Survey island state -- how can plants be made productive? (11)
I believe the answer is:
pollination
'can plants be made productive?' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'survey island state' is the wordplay.
'survey' becomes 'poll' (polling is a kind of surveying).
'island' becomes 'i'.
'state' becomes 'nation' ('nation' can be a synonym of 'state'**).
'poll'+'i'+'nation'='POLLINATION'
'how' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pollination that I've seen before include "requirement for plant" , "Flower fertilisation" .)