lappingof furrows, it is called flat broken. If land is broken in alternate back furrows and

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dead furrows, it is said to be bedded or listed. Different soils require different-shaped moldboards in order to give the same degree of pulverization of the soil.Thus, moldboards are divided into several different classes, including stubble,general-purpose, general-purpose for clay and stiff-sod soil, slat, blackland, and

chilled general-purpose The share is the cutting edge of the moldboard plow. Itsconfiguration is related to soil type, particularly in the down suction, or concavity,of its lower surface. Generally, three degrees of down suction are recognized:regular for light soil, deep for ordinary dry soil, and double-deep for clay andgravelly soils. In addition, the share has horizontal suction, which is the amountits point is bent out of line with the landside. Down suction causes the plow to penetrate to proper depth when pulled forward, while horizontal suction causes

the plow to create the desired width of furrow.

Thedisk plow employs round, concave disks of hardened steel, sharpenedand sometimes serrated on the edge, with diameters ranging from 20 to 38 inches(50 to 95 centimetres). It reduces friction by making a rolling bottom in place of asliding one. Its draft is about the same as that of the moldboard plow. The disk plow works to advantage in situations where the moldboard will not, as in stickynon-scouring soils; in fields with a plow sole; in dry, hard ground; in peat soils;

and for deep plowing. The disk-plow bottom is usually equipped with a scraperthat aids in pulverizing the furrow slice. Disk plows are either trailed or mountedintegrally on a tractor.

The rotary plow’s essential feature is a set of knives or tines rotated on ashaft by a power source. The knives chop the soil up and throw it against a hoodthat covers the knife set. These machines can create good seedbeds, but their high

cost and extra power requirement have limited general adoption, except for thesmall garden tractor.

The chisel plow is equipped with narrow, double-ended shovels, or chisel points, mounted on long shanks. These points rip through the soil and stir it but donot invert and pulverize as well as the moldboard and disk plows. The chisel plowis often used to loosen hard, dry soils prior to using regular plows; it is also usefulfor shattering plow sole.

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Subsoil plows are similar in principle but are much larger, since they areused to penetrate soil to depths of 20 to 36 inches (50 to 90 centimetres). Tractorsof 60 to 85 horsepower are required to pull a single subsoil point through a hardsoil at a depth of 36 inches. These plows are sometimes equipped with a torpedo-

shaped attachment for making subsurface drainage channels.

Secondary tillage equipment

Secondary tillage, to improve the seedbed by increased soil pulverization,to conserve moisture through destruction of weeds, and to cut up crop residues, isaccomplished by use of various types of harrows, rollers, or pulverizers, and toolsfor mulching and fallowing. Used for stirring the soil at comparatively shallow

depths, secondary-tillage equipment is generally employed after the deeper primary-tillage operations; some primary tillage tools, however, are usable forsecondary tillage. There are five principal types of harrows: the disk, the spike-tooth, the spring-tooth, the rotary cross-harrow, and the soil surgeon. Rollers, or pulverizers, with V-shaped wheels make a firm and continuous seedbed whilecrushing clods. These tools often are combined with each other.

When moisture is scarce and control of wind and water erosion necessary,tillage is sometimes carried out in such a way that crop residues are left on thesurface. This system is called trash farming, stubble mulch, or subsurface tillage.Principal equipment for subsurface tillage consists of sweeps and rod weeders.Sweeps are V-shaped knives drawn below the surface with cutting planeshorizontal. A mounted set of sweeps provided with power lift and depth regulationis often called a field cultivator.

The typical rod weeder consists of a frame with several plowlike beams,each having a bearing at its point. Rods are extended through the bearings, whichrevolve slowly under power from a drive wheel. The revolving rod runs a fewinches below the surface and pulls up vegetative growth; clearance of the growthfrom the rod is assisted by its rotation. Rod weeders are sometimes attached tochisel plows.

Some control of weeds is obtained by tillage that leaves the middles between crop rows loose and cloddy. When a good seedbed is prepared only in the

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row, the seeded crop can become established ahead of the weeds. Plowing withthe moldboard plow buries the weed seeds, retards their sprouting, and tends toreduce the operations needed to control them. If weed infestations become bad,they can be reduced somewhat by undercutting.

Since rainfall amount and distribution seldom match crop needs, farmersusually prefer tillage methods that encourage soil-moisture storage at times whencrops are not growing. From the soil-moisture standpoint, any tillage practice thatdoes not control weeds and result in greater moisture intake and retention duringthe storage period is probably unnecessary or undesirable.

Minimum tillage

The use of cropping system with minimal tillage is usually desirable, because intensive tillage tends to break down soil structure. Techniques such asmulching also help prevent raindrops from injuring the surface structure.Excessive tillage leaves the soil susceptible to crusting, impedes water intake,increases runoff, and thus reduces water storage for crop use. Intensive vegetable production in warm climates where three crops per year may be grown on the

same land may reduce the soil to a single-grain structure that facilitates surfacecementation and poor aeration.

The loosening and granulating actions of plowing may improve soilstructure if the plowing is done when the moisture content is optimum; if not sotimed, however, plowing can create unfavourable structure. The lifting andinversion of the furrow slice likewise may not always be desirable, because inmany cases it is better to leave a trashy surface.

The concept ofminimum tillage has received much attention. One type ofminimum tillage consists in seeding small grain in sod that has been relativelyundisturbed. Narrow slits are cut in the sod and seed and fertilizer placed in the breaks thus formed. Soil normally subject to erosion can be planted to grain thisway while still retaining the erosion resistance of the sod. In another type ofminimum tillage, the land is broken and planted without further tillage in seedbed

preparation. One approach involves breaking the land and planting seeds in thetractor tracks (wheel-track planting); the tractor weight crushes clods and leaves

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harvesting equipment = maşină de recoltattrailed plough = plug tractat broadcast planter = semănătoare de semănat prin împr ăş tierehay harvesting equipment = maşină de recoltat fân

root harvesting equipment = maşină pentru recoltat r ădăcinoasemower = cositoarerake = greblă crusher = maşină de strivitfield forage harvester = combină pentru recoltat furajewindrower = br ăzdardrill planter = semănătoare pentru cereale păioase

drier = uscatordrill = semănătoare în rânduritractor-drawn combine = combină tractată feed grinder = maşină pentru măcinat furajefeed mixer = amestecător de furajefield-flail forage harvester = combină pentru recoltat furaje cu rotorfield chopper harvester = maşină pentru recoltatşi tocat furaje

EXERCISES

COMPREHENSION

A tutor is giving some students instructions about safety. Read carefully whathe says and write down the main ideas of his advice.

