FROM MARKET TO HOME-(TEXT)

FROM MARKET TO HOME

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

CBSE-IV

My name is Vaishali. My father is a vegetable-seller. My whole family Amma, Bhaiya, Chhotu and I, help him with his work. Can you guess at what time we begin our work? At 3 o’clock in the morning.

When most people are fast asleep, we start our work. Our day’s work begins when Babuji, Amma, Bhaiya and I take out the previous day’s vegetables from the gunny bags and baskets. This is to prepare for bringing the fresh vegetables from the mandi.

Sometimes Chhotu also helps us. As we finish doing this and are having some tea, we hear the horn of the tempo. It is time for Babuji , Bhaiya , Chachu (uncle) and some others from our street to leave for the mandi.

Preparing for the Day

While Babuji is a way, Amma, Chhotu and I put the previous day’s vegetables on gunny bags, and sprinkle some water on them. By 6.30 a.m. Babuji is back from the mandi with baskets and sacks full of fresh

vegetables.

At that time our house looks more like a small vegetable market! There are brinjals, potatoes, tomatoes, okra (Bhindi), pumpkin, gourds, chillies and many other vegetables all around.

Everybody helps in sorting the vegetables. The vegetables which are not fully ripe and ready to sell are kept aside. We have to sort the vegetables fast, so as to reach thebazaar as early as possible.

By 7 o’clock, Babuji arranges all the vegetables on the handcart and leaves for the bazaar. He says that if he is late, then his regular buyers may buy

their vegetables from someone else. As soon as Babuji leaves, I quickly get ready as I have to reach school by 7.30 a.m.

 In the Bazaar

Chhotu attends school in the afternoon. He rests for a while and goes to the bazaar later with food for Babuji and Bhaiya. He stays with them at the vegetable cart, until it is time for him to go to school.

Sometimes he goes back after school to help Babuji. Babuji tries to see that the previous day’s vegetables are sold first.

As the previous day’s vegetables get sold, Bhaiya takes out fresh vegetables from the sacks and puts them in the cart. He also keeps sprinkling water on the vegetables so that they do not dry up, especially in summers.

Babuji and Bhaiya return home, after a long day, only around 10 o’clock at night. By then Chhotu and I are asleep. Everyone else sleeps around 11 or 11.30 at night. And at 3 o’clock next morning – only four hours later – our family is up again. Another day has begun!

THANKYOU,

NANDITHA

BASVA'S FARM-(TEXT)

BASVA'S FARM

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

CBSE-IV

I am Basva. My father is a farmer. We live in Belvanika village in Karnataka. It is the month of July.

 Like every year, Appa, my father, is preparing the field to sow the onion crop. There are so many things to be done at this time. To help him I too go to the field with Appa.

In the last few days, Appa has been using the Khunti (an iron rod) to dig the soil, loosen it and make it soft.

This lesson talks about the process of cultivating an onion crop. You can use this as an example to encourage children to find out and describe the process for growing some crops that are common in their area.

Sowing the Seeds

This year also my father will sow onion seeds in the field. The bullocks will pull the Kurige and Appa will walk behind them, sprinkling the seeds.

I would also like to do this, just like my Appa. But Appa says that it is necessary to drop the right amount of seeds at a regular distance.This is not so easy to do. He says that I may drop too many seeds at one place. I must wait till I am a little older to be able to do this properly.

The Sprouts Appear It is now twenty days since the seeds were sown. The onion plants have started to sprout. Along with onion plants, weeds have also come up. Weeds grow in fields and gardens, without being planted.

Appa says that we must remove the weeds so that they do not take up all the water and fertilisers. If there are too many weeds, then the onion plants will not be healthy. Amma, Uncle and I, we all help Appa to take out the weeds.

Growing Plants

I am happy to see the plants growing. They are tall enough to reach my knees. The leaves have started turning yellow and drying up. This means that the onions are ready to be taken out. I may not go to school for the next few days since I will also need to help.

Do you know why?

Everyone at home will have to work to take the onions out. It is important that this should be done at the right time. If we are late, the onions will rot in the ground itself and all our hard work will be wasted.

Everyone at home is happy. This time the onions are big and healthy. Amma and aunty use the illige to cut the dried leaves from the top of the onions. The illige is sharp and you have to be careful not to cut your fingers.

Appa and Uncle fill the sacks with onions. Appa will take them in a truck to sell in the big market.

Cultivation of Onion 

The onion is one of the most important commercial vegetable crops grown in India: The demand for onion is worldwide. It is used both in raw and mature bulb stage as vegetable and spices.

The bulb of onion consists of swollen bases of green foliage leaves and fleshy scales. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, A.P., Bihar and Punjab are the important onion producing states.

