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English for Academic Purposes for
Students of Agricultural Studies
Dr Eirene C. Katsarou
(PhD, MA, MA Ed, MDE)
School of Agricultural and Forestry
Sciences, DUTH
Email: ekatsai@otenet.gr
Website: http://www.ekatsarou.edu.gr
Unit 1: Agriculture
Agriculture is essentially a manipulation of ecosystems to
produce or raise organic matter (crop plants or livestock) from
the use of land. By employing various technologies and
techniques, production can be maximized (use of fertilizers,
genetic developments, irrigation, mechanization), while other
methods are used to minimize loss of crops through pests and
weeds (including use of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides,
mechanical weeding, biological control).
The purpose of agriculture has traditionally and primarily
been to meet the demand for agricultural products, mainly food,
but also raw materials for fiber manufacture. Although the
underlying purpose for agriculture has not changed, the nature,
structure and ways in which these demands have been met
have changed greatly over the last few decades, and will
continue to do so.
Changes have resulted from a variety of factors. These
include: patterns of consumption of agricultural products; food
distribution and processing; genetic development of
agricultural production and other technological developments; the
progressive globalization of agricultural markets, and the
influence of national and international agricultural products.
The failure of European agriculture to meet demand during
World War II and shortly after, made security of food
production the main objective of agricultural policy from the
late 1940s. Every country in Europe has encouraged its farmers
to produce more food through a variety of mechanisms, including
price support, other subsidies and support for research and
development.
Text 2: The EU Common Agricultural Policy
The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the single most
influential agricultural policy in Europe. Before its 1992 reform,
the heart of the policy, in most cases was the system of
guaranteed high prices for unlimited production. These
guarantees encouraged surpluses of produce such as cereals,
beef, dairy products (milk) and wine. Quotas on some products
were introduced during the 1980s but the purpose of these was to
maintain guaranteed high prices.
Key to Exercises
Exercise 1:
1. C
2. D
3. A
4. B
5. A
6. D
7. A
8. A
Exercise 3:
1. ecosystem
2. maximize
3. pesticide
4. raw material
5. decade
6. quota
7. failure
8. policy
9. subsidy
Key to Exercises
Exercise 2:
1. Agriculture is important for people as it is the only way the
meet the increasing need for food production globally.
2. Some of the common methods farmers usually use to
maximize their crops are the use of fertilizers, irrigation,
mechanization and developments in the field of genetics.
3. Crop production loss can be attributed to a number of factors,
the most common of which are pests, weeds and fungi.
4. To some respects, it is. As Greece is an EU member state, its
agricultural policy has to comply with policies established by EU
in terms of price and food quality produced.
5. Their main objective was to secure a surplus of food
production for all nations around the globe.
Unit 2 Soil Structure
Everything in agriculture depends on the soil and its
productivity. If we wish to continue to live, we must look after
our soil and understand it fully in order to produce the most and
the best from it.
Soils are arranged in layers or strata just like a sandwich.
These strata are called horizons and a mature soil normally has
A, B and C horizons. To see the whole soil as it really is we must
look at a soil profile.
The A horizon is the covering layer. It is also called the
surface soil, topsoil, or plow layer. It varies from almost
nothing to 12 inches deep, according to the nature of the subsoil
underneath and the depth of cultivation. It is darker, because it
contains organic matter and it is easy to work. It is the real living
soil; plant growth and crop production depend on the condition
of the shallow layer of the soil.
The B horizon is the next layer down and is called the
subsoil. It consists of the rock partly broken down and altered in
some way by action from the top of the soil. There is usually no
organic matter in it and it is like dead soil. The roots of large
plants usually grow in the subsoil. In mature soils the A and B
horizons are called the solum.
Beneath the solum we have the C horizon which is the basic
or parent material from which the solum has normally been
formed. It may be of sandstone, limestone or other hard rock,
chalk, sand, silt or clay.
There are though some expectations in the structure of
profiles. An example is the regosol, a group of soils without
horizons, which have developed from deep loose rock or from
soft rocky deposits.
When we speak of an ABC soil, we mean a mature soil, one
having three well defined horizons. An AC soil is usually young or
immature.
Text 2: Soil Profile Information
Soils are three dimensional bodies that carry out important
ecosystem processes at all depths in their profiles. Depending on
the particular application, the information needed to make
proper land management decisions may come from soil layers
as shallow as 1 or 2 centimeters, or as deep as the lowest layers
of saprolyte.
For example, the upper few centimeters of soil often hold the
keys to plant growth and biological diversity, as well as certain
hydrologic processes. On the other hand, it is equally important
not to confine one’s attention to the easily accessible ‘topsoil’,
for many soil properties are to be discovered only in the deeper
layers. Plant growth problems are often related to inhospitable
conditions in the B or C horizons that restrict the penetration of
roots.
Key to Exercises
Reading Comprehension
Exercise 1:
1. T
2. F
3. T
4. F
5. F
Exercise 2:
1. C
2. D and B
3. B
4. A
5. C
6. C
7. A
8. C
Key to Exercises
Reading Comprehension
Exercise 3:
Subsoil can consist of partly
broken rock, inorganic material
and plant roots.
Key to Exercises
Reading Comprehension
Exercise 4:
Key to Exercises
Reading Comprehension
Exercise 5:
1. Soil is important in agriculture as it its quality determines crop
the quality and amount of crop production.
2. A soil profile is its identity card as it describes its layers as well
as its basic sub-components.
3. A mature soil is made up of three well-defined horizons, i.e. A,
B and C while a young or immature soil is usually an AC soil.
4. Regosol can be considered an exception from the usual soil
profiles as a group of soils without horizons.
Key to Exercises
Vocabulary
Exercise 1:
1. covering layer
2. mature
3. sandstone
4. alter
5. profile
6. vary
7. deposit
Exercise 2:
1. παραγωγικότητα
2. ποικίλλει
3. περιέχει
4. ανάπτυξη
5. ρηχός
6. αποτελούμαι από
7. (μετ-)αλλαγμένος
8. κάτω από (επιρρ.)
Key to Exercises
Vocabulary
Exercise 3:
1. levels
2. strata
3. horizons
4. surface soil
5. topsoil
6. subsoil
7. organic matter
8. roots
9. solum
10. limestone
11. clay
Exercise 4:
1. f
2. c
3. b
4. g
5. e
6. a
7. d