I want to say one or two things before we go out to the farm next week. Asyou know, we are spending a week there so that you can get to know how to driveand use equipment such as tractors, combine harvesters, and so on. Some of whatI want to say may sound obvious, but we have had some quite bad accidents in the past, and I don’t want any more. Accidents on the farm are usually caused bycarelessness and stupidity, and that’s quite unnecessary. So first, do exactly what

the demonstrator says.If he says” stand back”, stand back.And stand exactlywhere he tells you. Don’t go round to a side of the machine where he can’t see

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you.And don’t touch any part of the machine untill he tells you to.That will bewhen the machine is off. One student lost his hand five years ago, just because hewas on the wrong side of a combine and put his hand in.

Next, do wear proper clothing. When you come to use the combine, you’ll

find glasses of some kind useful to keep the dust out. Although it’s not absolutelynecessary, you may also find gloves useful.When you first use some of thesemachines, you’ll find they’re hard on the hands. And don’t bring only a smartsuit.You’ll be asked to clean parts of the machines, and carry out other kinds ofmaintenance work. You can’t do that in a suit. So bring suitable clothes. Don’twear clothes that blow around in the wind, though: they can get caught in themachinery and pull you into it.

Now, one last thing. When you’re actually driving things like tractors,don’t get too excited. Drive slowly to start with. A tractor is not a racing car.Remember, it is easy to turn a tractor over, especially on a hill. And if yourtractor does not have a safety cab, you can get trapped underneath it as it falls. So,drive slowly and safely.

SELF – EVALUATION

• Fill in the blanks with the proper terms from the list

clover seed bedcover crops stubbledisk tractorfitting weedsmat

1) On a modern farm, implements are drawn by a2) An implement used to break up sod is a3) The process of breaking up sod is called the soil.4) Sod may be produced by a growth of grass or5) The roots and the soil that clings to them are called the6) The soil which is prepared for planting is called the7) In addition to preparing the soil for planting,tillage turns under the

which was left standing when an earlier crop was cut.8) It also turns under which have been planted to reduce erosion and

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leaching.9) And it slows up the growth of undesired plants, or

☺ PROGRESS TEST


Farmers perform tillage when they prepare soil for the raising of crops.Soil tillage has three primary purposes. Prior to planting, farmers use tillage tomix compost, manure, and other fertilizers into the root zone where growing plantroots may reach it. Tillage also aids seed germination by creating a smooth,uniform soil surface for planting. After planting, farmers use tillage to controlweeds between crop plants—including vegetable, fruit, forest, medicinal, andfarm crops. Since early agriculture, tillage has been the first step in the processthat makes it possible to harvest food from plants. However, soil tillage has comeunder close scrutiny since soil is recognized as a natural resource that deserves protection. Agronomists (scientists who study crop production and soilmanagement) are concerned because erosion (soil loss) from tillage is one of themost significant problems in agriculture. If left unchecked, soil erosion leads to

loss of soil productivity, as well as off-site deposition of sediments and farmchemicals that pollute surface and groundwater.

TEST PAPER


Prin punerea la dispoziţie de către mecanizare a soluţiilor tehnice adecvatedevin posibile practicarea agriculturii durabile, menajarea soluluişi a apei din sol,menajarea atmosferei globaleşi a mediului apropiat. Mecanizarea agriculturii joacă în acest sens un rol pozitiv, deosebit de important din punct de vedereecologic. Executarea mecanizată a lucr ărilor din agricultur ă este însoţită, înacelaşi timp, de unele efecte negative, de amploare diferită. Aceste efecte sunt în principiu inevitabile, dar prin exploatarea raţională a utilajelor şi alegerea judicioasă a tehnologiilor, ele pot fi menţinute la un nivel mai scăzut. Mecanizareaagriculturii are partea sa de vină, în ceea ce priveşte poluarea mediului, prin

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specificul activităţ ii propriu-zise, darşi în combinaţie cu alţi factori ai producţieiagricole.

UNIT 8ECOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE

People farm Earth's biosphere to produce food for the sustenance of thehuman species. Thus, human food systems are part of Earth's complex ecologicalsystems. All of these systems begin with interactions with the sun, which is the

ultimate energy source. Sunlight enables plants to manufacture carbohydratesthrough the process of photosynthesis, in which chlorophyll converts sunlight intochemical energy, synthesizing organic compounds from inorganic compounds.Plants take carbon dioxide, water, and inorganic elements for this conversion process from the air and soil. Humans obtain their nourishment directly from plants, or from animals nourished directly or indirectly by plants. Thus humansultimately rely on air, soil, water, and sunlight for sustenance. Humankind has a

strong interest in not fouling the environment, as contaminants in the air, water, orsoil can end up in the plants that people or their food animals eat. The terms usedin a discussion of agriculture become more complex as we begin to realize themany relations that are involved in a field of production that is absolutelynecessary to everyone.

Sound environmental management is essential for sustained agriculturaldevelopment.Yetenvironmental degradation is evident throughout the developingworld. Soil erosion, siltatation of rivers and reservoirs, flooding, overgrazing,

poor cropping practices, desertification, salinity and waterlogging, deforestation,

energy depletion, loss of biodiversity, and chemical pollution have become major problems.

Soil erosion is slowly undermining agricultural productivity in many partsof the world. The extent of the world erosion problem is very difficult to assess because few nations have systematically surveyed the condition of their soil

resources.Nevertheless, the amount of agricultural land now being retired due tosoil erosion is estimated to be at least 20 million hectares per year.The effects on

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productivity are potentially serious.Eroded soils typically are at least twice as richin nutrients and organic matter as the soil left behind.Soil nutrient losses can be partially replaced by increased use of chemical fertilizers, but only up to a point,and fertilizer can be expensive. At any rate, the yields with fertilizers are lower

than they would be in the absence of erosion, so that erosion reduces productivity below its potential.

Desertification involves the depletion of vegetative cover, exposure of thesoil surface to wind and water erosion, and reduction of the soil organic matter, soilstructure, and water-holding capacity.Intensive grazing, particularly during droughtyears, reduces vegetative cover; the loss of vegetation reduces organic matter in thesoil and thus changes soil structure.Moderate desertification may cause a 25

percent loss of productivity while severe desertification can reduce productivity by5o percent or more. Deforestation creates environmental problems on land and in the

air.Forest play a vital role providing food, fuel, medicine, fodder for livestock, and building material.They provide a home for innumerable and diverse plant andanimal species.They protect the soil, recycle moisture, and reduce carbon dioxidein the atmosphere.But forests are being cleared at an alarming rate throughout theworld.Every year more than 11 million hectares are cleared, and the rate of cuttingis increasing.

