Crop Production and Management

Plants of same kind that are grown and cultivated at one place on large scale are called a crop. Some of the crop plants are wheat, rice, maize, sugarcane, cotton, vegetables, fruits etc.

Following are the activities involved in agricultural practices for crop production

The first step before growing a crop plant is the preparation of soil for sowing of seeds, the soil has to be loosened so that the roots of plants may penetrate deep into the soil, the loosening of soil allow the roots to breathe easily because loosened soil promotes growth of organisms like earthworms and microbes which are the farmer friends as they further turns and loosen the soil and add humus to it, apart from this turning and loosening of soil brings the nutrient rich soil to the top and the top layer of soil supports plant growth, thus nutrient rich soil at the top layer helps in good and healthy crop and hence turning and loosening of soil is very important for cultivation of crops. The process of loosening and turning of the soil is called tilling or ploughing and is carried on by using a plough.

The first step before growing a crop plant is the preparation of soil for sowing of seeds, the soil has to be loosened so that the roots of plants may penetrate deep into the soil, the loosening of soil allow the roots to breathe easily because loosened soil promotes growth of organisms like earthworms and microbes which are the farmer friends as they further turns and loosen the soil and add humus to it, apart from this turning and loosening of soil brings the nutrient rich soil to the top and the top layer of soil supports plant growth, thus nutrient rich soil at the top layer helps in good and healthy crop and hence turning and loosening of soil is very important for cultivation of crops. The process of loosening and turning of the soil is called tilling or ploughing and is carried on by using a plough.

The process of loosening and turning of the soil is called tilling or ploughing and is carried on by using a plough. plough are made by wood or iron material, it is being used since ancient time for different purposes like tilling the soil, adding fertilisers to crops, removing weeds etc. this implement is drawn by a pair of bulls or other animals like camels, horses etc.

Diagram of a plough

a. Beam ,b. Ploughshaft ,c. Ploughshare

1. Tilling:The process of loosening and turning of the soil is called tilling or ploughing and is carried on by using a plough. plough are made by wood or iron material, it is being used since ancient time for different purposes like tilling the soil, adding fertilisers to crops, removing weeds etc. this implement is drawn by a pair of bulls or other animals like camels, horses etc.
2. Weeds:weeds are unwanted plants that grow along with crop plants and compete with them for water, nutrients, space and light, thus they effect growth of crop plants. Some of the weeds are poisonous for animals and human beings and they interfere even in harvesting of crop plants. Weedicides are chemical that are sprayed in the fields to kill the weeds, they do not damage the crops. Weedicides are diluted with water and are sprayed in the field by sprayer to kill the weeds.

1. Showing of seeds:One of the important part of crop production is sowing. Good quality seeds are selected and are sown in prepared soil with the help of various tools like traditional tools and seed drill.
   Traditional tools: The shape of this tool is like a funnel which is filled by seeds, then the seeds are passed down through two or three pipes having sharp ends and these ends pierce into the soil and place seeds there.
   Seed drill: Now a day traditional tool has been replaced by seed drill. This tool is used for sowing with the help of tractors and it sows the seeds uniformly and at proper distances and depth, it also ensures covering of the seeds from soil after sowing, so that seeds could not get damaged by birds and by other organisms. Sowing by using a seed drill saves time and labour. In order to avoid overcrowding of plants it is very important to leave some space between two seeds. This also allows plants to get sufficient sunlight, nutrients and water from the soil.
2. Threshing:In the harvested crops the grain seeds are separated from the chaff, this process is called threshing, this is carried out with the help of a machine called combine which works as harvester and thresher both.

The process of loosening and turning of the soil is called tilling or ploughing and is carried on by using a plough. plough are made by wood or iron material, it is being used since ancient time for different purposes like tilling the soil, adding fertilisers to crops, removing weeds etc. this implement is drawn by a pair of bulls or other animals like camels, horses etc.

Diagram of a plough

The process of loosening and turning of the soil is called tilling or ploughing and is carried on by using a plough. plough are made by wood or iron material, it is being used since ancient time for different purposes like tilling the soil, adding fertilisers to crops, removing weeds etc. this implement is drawn by a pair of bulls or other animals like camels, horses etc.

Diagram of a plough

Ploughing by cultivators save time and labour as cultivator is driven by tractors whereas plough is driven by pair of bull.

Take a beaker half filled with water and put some seeds into it and stir well, wait for some time. You will observe some seeds sink in water while some seeds float in water, damaged seeds become hollow and lighter and thus they float on water.

Sowing of seeds: One of the important part of crop production is sowing. Good quality seeds are selected and are sown in prepared soil with the help of various tools like traditional tools and seed drill. Traditional tools: The shape of this tool is like a funnel which is filled by seeds, then the seeds are passed down through two or three pipes having sharp ends and these ends pierce into the soil and place seeds there. Seed drill: Now a day traditional tool has been replaced by seed drill. This tool is used for sowing with the help of tractors and it sows the seeds uniformly and at proper distances and depth, it also ensures covering of the seeds from soil after sowing, so that seeds could not get damaged by birds and by other organisms. Sowing by using a seed drill saves time and labour. In order to avoid overcrowding of plants it is very important to leave some space between two seeds. This also allows plants to get sufficient sunlight, nutrients and water from the soil.

