INDIAN AGRICULTURE

   

   INDIAN AGRICULTURE

Agriculture is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities.

There are some basic agricultural practices for crop production -:

v Soil preparation

v Sowing

v Adding manure & fertilizer

v Irrigation

v Weeding

v Harvesting

v Storage

1.  Soil preparation

Soil is prepared before sowing the seeds. The soil is loosened to increase the absorption of water and manures. Loosening of soil particles adds humus and nutrients in the soil that increases crop yields. Tilling or loosening the soil is done by ploughs which are pulled by a pair of bulls.

·        Tools used

    Hoe, cultivator , plough

2.  Sowing –Sowing is a process of planting seeds into the soil. ... All these precautions are essential for seed germination – the process of seeds developing into new plants.

u  tool used for sowing - seed drill.

Adding manure and fertilizer-: Manure is organic matter used as fertilizer in agriculture. Manures improve the fertility of the soil by adding organic matter and lots of nutrients, such as nitrogen that is trapped by bacteria in the soil.

Fertilizer - Fertilizers are chemical substances supplied to the crops to increase their productivity. ... The fertilizers contain the essential nutrients required by the plants, including nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus

Why manure over fertilizer?

Manures are considered better than fertilizers in maintaining soil fertility because: i) they add nutrients to the soil without affecting its fertility. ... iii) Manures improve the structure of soil by increasing its water holding capacity, porosity, and texture. They also promote the growth of crops

Irrigation - : the supply of water to the crops in the interval of time is called irrigation

Traditional method of irrigation -: dekhli , rahat

Modern method of irrigation - drip system , sprinkler system

Weeding- the unwanted plants that grow in-between crops are called weeds. The process of removal of such unwanted plants is called weeding. Weeding is important in agriculture because weeds are competitive plants as they reduce the useful crop yield by acquiring space, fertilizers and nutrients from the soil.

Harvesting -: the process of cutting of crop after it’s mature is called harvesting. Some harvesting festivals are bihu,   pongal , onam  e.t.c

Storage -: Storing: To protect the grains, they have to store in closed containers. On a small or medium scale, farmers store them in metal containers or jute bags. On a larger scale, silos or granaries are the preference.

Why is crop storage important?

It is important to store grains because of the following reasons: High temperature and high moisture affect grain quality and can cause rapid decline in germination, colour, oil composition, and many other characteristics of grains. High temperature and moisture favour development of insects and moulds

  percentage of gdp of agriculture in india is 16-18%

  India is the world's largest producer of milk, pulses and jute, and ranks as the second largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, groundnut, vegetables, fruit and cotton.

  

    thanks