Sustainable Agriculture And Organic Farming
Farming
Integrated Farming
Advantanges Of Sustainable Agriculture
Organic Farming
Advantages Of Organic Farming
Improvement In Crop Production
Types Of Crops
Crop Seasons
Kharif Crops
Rabi Crops
Improvement In Yield
Crop Production Management
Nutrient Management
Macronutrients
Micronutrients
Manures
Fertilisers
Nitrogenous Fertiliser
Phosphatic Fertiliser
Potassic Fertiliser
Complex Fertiliser
Irrigation
Sources Of Irrigation
wells
Canals
River Lift System
Tanks
Cropping Patterns
Mixed Farming
Intercropping
Crop Rotation
Crop Variety Improvement
Crop Protection Management
Storage Of Grains
Sustainable Agriculture And Organic Farming
Sustainable Agriculture is defined as 'an agricultural system that aims at the continual improvement of the land's productivity and the quality of the environment that it sustains, while maintaining a balance between the economic, stock and environmental factors'.
There are various farming techniques such as mixed farming, inter-cropping, integrated farming, crop rotations and organic farming.
Farming
Farming is an activity or the business of growing crops, raising animals and rearing livestock.
Integrated Farming
Integrated Farming is a farming system that attempts to integrate the use of different farming practices to achieve the highest possible efficiency. It aims to use the minimum amount of resources to produce the maximum amount of food and to maintain the land in a good state. It may include pisciculture, aqua culture, apiculture, sericulture, horticulture, animal husbandry and piggery.
Advantages Of Sustainable Agriculture
- Achieves the integration of natural biological cycles and controls.
- Protects and renews the soil fertility and the natural environment.
- Optimises the management and use of farm resources.
- There is no use of non renewable resources.
Organic Farming
Organic farming is the production of food and other products using methods that avoid the use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, and do not involve genetic modification. Biofertilizers and biopesticides are used to replace chemicals and it does not spread pollution.
Along with a healthy cropping system, they provide optimum nutrients to plants and keep the pests as well as the weeds under control. Organic wastes are recycled into manures. Bio fertilisers are the organisms which kill the weeds, insects and other pests.
Advantages Of Organic Farming
- Prevents pollution.
- Wastes are recycled into manures.
- The food grain produced from organic farming is free of any chemical and toxic elements.
- Weeds, insects and pests are under checked.
- Maintains soil fertility.
Improvement In Crop Production
Agriculture is the science and practice of farming, it mainly includes cultivation of land, raising crops, animal husbandry (rearing of livestock), harvesting, processing the food and marketing the produce.
Agronomy: It is the part of agricultural science dealing with the production of field crops and management of soil.
Horticulture: It is the part of agricultural science that mainly deals with the management of fruits and flowering plants in orchards and gardens.
Olericulture: It is related to the growth and management of vegetables.
Aquaculture: It is related to the farming and harvesting of plants and animals in water bodies for economical purposes.
Agronomist: It is a person who is expert in the field of agriculture, who has a sound knowledge of the principles of agronomy, who studies crop disease, selective breeding, crop rotation, climate factors and tests the soil.
