Crop production and management

Topic: Crop production and management
The science that deals with the cultivation of plants and rearing of animals for human use is called agriculture.
For 8th Standard

1. Crop Production and Management

2. Agricultural Practices Till 10,000 B.C.E. people were nomadic. They were wandering in groups from place to place in search of food and shelter. They ate raw fruits and vegetables and started hunting animals for food. Later, they could cultivate land and produce rice, wheat and other food crops. Thus, was born ‘Agriculture’. What is Agriculture?

3. What is Crop? When plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. For example, crop of wheat means that all the plants grown in a field are that of wheat. You already know that crops are of different types like cereals, vegetables and fruits. These can be classified on the basis of the season in which they grow. Despite this diversity, two broad cropping patterns can be identified. These are: (i) Kharif Crops (ii) Rabi Crops

4. Basic Practices of Crop Production Cultivation of crops involves several activities undertaken by farmers over a period of time. These activities or tasks are referred to as agricultural practices which are listed below:

5. Preparation of Soil The preparation of soil is the first step before growing a crop. One of the most important tasks in agriculture is to turn the soil and loosen it. This allows the roots to penetrate deep into the soil. 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 . Before sowing the seeds, it is necessary to break soil to the size of grains to get better yield. This is done with the help of various tools. The main tools used for this purpose are the plough, hoe and cultivator.

6. A large farming implement with one or more blades fixed in a frame, used to turn over and cut furrows in soil, is called plough. Plough may be made of only wood, wood and iron, and of iron only. Ploughshare, the main cutting blade of a plough. A tool which is used for removing weeds and for loosening the soil. Nowadays ploughing is done by a tractor driven cultivator. The use of cultivator saves labour and time.

7. Sowing Sowing is the most important part of crop production. Before sowing, good quality seeds are selected. Good quality seeds are clean and healthy seeds of a good variety. Farmers prefer to use seeds which give a high yield. Before sowing, one of the important tasks is to know about the tools used for sowing seeds . Traditional method of sowing A seed drill

8. Adding Manure and Fertilisers  Like other plants, crop plants also obtain their mineral nutrients from the soil. Continuous growing of crop in the field causes deficiency of mineral nutrients in the soil. So, the manure is added to the soil to make up the deficiency of mineral nutrients. This process is called manuring. Manure is prepared from cow dung, urine and other wastes . Sometimes , soil becomes deficient in a particular mineral nutrients. This happens when same crop is grown in the same field year after year . For example, a particular crop takes more phosphate. If this crop is grown in a field every year, the soil will become deficient in phosphorus nutrient. This type of deficiency of a particular nutrient is made up by adding chemical substances called fertilizers. For example: urea, super phosphate and NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium).

9. Irrigation

10. Protection from Weeds Spraying weedicide The unwanted plants in the fields are called weeds. Seeds of these weeds spread through the agencies like air, water, birds and other animals. Weeds share water, sunlight, space, nutrients with the crop plants. Thus they compete with the crop plants. Therefore, their removal is necessary. Otherwise, crop plants do not get sufficient space, water, sunlight and nutrient to grow healthier. Weeds are weeded out either by hand or with the help of an implement called harrow. Nowadays, for checking the growth of weeds, certain chemicals are used. These chemicals are called weedicides, such as 2, 4-D.

11. Harvesting Harvesting of a crop is an important task. The cutting of crop after it is mature is called harvesting. In harvesting, crops are pulled out or cut close to the ground. It usually takes 3 to 4 months for a cereal crop to mature. Sickle Combine Winnowing machine

12. Storage Grains obtained by threshing are dried in the open. The dried grains are stored in gunny bags, and placed in properly ventilated cemented halls, known as godowns. Farmers keep dried grains in jute bags or metallic bins or mud bins. Large scale storage of grains is done in silos and granaries. For storing large quantities of grains in big godowns, specific chemical treatments are used to protect them from pests and micro-organisms . Silos for storage of grains Storage of grains in gunny bags in granaries

13. Food from Animals Animals are an important source of food. The rearing of animals for food is known as animal husbandry. Some animals like cows and buffaloes are reared for milk, others for meat like goats and poultry. Some people consume fish as a part of their diet. Honeybees are reared for honey. Thus, animals are an integral source of food and food products.