Instructions to Candidates:
- This paper consists of three sections; A, B and C.
- Answer all the questions in section A and B.
- Answer any two questions in section C.
SECTION A:(30MARKS)
Answer all the questions in this section.
- State four advantages of intensive system of farming. (2mks)
- Give four conditions likely to facilitate land fragmentation. (2mks)
-
- List four post-harvest practices done on crops. (2mks)
- What is earthing up in crop production? (1mk)
- Give four reasons as to why burning as a method of bush clearing is not recommended. (2mks)
-
- Give the form in which the following elements are available to plants. (1mk)
- Nitrogen -
- Sulphur–
- State two liming elements in crop production. (1mk)
- Give the form in which the following elements are available to plants. (1mk)
- State four effects of ill- health and HIV /AIDs in agricultural production (2mks)
- State the functions of the following components in a compost heap. (2mks)
- Ash…………………………………………………………
- Garden soil …………………………………………………
- Organic manure………………………………………………
- Stick……………………………………………………
- State four factors that can enhance rooting in stem cuttings. (2mks)
- Outline four reasons a farmer should have breeding records in livestock production. (2mks)
- Give four ways of treating water for use in the farm. (2mks)
- List Four methods of harvesting water in a farm. (2mks)
- Give two methods of conserving forage. (1mk)
- State four Farming activities that encourage soil erosion. (2mks)
- State four roles of agriculture in national development (2mks)
- State four advantages of budding. (2mks)
SECTION B: (20MKS)
Answer all questions in this section.
- The diagrams below show an experiment that was carried out by Mwatate agriculture students. Study it carefully and answer the questions that follow.
- What was the aim of the experiment. (1mk)
- What observation did the students make in the two flasks at the end of the experiment. (2mks)
- Flask 1 ……………………………………………………………………………..
- Flask 2 ………………………………………………………………..…………….
- Give a reason for the observation made in flask 1. (1mk)
- Why did the students heat the garden soil in flask 2 strongly? (1mk)
- The diagram below illustrates materials, and a method of vegetative propagation. Study it and answer the questions that follow.
- Identify the method of propagation illustrated above. (1mk)
- Name a common crop propagated through the method. (1mk)
- Give three disadvantages of this method of propagation. (3mks)
- The diagram below shows a bird which is a field crop pest. Study it and answer the question that follow.
- Identify the pest(1mk)
- State two damages caused to crops by the pest. (2mks)
- Give two methods which can be used to control the pest. (2mks)
-
- Given that the spacing of coffee is 2.7m by 2.7m, calculate the plant population in 1 hectare (Ha) of land. (2mks)
- Give three reasons why crops should be planted at the correct spacing. (3mks)
SECTION C (40MARKS)
-
- State four benefits of sowing annual crops early. (4mks)
- Describe eight effects of fragmentation and sub division of land. (8mks)
- Explain eight effects of weeds. (8mks)
-
- Describe the various field management practices for tomatoes. (8mks)
- State the precautions that should be observed when harvesting cotton. (4mks)
- Explain four importance of crop rotation. (8mks)
-
- Explain four factors to consider in choosing the type of irrigation to use in the farm. (8mks)
- Describe five farming practices that destroy soil structure. (5mks)
- Describe seven reasons why farmers need to keep good farm records. (7mks)
MARKING SCHEME
- Advantages of intensive systems of farming.
- maximum utilization of land
- High yield due to high level of management
- Better quality of products
- Possible in densly populated area 4 x ½ = 2mks
- Conditions that facilitates land fragmentation
- Shifting cultivation
- Inheritance of pieces of land that are scattered
- Government allocation of land to people who own land else where/ settlement resettlement by government
- Buying pieces of land in different areas.
- land accumulation by many lenders. 4 x ½ = 2mks
-
- Post harvesting practices
- Threshing
- winnowing/washing
- drying
- Sorting and grading
- dusting
- packaging
- processing marks first four points 4 x ½ =2 mks
- Earthing up – it’s the placement of soil in form of a heap around the base of the plants. (1mk)
- Post harvesting practices
- Reasons why burning as a method of bush clearing is not recommended.
- Destruction of soil structure.
