Agricultural Practices and Animal Husbandry

We to a fault eat leaves and stem of spinach and sof devilod of fruits. Thus, human beings depend on kit and caboodles and animals for food. 32. 2 AGRICULTURE AND hoidenish PRACTICES The branch of science which deals with methods of food payoff is k straightawayn as agriculture. Besides studying the new methods of food production, in this branch of science we also study about how new and reform varieties of craws rump be posen, how animals and birds bid cows, hens, and so forth put up be re bed well and made to give more than milk or break away quality eggs? whole these new methods which scientists develop come under agricultural practices. We need vegetables, fruits, grains, pulses, and so forth as food. For our clothes, we need the type of plants or animals. We get tout ensemble these foods and fibres by farming or agriculture. ACTIVITY 32. 1 Make a list of things which you expenditure e rattling day. Categorise those items which you get directly or indirectly from agriculture. Does your list compute like the one given below? For easy reading, agricultural products take away been divided into the following groups as given in the table 32.1. Table 32. 1 Various categories of food items Examples Sorghum (Jowar), Ragi (finger millet) and Bajra (pearl millet) Arhar (Tur), cruddy gram (Urad), Green gram (Moong), and Bengal gram (Channa) Beans Peas, Soyabean, Cowpea, Lentil Oilseeds Mustard, Groundnut, Soyabean, Sunflower, Linseed, Castor and Cotton seed Root drifts Carrot, Turnip, concoction potato Tuber crops Potato, Tapioca, Ginger and Turmeric Sugar crops Sugar merchant shipe and Beet root Plantation crops Coffee, Tea, pencil eraser and Coconut Category Millets Pulses 32.3 HORTICULTURE Did you observe that something is missing from the list of food items which we eat every day. What is it that we have not listed here in table 32. 1? Yes, we have neither included vegetables nor fruits in this list. Vegetables and fruits atomic number 18 inborn items of our diet and their baffleth and production are studied under a branch of agriculture called horticulture. Horticulture is derived from two latin words hortus which means garden, and culture which means cultivation. 288 Agricultural Practices and Animal HusbandryThe branch of agriculture that deals with takeing and production of vegetables, fruits, ornamental plants and management of orchards is called horticulture. Horticulturists research to find new ways by which transgress varieties of fruits and vegetables can be grown in large quantities. 32. 4 STEPS IN RAISING IMPROVED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE To increase our food production we can sow thoroughly quality seeds and improve the methods of sowing. We can influence the soil more rich and even use better techniques for harvesting the crops.Some of the agricultural practices which scientists have developed and which our farmers have started are explained here. 1. Preparation of soil This is an important practice which helps to enrich the soil and make it more prolific and aerated. It involves addition of mire followed by turning, loosening and levelling of the soil, using agricultural implements like spade, ferment or mechanical farm implements. 2. Seed treatment Seeds can easily be attacked by micro-organisms. The crops that grow out of diseased seeds testament also be unhealthy.So farmers treat these seeds by dipping them in certain chemicals like cerosan or agrosan. These chemicals do not allow the microorganisms to attack the seeds and damage them. Such chemicals are called Fungicides. Once the seeds are treated, they can be sown. 3. Preparing the seed furnish and bid of the seedlings In certain crop plants like paddy line of merchandise and some of the vegetables, seeds are not sown directly in the main field. First these seeds are sown in a nursery bed. Once they grow to a certain age they are transferred and plant in the main field. These small plants are called seedlings.Whe n the farmers prepare a nursery bed they take care of the following The soil of the bed should be soft and loose so that the tender root of the seedlings can grow well. This can be achieved by outwearging or ploughing the field well. The seed bed or where the seedlings are planted should be even so that when we water the plants, the water distributes itself uniformly all over the field. in all widows weeds or unwanted plants in the field must be removed. Do you know why? It is because these weeds also take water and nutrients from the soil and as a subject the desired plants cannot get enough of the nutrients.The seedlings also need to be protected from diseases and pests. This is done by crop-dusting chemicals like Parathion, Sevin, Dimecron and Rogor on the seedlings. 4. Transplanting The process of removing the seedlings from the nursery bed and planting them in the main field is called transplanting. When we transplant, we must select those seedlings which have 4 to 5 hea lthy Agricultural Practices and Animal Husbandry 289 leaves. These are sowed at proper distance from each other. The main field must be ploughed and manured in advance transplanting.Generally sieve and vegetables like tomato and brinjal are sown by transplanting. Transplanting of seedlings is a very important practice. This enables us to select good and healthy seedlings and get a better crop. Besides, when we transplant seedlings, their roots are able to go deep into the soil and get more nutrients. When seedlings get good food, they grow into healthy plants and give a better yield. 