Soil and its Preparation:

Onion can be grown on various soils. But sandy loam, silly loam and deep friable soils are best suited for onion crop. The land is prepared by giving 5-6 ploughings.

Seed rate & Time of Sowing:

In onion 10 to 12 kg seeds require/ha. For kharif it is sown in June & for rabi sown in October-November.

Manures & Fertilizers:

25 to 30 cart loads of well rotten FYM or compost applied at the time soil preparation per hectare.

Harvesting, Curing, Yield and Storage:

Follow harvesting of onion bulbs at right stage of maturity. It is important in deciding storage life of onion as bulbs may be stored for about six months.

The onion bulbs, reach maturity when the plants cease to produce new leaves and roots. In onion, neck fall is the indication of maturity. 

Time of harvesting depends on several factors tike planting season, cultivar, market price and condition of the crop.

In general, when about 50 percent neck fall is seen crop is harvested. Onion for storage should be fully developed.Thick-neck bulbs which result due to premature harvesting do not store well.

Late harvesting leads to increased respiration, subsequent susceptibility to diseases and excessive sprouting during prolonged storage and left in field sunburn is also noticed. 

Bulbs are harvested by hand pulling if soil is light; they are also harvested by hand implements.

THANK YOU,

NANDITHA

RIVER'S TALE-(TEXT)

RIVER'S TALE

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

CBSE-IV

Look carefully at the picture of the river. Read the words given below.

Use these words to make a story. Give a title to your story also. Boat, flowing water, blue, fish, water-plants, river, foul smell, big ship, oil, river banks, factories, washing clothes, animals, other work,

change, city.

Lets us see how the river water flow.

The colour of the river changes as it flows downwards to the plains.

Now see the colour of the water. Water pollution is the main cause of the change in colour of the river water.

How does Water become Dirty?

You saw in the pictures that as the river flowed through or near many villages, towns and cities the water changed.

The people used the river water for many different things such as washing clothes, bathing animals and cleaning utensils.

Many of these activities made the water dirty. The water in the river kept

changing as it flowed through various places. Water in ponds and lakes can also become dirty due to similar reasons.

From where do you get your drinkingwater. We get drinking water from river or a lake. Do you think that like the river in the picture your river or lake can also be affected.

 Because Many towns and factories are built nearrivers so that they can use water from the river. But sometimes the water is not cleaned before it is put back into the river. This dirtying of water (also air and soil) is called pollution.

Pollution can be in a variety of forms:

Rubbish like crisp packets, newspaper and bags. Oil, Poisonous substances, Cans, bottles and other solid objects, Human waste / excrement

Causes of pollution:

There are several causes of water pollution in India. The main causes are briefly described as under:

Urbanisation:

Rapid urbanisation in India during the recent decades has given rise to a number of environmental problems such as water supply, wastewater generation and its collection, treatment and disposal.

Many towns and cities which came up on the banks of rivers have not given a proper thought to problem of wastewater, severage, etc.

Agriculture:

Farmers put fertilizers and pesticides on their crops so that their crops grow better. But these fertilizers and pesticides can be washed through the soil by rain, to end up in rivers. Fertilizers and pesticides are harmful because they cause algae to grow. The algae then destroy water plants.

Factories:

Factories use water from rivers to power machinery or to cool down machinery. Dirty water containing chemicals is put back in the river. Water used for cooling is warmer than the river itself, and this is also a form of pollution.

 Industries:

Most Indian rivers and other sources of fresh water are polluted by industrial wastes or effluents. All these industrial wastes are toxic to life forms that consume this water. The total wastewater generated from all major industrial sources is 83,048 MId which includes 66,700 Mid of cooling water generated from thermal power plants.

Withdrawal of Water:

Indian rivers, particularly the Himalayan Rivers, have plenty of water in their upper course. They are, however, starved of water when they enter the plain area. Irrigation canals whisk away clean water soon after the rivers reach the plains, denying water to flow in the river downstream.

People:

People are sometimes careless and throw rubbish such as bottles and crisp packets directly into rivers.

Effects of water pollution:

Pollution kills water plants and animals. Polluted water also carries diseases. When animals drink the water, they may get diseases which can kill them. People can even get these diseases by eating the infected animal.

This happens a lot in poor countries in Africa where people get untreated water directly from the river. Rivers look unsightly when there is rubbish in them. Polluted rivers smell bad.

Solutions:

Efforts are being made to clean dirtyrivers. Water companies like Southern Water are spending a lot of money to clean up dirty rivers. There are fines for companies and people who deliberately throw rubbish into the river.

We can’t drink sea water because  Seawater is toxic because your body fails eventually when it has to try to get rid of the salt that comes from sea water.

There are many things that dissolve easily in water. Some of these can be very harmful for our body. Hence, it is important that we clean water before drinking it. One of the best ways to do this is to boil the water.

THANKYOU,

NANDITHA