Cultivate ebony as cash crop (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
soy bean
'cultivate ebony as cash crop' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'cultivate ebony as cash crop' is the wordplay.
'cultivate' is an anagram indicator (I've seen 'cultivated' mean this).
'cash' becomes 'p' (abbreviation for pence).
'crop' means to remove the last letter.
'ebony'+'as'+'p'='ebonyasp'
'ebonyasp' with its final letter removed is 'ebonyas'.
'ebonyas' with letters rearranged gives 'SOY BEAN'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for soy bean that I've seen is " Source of oil".)