Crop production

• Crop production and management

  The process of growing and cultivating crops, including various agricultural practices and techniques
• Till 10,000 B.C. people were nomadic, ate raw fruits and vegetables, and started hunting for animals for food
• Later, people could cultivate land and produce rice, wheat and other food crops
• Crop


  Plants of the same kind grown and cultivated at one place on a large scale
• Types of crops


  • Cereals
  • Vegetables
  • Fruits
• Cropping patterns in India

  • Kharif crops (sown in rainy season)
  • Rabi crops (grown in winter season)
• Basic practices of crop production

  • Preparation of soil
  • Sowing
  • Adding manure and fertilizers
  • Irrigation
  • Protecting from weeds
  • Harvesting
  • Storage
• Tilling or ploughing


  The process of loosening and turning of the soil
• Importance of loosening and turning the soil

  • Allows roots to penetrate deep and breathe easily
  • Helps growth of earthworms and microbes
  • Brings nutrient-rich soil to the top
• Plough


  An agricultural implement used for tilling the soil, adding fertilizers, removing weeds, etc.
• Hoe


  A simple tool used for removing weeds and loosening the soil
• Cultivator


  A tractor-driven agricultural implement used for ploughing
• Seed drill


  A tool used for sowing seeds uniformly at proper distances and depths
• Manure


  Organic substances obtained from the decomposition of plant or animal wastes, added to the soil to replenish nutrients
• Fertilizers


  Substances added to the soil in the form of nutrients for the healthy growth of plants
• Continuous growing of crops

  Makes the soil poorer in certain nutrients
• Improper or insufficient manuring results in weak plants
• Organic manure


  • Decomposed plant and animal waste
• Vermicomposting is a method of producing organic manure
• Farmers grow crop after crop in the same field. The field is never left uncultivated or fallow.
• Manuring


  The process of adding manure to the fields to replenish the soil with nutrients
• Manure


  An organic substance obtained from the decomposition of plant or animal wastes
• Manure production


  1. Farmers dump plant and animal waste in pits at open places and allow it to decompose

  2. Decomposition is caused by microorganisms

  3. The decomposed matter is used as organic manure
• Vermicomposting was learnt about in Class VI
• Experiment to observe plant growth with manure and fertiliser

  1. Take moong or gram seeds and germinate them

  2. Select three equal sized seedlings

  3. Put seedlings in three glasses marked A, B, C

  4. Glass A has soil mixed with cow dung manure

  5. Glass B has soil mixed with urea

  6. Glass C has just soil

  7. Water all three glasses daily

  8. Observe growth after 7-10 days
• Fertilisers are chemical substances which are rich in a particular nutrient
• Fertilisers are produced in factories
• Use of fertilisers


  Has helped farmers get better crop yield
• Excessive use of fertilisers has made the soil less fertile and become a source of water pollution
• Crop rotation


  Growing different crops alternately to replenish the soil with nutrients
• Rhizobium bacteria present in the nodules of leguminous plant roots fix atmospheric nitrogen
• Differences between fertiliser and manure

  • Fertiliser is an inorganic salt, manure is a natural substance
  • Fertiliser is prepared in factories, manure can be prepared in fields
  • Fertiliser does not provide humus, manure provides humus
  • Fertilisers are very rich in nutrients, manure is relatively less rich
• Advantages of manure


  • Enhances water holding capacity of soil
  • Makes soil porous for easy gas exchange
  • Increases number of friendly microbes
  • Improves soil texture
• Irrigation


  The supply 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
• In summer, the frequency of watering is higher due to increased rate of evaporation from soil and leaves
• Sources of irrigation


  • Wells
  • Tubewells
  • Ponds
  • Lakes
  • Rivers
  • Dams
  • Canals
• Traditional methods of irrigation

  • Moat (pulley-system)
  • Chain pump
  • Dhekli
  • Rahat (lever system)
• Sprinkler system


  Perpendicular pipes with rotating nozzles sprinkle water like rain, useful for uneven and sandy land
• Drip system


  Water falls drop by drop just at the position of the roots, best for fruit plants, gardens and trees