8th Class Science Crop Production and Management Notes - Crop Production Management

Crop Production and Management

·                     Crop production and management plays a key role in our country's economy. By adopting advanced and latest technologies in agriculture, enough yields of crops can be grown to provide food to our growing population.

·                     The plants of same kind grown and cultivated at one place on a large scale are called a crop.

·                     There are mainly two types of crops grown in India - rabi and kharif crops.

·                     Rabi crops are the agricultural crops that are sown in winter and harvested in the spring. Wheat, Gram, Pea, Mustard, Linseed, Barley, Peas are the examples of rabi crop.

·                     Kharif crops are referred to those crops that are sown in the rainy (monsoon) season. These crops are planted for autumn harvest and may also be called the summer or monsoon crop. Paddy, cotton, maize, sugarcane are some examples of the kharif crops.

·                     For growing a good crop, it is necessary to prepare soil by tilling and livelong before sowing the seeds. Ploughs and levellers are used for this purpose.

·                     Selection of good quality seeds is another important step of growing a good crop. The seeds should be sown at appropriate depth and at enough distance from one another to avoid competition for nutrients.

·                     The use of organic manure and fertilizers helps in replenishing the quality of soil. Use of chemical fertilizers is commonly used in present time. The use of chemical fertilizers in excessive amount is also harmful for environment.

·                     Water is important for proper growth and development of plants. The supply of water to crops at different intervals is called irrigation. Plant roots absorb water and mineral from the soil. Along with water, minerals and fertilisers are also absorbed. The time and frequency of irrigation varies from crop to crop, soil to soil and season to season.

·                     Moat, Chain pump, Rahat and Dhekli are the traditional methods of irrigation. At present irrigation is done by pumps and tube wells run on electricity, by sprinkler system and by drip system.

·                     Sprinkler system and drip irrigation methods also minimise the loss of water.

·                     Some unwanted plants called weeds also need to be removed from the field from time to time as they compete with the main crops for nutrients. The practice of removing of weeds is also called weeding. It can be done by using weedicides like 2, 4 -D.

·                     The cutting of the mature crop manually or by machines is called harvesting.

·                     The process of separating out grains from the chaff is called threshing. This is carried out with the help of a machine called 'combine' which is in fact a combined harvester and thresher.

·                     Grains should be stored at proper and dry places to protect them from pests and microorganisms.

·                     Animals also provide us variety of foods. For example, hen provides us egg; cow, buffalo, she-goat give us milk which is used to obtain various dairy products, hen and fish also provide us meat.