English for Agriculture Unit 6 POLYCULTURE VOCABULARY

POLYCULTURE

 In this lesson you will study some of the key vocabulary we use when talking about polyculture. You will discuss some of the important issues involved and compare your information and ideas with those of your fellow students. At the end of the lesson you will write a short account of different cropping systems in your country or region using some of the new vocabulary and structures you have studied in this lesson.

Objectives:


After completing this unit you should be able to:

• Define the key words introduced in this lesson and use them appropriately in agricultural writing.
• Use relative pronouns in compound sentences.
• Discuss issues related to polyculture in your country or region using the vocabulary and grammar that you have learned.

This section introduces the important words (key and technical vocabulary) that will be used in the lesson. You should be sure that you understand these terms before you continue to the Reading.










VOCABULARY:  

alternate (adj.) - different
alternatively (adv.) - on the other hand, doing something a different way
alternative (n) - a differant choice
Examples:

1. I don't want to do it this way. Is there another alternative?
2. You can park here on alternate days, i.e. Monday, Wednesday, Friday; or Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.
3. You can start next week. Alternatively, you could start tomorrow.

arrangement (n) - system, organization
arrange (v) - to put things in a system
Examples:

1. Please arrange the chairs so that everyone can see.
2. This is not a good arrangement. Let's do it a different way.

dominant (adj.) - strongest, most important
dominate (v) - to be the strongest, to control
Examples:

1. He is not strong. He is dominated by his wife.
2. English is the dominant second language in many countries.

intermingled (adj.) - mixed
intermingle (v) - to mix, to put together with no system
Examples:

1. At the party, people from different countries intermingled with each other.
2. He sang French songs intermingled with English ones.

mature (v) - to grow to maturity, to become ripe, to develop
mature (adj.) - old enough, ripe enough, (for fruit) ready to be eaten, sufficiently developed
maturity (n) - the age at which someone/something is fully developed
Examples:

1. When will these plants mature?
2. Only pick the mature fruits.
3. It will take 20 years for these trees to grow to maturity.

multiple (adj.) - many
multiply (v) - to increase many times
multiplication (n) - process of increasing many times
Examples:

1. He has been in hospital many times and had multiple operations.
2. Tests where you can choose from many possible answers are called multiple choice tests.

relay (n) - moving forward after being in the same position for some time
relay(v) - to move something forward
Examples:

1. Can you relay this information to the Director?
2. The computer will hold the information for 5 minutes and then relay it to another site.

row (n) - line of plants or other things/people
Examples:

1. Rice is usually planted in straight rows.
2. We sat in the third row of the meeting room.

short-term (adj.) - short time (as opposed to medium-term and long-term)
Examples:

1. What are the short-term objectives?
2. I think this will be successful over the short-term, but later we will have to think of another alternative.

simultaneously (adv.) - done at the same time
simultaneous (adj.) - at the same time
Examples:

1. Can you walk and read simultaneously?
2. At the sports competition, the men's and women's games will be held simultaneously.

within (prep.) - inside
Examples:

1. All the experiments were  conducted within the same farmer's fields.
2. Please try to finish this within 3 days.   

TECHNICAL VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS:

 biennial - every two years, lasting for two years

bi-annual - two times a year


buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculenium) - plant grown for its triangular seeds. It is a native of central Asia but is now grown in both Europe and the United States as food for horses, cattle and poultry.  Also used as human food.


peas (Pisum) - leguminous plant with pinkish flowers and green seed pod. Its small, round seeds are used as a vegetable.


perennial - lasting a long time (in plants: living for more than two years)


soybean (Glycine max) - annual leguminous crop native to China and Japan. It is widely grown for its seeds which contain substantial protein and oil. It is also grown as forage and cover crop.


oats  (Avena sativa) - common cereal plant with edible seeds grown throughout the temperate zone.