Question

Explain how soil gets affected by the continuous plantation of crops in a field.

Answer 1

The various communities of living organisms; plants and animals interact among themselves as well as with their physical environment like soil, air and water. The plant interacts with the soil to get essential nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, minerals etc.

Complete answer:
Soil is made up from rocks through the process of weathering and natural soil erosion. Parent material is broken down with the help of water, wind, temperature change and with living organisms. It is the upper most layer of the earth and mainly consists of the organic materials, minerals particles, air, water and different types of components, all of which are in contact with each other directly or indirectly.
Most of the living things are dependent on the soil for their existence. Soil can be damaged very early as it takes too much time for the soil formations. If we understand how to manage the soil properly or how to use it without destroying it, we can save this valuable resource of the earth.
Earth soil consists of layers:

A horizon: this is the topmost layer of the soil and it is rich in humus, nutrient, organic matter and this layer also consists high biological activity (i.e. most plant roots, earthworms, insects and microorganisms are active).
The A horizon is usually darker in color than other horizons because of the presence of the high content of organic materials.
B horizon: this is the 2nd layer of the soil profile, which mainly consists of the clay.
This horizon is less fertile than the topsoil but it has more moisture holding capacity. It generally has a lighter color and has less biological activity than the A horizon. Texture of this horizon is also heavier than the A horizon.
C horizon: this is made up of the weathered rock which also helps in the formation of horizon A and B.
Bed Rocks: This is the lowermost layer of the soil profile consisting of the bad rocks. And absence of the activities
Continuous plantation of crops in soil leads to a decline in the quality of soil. Also, soil plays a major role in the plantation of crops hence crops get all the nutrients from the soil for the development but the practice of continuous plantation of crops make soil poor in essential nutrients such as phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen and many more leads to the make soil less fertile.
Continuous plantation does not give any time to soil to replenish the nutrients.
The act of continuous plantation of crops by farmer’s leads to the infertility of the soil and plants do not get proper nutritional requirements therefore, affecting the yield.

Note: The study of the soil is called ``Pedology” and the earth's surface which is consisting of soil is called Pedoshere. There are different types of soil found on the earth on the basis of the environment and geographical distribution of the earth such as sandy soil, clay soil, silt soil, peat soil, chalk soil, loam soil etc.