5. Adding fertilizers rambles need nutrients like phosphorus, calcium, nitrogen etc. for their harvesting and crack up these nutrients from the soil.It is very important to add fertilizers to the soil. They provide nutrients to the soil and help to obtain a better crop yield. Depending on the type of soil and the crop to be grown, we use different fertilizers. The way we use a fertilizer also de pends upon what type of fertilizer is being added to the soil. A fertilizer which contains nitrogen (nitrogenous fertilizer) is in general given in two or three doses. Other fertilizers are phosphatic and complex fertilizers. Some fertilisers are added to the soil before transplanting. You must have heard about the most commonly used fertilizer NPK.The letter N stands for nitrogen, P for phosphate and K for potassium. While fertilizers are manufactured from chemicals in factories, manure is made from organic substances and contains nutrients in small quantities. Some of the commonly used manure are Farmyard manure, as the name suggests is a mixture of decomposed oxen dung (excreta) and urine, left over fodder (cattle feed) and litter (bedding provided to cattle in the farm). Compost is manure made from vegetable and animal refuse collected from domestic waste, straw, weeds etc. , dumped in a deep pit to decompose.Vermicompost is compost broken down by earthworms. same(p) fertilize rs manures too add nutrients to soil. 6. Use of plant growth regulators Plant growth regulators are certain chemicals which find the growth of plants. All plants have growth regulators which determine how tall the plant would be, how big its fruit will be, etc. We can now add some plant growth regulators like auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins, abscisic acid etc. to get a better yield of crops. You will learn more about these plant growth regulators in higher classes.7. Irrigation Irrigation is necessary for proper development of plants. Roots fail to develop and penetrate in the dry soil. The crop is irrigated according to its requirement and soil characteristics. Irrigation is essential during the seedling, flowering and grain filling stages of the crop. rice crop needs standing water. 290 Agricultural Practices and Animal Husbandry 8. Harvesting Harvesting machines have now replaced the back breaking job of hand harvesting with the sickle and scythe. Harvesting machines cut or d ig out the plant or its separate as required.The machines gather the plant parts, separate desired parts and eliminate parts not needed. Certain harvesting machines may even load the crop for transport. However, the higher up mentioned functions of harvesting machines depend on kind of crop, plant parts to be harvested, crop use, stage of maturity, etc. 32. 5 SOME OTHER DIFFERENT AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES 32. 5. 1 Rotation of crops If you stay in a village you must have seen that the wheat crop is planted during the month of November and harvested in March and April. The rice crop is planted in June-July and harvested in October and November.The domain that lies fallow in between these two cereal crops, can be used by the farmers for sowing a leguminous crop at this time. A leguminous crop does not take as long as wheat or rice to grow. So by the time the farmer has to plant the cereal crops (rice, wheat etc. ) the pulse is ready to be harvested. Leguminous crops include pea, beans, grams and pulses. They harbour nitrogen fixing bacteria in nodules of their roots (Fig. 32. 1). These bacteria metamorphose free nitrogen from atmosphere into usable form. Thus, after the leguminous crop is harvested, the soil is left fertile for other crops.The process of maturement a different crop preferably a leguminous crop in between raising of two similar crops is called rotation of crops. Fig. 32. 1 Nitrogen fixing bacteria in the root nodules Crop rotation has a lot of benefits, (i) the land gets utilized, (ii) the pulse crop uses up different nutrients from the soil but it fixes the nitrogen from the air and makes the soil richer in nitrogen and so more fertile. This way the next cereal crop gives a better yield. If we do not practice crop rotation by growing different crops on a piece of land, butcontinue to grow the same crop, class after stratum, they will keep on using the same nutrients from the soil till all the nutrients in the soil get used up. The newly grown plants get poor nourishment from the soil and grow up to be weak and of bad quality. When plants are weak the insects can easily attack them and bring down them. Thus, crop rotation restores the fertility of Agricultural Practices and Animal Husbandry 291 the soil, it gives better yield, prevents crop from diseases and pests and reduces the dependence on chemical fertilizers.Multiple cropping Growing two to four crops one after the other in a year in the same field is called multiple cropping. Multiple cropping is possible, when we make use of crop varieties that grow for a short period of time. However, to get best results there must be a properly managed field. In fact, multiple cropping is the best solution for a country with food problem because same piece of land is used to grow different kinds of crops. ACTIVITY 32. 2 Here is something you can do. Visit a near agricultural farm or vegetable garden.Observe and note down the agricultural practices being used there. All the a bove mentioned practices are meant to ensure that plants have a healthy growth and yield a good crop. Along with these developments in our country we have also brought under cultivation more and more land. The change magnitude cultivation of agricultural crops is in order to meet requirements of a growing population. 32. 5. 3 Improving the conformation of seeds You must have often heard or read advertisements which encourage farmers to buy new and better varieties of seeds.Some of these new varieties are resistant to diseases and give a very good crop. Some of the improved high-yielding crop varieties which our scientists have developed are given in table 32. 2. Table 32. 2 Improved high-yielding varieties of crops Crop Rice Wheat Maize Ladys finger (Bhindi) Brinjal Variety I R-8, Jaya, Padma, Bala Sarbati sonara, Sonalika, Kalyan sona, Hira-moti, RR-21 and UP 301 Ganga 101, Rankit and Deccan hybrid Pusa savani Pusa purple, Pusa kranti and Muktabeshi Do you know what name is given to scientists who develop such new varieties of seeds?They are called plant breeders. Plant breeders have not only raised better quality seeds but also better quality fruits. Mango has been named the king of fruits and in our country we grow many varieties of mangoes. Some of them are Alphonse, Langra, Chausa, Saroli, Dussehri, Himsagar, Safeda, Sinduri, Mulgoba, Amini. 32. 6 PROTECTION OF CROPS IN THE FIELD As crops grow in the field, they have to be protected such that they produce a healthy yield. The weeds growing along with crops have to be removed and growing crops have to be saved from the attack of pests especially insects pests.