Introduction
Food
- Food supplies proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, all of which we require for body development, growth and health.
Agriculture
The science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil, for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products is called as agriculture.
Sources of carbohydrate
- Cereals such as wheat, rice, maize, millets and sorghum provide us carbohydrate for energy requirement.
Sources of fats
- Oilseeds including soybean, groundnut, sesame, castor, mustard, linseed and sunflower provide us with necessary fats.
Sources of vitamins and minerals
- Vegetables and fruits are the main sources of vitamins and minerals.
- Some of the vitamins can also be obtained by meat and fish.
Sources of protein
- Pulses like gram (chana), pea (matar), black gram (urad), green gram (moong), pigeon pea (arhar), lentil (masoor), provide us with protein.
- Meat, egg and fish are also a very good source of protein.
Fodder crops
- Fodder crops like berseem, oats or sudangrass are raised as food for the livestock.
Kharif crops
The crops which are grown during the monsoon (June to October) are called Kharif crops.
- Paddy, soybean, pigeon pea, maize, cotton, green gram and black gram are Kharif crops.
Rabi crops
Crops which are grown during the winter season(October-March) are called Rabi crops.
- Wheat, gram, peas, mustard, linseed are rabi crops
Crop Variety Improvement
- Varieties or strains of crops can be selected by breeding for various useful characteristics such as disease resistance, response to fertilisers, product quality and high yields.
- This is called crop variety improvement
Hybridisation
- Hybridisation refers to crossing between genetically dissimilar plants.
Genus, species and varieties
- In biological classification, rank is the relative level of a group of organisms (a taxon) in a taxonomic hierarchy.
- Examples of taxonomic ranks are species, genus, family, order, class.
Intervarietal hybridisation
- The parents involved in intervarietal hybridization belong to the same species but different varieties.
Interspecific hybridisation
- The parents involved in interspecific hybridization belong to different species but same genera.
Intergeneric hybridisation
- The parents involved in intergeneric hybridization belong to different genera.
Genetically modified crops
- A desirable gene when added to the genome of a crop, we get genetically modified crops.
- Examples: golden rice, Bt cotton, Bt brinjal etc
Factors for which variety improvement is done
- There are several reasons for which different improved varieties of crops are generated.
- Higher yield, Improved quality, Biotic and abiotic resistance, Maturity duration, Wider adaptability, Desirable agronomic characteristics.
Crop Production Improvement
- Crop production management is the processes that are used to effectively cultivate and harvest crops.
Nutrient management
- A plant gets its nutrients from air, water and soil.
- There are sixteen nutrients which are essential for plants.
- Air supplies carbon and oxygen, hydrogen comes from water, and soil supplies the other thirteen nutrients to plants.
- Nutrient management is done by supplying the soil with required nutrients, by adding fertilizers and manures.
Macronutrients
- Among the 13 essential nutrients required by the plants, 6 are required in abundance called macronutrients.
- Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Sulfur (S), Magnesium are the macronutrients plants require.
Micronutrients
- Among the 13 essential nutrients required by the plants, 7 are required in very small quantities and hence called micronutrients.
- The micronutrients, also called trace minerals, are iron (Fe), boron (B), chlorine (Cl), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu) and molybdenum (Mo).
Manure
- Manure contains large quantities of organic matter and also supplies small quantities of nutrients to the soil.
- Manure is prepared by the decomposition of animal excreta and plant waste.
Compost and vermicompost
- The process in which the biological waste material is decomposed in pits is known as composting.
- When compost is prepared by using earthworms to hasten the process it's called vermicompost.
Green manure
- Prior to the sowing of the crop seeds, some plants like sun hemp or guar are grown and then mulched by ploughing them into the soil.
- These green plants thus turn into green manure which helps in enriching the soil nutrients.
Fertilizers
- Fertilizers are commercially produced plant nutrients.
- Fertilizers are required in small quantities.
- Most common example of fertilizer is NPK fertilizer which provides nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
- Various brands of this fertilizer are available in the market.
Organic farming
- Organic farming is a farming system with minimal or no use of chemicals as fertilizers and with a maximum input of organic manures.
- All resources are used optimally to get maximum, chemical-free yield.
Irrigation
- Ensuring that the crops get water at the right stages during their growing season can increase the expected yields of any crop.
- Irrigation is done with the help of Canals, Wells, River lift system, Tanks, Rainwater harvesting and watersheds.
Cropping pattern
- Cropping pattern means the proportion of area under various crops.
