Production Systems and Crop

Management
Agricultural Production Management

❖ Production management deals with how farmers combine

land, water, commercial inputs, labor, and their
management skills into practices and systems that produce
food and fiber.
❖ On most acres, farmers follow a high-synthetic-input
system, but increasingly some are trying reduced-
synthetic-input and organic systems, or practices
associated with these systems.
❖ A desire to reduce cost, environmental pressures and
programs, and increasing market demand.
• Nutrient management- determining the additional nutrients
the soil needs for crop growth, and applying animal manure,
compost, or commercial fertilizer in forms, amounts, and ways
that foster crop yields and farm profitability, while reducing
nutrient loss to the environment.
• Water management- determining the water needed for crop
growth and applying that water efficiently, considering water
availability, drainage, and offsite water quantity/quality
impacts.
Types of Farming Systems

▪ A farming system is a combination of production management

practices employed to achieve production, profit, and,
increasingly, environmental and sustainability (maintaining long
run production capability).
▪ Thus, technically, there are as many farming systems as there
are combinations of management practices.
Production
management
options that
farmers combine
into farming
systems
Major farming systems in U.S. agriculture
Many factors enter into
farmers’ production
management decisions
Overview of the Natural Resources
Farm Types

• Farms are the entities that perform agricultural production by

either cultivating crops or rearing livestock, or by a mixture of
both.
• Farms are in general characterized according to size; available
resources; local options for crop and animal production;
organizational model and natural limitations of the surrounding
agroecosystem, as a function of climate or soil types; and
interaction with other floral and faunal species.
Agricultural production systems and their determinants
Agroecosystems

• An agroecosystem can be defined as the spatial and

functional unit of agricultural activities, including the
living (biotic) and nonliving components (abiotic)
involved in that unit as well as their interactions.
• It can also be described as the biological and eco-
physiological environment in which agricultural
production takes place.
• In this case, the environment consists of all factors
affecting the living conditions of organisms.
• The different physical and chemical effects that
originate from the nonliving environments represent
the abiotic factors.
Agroecosystems

• In terrestrial habitats, they essentially include the properties

of the soil (e.g. pH value, texture, car bon content), specific
geographic factors (e.g. topography and altitude) and
climatic conditions (e.g. precipitation, light and thermal
energy, water balance).
• The effects of the biotic factors originate from the organisms
and can be exerted on other individuals of the same species
(intraspecific), on individuals of a different species
(interspecific) or on the abiotic environment (e.g. on specific
soil properties).
Agroecosystems

• From a species perspective, the biotic environment

essentially consists of other species, to which it can have
different forms of relationship. These include feeding
relationships, competition and mutualism.
Climate and Agricultural Production

• The type of crops that can grow on a site mainly depends

on the availability of water, the temperature and the light
intensity.
• Agricultural production can therefore be characterized
according to the climatic zone, classified according to
temperate, subtropical, or tropical conditions.
• Deserts also sustain some extensive agricultural use
through grazing.
• Climatic zones can also be distinguished according to the
original vegetation, e.g. forests.
Climate and Agricultural Production

• The type of crops that can grow on a site mainly depends

on the availability of water, the temperature and the light
intensity.
• Agricultural production can therefore be characterized
according to the climatic zone, classified according to
temperate, subtropical, or tropical conditions.
• Deserts also sustain some extensive agricultural use
through grazing.
• Climatic zones can also be distinguished according to the
original vegetation, e.g. forests.
Major
agricultural
production
systems in
different
climatic
regions of
the world
Physical Environment and Agricultural Production

• The physical environment mainly determines options for

agricultural production through the topography of the landscape
and soil properties.
• The topography defines if or how well the land can be accessed
and managed mechanically.
• Soil cultivation, such as ploughing, is difficult on steep slopes, and
there is the danger of erosion.
• The soil characteristics most relevant for crop production are:
Physical Environment and Agricultural Production

• Organic matter, mainly occurring in the upper A soil horizon.

