Competitive World

Tag: Agriculture

  • Managing Saffron Crops

    Managing Saffron Crops

    Saffron farming, while lucrative, is a delicate and demanding process. Effective management is crucial for maximizing yield and quality. Here are some key aspects to consider:

    Site Selection

    • Climate: Saffron thrives in cool, dry climates with well-drained soil.
    • Sunlight: While it needs sunlight, excessive heat can damage the plants.
    • Soil: A deep, fertile soil with good drainage is ideal.

    Corm Preparation and Planting

    • Quality: Ensure the corms are healthy and free from diseases.
    • Planting Depth: Plant the corms at a depth about twice their size.
    • Spacing: Maintain appropriate spacing between corms to prevent overcrowding.

    Irrigation

    • Avoid Overwatering: Saffron is drought-tolerant and can be damaged by excessive moisture.
    • Drip Irrigation: Consider using drip irrigation for efficient water delivery.

  • Neem Based Products in Agriculture

    Neem Based Products in Agriculture (1)

    1. Neem Oil: Neem oil is one of the most widely used neem-based products in agriculture. It is extracted from neem seeds and contains various compounds that have insecticidal, fungicidal, and anti-feedant properties. Neem oil is often used as a natural pesticide to control a wide range of pests, including aphids, caterpillars, mites, and whiteflies.

    2. Neem Cake: Neem cake is a byproduct of neem oil extraction. After the oil is extracted, the remaining seed kernel is crushed into a powder known as neem cake. Neem cake is rich in nutrients and organic matter and is commonly used as an organic fertilizer. It improves soil fertility, enhances microbial activity, and helps control soil-borne pathogens and nematodes.

    3. Neem-based Insecticides: Neem-based insecticides are formulated products that contain neem oil or neem derivatives. These insecticides are used to control pests and insect infestations in crops. They work by disrupting the growth and development of insects, inhibiting feeding, and interfering with their reproductive capabilities.

  • Actions Taken by Government to Increase Farmer Income

    In this article, we will discuss Actions Taken by Government to Increase Farmer Income. So, let’s get started.

    Actions Taken by Government to Increase Farmer Income

    • Subsidizing Input Costs: Providing water,power and fertilizer subsidies to decrease production costs.
    • Green Revolution: Increasing yields through better farming practices and timely availability of quality inputs, especially high yielding seeds, chemical fertilisers and water.
    • Stabilizing Output Prices: Through minimum support prices (MSP) and public procurement.
    • Augmenting Non-Crop related Agriculture Income: KUSUM scheme.
    • Providing Direct Income Transfers to Farmers: Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).

  • Significance of Agriculture in the Indian Economy

    In this article, we will discuss Significance of Agriculture in the Indian Economy. So, let’s get started.

    Significance of Agriculture in the Indian Economy

    • Food Security and Induced Growth of Industrial Sector: Flourishing Agricultural production in India is the main factor behind the food security of the large Indian population.
    • Agriculture supplies raw materials to various agro-based industries like sugar, jute, cotton textile and vanaspati industries. Food processing industries are similarly dependent on agriculture.
    • Increase in rural purchasing power is very necessary for industrial development as two-thirds of the Indian population live in villages.
    • After the green revolution the purchasing power of the large farmers increased due to their enhanced income.
    • Source of Government Revenue: Agriculture is one of the major sources of revenue to both the central and State government of the country. The government is getting a substantial income from rising land revenue.
    • Some other sectors like railways, roadways are also deriving a good part of their income from the movement of agricultural goods.
    • Contribution to International Trade: Agriculture plays an important role in international trade. Jute, tea, coffee and spices are the country’s well known conventional exports.

  • Agricultural Emissions and Climate Smart Agriculture

    In this article, we will discuss Agricultural Emissions and Climate Smart Agriculture. So, let’s get started.

    Agricultural Emissions and Climate Smart Agriculture

    Share of Agricultural Emissions

    • As per the national GHG inventory, the agriculture sector emits 408 MMT (million metric ton) of CO2 equivalent.
    • Rice cultivation is the third highest source (17.5%) of GHG emissions in Indian agriculture after enteric fermentation (54.6%) and fertiliser use (19%).
    • Paddy fields are anthropogenic sources of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4), which have been reckoned as 273 and 80-83 times more powerful than CO2 in driving temperature increase in 20 years’ (as per IPCC AR6, 2021).
    • The amount of CH4 emitted from paddy fields of India is 3.396 teragram (1 teragram = 109 kilograms) per year or 71.32 MMT CO2 equivalent.