Types Of Crops
| Edible seeds are cereals, pulses, oil seeds and nuts or dry fruits. Cereals: It includes wheat, rice, maize, barley, sorghum, etc. It is a rich source of carbohydrate. Pulses: It includes leguminous plants such as peas, grams, green gram, black gram, pigeon pea, chicken pea, lentil, etc. It is a rich source of protein. Oil Seed Crops: It includes linseed, mustard, soybean, groundnut, olive, etc. It is a rich source of fat and lipids. Nuts (dry fruits): Nuts are very rich in protein and fatty acid, that’s why they are very energetic food items, such as almonds, walnuts, cashew, coconut, peanut, etc. |
| It includes apples, grapes, mango, pineapples, bananas, oranges, guava, papaya, watermelon, etc. Fruits are a good source of vitamins, minerals, proteins, roughage, carbohydrate and fat. |
| Vegetables are the edible part of herbaceous plants. They are eaten raw or after cooking. Roots: Roots are carrot, potato, radish, turnip, beet. These are eaten as vegetables. Stems: Stems of some plants such as mustard, bamboo, banana, etc are eaten as vegetables. Certain plants have modified underground stems such as potato, onions, garlic, ginger, etc. Stems of sugarcane are also used to make can juice and jagger. Leafy Vegetables: It includes leaves of spinach, turnip, bathua, radish, mustard, methi, etc. Inflorescence Vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, etc. Fruit Vegetables: Tomato, pumpkin, brinjal, jackfruit, cucumber, ladyfinger, tamarind, etc. |
| Certain parts of some plants are used to provide better taste in food are known as spices. They come in a variety of flavours and also have great medicinal properties, such as turmeric, it has antifungal and anti-bacterial properties and also nourishes our skin. Other examples are chilly, black pepper, cumin, and cardamom. |
| It provides green fodder for herbivorous animals ( extensively used in dairy farms) such as berseem, oat, sudan grass, sorghum, etc. |
Crop Seasons
Different crops require different climatic conditions, temperature, rainfall and photoperiod (photoperiod is the duration of sunlight that determines the growth of a plant and its maturity). In India there are mainly two types of crop seasons:
Kharif Crops
Those crops which are grown during the hot and rainy season (June to October) are called kharif crops or summer season crops. Kharif crops are paddy, maize, millet, groundnut, soybean, arhar, black gram, green gram, cotton and jute.
Vegetables: Spinach, gourd, lady finger, pumpkin and brinjal, etc.
Fruits: watermelon, muskmelon, litchi, mangoes, etc.
Rabi Crops
Those crops which are grown in the winter season (November to April) are known as rabi crops or winter season crops.
Cereals and Pulses: wheat, barley, groundnut, pea, gram, linseed, mustard, etc.
Vegetables: cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, beans, etc.
Fruits: apples, oranges, grapes, etc.
Improvement In Yield
To improve crop production in modern times where there is a huge population and scarce land resources, there are some techniques to increase crop production. Scientists have invented these following methods to increase crop production and are widely used as well as claimed to be successful.
- Crop Production Management.
- Crop Variety Improvement.
- Crop Protection Management.
Crop Production Management
- India is an agricultural based country.
- 70 percent of the population of India depends on agriculture for their livelihood as farmers, though many people are coming toward cities and joining various sectors but it can’t be done in just a few days.
- Farmers account for 40 percent in the gross national product (GNP).
Crop Production Management refers to the controlling, providing and managing the resources and various aspects of crop production to produce maximum and best yield from the farm.
Three aspects of Crop Production Management:
- Nutrient Management.
- Irrigation.
- Cropping Pattern.
Nutrient Management
Nutrient management is the process of using fertilisers to improve crop production. It covers the selection, timing and amount of nutrients provided to the crops. Like every living organism, plants also require inorganic elements to build their body structure and for growth.
There are about 40 elements found in the plant's ash. From which only 16 are essential.
- Air: Carbon, Oxygen.
- Water: Hydrogen, Oxygen.
- Soil: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Sulphur, Iron, Manganese, Boron, Zinc, Copper, Molybdenum, Chlorine.
According to the need of nutrients and elements, these are classified in two groups:
Macronutrients (Macro elements)
These are nutrients required in more amounts for a plant body. These nutrients take part in building the plant body. They have no significant role in enzyme activity. For example, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S.
Micronutrients (Micro elements)
These are the nutrients that are required in the plant body in small amounts. These have no specific role in building plant bodies. These are needed for enzyme activity. For example, Iron, Manganese, Boron, Zinc, Chlorine, Copper, Molybdenum.
These nutrients are given to plants and crops via soil in the form of manure and fertilisers.
Manures
Manures are natural fertilisers. It is a bulky source of organic matter and helps to maintain soil structure. It is rich in organic matter and less in nutrients. It also helps to replenish soil fertility. Manures include farmyard manures (FYM), compost, green manure, vermicompost.
Advantages of Manures:
- Manure is made of organic matter (humus) which renews the soil texture, increases the capability to hold water and air in soil.
- Manures are humus and new soil, the bacteria present in the soil decomposes manure and provides nutrients to the plants.
