English for Agriculture: unit 2 lowland cultivation vocabulary

Vocabulary:


century (n) - 100 years
centuries (plural) - hundreds of years
Examples:

1. The 19th Century saw a large increase in heavy industries.
2. Agriculture has been developed and improved over many centuries.

disadvantage (n) - problem (opposite of advantage)
Examples:

1. If your children do not learn English while they are young, they will be at a disadvantage in later life.
2. This technique has both advantages and disadvantages.

fertile (adj.) - able to produce (especially for soil)
fertility (n)
Examples:

1. Soils in that region are especially fertile.
2. We can improve the fertility of soil.

finally (adv.)
final (adj.) - at the end
Examples:

1. It took a long time but we finally finished all the work.
2. It will be some time before we get the final results.

flood (n) - a lot of water where there is usually no water
flood (v)
Examples:

1. Most of the region was flooded for several days.
2. Floods damaged crops in many areas.

frogs (n) - type of animal that lives in water and on land, has very long legs for jumping and no tail
get rid of (v) - take out, remove something we don't want
Examples:

1. There are too many papers here. Can you get rid of some of them?
2. I have had this cold for weeks. I just can't seem to get rid of it.

grow (v) - to become bigger (grow-grew-grown)
growth (n)
Examples:

1. My son grew 10 cm. last year.
2. These plants will not grow in hot climates.

harvest (v) - cutting and gathering of food crops
harvest (n)
Examples:

1. The harvest was late this year.
2. These crops are easy to harvest.

hold (v) - to take and keep something (hold-held-held)
Examples:

1. This bottle can hold 1 ½ liters.
2. How much information can this disk hold?

level (v) - to make something flat
level (n)  - flat area
level (adj.) - having a flat surface
Examples:

1. This land will be difficult to level.
2. The car park has five levels.
3. To play our game, we will need to find a level piece of ground.

paddy (n) - rice field; unmilled rice
paddies (plural)
plow (v) - to turn over soil with a plow
plow (n) - farm tool used for plowing
note: British English – plough
Examples:

1. Most of the fields are plowed in the wet season.
2. Farmers have used plows for thousand of years.

relatively (adv.) - comparatively, quite
relative (adj.) - compared to
Examples:

1. The rooms are relatively large.( same as   The rooms are quite large.)
2. This is relatively easy. (same as This is not too difficult.)

seep (v) - when water moves slowly through something
Examples:

1. If bunds are not built carefully, water may seep out of the rice field.
2. Our roof was damaged last year. Now when it rains, some water seeps through.

shellfish (n) - animals with a shell that live in water
snails (n)  - small, slow-moving animal with a shell
tend to (adv.) - usually happens
Examples:

1. He is not a good worker. He tends to be lazy.
2. The rainy season tends to last for 4 or 5 months.

traditional (adj.)
tradition (n) - beliefs or systems passed from parents to children
traditionally (adv.)
Examples:

1. These are the traditional clothes worn by women in my country.
2. This is a very old tradition which people have carried out for centuries.
3. English people traditionally eat meat with two vegetables.

vary (v) - to change, to be different
varied (adj.) - different
variety (n) - different types
variable (adj.) - often changing
Examples:

1. Traditions vary from country to country.
2. We should eat a varied diet.
3. We need to use a variety of techniques.
4. Weather conditions in my country are variable.

vital (adj.) - very important
vitally (adv.)
Examples:

1. It is vital that you understand this! (same as It is very important that you understand this.)
2. This is vitally important! (same as This is very, very important.)

weed (n) - plant which we do not want
weed (v) - to take out weeds
Examples:

1. These fields need to be weeded at least two times during the growing season.
2. Some farmers do not believe that weeds are a problem.

yield (v) - produce, give a result
yield (n) - production, the result
Examples:

1. These varieties tend to yield well.

1. Rice yields in many countries are still too low.

bunds (n) - embankments between fields, also called levees and dikes
puddle (v) - to make wet soil very soft before planting crops
transplant (v) - to take plant from onelocation and put it in soil somewhere else
transplanted (adj)
transplantation (n)
Example:

1. The rice in that area was transplanted last week.

seedlings (n) - a young plant grown from seed as distinct from one grown by other methods
varieties (n) - groups of animals or plants within a species or sub-species.   Sometimes also called breed, race or strain.
varietal (adj)
Examples:

1. Scientists are always working to develop new varieties of plants and animals.
2. Varietal improvement is an important area of crop research.