Shankar IAS Summary: Agriculture - 2 | Environment for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Introduction

Agriculture, integral to economies worldwide, is a key subject for study. This field encompasses historical development, existing challenges, and future possibilities in farming. The impact of agriculture on livelihoods, food security, and the environment is central to exploration. The study underscores themes like sustainability, technological advancements, and policy implications, offering a holistic perspective. Understanding agriculture is a lens through which to analyze and contribute to national growth.

Agriculture

The term agriculture is derived from two Latin words, ager or agri, meaning soil, and cultura meaning cultivation. It encompasses all aspects of crop production, livestock farming, fisheries, forestry, etc.

• Silviculture: The art of cultivating forest trees.
• Sericulture: Rearing of silkworms for raw silk production.
• Apiculture: Maintenance of honeybee colonies by humans.
• Olericulture: Science of vegetable growing for food.
• Viticulture: Science, production, and study of grapes.
• Floriculture: Discipline of horticulture concerned with flowering and ornamental plants.
• Arboriculture: Cultivation, management, and study of individual trees and woody plants.
• Pomology: Branch of horticulture focusing on fruit cultivation.
• Aeroponics: Growing plants in an air or mist environment without soil.
• Hydroponics: Growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water without soil.
• Geoponic: Growing plants in normal soil in farming practice.

Scope and Importance of Agriculture

Contributing 18.3% to the GDP, agriculture is a vital sector providing livelihoods to about two-thirds of the population. It employs 45.5% of the workforce and is crucial for food security, national security, and raw material for various industries.

Problems of Indian Agriculture

• Fragmentation of landholding.
• Existence of small and marginal farmers.
• Regional variation.
• Dependence on seasonal rainfall.
• Low productivity of land.
• Increasing disguised unemployment.
• Disorder in marketing agricultural products.
• Weak land reformation.

Revolutions in Agriculture

Crop and its Classifications

Agronomy, derived from the Greek words agros (meaning 'field') and nomos (meaning 'management'), is a specialized branch in agriculture dealing with crop production and soil management. Crops refer to plants grown on a large scale for food, clothing, and other human uses.

Classification based on climate

1. Tropical: Crops thriving in warm & hot climates (e.g., Rice, Sugarcane, Jowar).
2. Temperate: Crops thriving in cool climates (e.g., Wheat, Oats, Gram, Potato).

Classification Based on growing season

1. Kharif/Rainy/Monsoon crops: Grown during monsoon months, requiring warm, wet weather (e.g., Cotton, Rice, Jowar).
2. Rabi/winter/cold seasons crops: Grown in winter, thriving in cold and dry weather (e.g., Wheat, Gram, Sunflower).
3. Summer/Zaid crops: Grown in summer, requiring warm dry weather (e.g., Groundnuts, Watermelon, Pumpkins).

Agronomic Classification of Crops

Various categories include Cereals, Millets, Pulses or Grain Legumes, Oil Seed Crops, Sugar Crops, Starch Crops or Tuber Crops, Fibre Crops, Narcotics, Forage and Fodder Crops, Plantation Crops, Spices and Condiments, Medicinal plants, Aromatic plants.

Classification based on life of crops/duration of crops

1. Seasonal crops: Complete life cycle in one season (e.g., Rice, Jowar, Wheat).
2. Two seasonal crops: Complete life cycle in two seasons (e.g., Cotton, Turmeric, Ginger).
3. Annual crops: Require one full year to complete the life cycle (e.g., Sugarcane).
4. Biennial crops: Require two years to complete the life cycle (e.g., Banana, Papaya).
5. Perennial crops: Live for several years (e.g., Fruit crops, Mango, Guava).

Classification based on cultural method/water

1. Rain-fed: Cultivated based on rainwater availability (e.g., Jowar, Bajara, Mung).
2. Irrigated crops: Cultivated with irrigation water (e.g., Chili, Sugarcane, Banana).

Classification based on root system

1. Tap root system: Main root goes deep into the soil (e.g., Tur, Grape, Cotton).
2. Fiber-rooted: Roots are fibrous, shallow, and spreading (e.g., Cereal crops, Wheat, Rice).

Classification based on economic importance

1. Cash crop: Grown for earning money (e.g., Sugarcane, Cotton).
2. Food crops: Grown for raising food grain for the population and fodder for cattle (e.g., Jowar, Wheat, Rice).