Fertilisers
Fertilisers are the best source of nutrients for the plants. It is commercially manufactured using chemicals. NPK is a fertiliser and is in the category of macronutrients. Fertilisers contain very high amounts of nutrients and therefore used in small quantities. A complete fertiliser is one which contains all three nutrients or elements that are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Fertilisers are divided into 4 divisions:
Nitrogenous Fertilisers
Those fertilisers which contain nitrogen in them are called nitrogenous fertilisers. For example, Urea, Ammonium sulphate.
Phosphatic Fertilisers
It provides phosphorus to the plants. For example, single super phosphate, triple super phosphate.
Potassic Fertilisers
It provides potassium to the plants. For example, potassium sulphate, potassium nitrate.
Complex Fertilisers
These are the fertilisers that contain two or more than two kinds of nutrients. For example, nitro phosphate, ammonium phosphate, urea ammonium phosphate.
Fertilisers are provided to crops by scientific means and in the proper way, time and quantity along with precautions. Sometimes, the fertilisers are not completely absorbed by the plants and if either it rains or the field is irrigated, the excess chemical fertilisers are washed off from the soil and enter into the water bodies, hence polluting the water bodies and causing harm to the environment and aquatic life. So, it is important to use fertilisers in the proper way and at the right time.
Irrigation
Irrigation is an important factor of crop production. If we don't supply optimum water to crop it will be destroyed very soon. Irrigation helps the crop to grow in a better way. It provides water to plants that contain two macronutrients that are hydrogen and oxygen.
In some places where rainfall is not sufficient for crops and they can not get sufficient water, that place may become dry land and become desert. Drought is caused due to lack of water or irregular distribution of water to soil.
Sources Of Irrigation
- Wells.
- Canals.
- River lift system.
- Tank.
Wells
Wells supply water to plants, it is made in the area where groundwater level is good.
There are two types of wells: dug well and tube well.
In dug wells, people dug an area under land at some preferable water level, so that water can be uplifted and is carried out with buckets or pumps or bullocks or by any other system.
In tube wells, a cylinder made of steel pipe is used to dig straight underground and that hole has a motor connected with a pipe along with electricity to run the motor. Here, electricity is used to run the motor and to lift water. Today, a developed version of this system is used in almost all the homes around the world.
Canals
It is an elaborate and extensive irrigation system. CAnal receive water from one or more reservoirs or any river. The main canal is divided into lateral and sub-canals, resulting in a network of distributaries reaching to the farmlands or irrigation areas.
River Lift System
In this irrigation system water is directly supplied by a river. It is more useful in those areas where canals are not available or the supply is not good.
Tanks
Tanks are small storage water reservoirs, the outflow water is stored in tanks.
Catchment Area is the geographical area or land under draining of irrigation.
Cropping Patterns
These are used to raise crop production by reducing the risk of crop failure, disease and infestation.
Common types of cropping patterns are mixed farming, intercropping and crop rotation.
Mixed Farming
It is a cropping system in which two or more than two crops are grown on the same piece of land.
The main objective of mixed farming is to minimise the risk of crop failure due to abnormal weather conditions.
- Wheat and mustard.
- Wheat and gram.
- Groundnut and sunflower.
Intercropping
It is a cropping system in which more than one crop is grown in the same field in a definite ratio. Its main objective is to maximise the production per unit area. It is the same as mixed cropping but more advanced. Its row pattern is definite such as 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, 2:3, etc. Fertilisers are added as per the need of crop in different rows.
Crop Rotation
The growing of two different types of crops on a land in a pre-planned succession is known as crop rotation.
On the basis of duration of crop rotation, it is divide into 3 types:
- One year rotation.
- Maize - mustard.
- Two year rotation.
- Maize - mustard - sugarcane - methi.
- Three year rotation.
- Rice - wheat - moong - mustard - sugarcane - berseem.
While selecting crops for crop rotation, we should consider the following points:
- Availability of water.
- Status of nutrients in soil.
- Availability of manure.
- Duration of crop.
- Marketing and producing facilities.
Advantages Of Crop Rotation
- Crop rotation reduces the use of fertilisers, for example, plants get nitrogen from soil because legumes (leguminous plants) are added there as green manure.
- If crop rotation is done in the proper way two or three crops can be grown with good production or harvest within a year.
Crop Variety Improvement
By improving crop variety the crop production also increases. VArieties of crops can be selected by breeding for various useful characteristics such as disease resistance, fertilisers, product quality, and high yield.