- Death of useful soil organisms
- Loss of soil nutrients
- Destruction of organic matter/humus
- Raise of soil pH due to release of potash
- soil moisture is lost
- Exposes the soil to the agents of erosion
- Risk if five spreading and destroy properties. Mark first four points4 x ½ = 2mks
-
- Forms in which the following elements are available to plants.
- Nitrogen – nitrate ions ( NO-3 ) or Ammonium ( NH+4 ) ½ mk
- Sulphur – sulphate ion ( SO42- ) ½ mk
- The liming elements in crop production
- Magnesium
- calcium
- sulphur marks first two points 2 x ½ = 1mk
- Forms in which the following elements are available to plants.
- Effects of ill – health and HIV/AIDs in agricultural production
- Shortage of farm labour
- low food supply and poverty in general
- Low living standards leading to despondency, hopelessness and lack of motivation to invest in agriculture.
- Government and NGO’s using a lot of time and resources in controlling the pedami
- Increasing the cost of living of AIDs patients and their relatives. Mark first four points4 x ½ = 2mks
- Functions of the followings in compost heap.
- Ash
- improves the level of potassium and phosphorous and raise soil pH which enhances microbial activities.
- Garden soil
- introduces micro – organisms that are necessary for the decomposition of organic materials.
- Organic manure
- provides the food to micro – organisms.
- stick
- checking the temperatures within the heap. 4 x ½ = 2mks
- Ash
- Factors enhancing rooting in stem cuttings.
- High soil temperature rej. Temperature alone.
- Good soil aeration rej. Aeration alone.
- Low light intensity in hard woods and high light intensity in soft wood rej. Light intensity alone.
- High relative humidity rej. Humidity alone
- use rootings hormones rej. Hormones alone. Mark first fourspoints 4 x ½ = 2mks
- Reasons why a farmer should have breeding record in livestock production.
- They assists in the planning of a good breeding programme.
- They help in the selection of breeding stock.
- They help in culling un productive animals that have fertility problems.
- They are useful in determining services, e.g pregnancy diagnosis and parturition dates.
- Useful in determining services, pregnancy diagnosis and parturition dates.
- They assist in predicting the performance of offspring in pedigree selection.
Mark first four points 4 x ½ = 2mks
- Ways of treating water for use in the farm.
- Chemical treatment
- filtration
- boiling
- Sedimentation /decantation
- Storage
- Aeration. 4 x ½ = 2mks
- Methods of harvesting water in the farm
- Weirs
- Dams
- Ponds
- Roof catchment
- Rock catchment
- Level terrace ditches
- Micro-catchments
- wells. Mark first four points 4 x ½ = 2mks
- Method of conserving forage
- hay
- silage
- Standing foragemarks first two points 2 x ½ = 1mk
- Farming activities that encourage soil erosion
- Monocropping
- overstocking/overgrazing
- Planting of annual crops, steep slopes
- clean weeding
- ploughing up & down the slope
- burning & vegetation. Mark first four points 4 x ½ = 2mks
- Role of agriculture in national development.
- Promotion of industrial development
- Food supply
- Source of income
- Creation of employment
- Infrastructural improvement
- Enhancing international relationships
- Improving the balance of payments. Marks first four points 4 x ½ = 2mks
- Advantages of budding
- Budding produces seedless fruits.
- They produces plants that are identical to the mother plants.
- They are less thorny
- They produces shorter tree varieties, hence easy to harvest.
- They mature early compared to crops propagated by seedlings. Mark first four points 4 x ½ = 2mks
SECTION B (20MARKS)
-
- Aim of the experiment
- To show the presence of living organisms in the soil.1 x 1 = 1mk
- Observation made by the students in the two flasks at the end of experiment.
- Flasks 1 – the lime water turns milky/white precipitates.1 x 1 = 1mk
- Flasks 2 – The lime water remained clear.1 x 1 = 1mk
- Reasons for observation in flask 1
- carbon (iv) oxide produced by living organism in the soil turned the lime water milky. The carbon (iv) oxide was produced during respiration.1 x 1 = 1mk
- To kill micro-organisms.
- Aim of the experiment
-
- Identify the method of propagation illustrate
- Tissue culture 1 x 1 = 1mk
- The common crop propagated through the method
- Banana 1 x 1 = 1mk
- Potato
- Pineapple
- Disadvantages of the methods of propagation.