Chemical pollution. The use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers hascontaminated the land and water in many countries, damaging the health of producers and consumers, stimulating the emergence of pests resistant to pesticides, destroying the natural enemies of pests,and reducing fish populations orrendering them unsafe for human consumption.Acute pesticide poisonings arecommon, and little is known about potential long-term health effects.

EXERCISES

COMPREHENSION• Answer the following questions:

1.Why are people so interested in environmental protection?2.How does people’s health and life depend on the environment?

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3.Who needs protection nowadays?

• Another way in which environment can be protected is to recycle waste

materials.

Put each of the following words or phrases into its correct place in thefollowing text about Recycling:saves; metals; making; pulp; ways; energy; raw; ore; heated; high; provide; melt;mixture; amounts; jars;When you recycle materials, you are helping conservation in three …. You arehelping to reduce damage caused by cutting down trees or by mining …..materials. You are helping to save energy. You are also helping to cut down the

problems of waste disposal.Most paper is made from wood …. which comes from trees. Whole forests haveto be cut down to …. us with newspapers. That is bad enough, but large …. ofenergy are used to turn the wood pulp into paper. Recycled paper is as good asnew paper, although it is a little rougher and not so white.Huge amounts of energy are used in …. glass, because very …. temperatures areneeded to …. down all the ingredients. If bottles and …. are thrown away whenthey are empty, all the energy is lost. But new bottles and jars can be made out ofa …. of new and old broken glass. This saves up to one-quarter of the …. neededto make new glass.Metal cans are made of aluminum, or steel coated with tin, or a mixture of these…. Aluminum cans are the most valuable to recycle. Aluminum is made from an…. called bauxite, which has to be electrically …. to a high temperature.Recycling …. ninety-five percent of the energy needed to make new aluminumcans.

SELF – EVALUATION

• Match the following phrases and terms with the definitions on theright:

1.) ecology a.) protecting, maintaining or improving natural

resources to keep them safe from destruction or

degradation and conserve them for future

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generations

2.) drought b.) the surroundings and external condition that

affect the growth and development of living things

3.) conservation c.) the change from one fertile land into desert asresult of factors including climatic variations and

human activities

4.) environment d) a prolonged period of abnormal dryness, with

little or no rainfall

5.) desalinization e.) the study of the relationship of living things

(plants, animals and humans) with each other and

with their environment

6.) desertification f.) removal of salts from saline water to obtain

fresh water suitable for animal and human

consumption

7.) deforestation g.) cutting down trees, which provide oxygen and

absorb carbon dioxide

☺ PROGRESS TEST

Translate into Romanian:Conservation ecology is the branch of ecology and evolutionary biology

that deals with the preservation and management of biodiversity, where biodiversity is defined as all species on this planet (including humans) and their

interactions with one another. It is a discipline that is emerging rapidly as a resultof the accelerating deterioration of natural systems and the worldwide epidemic of

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UNIT 9

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS AND POLICIES

Environmental degradation can result from physical, economic, andinstitutional factors. Many environmental problems are interrelated; for example,deforestation, erosion and siltation of rivers and reservoirs are all linked. Natural

resource degradation usually has both direct and indirect causes. For example,desertification can directly result from overgrazing and poor cropping practices, but indirectly result from poverty and population growth.Understanding the truecauses of environmental degradation requires a searching for and analysis ofcomplex direct and indirect physical, economic,and institutional linkages.

Physical causes of natural resource degradation. Physical or technicalcauses of natural resource degradation are often the most visible and direct, even

though a series of complex linkages may be involved.Land clearing for timber,fuelwood, cattle ranching, or farming causes deforestation.Deforestation results inloss of biodiversity and soil erosion.If the area is semi-arid, loss of forests cancontribute to desertification. Desertification can also result from overgrazing,which itself is caused by too many cattle eating grass in an area subjected to dryspells or droughts.Many other examples of physical causes of natural resourcedegradation can be cited.

It is important to identify physical causes of environmental problems, butit is even more important to identify the underlying economic and institutionalcauses including social, cultural, and policy-related causes.

Economic causes of natural resource degradation. Poverty andenvironmental degradation go hand in hand.Poverty drives people to farmmarginal lands intensively, to seek fuelwood relentlessly, and to follow otheragricultural practices that produce food at the potential sacrifice of future production. Poverty reinforces population growth, which is a major cause ofdeforestation, overgrazing, and farming on steep slopes,drylands,and flood plains.

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hospital, housing and education systems; radio, television andtelephone systems; water, gas and electric systems

sustainable development = development that meets the needs of the presentwithout compromising the ability of the future

generations to meet their own needs.

EXERCISES

COMPREHENSION

• These are some of the most severe problems the earth is facing. Matchthe problems with their effects as well as with the solution to them.You can use the same words more than once.

Problems :air pollution; water pollution; animals and plants in danger; globalwarming; energy shortage, destruction of ozone layer; human andindustrial waste; changes in the local climate; acid rain; spreading deserts;nuclear accidents; deforestation.Causes:over-use of natural resources; uncontrolled fishing and hunting; poisonouschemicals released into air by cars and factories; chemicals from aerosolsprays and fridges; pesticides as well as dangerous chemicals fromfactories that are poured into the rivers, seas, oceans.Solutions:nuclear plants should be supplied with high technology equipment and

more strictly controlled; we should use bicycles instead of cars; we shouldnot leave TV or electric lights on when we do not use them; people shoulduse litterbins; we should plant more trees; governments should encouragethose industries that use cleaner methods of production; we should save asmuch paper as possible; factories that pollute the soil or water should beseverely fined; harsher punishments for illegal fishing or hunting; factoriesshould be equipped with filters for their funnels; cars should use unleaded

petrol; people should be educated about the importance of recycling;ecology should be a compulsory subject at schools; governments should

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sponsor research into pollution prevention; public awareness about the protection of the environment should be raised.

SELF – EVALUATION

• What are the consequences of:1.) air pollution?2.) water pollution?3.) soil polution?4.) acid rain?5.) radioactive pollution?6.) nuclear waste dumping

• Choose the most suitable heading from the list (a-h) for each part (0-7).

a. Looking after the land

b. Global warming

c. Breaking the food chain

d. The environment and the teaching of English

e. The rain that kills

f. Natural habitat

g. The waste makers

h. Nuclear dump

O. Over the past few years, the recognition of the urgency of environmental problems has caused quantum leap in the attention paid to “green” issues. Withincreasing frequency, the environment is turning up as the subject of newspaperand magazine articles, radio and television news, reports, documentaries andfeature films. This concern is reflected in schools around the world, where

teachers of all subjects and at all grade levels are using environmental themes as ameans of linking the classroom to the world.

