Food- Crop production and management / How to store crops?
Food- Production and Management
1
Topics
1- Introduction
2- Crops
3- Agricultural Practices
- Preparation of Soil
- Sowing
- Adding manure & fertilizer
- Irrigation
- Storage
- Weeding
- Harvesting
- Storage
1- Introduction
Food is the third most basic need for life, after oxygen and water. Everyone requires food to perform normal activities of daily living. Agriculture is the practice of production of food, fibres, and other useful items by the cultivation of plants and animals. The primary objective of agriculture is the production of food. As human population has been constantly increasing, there is an increased need for food production. Rearing of an animals on a large scale for fulfilling our needs for food and other products comes under animal husbandry while development of existing crop varities to produce new varities that arr much more advanced in terms of food production and disease resistance, etc., falls under crop improvement. Animal husbandry and crop improvement programmes play a major role in increasing food production.
2- Crops
Plants grown at a large scale on a piece of land are called crops. Few examples of crops are wheat, cereals, etc. Crops are usually grown to produce food at a large scale that could be sold for money in the market. Some crops are also grown as fodder crops that are used to feed the animals.
Crops are classified into groups according to the season in which they are cultivated.
Classification of crops
(based on season)
Kharif
• Monsoon crops
• Grown in rainy season
• Planted in July
• Harvested in October
For example, Rice, Maize, Soybean,etc
Rabi
• Winter crops
• Grown in winter season
• Planted in October
• Harvested in March
Example,Wheat, Linseed, Mustard, etc
Zaid
• Summer crops
• Grown in summer season
• Planted in March
• Harvested in June
For example, Watermelon, muskmelon, pumpkin, etc.
1- Agricultural Practices
Various steps involved in agriculture are collectively known as agricultural practices, which include:-
• Ploughing
• Sowing
• Addition of manure and fertilizer
• Irrigation
• Weeding
• Harvesting
• Storage
- Ploughing
This is the first step in agricultural practices, which includes preparation of soil before ploughing before sowing. Ploughing is done to turn or loosen the soil. The soil crumbs formed after ploughing can be broken with the help of a tool called plank. Levelling is also done after ploughing to make a uniform soil bed for sowing nad irrigation. Levelling also prevents soil erosion.
Advantages of ploughing
• It helps in removing weeds.
• It helps in bringing nutrient -rich soil to the top layer.
• It helps the root to penetrate deep into the soil nad allows it to breathe easily.
• It increased the growth of decomposition kf plant and animal wastes.
Tools used for ploughing the field
- Plough
- Hoe
- Cultivator
- Sowing
The act of planing seeds is known as sowing. Before sowing, it has to be ensured that the seeds are of good quality. Sowing bad quality seeds or damaged seeds reduces the yield. Planting the seeds at uniform distances is also important to avoid overcrowding. This allows plants to get enough sunlight, nutrients and water.
Different methods of sowing seeds are
i) Broadcasting:- It is scattering of seeds by hand.
ii) Drilling- It is the dropping of seeds into the soil with the help of tools like seed drill.
iii) Transplanting- In this method, seeds are grown in the nursery first and then planted into the field at seedling stage.
iv) Use of traditional tool- In this the seeds are sowed manually by the help of funnel shaped tools.
- Addition of Manure and Irrigation
Plants absorb nutrients from the soil. Continuous cultivation of crops at a particular pieces of land reduces the soil fertility, which needs to be supplied artificially. The major nutrient- supplying sources are manure and fertilizers.
Manure - Manure is the organic matter formed by the decomposition of plant and animal wastes. Manure adds humus to the soil.
• plants or animal origin
• Organic in nature
• Natural products
• Supply all primary nutrients
• Improve soil fertility
Fertilizers - Fertilizers are industrially produced chemicals that contain nutrients required by plants, for example, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and potassium (NPK), urea, etc.
• Chemically
• Inorganic in nature
• Artificial Product
• Supply specific type of nutrients
• Have negative effect in soil, reduce on prolonged use
manures and fertilizers are add on to the soil to accumulate its fertility. However there are some natural methods to increase soil fertility. Some of them are discussed below:
Crop Rotation:- growing different crops alternatively on a piece of land is called crop rotation. For example, wheat and leguminous plants could be cultivated alternatively for higher yield. Wheat requires more nitrogen from the soil. Nitrogen can be replenished naturally by cultivating legume in the next season. Leguminous plants contain bacterium called 𝘙𝘩𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘶𝘮 which is located in the root nodules. These bacteria is capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen into the soil thereby increasing the nitrogen content of the soil.
Mixed Cropping :- Planting two or more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land is called mixed cropping. Mixed cropping allows the crops to work together, for example, cotton and groundnut can be grown together for better yield.
Field Following - Leaving the land uncultivated for one or more seasons is called field fallowing. This helped the soil to replenish thr nutrients on its own.
- Irrigation
The artificial supply of water to the crops at regular intermission is called irrigation. Irrigation is mainly used in areas where rainfall is irregular or droughts are expected. The sources of irrigated water are numerous, like groundwater, water for their normal growth and functioning. Plants contain nearly 90% water. For a healthy crop, field needs to be watered regularly.
Types of Irrigation
There are different types of irrigation to supply water to the plant. It is important to water the plants as uniformly as possible, which allows the plants to get the amount of water it needs. The three different types of irrigation are :
i) Surface Irrigation - Water loves across the surface of an agricultural field.
ii) Drip Irrigation - Water falls drop by drop at the position of roots. This can be the most efficient method of irrigation in regions with water scarcity. Water wastage is minimised by utilising this method.
iii) Sprinkler Irrigation - It consists of a main pipe to which many pipes with rotating nozzles on top are attached. The nozzles rotate at regular intervals. When pressurised water flows through the main pipe, it escapes through the nozzles. Due to this, the water sprinkles on the crops and it ses as if it is raining. Sprinkled irrigation is helpful on uneven land and sandy soil.
- Weeding
The unwanted plants that grow along with crops naturally are called weeds. It is important to remove weeds as they will complete with the crops for nutrients, water, sunlight and apace. The removal of weeds is called weeding. Weeding is usually done before the flowering of weeds.
Following process are done for carrying out weeding :
• Manual removing - Uprooting or cutting the weeds close to the ground.
• Use of weedicides- Chemicals used for weed control are known as weedicides, for example, 2,4-D. They do not damage the crops.
• Ploughing - Ploughing helps to uproot the weeds, causing them to die.
• Animal grazing - Allowing animals (goats, cows) to feed on weeds.
- Harvesting
The process of gathering the crops after they mature to separate the useful products, such as grains is called harvesting. Separation of grains from crops includes two steps.
i) Threshing - Separation of grains seeds from harvested crop is called threshing. There is a machine called combine that can bd used for both harvesting and threshing.
ii) Winnowing - Separation of grains from chaff us called winnowing.
- Storage
Storage of grains after harvesting is of great importance as it will affect the yield. If they are not stored properly, there is a chance of loss of grains due to attack by insects, pests, rats or microorganisms.
Different methods to store grains are given below :
• Before storing, grains should be dried properly in sunlight to reduce moisture content. If freshly harvested grains are stored without drying, they may get spoilt or attacked microbes to losing their germination capacity.
• Grains can be stored at. A large scale in silos or granaries, by spraying chemical insecticides.
• In smell- scale production grains can be stored in jute bags or metallic bins. Instead of chemical insecticides, dried neem leaves or turmeric can be used to repel insect, pests, etc.
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