- Requires high level of sanitation/hygiene
- Require a lot of skills and attention.
- Require special equipment to undertake place.
- expensive
- Identify the method of propagation illustrate
-
- Identify the pest
- Weaver bird 1 x 1 = 1mk
- Damages caused by pest to crops
- It eats the grains
- It exposes maize cobs to rain, causing them to rots.
- Destroy the leaves reduces photosynthesis ..... Mark first two points 2 x 1 = 2mks
- Methods of controlling the pest
- Trapping them
- Killing them using a catapult
- Scaring them away. Mark first two points2 x 1 = 2mks
- Identify the pest
-
- 1ha = 1 hectare = 10,000M2
Crop spacing given = 2.7M x 2.7M
Plant population = Area of land give ½ mk
Crops spacing
= 10,000M2 = 10,000M2 = 1,371.7 give ½ mk
2.7 x 2.7 7.29M2
= 1371 or 1372 plants give ½ mks
Maximum score = 2mks - reasons for correct spacing.
- High yields are obtained
- Reduces incidences of pest and diseases.
- Crops produces are of high quality
- Give maximum utilization of provided resources.
- To control weeds. Marks first three points 3 x 1 = 3mks
- 1ha = 1 hectare = 10,000M2
SECTION C (40MARKS)
-
- State four benefits of sowing annual crops early. (4mks)
- Enables the crop to withstand competition from weeds.
- Enables the crop to escape attack by pests and diseases.
- To better utilization of nutrients in the soil.
- For better utilization of available rainfall.
- To get good market.
- To reduce competition for labour.
- To time harvesting to occur during appropriate weather conditions.
- Benefit from nitrogen flush
- Describe eight effects of fragmentation and sub division of land. (8mks)
- Time is wasted while travelling from one holding to another or from the farmstead to the various fragments.
- Proper and effective control of weeds and pests become difficult since the fragments are surrounded by other farmers’ holdings.
- It is difficult to allow a sound farm plan arising from the distribution between fragments and the farmers’ home.
- It is difficult to supervise the scattered plots.
- Control of livestock parasites and diseases will become difficult.
- It is difficult to carryout various soil conservation measures especially without the cooperation and concerted efforts from all the farmers.
- The size and shape of such holdings may be such that it is virtually impossible for the farmers to restrict grazing in one holding only.
- There are difficulties of offering agricultural extension advice & services.
- Agricultural productivity remains poor resulting in low standards of living. (1x8=8mks)
- Explain eight effects of weeds. (8mks)
- They compete with crops for nutrients, space, and light and soil moisture hence reducing crop yields.
- Some eg witch weed (Strigasp) are parasitic to cultivated crops eg maize.
- Some weed seeds lower the quality of agricultural produce. Some get attached to sheep wool lowering its quality.
- Some weeds are poisonous to man and livestock egDaturastramonium.
- Some weeds act as alternate hosts for insect pests and others for diseases eg wild oats is an alternate host for rust.
- Some weeds are allelopathicie produce poisonous substances that may suppress the growth or germination of cultivated plants
- Some block irrigation channels.
- Aquatic weeds affect fishing.
- Weeds lower the quality of pastures eg Lantana camara
- Some weeds are difficult to handle and control because they irritate the workers hence reducing the efficiency in which they are controlled eg stinging nettle and devils horsewhip.
- Increases cost of production. (8x1=8mks)
- State four benefits of sowing annual crops early. (4mks)
-
- Describe the various field management practices for tomatoes. (8mks)
- Gapping-Any seedlings that dries after transplanting should be gapped to maintain the correct plant population.
- Top dressing-At 25-30cm high tomato plants should be top dressed with nitrogenous fertilizers at the rate of 100kg CAN or SA per ha.
- Weeding-The field should be kept weed free. Hand cultivation is done to control weeds. Care must be taken not to injure tomato roots and stems during weeding.
- Staking- Supporting tomatoes especially tall varieties using sticks which are about 2m high.
- Pruning-This encourages the development parts of large fruits and controls upward growth.
- Tomato pestseg American bollworm are controlled using appropriate pesticides to improve quality of fruits.