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1. Poisonous gases and other chemicals pour into the atmosphere every day. Theseare waste products from our power stations, factories, and cars. Two of thesegases, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, collect in the atmosphere. They then mix

with the moisture in the air to become sulfuric acid and nitric acid. These acids areabsorbed by rain clouds and fall to the ground again as acid rain. Acid rainclouds can drift hundreds of miles before falling as rain. This rain can causeserious damage. It kills trees and destroys many wildlife habitats.

2. Can you imagine how much garbage we create all over the world each day? Infactories, offices, hotels, and restaurants, as well as in our homes, we produce tons

of garbage. The poorer countries of the world produce the smallest amounts ofgarbage. In countries where there are many industries, more land is needed forgarbage sites. Some of our garbage can be used again. But where can we put therest? No one wants a garbage dump next door.

3. Any farmer’s field is a habitat, the natural home for plants and animals whichdepend on each other in many ways. It is the place where mice, for example, findfood for shelter. When the farmer plows the land, he destroys the wild plants thatgrow in the field. Animals such as mice, that feed on these plants have to goelsewhere to find food. Other animals, like owls, that feed on the mice, also haveto move away. So, what the farmer does affects not just one kind of plant oranimal, but all the organisms living in the area.

4. The plants and animals that provide food for each other are members of a foodchain. If this chain is broken, every animal in it will suffer. What do you thinkhappens when the farmer poisons the mice? A mouse that is weakened by the poison is easy prey for an owl. The owl that eats a poisoned mouse eventually diesfrom the poison. The farmer’s cat eats another poisoned mouse and dies. Thefarmer is pleased to be rid of the mice. But he has killed two animals which wouldhave helped him. Owls and cats would have helped the farmer to keep down farm pests.

5. The world is getting warmer. If you enjoy warm weather you may think thatthis is good news but it’s not. Experts say that the earth’s atmosphere is warming

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up just as if it were trapped inside a greenhouse. This warming process is oftencalled the green house effect. On the one hand, the ozone layer is becomingthinner and thinner, allowing harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun to pass throughthe atmosphere. On the other hand, as we all know, most of the heat received from

the sun is sent back. But, if there is too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, itwill trap too much heat, and the earth’s atmosphere will become too hot.

6. The land that we need for growing food is very important. We can’t afford tospoil it. There are many ways in which farmers could make better use of the landand grow good crops without the help of factory-made chemicals. If it is farmedwith care, the land will go on giving us enough food to eat for thousands of years

to come. When land is over-farmed or over-grazed, the topsoil turns to dust,which blows away in the wind. The layer of soil left behind is baked hard by thesun. In time, it cracks. Any rain that falls cannot soak in and flows away. Thus,the dry land turns to desert.

7. Nuclear energy is useful. We can make electricity from radioactive material innuclear power stations. In hospitals, radioactivity can help to cure some diseases.In some industries, people use radioactive processes to measure and test materials.Radioactive material produces waste, which may be in the form of gases, liquidsor solids. This waste can’t simply be thrown away like any other waste. It isdangerous because it continues to emit radiation. Some of it, called high-levelwaste, will be radioactive for thousands of years. Low-level waste is lessradioactive, but scientists do not agree on how dangerous it is.

☺ PROGRESS TESTTranslate into Romanian:

The only way to understand our new role as a co-arhitect of nature is to seeourselves as part of a complex system that does not operate according to the samesimple rules of cause and effect we are used to. The problem is not our effect onthe environment so much as our relationship with the environment. As a result,any solution to the problem will require a careful assessment of that relationship

as well as the complex interrelationship among factors within civilization and between them and the major natural components of the earth’s ecological system.

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(Adapted from”Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit” byAl Gore 1993)

TEST PAPER• Are the poorest countries the most vulnerable to environmental

degradation? Why, or why not?

UNIT 10

BIODIVERSITY

Plants in communitiesAll living things are groups of simple and complex chemicals functioning

together in specific and unimaginably complex ways. Since all living things areinterrelated through evolution, they are very similar at the molecular level. Thismeans that many require roughly the same resources (thus, all plants needsunlight, carbon dioxide, water, and a few common minerals), and can be food forone another (thus, the starch stored by a potato can be used for its future growth orconsumed by humans). Many organisms therefore compete for the same scarceresources and develop elaborate strategies to avoid being eaten. Weeds are simply plants that out-compete crops for the resources that limit plant growth and that weapply in profusion to cultivated crops.

During domestication, the elimination of many natural defense

mechanisms to produce a more easily grown, harvested, or palatable crop also produces a crop more vulnerable to pests. Reintroduction of specific naturaldefense mechanisms through selective genetic engineering could drasticallyreduce the dependence of agriculture on synthetic pesticides.

Interactions between plants are important for gardeners. The study of theseinteractions is calledplant or landscape ecology. In ornamental gardens, we

generally aim to develop a stable community of plants that complement each otherin form, color, leaf characteristics, and bloom. We must pay attention to the

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differing requirements of plants within this community. A garden's frameworkoften is defined by large shrubs or trees, which cast differing amounts of shadeover the course of the year. When choosing plants to grow under or near largeframework specimens, be sure their needs match the available light and moisture.

As trees and shrubs grow and mature, you may need to manipulate them, either byremoving those that have outgrown their space or by selective pruning andthinning. Often, understory plants that did well when the landscape was youngmust be replaced with plants that are more shade-tolerant. This process is a kindof plantsuccession, dictated by the changing light and moisture environment andcarried out by the owner. A lawn also is a changing landscape. It starts out as amix of several adapted grass species on bare ground. Other plants (which we often

call weeds) sprout from seed reserves in the soil. Additional seeds and plantsmove in and grow if conditions are right. Our most competitive lawn weed is agrass called annual bluegrass. It prospers in the winter when desired grasses areless vigorous. Broadleaf weeds also may find niches. Moss begins to take overwhere the lawn is thin, a common problem in semi-shaded areas. These changesare another example of plant succession. Gardeners who plant wildflowermixtures often discover that there is much more variety in flowers the first yearthan in succeeding years. Some species do very well, and others simply cannotcompete. Again, plant succession occurs. The most short-term assemblage of plants in a garden occurs in annual vegetable and flower beds. Here there is noattempt to create a community that will last more than one season. Since many ofthe most competitive weeds thrive in recently disturbed soil, it is a challenge togive desired annual crop plants an advantage. The plant that captures light firstwill grow and suppress plants beneath it. Early weed competition can have adevastating impact on crop growth. Consistent weeding, mulching, and the use oftransplants improve the odds for annual vegetable and flower crops.