    High Agricultural Emissions

    • The damage is largely a result of the various kinds of subsidies — on urea, canal irrigation and power for irrigation.
    • The Minimum Support Prices (MSP) and procurement policies concentrated on a few states and largely on two crops, rice, and wheat has led to their overproduction.
    • As of 1 January 2022, the stocks of wheat and rice in the country’s central pool were four times higher than the buffer stocking requirement.
    • Despite the record distribution of rice in the Public Distribution System (PDS) and exports in 2020-21, the rice stocks with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) are seven times the buffer norms for rice.
    • This data not only reflects inefficient use of scarce capital, but also the large amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) embedded in these stocks.

    Underlying Issues

    • There is scientific evidence that intermittent flooding reduces water and methane emissions but increases nitrous oxide emissions.
    • Thus, lowering of methane emissions through controlled irrigation does not necessarily mean net low emissions.
    • Also, India does not report N2O emissions in its national GHG inventories.
    • The GHG emissions in rice production do not include:
    • Emissions due to burning rice residues
    • Application of fertilisers
    • Production of fertilisers for rice
    • Energy operations like harvesting
    • Pumps
    • Processing
    • Transportation
    • Paddy fields require about 4,000 cubic metres of water per tonne of rice for irrigation.This high amount of water needed, ends up blocking oxygen from getting to the soil, which creates the perfect conditions for bacteria that release methane.

    CSA

    • Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is an integrated approach to managing landscapes (cropland, livestock, forests and fisheries) that addresses the interlinked challenges of food security and accelerating climate change. CSA aims to simultaneously achieve three outcomes:
    • Increased Productivity: Produce more and better food to improve nutrition security and boost incomes, especially of 75% of the world’s poor who live in rural areas and mainly rely on agriculture for their livelihoods.
    • Enhanced Resilience: Reduce vulnerability to drought, pests, diseases and other climate-related risks and shocks, and improve capacity to adapt and grow in the face of longer-term stresses like shortened seasons and erratic weather patterns.
    • Reduced Emissions: Pursue lower emissions for each calorie or kilo of food produced, avoid deforestation from agriculture and identify ways to absorb carbon out of the atmosphere.

  • Need For Postmodern Approach to Agriculture

    In this article, we will discuss Need For Postmodern Approach to Agriculture. So, let’s get started.

    Need For Postmodern Approach to Agriculture

    • Negative Consequences of Green Revolution: Modern agriculture, based on science-driven technologies and symbolised by the Green Revolution, is now viewed as a double-edged sword.
    • In tripling foodgrain production, nitrogenous fertiliser use went up 10-fold in India, with increasing application of agrochemicals and growing dependence on fossil fuel energy.
    • 18% of greenhouse gas emissions in the country are from agriculture.
    • Plagued by rapidly receding groundwater aquifers and 35% land degradation, our soil organic matter content is among the lowest in Asia.
    • Monocultures of wheat and rice are displacing the diversity of traditional farming systems.
    • Genetic homogeneity has been detrimental to nutrition while enhancing vulnerability to biotic and abiotic stresses.
    • Prospects of Sustainable agriculture (SA): As postmodern agriculture is based on the concept of sustainability of agriculture, it counters monocultural production models.
    • Its essence is embedded in the heralding of the Second Green Revolution or Evergreen Revolution.
    • There are various farming systems today for enhancing agricultural output with less land, water and energy. Their techniques enhance productivity while restoring soil fertility, replenishing water quality, improving biodiversity and maintaining inter-generational equity.
    • The National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture, to achieve SA, is one of the eight missions of the National Action Plan on Climate Change.

  • Agriculture Insurance (Importance)

    In this article, we will discuss Agriculture Insurance (Importance). So, let’s get started.

    Importance of Agriculture insurance

    Farmers who take insurance policies protect their crop livestock farming and harvesting practice for setbacks the first major benefit of taking this form of insurance is that it aids in fighting poverty. A natural disaster is unpredictable when they happen farmers who have invested heavily in agriculture get their investment destroyed. This, in turn, makes them poor. If the farmer had bought the insurance the companies compensate them. With the money paid out, farmer are in place to reinvest in farming and other agricultural activities making them rich again.

