Crop Production and Management - I

Ploughing is the process, which prepares the soil for the growth of a crop. It helps in loosening the soil, makes it well aerated, brings nutrient rich layer to the top and mixes nutrients evenly. It does not have anything to do with uniform distribution of water. 

Compost is a form of organic nutrient obtained by the decomposition of dead plants and animals, and thus it belongs to the category “manure”. Fertilisers refer to the inorganic salts being prepared in the factories. Pesticides and weedicides are the chemicals, which act against pests and weeds, respectively. 

Wheat, gram and pea need low temperatures for their growth whereas paddy requires the presence of large amount of water. Therefore, paddy is grown in a rainy season.

Agricultural practices are the processes adopted in the field such as preparing the soil, adding nutrients for the growth of crops and cutting down the crop i.e. harvesting, whereas selling grains in a market does not involve any field process and is thus not an agricultural practice. 

Cultivator, sickle and plough are the tools used for the preparation of soil whereas khurpi helps in the removal of weeds and is adopted as a manual method of removing weeds.

Sowing should be done after the loosening and turning of soil. This process is known as preparation of soil. Harvesting refers to the cutting of mature crops. Threshing and winnowing are the post-harvesting processes.

Rabi crops are the crops which are grown in the winter months as these require low temperature. If grown in winter season, maize cannot grow well and give good yield. Thus, it is not a Rabi crop.

 Agricultural practices are practised in a stepwise manner to optimize the growth of crops. First, the soil is prepared by loosening and turning to sow the seeds and then nutrients are added for good growth of seeds. Then appropriate amount of water is supplied by irrigation after which the unwanted plants are removed. This process is known as weeding. 

 Rabi crops are the crops which are grown in the winter months as these require low temperatures. So, the appropriate months for the same are October to March. 

Paddy, Maize etc. need large quantities of water for their proper growth and thus, are grown in rainy season. The crops grown in rainy season are called kharif crops, whereas Rabi crops are grown in winter season. Cash crops are the crops grown for extra profit whereas zaid crops include some vegetables and low grade cereals as extra harvest. 

Kharif crops are the crops, which are grown in rainy season, generally during June - September.

Pulses and vegetables require high temperature for their growth. So, they are grown in summer season.

Loosening of soil is done to prepare the soil so that its water holding capacity is optimized, whereas 'harvesting' refers to cutting of crops, 'irrigation' refers to watering the crops and sowing seeds is done after the preparation of soil. 

 The growing crops draw various nutrients from the soil and make the top soil deficient in nutrients. Before growing next crop, soil needs to be turned so, the lower nutrient rich soil layer comes at the top. 

Sickle and spade are hand tools to be used with hands, whereas cultivator is a modern tool, which does not require pulling by animals. Plough is the implement made of wood and is drawn by a pair of horses or camels etc.  

Transplantation is the placing of a seeding into the field, manuring is the addition of manure; drilling is to sowing seeds by using drill machine and broadcasting refers to scatter the seeds with hands.

 Better the seed, better would be the crop yield. Seeds should be of good quality, give high yield and should be clean and healthy. Hollow and lighter seeds mean the seeds are eaten/ attacked by and are not good to be used. 

Seeds should neither be sown very deep nor on surface to optimize their germination. Also, there should be proper spacing between the seeds to allow their proper growth. Hence, seeds should be sown at adequate depth and with proper spacing between them.

Seed drill is the implement which is used to sow the seeds in the soil at appropriate distances and soil depth and is used in the modern days.

NPK, potash and ammonium sulphate are inorganic substances being prepared in the factories. They help in increasing the soil fertility. Humus is the organic component of soil formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant materials by soil microorganisms. Hence, humus is not an example of fertilizer.

Legumes and Wheat are the crops grown alternatively in northern part of India.

Farmer prepares the soil by using different implements. Earthworms during their activity in the soil help in loosening and turning the soil to optimize its efficiency and are thus known as farmer's friend.

The big pieces of the soil in the ploughed field are known as crumbs.

Rhizobium is the nitrogen fixing bacteria present in the root nodules of leguminous plants. This bacteria lives in symbiotic relation with the plants, gets shelter from plant and in return provides usable form of nitrogen to it.

 Fertilizers are the inorganic salts being prepared in the factories. Excess use of fertilizers makes the soil less fertile. Fertilizers are non biodegradable and mix up with the water bodies and cause pollution. They do not provide humus to the soil.