Another type of relationship between plants is calledallelopathy. In this phenomenon, some plants produce compounds in their leaves, roots, or both thatinhibit the growth of other plants. Black walnut is the most notorious example. Itsroots can suppress many common vegetable plants, and its leaves, if mulched on avegetable garden over the winter, can affect many annual crops like an herbicide

the following spring. Some of the worst weeds show allelopathic traits and prevent desired ornamental or vegetable species from growing. Finally, there are

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relationships between plants that involve pollinators, animals, birds, pests, predators, and even nutrient transport between species through symbiotic fungicalled mycorrhizae. These relationships are quite complex. They are the subject ofactive research and offer much to think about for thoughtful gardeners.

Organic farming and biodiversity

A wide range of organisms benefit from organic farming, but it is unclearwhether organic methods confer greater benefits than conventional integratedagri-environmental programs. Nearly all non-crop, naturally occurring speciesobserved in comparative farm land practice studies show a preference for organicfarming both by abundance and diversity. An average of 30% more speciesinhabit organic farms. Birds, butterflies, soil microbes, beetles, earthworms,spiders, vegetation, and mammals are particularly affected. Lack of herbicides and pesticides improve biodiversity fitness and population density. Many weedspecies attract beneficial insects that improve soil qualities and forage on weed pests. Soil-bound organisms often benefit because of increased bacteria populations due to natural fertilizer such as manure, while experiencing reducedintake of herbicides and pesticides. Increased biodiversity, especially from beneficial soil microbes and mycorrhizae have been proposed as an explanationfor the high yields experienced by some organic plots, especially in light of thedifferences seen in a 21-year comparison of organic and control fields.Biodiversity from organic farming provides capital to humans. Species found inorganic farms enhance sustainability by reducing human input (e.g., fertilizers, pesticides). Farmers that produce with organic methods reduce risk of poor yields by promoting biodiversity.

EXERCISES

COMPREHENSIONAsk at least 20 questions related to the text below:

The biodiversity found on Earth today is the result of approximately 3.5 billionyears of evolution. Until the emergence of humans, the earth supported more

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biodiversity than any other period in geological history. However, since thedominance of humans, biodiversity has begun a rapid decline, with one speciesafter another suffering extinction.

The maintenance of biodiversity is important for the following reasons:

1. Ecological stability

Each species performs a particular function within an ecosystem. Theycan capture and store energy, produce organic material, decomposeorganic material, help to cycle water and nutrients throughout theecosystem, control erosion or pests, fix atmospheric gases, or help regulate

climate.

Ecosystems provide support of production and services without whichhumans could not survive. These include soil fertility, pollinators of plants, predators, decomposition of wastes, purification of the air and water,stabilisation and moderation of the climate, decrease of flooding, droughtand other environmental disasters.

Research show that the more diverse an ecosystem the better it canwithstand environmental stress and the more productive it is. The loss of aspecies thus decreases the ability of the system to maintain itself or torecover in case of damage. There are very complex mechanismsunderlying these ecological effects.

2. Economic benefits to humans

For all humans, biodiversity is first a resource for daily life. Such 'cropdiversity' is also called agrobiodiversity.

Most people see biodiversity as a reservoir of resources to be drawn uponfor the manufacture of food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic products. Thusresource shortages may be related to the erosion of the biodiversity.

Some of the important economic commodities that biodiversity supplies to

humankind are:

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- FOOD : crops, livestock, forestry, and fish

- MEDICATION: Wild plant species have been used for medicinal

purposes since before the beginning of recorded history. Forexample, quinine (Used to treat malaria) comes from the bark ofthe Amazonian tree Cinchona tree; digitalis from the Foxglove plant (chronic heart trouble), and morphine from the Poppy plant(pain relief).

According the National Cancer Institute of the USA, over 70 % of

the promising anti-cancer drugs come from plants in the tropicalrainforests. Animal may also play a role, in particular in research.It is estimated that of the 250,000 known plant species, only 5,000have been researched for possible medical applications.

- INDUSTRY: fibres for clothing, wood for shelter and warmth.Biodiversity may be a source of energy (such as biomass). Otherindustrial products are oils, lubricants, perfumes, fragrances, dyes,

paper, waxes, rubber, latexes, resins, poisons and cork can all bederived from various plant species. Supplies from animal origin arewool, silk, fur, leather, lubricants, waxes. Animals may also beused as a mode of transportation.

- TOURISM and RECREATION: biodiversity is a source ofeconomical wealth for many areas, such as many parks and forests,

where wild nature and animals are a source of beauty and joy formany people. Ecotourism in particular, is a growing outdoorrecreational activity.

3. Ethical reasons

The role of biodiversity is to be a mirror of our relationships with the otherliving species, an ethical view with rights, duties, and education. If humans

consider species have a right to exist, they cannot cause voluntarily their

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extinction. Besides, biodiversity is also part of many cultures’ spiritualheritage. http// en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Biodiversity

SELF – EVALUATIONWe should conserve biodiversity for several reasons: aesthetic, ethical, economic and ecological . Match each of the paragraphs below to one suchreason:

1.) Each species is of potential value to humans as are healthy ecosystems.The global collection of genes, species, habitats and ecosystems is atreasure trove that provides for human needs now and is essential forhuman survival in the future. Humans depend on other species for all oftheir food and many medicines and industrial products. Humans alsodepend on the intricate functioning of other species to provide “ecologicalservices” such as purifying water, cycling nutrients, and breaking down pollutants.

2.) Each species and ecosystem adds to the richness and beauty of life onEarth. When an ecosystem is destroyed, it is either impossible orextremely difficult to recreate it.

3.) Many species depend on each other in their intricate ways of survival.Destroying one species can lead to further extinction. No one can be surewhere we begin the road to no return.

4.) Each species is unique and has the right to exist. Each species is worthy ofrespect regardless of its value to the human beings.

• Are the following statements true or false?a) The total number of species is not known.

b) More than half of the world’s species live in tropical forests.

c) About 10 million species have been identified by scientists.

d) The Earth has many more species than it needs.

e) Most species are of no direct benefit to humans.

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f) Some habitats have more species than others.

g) Biodiversity includes genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystemdiversity.

h) Biological diversity is more threatened now than at any time in the past 65million years.

i) The loss of forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other habitats contributes tothe loss of biodiversity.

j) Many species become extinct without ever being identified.

k) Large plants, birds and mammals make up about half of the world’s

species.

l) Coral reefs are as rich in biodiversity as tropical forests.

m) Many islands are home to species found nowhere else.

n) Fewer than 100 species currently provide most of the world’s food supply.

o) Farmers need a diversity of crop varieties in order to breed new plants that

resist insect pests and diseases.

p) Creating parks and zoos is the best way to preserve biodiversity.

q) The biological resources of developing countries are a potential source ofincome.

r) Two major causes of biodiversity loss are population growth and theincreasing consumption of natural resources.

s) Once a species becomes endangered, it is doomed to extinction.

