|
Sustainable Production of Crops for Growing Populations
|
- Consistent Production: In order to provide food for a large population— regular production, proper management and distribution is necessary.
- Multifold Increasement: In India, there has been a four-fold increase in the production of food grains from 1952 to 2010 with only a 25% increase in the cultivable land area.
|
|
Integrated Farming Practices for Optimal Management of Crops
|
- It can be divided into three stages:
- Basic agricultural practices and crop production management,
- Crop variety improvement,
- Crop protection management.
|
|
Basic Agricultural Practices and Crops Production Management:
|
- Crops and their Type:
-
- Plants of the same kind that are grown and cultivated as a source of food in a large cultivable land is called a crop.
- Rabi Crops: Crops, which are grown in the winter season (from October to March) are called Rabi crops.
- Kharif Crops: The crops, which are sown in the rainy season (from July to October) are called Kharif crops.
- Basic Practices of Production of Crops: Following are the basic practices involved in crop production:
-
- Preparation of soil
- Sowing
- Adding manure and fertilisers
- Irrigation
- Protecting from weeds
- Harvesting
- Storage
- Crop production management refers to the growing of crops and providing all the nutrients to the crop plant that are needed and also properly storing them.
- It includes the following:
- Nutrition Management,
- Irrigation,
- Cropping Patterns
|
|
Optimizing Growth of Crops: Soil Preparation Essentials
|
- Initial Step: The preparation of soil is the first step before growing a crop.
- Loosen Soil: One of the most important tasks in agriculture is to turn the soil and loosen it.
- Help in Respiration: The loose soil allows the roots to breathe easily even when they go deep into the soil.
- Microbe Increment: The loosened soil helps in the growth of earthworms and microbes present in the soil.
-
-
- These organisms are friends of the farmer since they further turn and loosen the soil and add humus to it.
- Nutrient Enrichment of Top Soil: Since only a few centimeters of the top layer of soil supports plant growth, turning and loosening of soil brings the nutrient-rich soil to the top so that plants can use these nutrients.
|
|
Efficient Soil Loosening Techniques for Growth of Crops
|
- Tilling or Ploughing: The process of loosening and turning of the soil is called tilling or ploughing and is done by using a plough.
- Plough: A plough is a device that is used by farmers for different purposes, such as adding fertilisers, tilling and loosening the soil.
-
- It is also used for adding fertilisers to the soil, removing weeds, scraping of soil, etc.
- The ploughshare is the triangular iron strip.
- A wooden, traditional plough can be operated by a pair of oxen and a man.
- Nowadays, these wooden ploughs are mostly replaced by iron ploughs.
- Hoe: A hoe is a tool that is used to dig up soil to remove weeds and also loosen up the soil before planting a sapling.
- Cultivator: A cultivator is attached to the tractor and helps in loosening soil. Cultivators are used instead of ploughs since they are faster.
|
|
Optimizing Sowing Techniques for Cultivation of Crops
|
- Plantation: Sowing is the process of planting seeds in the soil.
-
- The seeds are sowed in the soil that is loosened by a cultivator or plough.
- Traditional Tools of Sowing: Before the advent of modern agricultural machinery, traditional tools were used by farmers. These include ploughs, shovels, scythes and pickaxes.
-
-
- The traditional tool used to sow the seeds was like a funnel.
- Once seeds were put into this funnel, they would go into 2-3 tubes having sharp ends. The ends will pierce into the soil and place the seeds there
- Seed Drill: Seed drills are used for sowing with the help of tractors.
-
-
- It ensures that seeds are sown uniformly, at a particular depth and are covered by soil after sowing.
|
|
Ensuring Success of Crops: Quality Seed Selection
|
- The quality of the seed is an important factor that determines the crop yield.
- The selection of good seeds is done by putting the seeds in water.
- The dead and damaged seeds become hollow and float on water, whereas the good seeds sink.
|
|
Nurturing Saplings: The Role of a Crops Nursery
|
- A nursery is a place where young plants and trees are grown for planting elsewhere.
- Nursery acts as a repository of saplings.
|
|
Cultivating Growth: Germination and Nutrient Enhancement in Crops
|
- Germination of the seed happens when the seed is sown in the land and watered.
- A plant starts to emerge from the seed and starts to grow.
- Adding Manure and Fertilisers
|
|
Nutrient Nourishment: Enhancing Health and Yield of Crops
|
- Deficiency of Nutrients: It affects physiological processes in plants including reproduction, growth, and susceptibility to diseases.
- Improving Yield: To increase the yield, the soil can be enriched by supplying these nutrients in the form of manure and fertilizers.
- Manure/Fertilizers: Manures and fertilizers are substances that are added to the soil to increase its fertility.
- Organic Decomposition: Manures are made by decomposition of organic substances, and fertilizers are made of inorganic chemicals.
- Manure is prepared by the decomposition of animal excreta and plant waste.
- Nutrient Enrichment: Manure helps in enriching the soil with nutrients and organic matter and increases soil fertility.
- Classification: Based on the kind of biological material used, manure can be classified as Compost and vermicompost, Green Manure.
|