- Three types of Cropping pattern, Intercropping, Crop rotation, Mixed cropping.
- Intercropping means alternate rows of two different crops are taken in the same field at the same time but maturity duration of the main crop is more than the other one. When two crops are taken in the same field, one after the other, it is called as crop rotation.
- Mixed cropping means when two crops are taken in the same field at the same time where maturity duration of both the crops is almost same.
Crop Protection Management
- Field crops are infested by a large number of weeds, insect, pests and diseases from which the crops should be protected.
Weeds
- Weeds are unwanted plants in the cultivated field consuming all the soil nutrients finally reducing the crop yield.
Protection methods against weeds
- To protect the crop against weed, the following methods are employed.
- Mechanical removal of weeds
- Preparing a good seedbed
- Plants the seeds in a timely fashion
Effects of insects and pests on crops
- Insect pests attack the plants in following ways :
- They cut the root, stem and leaf,
- They suck the cell sap from various parts of the plant, and
- They bore into stem and fruits resulting in the reduction in yields.
Pesticides, insecticides
- Pesticides and insecticides are chemicals that are used to kill different pests and insects that can attack a crop.
- These chemicals are basically toxic in nature.
Fungi and viruses
- Fungi and viruses are pathogens that cause diseases in plants.
- These pathogens can be destructive since they destroy huge farms of crops.
- Few examples of plant viruses are tobacco mosaic virus, cauliflower mosaic virus, cucumber mosaic virus etc.
- Disease-causing fungi are leaf rust, stem rust, powdery mildew etc.
Herbicides, fungicides
- They are chemicals that are used to kill fungus and unwanted vegetations.
- These chemicals are toxic in nature.
Storage losses
- Food grains after harvesting are stored in huge storage facilities such as silos.
- However, due to attack from pests or waterlogging, the food grains gets destroyed.
- This is called storage loss.
Abiotic and Biotic factors for storage loss
- Losses due to non- living organisms such as moisture and temperatures in the place of storage is called abiotic factors of storage loss.
- Storage losses due to living organisms such as insects, rodents, fungi, mites and bacteria are biotic factors.
Prevention and control measures for storage loss
- Storage loss can be prevented by following certain protocols like:
- Strict cleaning of the produce before storage.
- Proper drying of the product first in sunlight and then in shade.
- Fumigation using chemicals that can kill pests.
Animal Husbandry
Animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is farming and maintenance of animal for a commercial purpose. Animals are raised for milk, meat and eggs.
Cattle
- Cattle are reared by almost all farmers.
- In India, cattle are reared for milk and draught labour for agricultural work.
- In India, mainly two species, Bos indicus (cow) and Bos bubalis (buffalo) are reared.
- Exotic breeds of cows like Jersey, Brown Swiss are reared for extended lactation.
- Indian breeds like Red Sindhi, Sahiwal are reared for disease resistance and drought labour.
- Many hybrids are also reared in India.
Poultry farming
- Poultry farming is undertaken to raise domestic fowl for egg production and chicken meat.
- Aseel, Chittagong, Ghagus and Busra are the Indian varieties of poultry.
- Although these are small and do not lay too many eggs at a time, they have natural immunity against common diseases.
- American breeds are Plymouth rock Wyandotte, Rhode Island red and New Hampshire.
- English breeds are Sussex, Cornish, red caps, etc.
- Mediterranean Class ‘such as leghorns’ white leghorns, Minorca, are more commonly reared.
Layers are the egg-laying birds and broilers are reared for meat.
Fishery
- Fishery deals with the procurement of fishes for consumption.
- Fish is a good source of protein and forms the diet of people living in the coastal area.
- Fish can be obtained from the sea, freshwater bodies or even from estuaries.
Marine fisheries
- Marine fishery deals with fishing in the oceans and seas.
- Apart from fishes, it also deals with other seafood such as prawns, lobsters and crabs.
Inland fisheries
- Inland fishery deals with the fishing in rivers, lakes and tanks.
- Rohu, Catla, Mrigal, Grass carp etc are very popular varieties of fishes reared in fresh water.
Beekeeping
- Beekeeping, also called apiculture is the rearing of bees for production of honey and wax.
- This has become a major financially rewarding agrarian practice.
- Some of the exotic varieties reared in India are Apis mellifera, Apis adamsoni.
- Apis cerena indica, commonly known as Indian bee is a popular indigenous variety.
- Apis dorsata, known as Rock bee is also indigenous variety
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