Hybridization refers to the crossing of two different types of plant’s genetic material to form a new (hybrid) plant with improved characteristics.
This cross breeding is done in the following three ways:
- Inter specific (between two different types of species).
- Inter variety (between two different varieties).
- Inter generic (between different genetic materials of plants).
Cultivation practices or crop yield are dependent on the type of soil, nutrient, water availability, weather, climatic conditions, soil salinity, etc.
Genetic Manipulation is a biotechnology technique which is developed in recent years to improve crop variety. By this, the genetic material of one crop can be transferred to another crop to produce a new and modified crop. The crop found after genetic manipulation is entirely different due to the mixture of two different genetic materials.
Application of genetic manipulation in agriculture:
- Plants have been modified for insect protection, virus resistance, and increased nutrients which ultimately results in improved yield.
- Improvement for the tolerance of environmental pressure and effect.
Here are some reasons for which crop variety improvement is done by the genetic manipulation:
- High yield.
- Improved quality.
- Biotic and abiotic resistance.
- Change in maturity duration.
- Wider adaptability.
- Desirable agronomic characteristics.
High yield refers to the higher production of crops.
Improved quality refers to the quality of products that vary with crop to crop. Baking quality is important in wheat, protein, pulses, oil seeds and preserving quality in fruits and vegetables.
Biotic and abiotic resources refers to the resistance in crop production due to biotic (bacteri, insects, weeds, virus, etc) resistance and abiotic (drought, water logging, frost, cold, heat, etc) resistance.
Change in Maturity Duration refers to healthy crops which are grown at any duration and modern biotechnology science changed the maturity duration to grow a healthy and matured crop in a short time and also due to this farmers can grow crops multiple times in the same course of time.
Wider Adaptability refers to crops that can be grown and adopt any environmental condition and produce high yield.
Desirable agronomic characteristics means that crops should have good characteristics such as tallness and profuse branching in the fodder crop, dwarfness in cereals, etc.
Crop Protection Management
It refers to the preventive measures which are adopted to prevent the crop from pests. Pests are those destructive organisms which can create a lot of damage to crop production and indirectly it also decreases the economic earning of a farmer. If these pests are not being controlled, they may create a huge loss in crop yield. Pests include weeds, insects, rodents, mites, nematodes, fungi, bacteria, viruses, etc.
Scientists have also invented pesticides, biopesticides to control these pests from damaging our crops. Bactericide (for bacteria), insecticides (for insects), weedicides (for weeds), fungicides (for fungi). These pesticides kill these pests.
Here are some preventive measures against pests:
- Use of resistant variety of crop plants.
- Selection of better time for sowing of crops.
- Crop rotation and multiple cropping.
- Clean cultivation.
- Summer ploughing.
Weeds and insects (or pests) take nutrients from the soil and plants and this creates a lack of nutrients in plants that damages the crops.
General insect and pests attacks on plants in three ways:
- They cut the root, stem and leaf.
- They suck the cell sap from the different parts of the plant.
- They make holes in stems and fruits.
Diseases are caused in plants or crops by pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, virus, etc. These pathogens can be reached in the plant body through soil, water, air. To prevent plants from diseases, we may use chemical pesticides, weedicides, insecticides, herbicides, etc.
If we use these chemicals to protect the crop from pests in excessive amounts, it creates pollution in soil and destroys crops and disturbs the ecosystem.
Storage Of Grains
Once the crop is fully matured, it is harvested and then needs to be stored properly for future use. Annual crops such as wheat are very important for health, it is everyone's daily bread and butter. It is stored in a very huge amount for the future. But it can be damaged by pests such as insects, rodents, mites, bacteria, fungi, etc, and can also be harmed by unfavourable temperature and moisture.
These factors cause degradation in quality of crop produced, loss in weight, poor germination and discolouration of produce, This loss and damage can be controlled by proper treatment and systematic management of the produce.
The protection of storage includes:
- Strictly cleaning of produce before storing.
- Proper drying, first in sunlight and then in the shed before storing.
- Allow fumigation to kill pests in the storage.
Fumigants are the pesticides which can kill the insects from the storage and the process of their use is known as fumigation. Fumigants may be solid, liquid or gas. It creates toxic fumes to kill insects and pests, and that’s why fumigants should be used with caution.
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