    Agriculture is a risky business however it is among the most profitable. Farmer who by the insurance premiums for their agriculture business have a big advantage because they are in place to recoup all their losses as such losses would be in crops animal and farms input. By paying the insurance premium that is affordable, farmers recover their losses.

  • Agricultural Marketing System of India

    In this article, we will discuss Agricultural Marketing System of India (Concept). So, let’s get started.

    Concept

    Agricultural marketing system is an efficient way by which the farmers can dispose their surplus produce at a fair and reasonable price. Improvement in the condition of farmers and their agriculture depends to a large extent on the elaborate arrangements of agricultural marketing.

    The term agricultural marketing include all those activities which are mostly related to the procurement, grading, storing, transporting and selling of the agricultural produce. Thus Prof. Faruque has rightly observed: “Agricultural marketing comprises all operations involved in the movement of farm produce from the producer to the ultimate consumer. Thus, agricultural marketing includes the operations like collecting, grading, processing, preserving, transportation and financing.”

    The first method open to the farmers in India is to sell away their surplus produce to the village moneylenders and traders at a very low price. The moneylender and traders may buy independently or work as an agent of a bigger merchant of the nearly mandi. In India more than 50 per cent of the agricultural produce are sold in these village markets in the absence of organized markets.

    The second method of disposing surplus of the Indian farmers is to sell their produce in the weekly village markets popularly known as ‘hat’ or in annual fairs.

    The third form of agricultural marketing in India is to sell the surplus produce though mandis located in various small and large towns. There are nearly 1700 mandis which are spread all over the country. As these mandis are located in a distant place, thus the farmers will have to carry their produce to the mandi and sell those produce to the wholesalers with the help of brokers or ‘dalals’. These wholesalers of mahajans again sell those farm produce to the mills and factories and to the retailers who in turn sell these goods to the consumers directly in the retail markets.

    The fourth form of marketing is the co-operative marketing where marketing societies are formed by farmers to sell the output collectively to take the advantage of collective bargaining for obtaining a better price.

  • Agricultural Share of Indian Economy

    In this article, we will discuss Agricultural Share of Indian Economy (Introduction). So, let’s get started.

    Introduction

    Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58% of India’s population. Gross Value Added by agriculture, forestry, and fishing was estimated at Rs. 19.48 lakh crore (US$ 276.37 billion) in FY20. Share of agriculture and allied sectors in gross value added (GVA) of India at current prices stood at 17.8 % in FY20. Consumer spending in India will return to growth in 2021 post the pandemic-led contraction, expanding by as much as 6.6%.

    The Indian food industry is poised for huge growth, increasing its contribution to world food trade every year due to its immense potential for value addition, particularly within the food processing industry. Indian food and grocery market is the world’s sixth largest, with retail contributing 70% of the sales. The Indian food processing industry accounts for 32% of the country’s total food market, one of the largest industries in India and is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth.

    Principal agricultural commodities export for April 2020 – January 2021 was US$ 32.12 billion.

    Market Size

    The Economic Survey of India 2020-21 report stated that in FY20, the total food grain production in the country was recorded at 296.65 million tonnes—up by 11.44 million tonnes compared with 285.21 million tonnes in FY19. The government has set a target to buy 42.74 million tonnes from the central pool in FY21; this is 10% more than the quantity purchased in FY20. For FY22, the government has set a record target for farmers to raise food grain production by 2% with 307.31 million tonnes of food grains. In FY21, production was recorded at 303.34 million tonnes against a target of 301 million tonnes.

    Production of horticulture crops in India was estimated at a record 326.6 million metric tonnes (MMT) in FY20 as per third advance estimates, an increase of 5.81 million metric tonnes over FY20. India has the largest livestock population of around 535.78 million, which translates to around 31% of the world population. Milk production in the country is expected to increase to 208 MT in FY21 from 198 MT in FY20, registering a growth of 10% y-o-y. Area under horticulture is projected to rise by 2.7% in FY21.

    Sugar production in India reached 26.46 MT between October 2019 and May 2020 sugar season according to Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA).

    India is among the 15 leading exporters of agricultural products in the world. Agricultural export from India reached US$ 38.54 billion in FY19 and US$ 35.09 billion in FY20.

    The organic food segment in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% during 2015-­25 and is estimated to reach Rs. 75,000 crore (US$ 10.73 billion) by 2025 from Rs. 2,700 crore (US$ 386.32 million) in 2015.