Sowing of seeds: One of the important part of crop production is sowing. Good quality seeds are selected and are sown in prepared soil with the help of various tools like traditional tools and seed drill. Traditional tools: The shape of this tool is like a funnel which is filled by seeds, then the seeds are passed down through two or three pipes having sharp ends and these ends pierce into the soil and place seeds there. Seed drill: Now a day traditional tool has been replaced by seed drill. This tool is used for sowing with the help of tractors and it sows the seeds uniformly and at proper distances and depth, it also ensures covering of the seeds from soil after sowing, so that seeds could not get damaged by birds and by other organisms. Sowing by using a seed drill saves time and labour. In order to avoid overcrowding of plants it is very important to leave some space between two seeds. This also allows plants to get sufficient sunlight, nutrients and water from the soil.

Sowing of seeds: One of the important part of crop production is sowing. Good quality seeds are selected and are sown in prepared soil with the help of various tools like traditional tools and seed drill. Traditional tools: The shape of this tool is like a funnel which is filled by seeds, then the seeds are passed down through two or three pipes having sharp ends and these ends pierce into the soil and place seeds there. Seed drill: Now a day traditional tool has been replaced by seed drill. This tool is used for sowing with the help of tractors and it sows the seeds uniformly and at proper distances and depth, it also ensures covering of the seeds from soil after sowing, so that seeds could not get damaged by birds and by other organisms. Sowing by using a seed drill saves time and labour. In order to avoid overcrowding of plants it is very important to leave some space between two seeds. This also allows plants to get sufficient sunlight, nutrients and water from the soil.

We can supply nutrients to the soil by adding manure and fertilisers. Manures are organic substances obtained from the decomposition of plants and animal wastes which provides lot of humus to the soil. It is very important for the healthy growth of plants, and fertilisers are chemical substances which are rich in particular nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, they are produced in factories. example: urea, NPK, ammonium sulphate etc.

Farmers add manure to the fields to replenish the soil with nutrients and to increase their crop production, this process of adding manures to the field is called manuring. Improper manuring results in poor development of crop plants and unhealthy crops.

Organic manure can be prepared in fields. Dump plant and animal wastes in pits at open places and allow it to decompose by some of the microorganisms; the decomposed matter is used as manure.

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Harmful effects of fertilisers: Excessive use of fertilisers makes soil less fertile. It is also considered as one of the source of water pollution Fertilizers can be either natural (organic) or synthetic. Natural fertilizers are those that are derived from plants or animals while synthetic fertilizers are those made in a laboratory. While natural fertilizers never harm the quality of soil and do not damage the produce, overuse of synthetic fertilizers may harm the soil in the long run.

Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area in sequential seasons. Growing the same type of in the same place for many years in a row disproportionately depletes the soil of certain nutrients. With rotation, a crop that leaches the soil of one kind of nutrient is followed during the next growing season by a dissimilar crop that returns that nutrient to the soil or draws a different ratio of nutrients: for example, rice followed by cotton.

Advantages of manure:

• Water holding capacity of soil is increased by adding manure to the soil
• It increases the total number of friendly microbes in soil and thus increases soil fertility
• By adding manure soil become more porous so that the exchange of gases becomes easy
• It improves the texture of the soil.

Irrigation is the artificial application of water to crops at different intervals. The time and frequency of irrigation varies from crop to crop, soil to soil and season to season. Like in summer frequency of irrigation is higher because of the increased rate of evaporation. Water is very important for proper growth and development of flowers, fruits and seeds of plants, it plays important role in

• germination of seeds
• transportation of nutrients in different parts of plants
• protects crops from both frost and hot air currents
• it maintain the moisture of soil

Because of the increased rate of evaporation of water from the soil and the leaves it is important to increase the frequency of watering in summer season.

Traditional method of irrigation involves cattle or human labour and thus are cheaper than modern methods of irrigation, various traditional ways of irrigation are:
Moat ( pulley system)
Chain pump
Dhekli
Rahat (Lever system)

Modern method of irrigation help us to use water economically, it involves following methods: Sprinkler system: In this system the perpendicular pipes with rotating nozzles on top are joined to the main pipeline at regular intervals when water is allowed to flow through the main pipe under pressure with the help of pump, it escape from the rotating nozzles, it gets sprinkled on the crop as if it is raining, sprinkler is very useful for sandy soil. Drip system: In this system water falls drop by drop just at the position of the roots. So it is called drip system. It is the best technique for watering plants, trees and garden. This system provides water to plants drop by drop, and water is not wasted at all

Weeds: weeds are unwanted plants that grow along with crop plants and compete with them for water, nutrients, space and light, thus they effect growth of crop plants. Some of the weeds are poisonous for animals and human beings and they interfere even in harvesting of crop plants. Weedicides are chemical that are sprayed in the fields to kill the weeds, they do not damage the crops. Weedicides are diluted with water and are sprayed in the field by sprayer to kill the weeds.

The best time for the removal of weeds is before they produce flowers and seeds.

The cutting of mature crops is called harvesting. It is done manually by sickle or by harvester.

It is important to store food grains properly; they should be safe from moisture, insects, rats and microorganisms. The fresh crops has more moisture so freshly harvested grains should be stored only after drying properly in the sun otherwise it may get spoilt or attacked by organisms losing their germination capacity. This prevents the attack by insect pests, bacteria and fungi. Farmers store crops in jute bags or metallic bins, large scale storage of grains is done in silos or granaries to protect them from pests like rats and insects. At home dried neem leaves are used to store food grains.

It is important to store food grains properly; they should be safe from moisture, insects, rats and microorganisms. The fresh crops has more moisture so freshly harvested grains should be stored only after drying properly in the sun otherwise it may get spoilt or attacked by organisms losing their germination capacity. This prevents the attack by insect pests, bacteria and fungi. Farmers store crops in jute bags or metallic bins, large scale storage of grains is done in silos or granaries to protect them from pests like rats and insects. At home dried neem leaves are used to store food grains.