Classification based on No. of cotyledons

1. Monocots or monocotyledons: One cotyledon in the seed (e.g., Cereals & Millets).
2. Dicots or dicotyledonous: Two cotyledons in the seed (e.g., Legumes & Pulses, Trees).

Classification based on length of photoperiod required for floral initiation

Plants classified as Short-day plants (flower initiation with short days), Long day’s plants (flower initiation with long days), and Day-neutral plants (photoperiod has little influence).

Tillage

Tillage, the mechanical manipulation of soil using tools and implements, aims to create ideal conditions for seed germination, seedling establishment, and crop growth. Tilth, the physical condition of soil resulting from tillage, can be coarse, fine, or moderate based on crop requirements and soil conditions.

Types of Tillage

Tillage operations are grouped into on-season and off-season tillage.

On-season Tillage

Operations performed within the crop season or at its onset include preparatory tillage. Preparatory tillage involves deep opening and loosening of the soil to achieve desirable tilth, control weeds, and manage crop stubble.

Types of Preparatory Tillage:

1. Primary Tillage: Done after crop harvest to bring the land under cultivation, typically involving ploughing with various types of ploughs.
2. Secondary Tillage: Performed after primary tillage to improve soil tilth, consisting of lighter operations like harrowing and planking.

Dry Tillage Practiced for crops sown or planted in dry land conditions with sufficient moisture for seed germination (e.g., wheat, oilseeds, pulses).

Wet or Puddling Tillage Performed in land with standing water, involving ploughing in standing water to create a soft seed bed, commonly used for planting rice.

Off-season Tillage

Done to condition the soil for the upcoming main season crop, including post-harvest, summer, winter, and fallow tillage.

Special Purpose Tillage

1. Sub Soiling: Involves chiselling to break hard pans beneath the plough layer, reducing compaction.
2. Clean Tillage: Works the entire field to control weeds, soil-borne pathogens, and pests.
3. Blind Tillage: Performed after seeding or planting to uproot extra plants and broad-leaved weeds without damaging crop plants.
4. Zero Tillage: Involves planting a new crop in residues of the previous crop without prior soil tillage, suitable for weed control using herbicides.

Advantages of Zero Tillage

1. Homogeneous soil structure with increased earthworm activity.
2. Increased organic matter content due to less mineralization.
3. Reduced surface runoff and erosion due to the presence of mulch.

Disadvantages of Zero Tillage

1. Higher nitrogen application for organic matter mineralization.
2. Potential issues with perennial weeds.
3. Increased number of volunteer plants and pest buildup.

Cropping

Cropping intensity: The number of crops cultivated in a piece of land per annum is known as cropping intensity. For example, Punjab and Tamil Nadu have a cropping intensity exceeding 100%, around 140-150%, while Rajasthan has lower cropping intensity.

Cropping pattern: The yearly sequence and spatial arrangement of crops and fallow on a given area is termed cropping pattern.

Cropping system: It involves the cropping pattern used on a farm and its interactions with farm resources, other farm enterprises, and available technology that determine their makeup.

Multiple cropping

 Growing more than two crops in a piece of land in an orderly succession, often called intensive cropping, requires assured resources like land, labor, capital, and water.

• Double cropping: Growing two crops a year in sequence (e.g., Rice - Pulse).
• Triple cropping: Growing three crops a year in sequence (e.g., Rice - Rice - Pulse).
• Quadruple cropping: Growing four crops in a year in sequence.
• Monoculture: Repetitive growing of the same sole crop in the same land.
• Mono cropping: Continuous production of the same crop year after year.
• Sole cropping: Growing one crop variety alone in a pure stand at normal density.

Sequential cropping

Growing two or more crops in sequence on the same field in a year, with the succeeding crop planted after the preceding crop has been harvested.

• Relay cropping: Growing the succeeding crop immediately before the harvest of the standing crops.
• Ratoon cropping: Raising a crop with regrowth from roots or stocks of the harvested crop.

Intercropping: Growing two or more crops simultaneously with distinct row arrangement on the same field at the same time.

Advantages of Intercropping

• Better use of growth resources, including light, nutrients, and water.
• Suppression of weeds.
• Yield stability even if one crop fails, providing some secured income.
• Higher equivalent yields with reduced pest and disease incidence.
• Improvement of soil health and agro-ecosystem.

