Food Production
•What is Agriculture?
Agriculture ( 'Ager' means field and 'culture' means cultivation in Latin) is practice of growing crops.
•Livestock Farming:-
The rearing of animals is referred to as livestock farming (animal husbandry)
GROWING CROPS
• CROPS: Plants grown on a large scale are called crops.
•FOOD CROPS: Those grown for the production of food are called food crops.(eg:cereals,pulses,oilseed,sugar crops)
• KHARIF CROPS: Those grown for commercial purposes are called Kharif crops.(eg:jute,cotton,rubber)
•PLANTATION CROPS: Cash crops grown on plantations are called plantation crops. (eg: rubber, coffee, spices)
•HORTICULTURE: the science of cultivating fruit, vegetables, flowers and ornamental plants is called horticulture.
(Hortes:gardens)
CLASSIFICATION OF CROPS IN INDIA
ON THE BASIS OF SEASON OF SOWING:
• KHARIF CROPS: CROPS SOWN IN THE MONSOON ARE CALLED
KHARIF CROPS (eg: rice, jute, maize, cotton)(harvested in October)
•RABI CROPS: CROPS SOWN IN OCTOBER ARE CALLED RABI CROPS (eg: wheat, mustard, gram)(harvested in March)
CROPS NEED:
•Air
•Water
•Sunlight
•Nutrients
STEPS FOR HEALTHY GROWTH OF CROPS:
1.PREPARING THE SOIL
- PLOUGHING
- LEVELLING
- MANURING
2.Sowing seeds
3.Improving soil fertility
1) PLOUGHING:-
Ploughing is the process of breaking, loosening the soil and turning it over for uprooting weeds and aerating the soil. ... It loosens the soil so that the roots of crops can penetrate the soil easily. It brings nutrients to the surface thus making the soil fertile. microorganisms thrive better in loose soil. It's easier to mix manure and fertilizers into loose soil
A plough is farm equipment with a curved blade to loosen and turn the soil.it can be pulled by an animal or tractor.
2) LEVELLING:-Levelling of ploughed soil is the process of crushing and breaking big chunks of soil with help of a leveller to prevent soil erosion, loss of moisture, pack in loose soil.it helps to distribute water evenly.
A leveller is used to level soil.
3) MANURING:- Some fertilizers and manure are added before the sowing of seed and some later.
SOWING SEEDS:
Sowing is the process of planting. An area or object that has had seeds planted in it will be described as a sowed area.
Fungicides are added as an added precaution.
Fungicides are biocidal chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill parasitic fungi or their spores.
Seeds should be sown (a) at proper depth (b) at the proper distance
Seed can be sown with help of hand called broadcasting.
Broadcasting:-In agriculture, gardening, and forestry, broadcast seeding is a method of seeding that involves scattering seed, by hand or mechanically, over a relatively large area.
A better method is use of Seed drill.
Seed drill:- A seed drill is a long iron tube having a funnel at the top. The seed drill is tied to the back of the plough and seeds are put into the funnel of the seed drill. As the plough makes furrows in the soil, the seed from the seed drill is gradually released and sown into the soil.
The seed drill sows the seeds at equal distances and proper depth, ensuring that the seeds get covered with soil and saved from being eaten by birds. We can save time and fewer seeds are wasted by this method.
•IMPROVING SOIL FERTILITY:
When we grow crops season after season year after year soil become deficient in nutrients and less fertile.
There are many methods of making the soil fertile:-
FALLOW FIELD:- Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles.
The goal of fallowing is to:-
•allow the land to recover and store organic matter by microorganisms
• retaining moisture
•regaining fertility
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