- Tomato diseases like tomato blight, bacterial wilt and blossom-end rot should be controlled using the appropriate ways.
- Mulching to conserve moisture and smother weeds.
- Watering early in the morning and late in the evening during dry weather conditions.
(Any eight practices well described) (8x1=8mks)
- State the precautions that should be observed when harvesting cotton. (4mks)
- Picking should be done immediately the bolls open/split to prevent staining by dust.
- Picking should be done when the lint is dry to prevent fibres from sticking together.
- Use clean containers for picking to avoid contamination.
- Hands should be clean to avoid staining of the lint.
- Do not mix cotton with foreign matter eg leaves and small twigs.
- Use separate containers for separate cotton grades to ensure quality.
- Avoid using sisal bags for collecting the bolls because their fibres may mix with the seed cotton thus creating problems during ginning. (Any four) 1x4=4mks
- Explain four importance of crop rotation. (8mks)
- Maximum utilization of nutrients- Alternating shallow with deep rooted crops ensures that nutrients from different layers are well utilized.
- Control of soil borne pests and disease build up- Eg root eelworms in pyrethrum. Pests and diseases are specific to various crops.
- Control of weeds -Parasitic weeds eg witch weed (Striga weed) are susceptible to grass family crops and can be controlled by planting non grass crops for some time.
- Improvement of soil fertility-When leguminous crops are included in the rotation programme, they help in fixing nitrogen with the help of Rhizobium bacteria. This nitrogen is made available for subsequent crops.
- Improvement of soil structure- It is recommended that at the end of the rotation programme a grass ley be established. The roots of grass are so extensive that they bind soil particles together.
- Control of soil erosion-If crops planted in rows eg maize is alternated with cover crops eg sweet potatoes.
- Describe the various field management practices for tomatoes. (8mks)
-
- Explain four factors to consider in choosing the type of irrigation to use in the farm. (8mks)
- Capital availability- Putting up irrigation structures requires money.
- Topography of the land- For flood irrigation the land ought to be level enough. Furrow irrigation is only possible on gentle sloping land.
- Water availability-If water is limited; drip irrigation will be preferred over sprinkler irrigation.
- Type of soil- Heavy soils such as clayey is suitable for furrow irrigation.
- Type of crop to be irrigated- For rice growing basin irrigation is preferred over sprinkler irrigation. (4x2=8mks)
- Explain five farming practices that destroy soil structure. (5mks)
- Over cultivation which leads to pulverization of soil ie breaking soil into fine particles.
- Use of heavy machinery to cultivate soil.
- Cultivation at the wrong time such as when soils are too wet .
- Deforestation exposes soil to erosion hence destruction of soil structure.
- Overstocking/overgrazing exposes soil to erosion hence destruction of soil structure.
- Burning of vegetation-Destroys organic matter leading to the destruction of soil structure.
- Monocropping/ monoculture- This is the practice of growing one type of crop in a farm or one piece of land without alternating which may lead to destruction of soil structure.
(Any five)
- Describe seven reasons why farmers need to keep good farm records. (7mks)
- They help a farmer in planning and making decisions in the farm.
- Help to compare the performance of different enterprises within a farm or other farms.
- Show the history of the farm.
- Guide a farmer in planning and budgeting of farm operations.
- Help to detect losses or theft on the farm.
- Help in the assessment of income tax to avoid over or under taxation.
- Help to determine the value of the farm or to determine the assets and liabilities of the farm.
- Makes it easy to share the profits and losses in partnership.
- Helps in settling disputes among heirs eg if a farmer dies without a will.
- Helps to show whether the farm business is making profits or losses.
- Provides information to help determine a farmer’s credit worthiness.
- Helps in supporting insurance claims on death, theft and fire of farm assets.
- Provide labour information like terminal benefits eg NSSF dues.
( First seven points ) 7x1=7mks
- Explain four factors to consider in choosing the type of irrigation to use in the farm. (8mks)
Download Agriculture Paper 1 Questions and Answers - Momaliche Pre Mock Exams 2023.
Tap Here to Download for 50/-
Get on WhatsApp for 50/-
Why download?
- ✔ To read offline at any time.
- ✔ To Print at your convenience
- ✔ Share Easily with Friends / Students