☺ PROGRESS TEST

Discuss the importance of the maintenance of biodiversity

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TEST PAPER


Când termenul biodiversitate este folosit în agricultura ecologică, acesta

nu înseamnă numai creşterea mai multor animaleşi plante, darşi faptul că maimulte din planteleşi animalele dintr-o anumită zonă cresc în mod natural. Oimportanţă deosebită este acordată conservării speciilor de animaleşi soiurilor de plante protejate. În agricultura ecologică, multe practici de creştere a productivităţii au şi un efect natural secundar de îmbunătăţ ire a vieţii plantelorşianimalelor, sau de menţinere a biodiversităţii naturale. De exemplu:

•

folosirea gunoiului de grajd creşte concentraţia de microorganisme, râme, păianjenişi gândaci din pământ

• folosirea rotaţiei multi-anuale a culturilorşi a soiurilor corespunzătoare de plante care pot concura cu buruienileşi sunt rezistente la dăunători şi boli,întărirea rezistenţei plantelor doriteşi defavorizarea celor nedorite.

• prin rotaţiile multi-anuale se cultivă varietăţ i mai mari de culturi primare,leguminoaseşi plante furajere.

• cultivarea, cu prioritate, a varietăţ ilor de soiuri indigene de planteşi speciide animale menţine diversitatea naturală a zonelor de cultur ă

• introducerea duşmanilor naturali ai buruienilorşi dăunătorilor, în loculfolosirii pesticidelor, ajută la creşterea duratei de viaţă a animalelor.

UNIT 11

EMPLOYMENT CORRESPONDENCE

Types of Business Correspondence We live in the computer era, and modern businesses have access to many

more different means of communication than businesses used to have say 30 yearsago. In the beginning people thought that computers will eliminate (or at least

almost eliminate) paper but, nowadays, we use much more paper than before thecomputers. The types of business correspondence we use are:

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and European Commision) and promoted by the EU to ease skilled migration between member countries, although this is not widely used in most contexts. TheEuropass CV system is meant to be just as helpful to employers and education providers as it is to students and job seekers. It was designed to help them

understand what people changing between the countries have to offer, whilstovercoming linguistic barriers. The Europass documents also provide recognitionfor non-accredited learning and work experience.

There are a few companies that prefer not to receive a CV at all inapplication, but rather produce their ownapplication form which must becompleted in applying for any position. Of those, some also allow applicants toattach a CV in support of the application. The reason some companies prefer to

process applications this way is to standardize the information they receive, asthere can be many variables within a CV. Therefore, the company often does notget all the information they require at the application stage.

CURRICULUM VITAE

The curriculum vitae also calledresume or data sheet is an outline of all

you have to offer a prospective employer. It is a presentation of yourqualifications, your background, and your experiences, arranged in such a way asto convince a busines sperson to grant you an interview It must lookprofessional and exemplify those traits you want the employer to believe you possess.

It must be typed on business-size band. It must have overallneat appearance: margins should be wide and balanced. Headings should stand out andshould be parallel. Corrections should be invisible: the finished product must beperfect.

The information contained on your CV must beaccurate, expressed inshort phrases, rather than whole sentences, andcomplete. It should consist offacts. Nowadays, it is preferable to keep a resume to one page. This means thatyou must be efficient in selecting the facts to include and clever in arrangingthem. In making these decisions, keep in mind the specific job for which you areapplying. A curriculum vitae must befactual, objective and brief and it usuallycontains the following sections:

• Personal data: name, address, date and place of birth, sex, maritalstatus,number of children, nationality.

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• Employment objective: many career conselors recommend that this beincluded and listed first, immediately after your name and address.Mentioning a clearly defined job goal creates the favorable impression thatyou are a well-directed, motivated individual.

• Education: list, in reverse chronological order, the schools you haveattended, with names, dates of attendance, and degrees or diplomasawarded.

• Work experience: each job experience should be listed ( again, with themost recent job first ) with your position or title, employer’s name andaddress, dates of employment, and a brief description of yourresponsibilities.

• Extracurricular activities andSpecial skills: list anything that might helpyou to get the job, any facts that don’t fit underEducation or WorkExperience, but which demonstrate an important aspect of your value toan employer (e.g. computer skills, command of foreign laguages, speed intaking decisions, skills in using high-tech office tools, communicationskills, etc.).

• References: The last section of your CV is a list of those people willing to

vouch for your ability and experience. Former employers and teachers(especially teachers of job- related courses) are the best references. Eachreference should be listed by name, position or title, business address andtelephone number. A minimum of three names is recommended.

You need not use all of these sections; use, of course only those that aremost relevant. Also, the order in which you list the categories is flexible. You maylist your strongest sections first, or you may list first the section that is mostrelevant to the job in question.

Some companies send application forms which contain more or less thesame information as a CV. In that case it is not necessary to send a separate CV.

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Model ofCURRICULUM VITAE

CURRICULUM VITAE

• Personal data

First name: CristianSurname / Family name:Andone Date of birth: ……………………Place of birth: …………………..Marital status: …………………..Nationality:Romanian Home address: ………………….Phone No.: ………………………...Business address: Romanian Bank for Development, IT DepartmentPhone No.: …………………………

• Employment objective

Feeling capable of assuming more responsibility in an emerging marketeconomy, I would like the challenge of applying new concepts in real life.

• Education

Banking College of the Romanian Banking Institute graduated in 1997,specialised in banking

1995-1996 Bucharest, one week specialised courses on different bankingmatters run within the Training Center of the Romanian Banking Institute(RBI).

March-April 1996: a three week Fulbright scholarship in Denver-Colorado.

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Work Experience: bank clerk for the Bancoop (1994-1996 - computerassisted accountant for BRD

• Present position

Head of the Computer Assisted Accountancy Unit of the IT Department,Romanian Bank for Development.

• Special skills

computer skills

command of English, French, German speed in taking decisions communication skills

• Other personal details

I am a hard working person I enjoy team work I never need an extra day off

• Date: 14th of September 2009Cristian Andone

LETTER OF APPLICATION

A letter of application, a cover letter, covering letter, motivation letter,motivational letter or a letter of motivation is a letter of introduction attachedto, or accompanying another document such as aresume or curriculum vitae.

Format

Cover letters are generally one page at most in length, divided into a header,introduction, body, and closing.

