Question

One of the advantages of growing chili plants between two rows of green gram plants, is
that
A. Chili plants are protected by the shade of dhal plants
B. Nitrogenous fertilizer prepared by green gram plants can be utilized by chili plants
C. Chili plants get water from green gram plants
D. Dhal plants are protected from pest in the presence of chili plants

Answer 1

Chili is the most common example of row intercropping method. Chili is a tropical and subtropical plant, requiring a combination of warm humid yet wet weather.It helps in the stability and diversity of the field.

Complete answer:
Gram plants are Leguminous plants and they have Rhizobium (Nitrogen fixing soil bacteria) in its root nodules. Rhizobium is a genus of gram-negative soil bacteria that fix nitrogen ($N_2$). The species of this bacteria are prokaryotic that forms an endosymbiotic relationship with roots of certain plants like Legumes and Parasponia, where they are capable of transforming atmospheric nitrogen gas into” fixed nitrogen” compounds such as ammonia using the enzyme nitrogenase, which acts as a natural fertilizer for the plants. Nitrogen is a component of proteins and nucleic acid and is essential to life on earth and though nitrogen is abundant in the atmosphere, organisms cannot use it in that form. Since plants cannot take in nitrogen present in the air directly so they are to be mobilized from the soil. This Rhizobium bacteria helps provide to the chili plant the same.
Thus, the correct answer is B. nitrogenous fertilizer prepared by green gram plants can be utilized by chili plants.

Note:- The fertilizers are the compounds which provide nutrients to the plants. It increases the crop yield. The nitrogen fixation is a process which involves conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into the nitrates.