Examples of Intercropping:

• Maize + Cowpea.
• Sorghum + Redgram.
• Groundnut + Redgram.
• Potato + Mustard.
• Wheat + Mustard.

Types of Intercropping

• Strip intercropping.
• Parallel cropping.
• Synergistic cropping.
• Additive Series (Paired row intercropping).
• Replacement Series.
• Multi-storey cropping.
• Relay intercropping.
• Alley cropping.

Mixed cropping

Growing two or more crops simultaneously intermingled without row arrangement is known as mixed cropping. It is a common practice in most dryland tracts in India.

Farming Systems

Definitions

• Farm: A piece of land with specific boundaries where crop and livestock enterprises are managed together.
• Farming: The process of harnessing solar energy through economic plant and animal products.
• System: A set of interdependent and interacting components.

Wetland Farming

• Wetland: Soils flooded or irrigated through lakes, ponds, or canals, remaining submerged.
• Wetland Farming: Growing crops in soils flooded by natural water flow for most of the year.

Garden Land / Irrigated Dry Land Farming

• Garden Land: Soils irrigated with groundwater sources.
• Garden Land Farming: Growing crops with supplemental irrigation using water from underground sources.

Dry Land Farming

• Dry Land: Soils relying solely on rainfall for moisture.
• Dry Land Farming: Crop production entirely dependent on rainfall and soil moisture conservation.
• Practiced: In areas with annual rainfall less than 750mm, facing potential moisture stress due to erratic monsoons.

Rainfed Farming

• Rainfed Farming: Crop production in areas with rainfall exceeding 750mm, minimizing moisture stress, with a focus on soil conservation.

Mixed Farming

• Mixed Farming: A farming system on a single farm that includes crop production, livestock, poultry, fisheries, and beekeeping to meet various needs, emphasizing subsistence.
• Advantages:
  • Offers the highest return on farm business by efficiently utilizing resources.
  • Provides year-round employment.
  • Efficiently utilizes land, labor, equipment, and resources.
  • Utilizes crop by-products for feeding livestock.
  • Manure from livestock contributes to soil fertility.
  • Supplies all food needs of the family members.

Specialized Farming

• A farm where 50% or more income is derived from a single crop is termed specialized farming.

Diversified Farming

• Diversified farming involves multiple production enterprises with no single source contributing 50% or more of the total income.
• Also known as general farming.

Crop Rotation

Growing various crops successively on a piece of land is a preplanned sequence. The essence of crop rotation is to maximize resource utilization, ensuring the highest possible yield per unit of land without compromising soil health.

Example: Rice-Red Gram-Banana

Principles of Crop Rotation

• Leguminous Crops First: Prioritize growing leguminous crops before non-leguminous ones. Legumes fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil and contribute organic matter.
• Root System Consideration: Follow crops with tap roots (e.g., cotton) with those having fibrous root systems (e.g., sorghum or maize) to ensure uniform nutrient utilization.
• Exhaustive Crop Sequencing: Successive crops should involve less exhaustive ones after more exhaustive ones. Crops like potato, sugarcane, and maize require more inputs.
• Selection Based on Need: Choose crops based on demand and requirements.
• Preventing Monoculture: Avoid cultivating crops from the same family consecutively to prevent acting as alternate hosts for insect pests and diseases.
• Consider Financial Conditions: Crop selection should align with the financial capacity of the farmer.
• Suitability to Soil and Climate: The chosen crop should be suitable for the specific soil and climatic conditions.

Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable agriculture is a farming approach designed to meet the current generation's needs without jeopardizing the resources essential for future generations. It involves a cultivation system that incorporates practices such as the use of manure, crop rotation, minimal tillage, and reduced reliance on synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and antibiotics.

• The focus is on balanced management of renewable resources, encompassing soil, wildlife, forests, crops, fish, livestock, plant genetic resources, and ecosystems, with the aim of preventing degradation while providing food and livelihoods for present and future generations.
• Sustainable agriculture specifically addresses challenges like preventing land degradation, controlling soil erosion, replenishing nutrients, and managing weeds, pests, and diseases through biological and cultural methods. The primary concern is to combat the degradation of natural resources, which poses a significant threat to the sustainable development of agriculture.