    The processed food market in India is expected to grow to Rs. 3,451,352.5 crore (US$ 470 billion) by 2025, from Rs. 1,931,288.7 crore (US$ 263 billion) in FY20 on the back of government initiatives such as planned infrastructure worth US$ 1 trillion and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojna. The food processing industry employs about 1.77 million people. The sector allows 100% FDI under the automatic route.

    Between April 2020 and February 2021, the total value of processed food products exports was Rs. 43,798 crore (US$ 6.02 billion). India exported key processed food products such as pulses, processed vegetables, processed fruits and juices, groundnuts, guar gum, cereal preparations, milled products, alcoholic beverages and oil meals

  • Soil of Madhya Pradesh

    Soil of Madhya Pradesh (General Knowledge)

    मृदा – मध्य प्रदेश में सबसे अधिक (43.4%) भूभाग पर जलोढ़ मिट्टी पाई जाती है और अन्य मिट्टियों में काली मिट्टी लाल मिट्टी और लैटराइट मिट्टी पायी जाती है|

    मध्य प्रदेश में मिट्टियाँ – मध्यप्रदेश में मुख्यतः पांच प्रकार की मिट्टियां क्रमशः काली मृदा, जलोढ़ मृदा, लाल पीली मृदा, लेटराइट मृदा एवं मिश्रित लाल मृदा पाई जाती है| मध्य प्रदेश के उत्तर -पश्चिमी भाग में जलोढ़ मृदा, पश्चिमी भाग में काली मृदा, उत्तर -पूर्वी व दक्षिण भाग में मिश्रित लाल व काली मृदा दक्षिण -पूर्वी भाग में लाल- पीली मृदा का विस्तार पाया जाता है|

    मध्यप्रदेश में काली मिट्टी

    मध्यप्रदेश में सर्वाधिक काली मिट्टी का विस्तार पाया जाता है जो राज्य के लगभग 43.44% भू -भाग पर पाई जाती है| काली मिट्टी में मुख्य रूप से सोयाबीन, मूंगफली, कपास आदि फसलों की खेती की जाती है|

    काली मिट्टी की उपलब्धता मालवा के पठार दक्षिणी भाग में स्थित नर्मदा घाटी के अंतर्गत होशंगाबाद, रायसेन, हरदा, नरसिंहपुर, सागर, दमोह तथा दक्षिण- पूर्वी व दक्षिणी -पश्चिमी भाग में सतपुड़ा घाटी क्षेत्र के अंतर्गत खंडवा, खरगोन, छिंदवाड़ा, सिवनी व बैतूल जिले में पाया जाता है|

    मध्यप्रदेश में जलोढ़ मिट्टी

    मध्य प्रदेश की सर्वाधिक उपजाऊ मिट्टी जलोढ़ मिट्टी है| यह मध्य प्रदेश के उत्तरी भाग में बुंदेलखंड नीस तथा चंबल एवं उसकी सहायक नदियों द्वारा निक्षेपित पदार्थ से निर्मित जलोढ़ मिट्टी का विस्तार मुख्यतः भिंड, मुरैना, ग्वालियर, शिवपुरी जिले के लगभग 3.35 मिलियन हेक्टेयर क्षेत्र में उपलब्ध है, जो संपूर्ण राज्य के कुल क्षेत्रफल का 7.57% है|

    जलोढ़ मिट्टी बहते हुए जल द्वारा बहा कर लाया तथा कहीं अन्यत्र जमा किया गया अवसाद होता है| यह मृदा भुरभुरी होती है अर्थात इसके कारण आपस में सख्ती से बंधकर कोई ‘ठोस’ शैल नहीं बनाते|

    मध्य प्रदेश के उत्तर व उत्तर -पश्चिमी भाग में गंगा की सीमांत घाटी (गंगा यमुना मैदानी क्षेत्र )अर्थात चंबल घाटी व उसके निकटवर्ती क्षेत्रों में चंबल नदी द्वारा बहा कर लाए गए अवसादों से कछारों का निर्माण होता है इसलिए जलोढ़ मृदा को कछारी विदा कहा जाता है| इसके अतिरिक्त खाद्यान्न उत्पादन की दृष्टि से सबसे उपयोगी व महत्वपूर्ण मिट्टी होने के कारण जलोढ़ मिट्टी को खाद्यान्न मिट्टी कहा जाता है तथा इसे दोमट मिट्टी के नाम से भी जाना जाता है|

