Yuma - High Tech Farming in an Arid Environment

What state is Yuma located in?
1. California
2. Arizona
3. New Mexico
4. Nevada
5. Mexico
What river supplies Yuma with most of its water for agriculture?
1. Mississippi
2. Orinoco
3. Columbia
4. Salinas
5. Colorado
What is the average monthly temperature in summer?
1. Above 30*C
2. Above 0*C
3. Above 100*C
4. About 98*F
5. About 17*C
How much rain does Yuma receive in an average year?
1. 0 mms
2. 10 mms
3. 500 mms
4. 1000 mms
5. 1500 mms
What is the nickname of Yuma?
1. The summer sailing capitol of the USA.
2. The red rose bowl capitol of the USA.
3. The winter salad bowl capitol of the USA.
4. The turkey plucking centre of the universe.
5. The best lettuce in the west.
How is a lot of water lost from the irrigation canals?
1. By percolation into the ground.
2. By animals drinking it.
3. By cracks in the concrete lining.
4. By evaporation by the desert sun.
5. By being mislaid in the wrong place.
What is furrow irrigation?
1. When sprinklers are used to water crops.
2. When fields are flooded with water down furrows. With lettuce growing on ridges of soil between the furrows.
3. When furrows are irrigated.
4. When water is dripped onto the roots of tree crops.
5. The growth of furrow lettuce by artificial watering (not rainfall).
What is the advantage of using sprinkler irrigation?
1. Sprinklers use less water.
2. Sprinklers look attractive and are less visually intrusive.
3. Children can play under the sprinklers and cool off.
4. Sprinklers cool the surface of the soil whilst the lettuce germinates and when it is vulnerable.
5. Sprinklers don't pollute the water courses.
Why are there some circular fields in Yuma?
1. They are a weird phenomenon like crop circles caused by an alien presence.
2. The irrigation canals go round in rings so the fields are circular.
3. They have some central pivot sprinklers that turn like a radius spraying a circular area of land.
4. It is a more efficient way of using the land - less land is wasted.
5. They are high - tech farmers and they like to be trendy.
What is drip irrigation?
1. Water is dripped out of pipes by valves and is aimed directly at root systems of tree crops.
2. Water is dripped onto the lettuce so the lettuce can drink water whenever it is thirsty. It is like a saline drip for a hospital patient.
3. When they water lettuce that are beginning to wilt.
4. This is the addition of water to lettuce in a steady way of so much a day.
5. An old fashioned method of irrigation where water is lifted from a well using the power of oxen or buffalo.
Which company has opened a salad processing and packaging factory in Yuma?
1. Elod
2. Lode
3. Doll
4. Olde
5. Dole
A lot of low paid, seasonal workers are used to harvest the lettuce. Where do many of these workers come from?
1. New Mexico
2. New York
3. Nebraska
4. Mexico
5. North Dakota
The farmers are running short of water because other users also want water. Who are the other big users of Colorado water?
1. Cities like Las Vegas.
2. Coke and Pepsi bottling plants.
3. High Tech industries in cities like Phoenix.
4. Street cleaning services in Yuma.
5. The skiers in the Rockies - they make artificial snow on the ski slopes.
So much water from the Colorado is used that - what happens?
1. They have to turn the river off at the end of the working week on Fridays.
2. They turn the water off at night - so that no-one notices.
3. The river runs dry before it reaches the sea.
4. They have to divert water from the Columbia river to top up the Colorado.
5. They top up the river from the town water supplies.
Farmers are faced by rising costs so they need to increase yields of crops. How have they tried to do this?
1. By using artificial fertilisers.
2. By reducing waste.
3. By using greenhouses.
4. By weeding more frequently.
5. By working smarter.
The increasing use of fertilisers has a bad effect on the environment. Many farmers are turning to organic farming. Why?
1. The public will pay more for organic produce.
2. The farmer feels that this is better for the environment.
3. The farmer is responding to public demand.
4. The farmer takes a pride in quality production.
5. The farmer wants to operate sustainably without damaging the land.
As a result of agribusiness - running farms on commercial lines using technology and equipment - what is happening?
1. Family owned farms are becoming a rarity.
2. The farmers use more labour.
3. The farmers cut costs to make more profits for shareholders.
4. Dole has bought all of the farms in the area and is turning them into a superstore.
5. Farmers cut costs by working cooperatively to share things.
Young people wanting a career in farming - need to do what?
1. Write an application letter to Mr. Dole.
2. Be willing to get their hands dirty.
3. Need to get a specialised education e.g. in plant pathology.
4. Need to get a hair cut and to have good personal hygiene.
5. To have modern values such as being anti-sexist, non-racist, non-homophobic and with religious tolerance.
What is the main threat to the continuation of this farming system in Yuma?
1. Shortage of water and the rising cost of water.
2. The rising price of lettuce.
3. The falling demand for lettuce.
4. The competition from foreign producers.
5. The destuction of the environment.
If farming is not sustainable - even with the use of all the modern technology - what would happen?
1. The farmers in Yuma will switch to producing other crops like dates.
2. The farmers will sell their land to property developers.
3. The farmers may abandon the land and it will return to being a desert.
4. Costs will continue to rise and food will be too expensive so we will eat something else.
5. The machinery will get rusty.

Yuma - High Tech Farming in an Arid Environment

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