Organic matter determines the soil’s water-holding capacity and
can supply plant nutrients.
• Soil texture or grain size distribution (clay: < 7) or basicity (pH > 7)
of the soil.
• Soil depth, bulk density and stoniness. These determine the water-
holding capacity of the soil, how well it can be treated
mechanically, how well plant roots can penetrate it and how much
space is available to plant roots for the acquisition of water and
nutrients.
Typical soil profile with different horizons
Biological Environment and Agricultural Production

• The biological environment (biotic factors) refers to the natural

occurrence of organisms, such as animals, plants, microorganisms,
bacteria and viruses, at a specific site.
• These can all become constraints in crop production and live
stock husbandry, for example, through animals eating the crops;
weeds competing with crops for nutrients and water; crops
becoming infected with fungal, viral or bacterial diseases; or the
competition for and lack of fodder of moderate to-high quality for
animal feeding.
Infrastructure and Logistics

• Mechanization has greatly enhanced land-use and labor

productivity. In modern agricultural production, all processes
of soil cultivation, crop establishment, fertilization, crop
protection and harvesting are performed mechanically by
agricultural machinery specifically optimized for the crop at
hand.
Infrastructure and Logistics

• In order to secure a reliable and efficient supply chain with low

losses, infra structure and logistics are required for the
agricultural production system and storage and transport of the
products to the markets.
• The better the infrastructure and logistic conditions, the lower
the supply chain losses.
• The lack of infrastructure (roads, storage facilities) is seen as a
major barrier to increasing biomass supply in developing
countries.
Political and Societal Conditions

• Agricultural, environmental and market policies have a

significant impact on agricultural production in terms of
what is produced and how.
• Agricultural policy programs are made by many nations,
and so-called common agricultural policies (CAP)
determine agricultural policies.
Market Condition

• The most important animal-based products glob ally are cow

milk and cattle, pig and chicken meat.
• Rice, wheat and maize are the most important crop-based
commodities and are traded globally.
• There are local, regional and global markets. But it is the
demand of those markets that are accessible to farmers that
determines what and how much they produce.
• Consumer preferences and the consumer’s willingness to buy
certain products and to pay a certain price are important market
determinants.
Top agricultural products in terms of production value and production quantities
Principles of Crop Production

• Every crop performs best in specific climatic conditions and

can best be grown in either a temperate, subtropical or
tropical climate.
• The most important prerequisite for successful crop
production is the choice of an appropriate crop and variety
for a specific site. This does not only refer to climatic
parameters.
• Crops also have specific demands with regard to soil
conditions and biotic (e.g. pests and diseases) and abiotic
(e.g. drought, contamination, salinity) stresses.
• Crop rotation is the temporal sequence of crops on a field.
Origin of important food crops
Factors determining success of crop production
Principles of Crop Production

• Soil cultivation is performed to loosen the soil, to incorporate

residues, organic and mineral fertilizer, to control weeds and to
prepare the soil for sowing or planting.
• Fertilization refers to all measures aimed at supplying nutrients
to the crop (e.g. application of mineral or organic fertilizer) or
improving soil conditions relevant for nutrient uptake.
• Crop protection refers to measures for the suppression or
control of weeds, diseases and pests.
• Harvest technology and timing are relevant for the harvest
index (proportion of harvested product versus residues) and
the quality of the product.
List of selected crops with information on water, fertilizer and pesticide demand, parts harvested and
constituents utilized
Crop Yields

• Crop yields depend on the climatic and manage ment factors.

• Thus, yield potentials have a climatic/site-specific and a
management component.
• They usually increase with the educational level of farmers and
their access to means of production, in particular fertilizer and
pesticides.
Determination of crop yields
Average yields
of selected
crops(in dry
matter DM)
Farming concepts
Farming Concepts with a Clear Definition (Rather Than a Conceptual Approach)

Good Agricultural Practice (GAP)

• ‘Good Agricultural Practice(GAP), for instance in the use of
pesticides, includes the officially recommended or nationally
authorized uses of pesticides under actual conditions necessary
for effective and reliable pest control.
Integrated Farming
• Integrated farming seeks to optimize the management and
inputs of agricultural production in a responsible way, through
the holistic consideration of economic, ecological and social
aspects.
Farming Concepts with a Clear Definition (Rather Than a Conceptual Approach)

Organic Farming
• ‘Organic Agriculture is a production system that sustains the
health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological
processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions,
rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects.
Precision Farming
• Precision farming is a management approach based on the
spatially specific and targeted management of agricultural land
and fields. It makes use of modern agricultural production
technology and is often computer-aided.
Farming Concepts with a Clear Definition (Rather Than a Conceptual Approach)

Conservation Farming
• ‘Conservation Agriculture (CA) is an approach to managing
agroecosystems for improved and sustained productivity, increased
profits and food security while preserving and enhancing the
resource base and the environment.