    लाल पीली मिट्टी

    मध्य प्रदेश के दक्षिणी भाग में स्थित बालाघाट जिले के अंतर्गत लाल -पीली मिट्टी का विस्तार पाया जाता है, जो धान की खेती के लिए सबसे उपयुक्त मृदा है | बालाघाट जिले के अतिरिक्त डिंडोरी, मंडला आदि जिलों में भी लाल -पीली मृदा पाई जाती है|

    लैटेराइट मिट्टी

    मध्यप्रदेश में छिंदवाड़ा बालाघाट व बैतूल जिले में लैटेराइट मिट्टी का अधिकांश भाग विस्तृत है| लेटराइट मृदा को लाल बलुई मृदा तथा स्थानीय स्तर पर भाटा भी कहा जाता है| लैटेराइट मिट्टी का विस्तार अधिकांशत: उन क्षेत्रों में पाया जाता है, जहां वर्षा अधिक मात्रा में होती है मध्यप्रदेश के बैतूल जिले में भैंसदेही पठार के अंतर्गत लैटेराइट मृदा का विस्तार पाया जाता है, जिसमें कॉफी (कहवा ) की खेती की जाती है|

    मध्यप्रदेश के बैतूल जिले के भैंसदेही तहसील के अंतर्गत कुकरु ग्राम में लगभग 110 हेक्टेयर क्षेत्र में कॉफी का उत्पादन होता है, इस क्षेत्र में कॉफी उत्पादन प्रारंभ करने का श्रेय ब्रिटिश नागरिक सैंट विल्फोर्ड को प्रदान किया जाता है |

    मिश्रित मृदा

    मध्य प्रदेश के बघेलखंड व बुंदेलखंड क्षेत्र में लाल- पीली मिट्टी तथा काली मिट्टी के मिश्रित रूप का विस्तार पाया जाता है| मिश्रित मृदा का विस्तार प्रमुख रूप से रीवा, सतना, पन्ना, छतरपुर, टीकमगढ़, शिवपुरी, गुना आदि जिलों में पाया जाता है इस जिसमें प्रमुख रुप से ज्वार, बाजरा व अन्य मोटे अनाजों की खेती की जाती है|

    मध्यप्रदेश में मृदा अपरदन

    मध्य प्रदेश के उत्तरी भाग में मध्य भारत पठार के अंतर्गत चंबल तथा उसकी सहायक नदियां अपने दोनों किनारों पर अत्यधिक गहरे गड्ढों (उत्खात भूमि )का निर्माण करती है, जो इस क्षेत्र में गहरी नालियां अवनालिका अपरदन का विकराल रूप धारण कर नाली कटाव के रूप में जलोढ़ मृदा क अपरदन करता है | मृदा अपरदन अर्थात मिट्टी केअवक्षरण को रेंगती हुई मृत्यु भी कहा जाता है|

    मध्य प्रदेश के उत्तरी भाग में स्थित मुरैना जिला सर्वाधिक अपरदन की समस्या से ग्रस्त है| मुरैना जिले के अतिरिक्त भिंड, श्योपुर व ग्वालियर जिलों में चंबल, सीप, बेसली, कूनो, पार्वती, सांक एवं सिंध नदी द्वारा भी बीहड़ क्षेत्र का निर्माण हुआ है|

    मृदा अपरदन रोकने हेतु प्रयास

    वर्ष 2018 में भारत सरकार द्वारा मध्यप्रदेश में चंबल क्षेत्र को “ग्रीन एग्रीकल्चर प्रोजेक्ट ” में सम्मिलित कर बीहड़ समस्या के निदान व उन्मूलन के प्रयास किए जा रहे हैं|मध्य प्रदेश की उत्पाद भूमि के अवनालिका अपरदन का परिणाम है कि मध्य प्रदेश की चंबल नदी द्वारा बनाए गए बड़े-बड़े खड्डे एवं चंबल की सहायक नदियों के किनारों पर एक चौड़ी पेटी अत्यधिक गहरे गड्ढे में परिवर्तित हो गई है। लगभग 6.5 लाख एकड़ बहुमूल्य कृषि भूमि का इन खड्डों में परिवर्तित हो जाना ही अवनालिका अपरदन का विकराल रूप है | मध्य प्रदेश के भिंड एवं मुरैना जिले अवनालिका अपरदन से सर्वाधिक रूप से प्रभावित है|