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start by attracting attention continue by describing your qualifications assure the employer that you are the person for the job conclude by requesting an interview

A complete application should contain both a letter of application and aCV. It is always most professional to include both.

Model of APPLICATION LETTER

APPLICATION LETTER----------------------Street

----------------------------Phone:------------------------

Mrs. Lesly QuirkInformation Engineering Group Ltd.Lloyd House22 Lloyd Street

ManchesterM2 5WA

Dear Mrs. Quirk,I would like to apply for-----------------------------------------

advertised in ------------------------------------------As you can see -------------------------- I have had--------------

I enclose ------------------------------------------ and I will be available--------------

---------------------

---------------------------------------------------- I will be free ---------------------

--------------------- Yours sincerely,

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EUROPASS

What is Europass?

Whether you are planning to enrol in an education or training programme,looking for a job, or getting experience abroad, it is important to be able to makeyour skills and competences clearly understood.

Europass is a new way of helping people to:

• make their skills and qualifications clearly and easily understood inEurope (European Union, EFTA/EEA and candidate countries);

• move anywhere in Europe.

Europass consists of five documents:

• two documents (Europass curriculum vitae (CV) and European languagePassport) you can fill in yourself; and

• three other documents (Europass Certificate Supplement, EuropassDiploma Supplement and Europass Mobility) filled in and issued bycompetent organisations.

Europass is supported by a network of National Europass Centres.

Europass is a European Union (Directorate General for Education and Culture)initiative to increase transparency of qualification and mobility of citizens inEurope. It aims to be a "Life Long Learning Portfolio" of documents containingthe descriptions of all learning achievements, official qualifications, work results,skills and competencies, acquired over time, along with the relateddocumentation. The five Europass documents are the curriculum vitae, LanguagePassport, Europass Mobility, Certificate supplement, and Diploma supplement,sharing a common brand name and logo. It aims to make a person's skills andqualifications clearly understood throughout Europe (including the EuropeanUnion, European Economic Area and candidate countries).

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Model of EUROPASS CURRICULUM VITAE

EUROPASS CURRICULUM VITAE

EuropassCurricul um Vitae

Insert photograph.

Personal informationFirst name(s) / Surname(s) First name(s) Surname(s)

Address(es) House number, street name, postcode, city, country

Telephone(s)

Fax(es)

E-mail

Nationality

Date of birth

Gender

Desired employment /Occupational field

(remove if not relevant)

Work experienceDates Add separate entries for each relevant post occupied.

Occupation or position held

Main activities and responsibilities

Name and address of employer

Type of business or sector

Education and training

Dates Add separate entries for each relevant course you have completed.

Title of qualification awarded

Principal subjects/occupational skillscovered

Name and type of organisationproviding education and training

Level in national or internationalclassification

Personal skills andcompetences

Mother tongue(s) Specify mother tongue(if relevant add other mother tongue(s))

Other language(s)

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consumer market = all the people who buy to satisfy their own needs or those oftheir families.cost effectiveness = is a method etc., giving value for money, often in comparison

with something else, e.g. spending money on advertising

in newspaper instead of television.

EXERCISESCOMPREHENSION

1. Read the following advertisment and write your CV and a letter of

application for the position mentioned. Before writing them have alook at the explanatory notes above:

MARKET RESEARCH SPECIALIST

MONSATO has a vacancy in its fast growing Agricultural ProductsCompany, for a MARKET RESEARCH SPECALIST (M/F) with responsibility

for a selection of European countries. The position is based at our European

Headquarters in Brussels and reports to the Market Research Mgr, Europe.

The ideal candidate will be a university graduate, preferably with a degree

in agricultural sciences or economics and have three to five years experience in

the consumer market research area. Experience in advertising research as well as

acquaintance with basic operations research would be assets. Frequent travel will

be called for, and fluency in English as well as French and/or German is useful.

The position holds responsibility for quality, methodology, cost

effectiveness analysis and impact of market research projects in Europe.

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Opportunities for career growth associated with this appointment are

exceptionally good. A competitive salary is offered and overall conditions are in

line with what is expected of a major international company.

Application in confidence should be addressed to L.Borrill Manager,Personnel at Monsato Europe S.A., avenue de Tervuren 270-272 at 1150 Brussels.

TEST PAPER


Odată cu formarea diverselor instituţii si organizaţii din cadrul UniuniiEuropene a apărut şi necesitatea de proceseşi instrumente care să facilitezeatingerea diverselor obiective în cadrul Uniunii Europene. Astfel a apărut şi aînceput a fi promovat CV-ul în format Europass, CV care este considerat de foartemulţi cel mai elocvent modelşi format de CV european. Deja acesta este folositintens în multe, dacă nu chiar toate instituţiile Uniunii Europene, fiind unul dintre principalii paşi cu care un candidat, în căutarea unui loc de muncă în cadrulinstitutiilor UE, trebuie să se familiarize.

Multe companii private au considerat modelul de CV în format Europassca fiind foarte util. Ca urmare la locurile de muncă disponibile în domeniul privat puteţi întâlni mai mult sau mai puţin ocazional cerinţa ca CV-ul candidaţilor să fietrimis în format european. Totodată mulţi candidaţi au găsit foarte facilşi utilmodelul de CV europass,şi ca urmare au adoptat folosirea acestuia chiarşi în

mediul privat în momentul aplicării pentru un anumit post.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

MODULE IV (UNIT 7 –UNIT 11 )


CHEFNEAUX GABRIELA, Techniques of communication, Ed. UnivTransilvania, Braşov, 2008

CHILĂRESCU M., PAIDOS C., Practical Course of English, Ed.Polirom, Iaşi, 2006

CHIROBOCEA OTILIA, English for natural sciences, upper,intermediate, advanced , Ed. Ovidius University Press, Constanţa, 2005

CICIUC OLEA, TĂNĂSESCU EUGENIA, English for Business Purposes, Ed. Teora, Bucureşti, 1998

GORE AL., Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit,PinguinBooks, USA, 1993

HOHAN, LUCIA TRANCOTĂ , Ş ti ţ i să redacta ţ i o scrisoare în limbaengleză ?, Ed. Albatros, Bucureşti, 1984

IUGA ANA MARIA, English for professional communication in a cross-cultural context , Ed.Alma Mater, Sibiu, 2006

LEVIŢCHI LEON, Gramatica limbii engleze, Ed. Stiinţifică, Bucureşti,1967

LUNGU SMARANDA ANDA, Agricultural English extension course, Ed.Salgo, Sibiu, 2008

MISZTAL M.,Test your vocabulary, Ed. Teora, Bucureşti, 1994MISZTAL M., Test your English Grammar, Ed. Teora, Bucureşti, 1996

