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Crop Production and Management

The document discusses various agricultural practices involved in crop production including soil preparation, sowing seeds, adding manure and fertilizers, irrigation, and harvesting. Key practices include tilling soil, planting seeds at proper depths and distances, replenishing soil nutrients, and supplying water to crops on a regular basis.

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Yuvraj Sharma
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125 views18 pages

Crop Production and Management

The document discusses various agricultural practices involved in crop production including soil preparation, sowing seeds, adding manure and fertilizers, irrigation, and harvesting. Key practices include tilling soil, planting seeds at proper depths and distances, replenishing soil nutrients, and supplying water to crops on a regular basis.

Uploaded by

Yuvraj Sharma
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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We need food because it gives us energy, keeps us

healthy, and helps us to grow as well as repair and


replace damaged and worn-out tissues.
How do plants and animals get their food?
Most plants make their own food through the process
of Photosynthesis. Animals feed on plants or other
animals to get energy.
When we cultivate same kind of plants on a large scale
at one place, it called ‘Crop’.
Agricultural Practices
Depending on the season, there are two major types of
crops:

Basic Practices of Crop Production


Seven agricultural practices followed while growing a
crop are:
 Preparation of Soil: To loosen and turn the soil.
 Sowing: Planting of seeds of a crop in soil.

 Adding Manure and Fertilisers: Adding essential

nutrients to soil for growth and development of


plants.
 Irrigation: Supplying water to plants at regular

intervals.
 Protection from Weeds: Removal of unwanted

plants from the cultivated field to allow crops proper


access to lights, space, and nutrients.
 Harvesting: Cutting mature crops from fields.

 Storage: Keeping grains or produce safe from rats,

insects, microorganisms and moisture.


Preparation of Soil

Why do we loosen or turn the soil?


Loosening the soil is important because it:
 allows the toots to go deeper into the soil and yet,

breathe easily (allowing air to reach the roots),


 helps in growth of microbes and earthworms that add
humus to the soil and turn and loosen the soil further,
and
 nutrient-rich soil comes to the top and can be used by

plants.
The process used to loosen and turn the soil is
called Tilling or Ploughing. After tilling, Levelling is
donein which the big clumps of soil called crumbs are
broken (and levelled). Levelling the field helps in the
process of sowing and irrigation.
Step-by-step Agricultural Process

Agricultural Implements used for Ploughing

Plough
 A plough is a device that is used by farmers for
different purposes, such as adding fertilizers, tilling
and loosening the soil.
 It is also used for adding fertilizers to the soil,
removing weeds, scraping of soil, etc.
 The ploughshare is the triangular iron strip.
 A ploughshaft is the main part of the plough, which is
made using a log of wood.
 The other end of the shaft has a handle.
 The other end is attached to a beam which is placed
on the bull’s neck.
 A wooden, traditional plough can be operated by a
pair of ox and a man.
 Nowadays, these wooden ploughs are being 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.
Why is levelling the field important?
Land levelling is typically done in mildly sloping lands
where farmers use surface irrigation methods such as
furrows, borders, basins or floods. It ensures uniform
distribution of irrigation water in the root zone of the
crop. It also helps in seeding and managing the crop
better, which means that the yield and quality of the
crop is better.
Agricultural Implements used for Levelling
Traditionally, farmers used ox-drawn scrapers to level
the land but today, laser land leveller is being used to
make sure that the surface of the field is even and flat.
The laser-guided levellers saves time, increases
productivity, and saves water (as it minimizes water-
logging or run-off problems.

Ox-drawn Scraper
Laser Land Leveller
Sowing
Which kind of seeds should farmers use?
Farmers should use good-quality seeds that are clean,
healthy and give high yield. Selection of the right
variety of seeds depends on the soil, climate, irrigation
method, and other regional factors.
The Ministry of Agriculture in India has set up a
national-level organisation called the National Seeds
Corporation (NSCC) that tests the quality of seeds.
State Seeds Corporations and Agricultural Universities
have also set up seed testing laboratories throughout
India. These labs test seeds for their:
 purity,
 resistance to diseases and pests,
 germination and vigour,

 suitability to regional climatic conditions, and

 general seed health. (olympiad)

How to separate damaged seeds from healthy seeds?


Put the seeds in water. Damaged seeds are hollow and
lighter and thus, float on water. Good and healthy
seeds sink in water and settle down.
Agricultural Implements used for Sowing

What precautions should be taken while sowing?


