Question

Farmers often rotate corn (a cereal crop) and soybeans (a legume), planting a field with each crop in alternate seasons. What advantage might this crop rotation confer?

Short answer

soybeans fix nitrogen which are helpful for corn crops.

Step-by-step solution

Step- 1 Introduction

Crop rotation is a practice seen in organic farming. It is a system of growing different kinds of crops on the same piece of land in recurrent succession. It is the most important strategy owned by farmers and has various advantages. It maintains soil fertility as well as prevents soil erosion.

Step-2 Explanation

Crop-rotation is very much helpful in farm management and long-term soil fertility. Zea mays (corn) and Glycine max (soybeans) come from different families of the crop. Corn crops are unable to fix atmospheric nitrogen which is required for plant growth. Soybeans crops are good at fixing nitrogen due to the presence of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the root nodules. Therefore, corn crops are grown after the cultivation of soybeans so that corn crops can use the remaining nitrogen from the soil. It helps in improving the metabolism of the crop and yield gets higher.