MUNTEAN LEON C., BORCEAN I., AXINTE M., Fitotehnie, Ed.Didactică şi pedagogică, R.A. Bucureşti, l995

MURPHY RAYMOND, English Grammar in Use, Cambridge UniversityPress, 2003

PĂUNESCU ANCA, Course for Agriculture English, Ed. Arves, Craiova,2008

RAVEN PETER H. , Biology of plants, Worth Publishers, New York,

1986

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SIDE R., GUY W., Grammar and Vocabulary for Cambridge Advancedand Proficiency, Longman, Edinburgh, 2004

SWAN MICHAEL, Practical English Usage, Oxford University Press,1992

VINŢEAN ADRIANA, Communication skills in business English, Ed.Psihomedia, Sibiu, 2006



DICŢIONARE





Bucureşti,1977

Dicţionar de economie româ n – englezşi englez – româ n, Ed. Niculescu

S.R.L., Bucureşti,1997



http://ecology. uedavis.eduhttp// en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Biodiversityhttp://www.environment.nswhttp://www.answers.comhttp://www europass.cedefop europa.euBritanica Concise Encyclopedia on lineFood and Culture Encyclopedia on line

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BIBLIOGRAPHY(MODULE I-VIII)


ALEXANDRESCU C., Limba engleză pentru horticultori, Ed. Moldova,1998

ALTIERI MIGUEL, Agroecology: the Science of Sustainable Agriculture,Westview Press, Boulder, Co, 1995

ANDREI LUMINIŢA, Business English Grammar , Ed. Timpul, Iaşi, 2006

BLAKE FRANCIS, Organic Farming and Growing , WBC BookMnufactures Ltd., Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan, 1990

BUTLER RICHARD, HALL C. MICHAEL, Tourism and Recreation in Rural Areas, John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Baffins Lane, West Sussex, 1998

CALLUT JEAN PAUL, Business Vocabulary Based on “English for Managers” (a selection of texts ), Louvain la Neuve 1988

CHEFNEAUX GABRIELA, Techniques of communication, Ed. Univ

Transilvania, Braşov, 2008CHILĂRESCU M., PAIDOS C., Practical Course of English, Ed.

Polirom, Iaşi, 2006CHIROBOCEA OTILIA, English for natural sciences, upper,

intermediate, advanced , Ed. Ovidius University Press, Constanţa, 2005 CICIUC OLEA, TĂNĂSESCU EUGENIA, English for Business

Purposes, Ed. Teora, Bucureşti, 1998

DAVID FRANCIS , Family Agriculture (Tradition and Transformation),Earthscan Publications Ltd., London, l994

DUDE ROXANA, High speed English for tourism and the hospitalityindustry, Ed. Pro Universitaria, Bucureşti, 2006

EKINS PAUL, Economic growth and environmental sustainability : the prospects for green growth, London: Routledge, 2000

GEPTS P., A Comparison between Crop Domestication, Classical Plant

Breeding , and Genetic Engineering , Crop Science 42, 2002

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GLAVAN VASILE, Turism rural. Agroturism. Turism durabil. Ecoturism,Editura Economicã, Bucureºti, 2003

GORE AL., Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit,PinguinBooks, USA, 1993

HOHAN, LUCIA TRANCOTĂ , Ş ti ţ i să redacta ţ i o scrisoare în limbaengleză ?, Ed. Albatros, Bucureşti, 1984

IUGA ANA MARIA, English for professional communication in a cross-cultural context , Ed.Alma Mater, Sibiu, 2006

JULES N. PRETTY, Regenerating Agriculture (Policies and Practice forSustainability and Self-Reliance), Earthscan Publications Ltd., London, l995

LEVIŢCHI LEON, Gramatica limbii engleze, Ed. Stiinţifică, Bucureşti,

1967 LUNGU SMARANDA ANDA, Agricultural English extension course, Ed.Salgo, Sibiu, 2008

MARIN MONICA, First steps into marketing , Ed. Uranus, Bucureşti,2005

MISZTAL M.,Test your vocabulary, Ed. Teora, Bucureşti, 1994MISZTAL M., Test your English Grammar, Ed. Teora, Bucureşti, 1996MUNTEAN LEON C., BORCEAN I., AXINTE M., Fitotehnie, Ed.

Didactică şi pedagogică, Bucureşti, l995MURPHY RAYMOND, English Grammar in Use, Cambridge University

Press, 2003NORTON, GEORGE W., JEFFREY ALWANG , Introduction to

Economics of Agricultural Development , (McGraw-Hill Book Co.), l993PĂUNESCU ANCA, Course for Agriculture English, Ed. Arves, Craiova,

2008RAVEN PETER H. , Biology of plants, Worth Publishers, New York,

1986SIDE R., GUY W., Grammar and Vocabulary for Cambridge Advanced

and Proficiency, Longman, Edinburgh, 2004STANCIU GH., România, cartea europeană a spa ţ iului rural, Editura

Ceres, Bucureşti 1996 SWAN MICHAEL, Practical English Usage, Oxford University Press,

1992

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TYLER V. E., FOSTER S., Tyler's Honest Herbal (rev. ed. 1999); ThePhysicians' Desk Reference for Herbal Medicines, Haworth Herbal Press, 1999

VINŢEAN ADRIANA, Communication skills in business English, Ed.Psihomedia, Sibiu, 2006



DICŢIONARE





Bucureşti,1977

Dicţionar de economie româ n – englezşi englez – româ n, Ed. Niculescu

S.R.L., Bucureşti,1997



http:// agrienvarchive.cahttp:// extension. oregonstate.eduhttp://5e.plantphys.nethttp://www. tettafertil.http://www.enjoy-your-garden.cohttp: //www.listpicurare.ro

http:// www.home. staffworks.comhttp://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au

8/13/2019 AGRO ID vol.2 10.09


http://www.soilerosion.nethttp://www.environment.nswhttp://www.answers.comhttp://www.agricultor.ro

http://www. wisteme.comhttp://edugreen.teri.reshttp: // agricultura-romania.rohttp// en.wikipedia.http://www.GeneticEngineering.org/ http://www.realitatea.nethttp://www.naturalnews.com

http://ecology. uedavis.eduhttp// en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Biodiversityhttp://www europass.cedefop europa.euhttp://www revista.ferma rohttp://recipes.wikia.comhttp://www.hempowered.comhttp://www.canepa-romaneasca.rohttp://www.articole.cartiagricole.rohttp://www. naturalelixir.com http://www.sci.ac.uk

Britanica Concise Encyclopedia on lineThe Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2008Food and Culture Encyclopedia on lineMcGraw-Hill Science and Technology Encyclopedia

AGRO ID vol.2 10.09

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