While sowing seeds, it is essential to make sure that:
 Seeds are healthy and of high quality.

 They are planted at correct distance from each other

so that they can get proper light, water and nutrients


from soil.
 They must be sown deep enough to protect them from

animals and birds (which might eat them) and wind


(which might blow them away) but not so deep that
they may not get enough air to germinate.
Why it is better to sow seeds uniformly?
Seeds should be planted at appropriate distance to
avoid overcrowding of plants. It allows plants to get
proper sunlight as well as sufficient water and nutrients
from the soil.
Why are plants kept in small bags in nursery?
Few plants (like paddy, forest plants, and flowering
plants) are first grown in a nursery into seedlings and
then, transplanted to plants manually. Keeping the
seedlings in bags makes it easier to transfer them to
another place.
Adding Manure and Fertilisers
Why are manure and fertilisers added to the soil?
When crop after crop is grown in the same field, the
soil becomes poor in certain nutrients. Manure and
fertilisers are added to the soil to replenish it with
nutrients to ensure healthy growth of plants.
What are different types of manure that farmers
can use?
Manure can be of various types, such as:
 Natural Organic Manure: This includes raw

manure, compost, and green manure:


 Raw manure is a mixture of cattle and domestic

waste.
 Compost is well-rotted plant and animal residue.

 Green Manure are crops grown in the field as the

pure crop or as an intercrop between the main crops


- and then, buried in the field to enrich the soil.
 Biofertilizers: These are the nitrogen-fixing

organisms that are widely used in organic farming


and make agriculture sustainable. These include
Rhizobium, Azotobacter, blue-green algae, and
Mycorrizae (a type of fungi that increases phosphorus
uptake in fruit crops like papaya and citrus fruits).
 Vermi-Compost: It is a type of compost which is

made using earthworms.


What are the three methods of replenishing the soil
with nutrients?
The three methods of replenishing the soil are:
 Adding organic manure to the soil,

 Adding chemical fertilizers to the soil,


 Leaving the field uncultivated (or fallow) between
two crops, and
 Crop rotation, in which different crops are grown

alternately to allow the soil to replenish with


different nutrients.
Difference between Manure and Fertilisers
S.No. Fertiliser Manure
Manure is a natural substance
Fertiliser is a man-made
1. obtained by the decomposition
inorganic salt.
of cattle dung and plant residues.
Fertiliser is prepare in Manure provides a lot of humus
2.
factors. to the soil.
Fertiliser does not provide Manure provides a lot of humus
3.
any humus to the soil. to the soil.
Fertilisers are very rich in
plant nutrients like Manure is relatively less rich in
4.
nitrogen, phosphorus and plant nutrients.
potassium.
Examples of Fertilisers
Pros and Cons of using Fertilisers
Pros: They are chemicals, rich in particular nutrients
and help farmers get better yield of crops like wheat,
paddy and maize.
Cons: They make soil less fertile and also cause water
pollution.
Why is Manure better than Fertilisers?
Organic Manure is better than Fertilisers because:
 It adds humus to the soil and increases its water

holding capacity,
 Improves soil texture,

 Makes soil porous which makes exchange of gases

easier, and
 Increases the number of friendly microbes.

State an example of Crop Rotation


In North India, farmers used to grow legumes in one
season as fodder and wheat in the next season. This
helped the soil to get replenished with nitrogen*.
*Root nodules of leguminous plants have Rhizobium
bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen and make it
usable by plants.
Irrigation
Why is Irrigation necessary?
Irrigation is essential because:
 Plants contain 90% water and

Time and frequency of need it for proper growth and


irrigation depends on: development.
 the veriey of crop,  When roots absorb water, they

 the type of soil and also absorb minerals and


 the season (In summers, fertilisers.
watering has to be done  Germination of seeds does not

more frequency dut to the take place in dry conditions.


increased rate of  Nutrients dissolved in water get

evaporation from the soil transport to different parts of the


and leaves). plant.
 Water also protects crops from

frost and hot air currents.


Sources of Irrigation
Wells Tubewells

Ponds Lakes

Rivers Dams
Canals

Traditional Methods of Irrigation


Traditional irrigation methods can be of two types:
 Ones that use cattle and human labour: They are

cheaper but less efficient. These include:

Moat (Pulley System) Chain Pump


Dhekli Rahat (Lever System)

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