Crop Production and Major Factors
Introduction:
Crop production is the process of growing, harvesting and storing plant material in order to produce food for human consumption. It is one of the most important sectors in the global food system as it yields nearly 50% of our calories.
The crop production and major factors vary from region to region. There are many crops that are being grown all over the world such as rice, wheat, maize, soybean cotton, wheat, vegetables, sugarcane, and tobacco.
The crop production is a major source of income for the farmers. Most of the farmers in the developing countries solely depend on growing crops.
Types of crop production:
Crops are divided on the basis of season in which they are grown and there are two categories of seasonal growth periods.
Kharif Crops:
Kharif crops are the crops that are grown during the monsoon season between the months of June and July. These crops include rice, wheat, cotton, maize, and sugarcane.
Kharif crops are important because they not only provide food for people in developing countries but also help reduce hunger and malnutrition. Later on kharif crops are harvested between the months of September and October.
Rabi Crops:
Rabi Crops Rabi crops are the crops that are grown during the winter season between October and November. These crops include wheat, maize, sorghum, soybean, and millet. These crops are then harvested between the months of March and April.
Methods of crop production:
To gain maximum yield methods such as be sustainable and suitable for the crop.
- Soil preparation:
Soil preparation is the first step in crop production. Soil preparation ensures that the soil is healthy, fertile and ready for planting.
It also helps to reduce erosion and maintain the fertility of the soil. In the soil preparation soil is modified in such a way that plants can grow healthy and provide maximum production of means.
- Planting:
Planting is the second step in crop production. In planting, seeds are sown in soil, which helps to produce healthy and productive crops. There are three main types of planting, namely direct seeding, transplanting and drilling.
- Direct seeding: In this method seeds are directly sown in the soil.
- Transplanting: This method involves transplanting seedlings from nursery to field. In this method the seedling is transferred into the new field, which helps to produce a healthy crop.
- Drilling: This method involves inserting the seed into the soil.
- Fertilization:
Fertilization is the third step in crop production. It involves adding fertilizer to soil, which helps to produce healthy and productive crops. The main function of fertilizers is to help plants absorb nutrients from the soil, and improve crop growth.
There are two types of fertilizers, manure and chemical fertilizers which are artificially made in factories. Although chemical fertilizers have a tendency to act fast and provide vast amounts of nutrients, if these types of fertilizers are given in large amounts they make the soil infertile.
- Irrigation:
Crops need water for their proper growth and development. The main advantage of irrigation is that it increases the yield of crops. It also helps to prevent water loss from the soil, which helps in retaining nutrients and keeping the soil healthy.
There are different modern sources of irrigation Sprinkler irrigation is the use of water in controlled amounts by means of sprinklers. Drip system is one of the modern irrigation systems. In this the water is provided in the forms of drops just like rain drops. This method is very effective against evaporation and it minimizes water loss.
There are other methods of irrigating the crops: flood irrigation, Rainwater harvesting, Run off control , Water conservation, Groundwater remediation.
- Pest and weed management:
Plants are susceptible to pests and weeds. Pests and weeds can cause damage to the yield of the crops and plants. They can also reduce the quality of the crop, which will result in reduced profits for the farmer.
To control pests and weeds you have to keep in mind integrated pest management instead of using only chemical control. The strategy must consist of using mechanical, physical, genetic, ecological and chemical controls.
Harvesting:
Harvesting is the process of harvesting the crop. Harvesting means to take the crop out of the field and to clean it so that it can be used again. When the crop reaches its mature stage it is cut by using sickle or modern harvesters which can be designed to harvest specific types of crops.
Storing crop:
Storage of crops is an important part of farming and it helps to keep the price at a good level. There are many ways to store crops but one of the best ways is storing in silos.
It is a simple and efficient solution for storing sufficient amounts of grain. While storing the crop most of the time different replants or pellets are placed to kill or repel different insect pests and rodents.
Major factors:
There are various factors that can affect crop production and they either can be beneficial or harmful in regards to yield, growth, development and production.
These factors can be classified into 2 categories.
- Internal factors
- External factors
Internal factors:
Internal factors are also known as the genetic factors. These include characteristics of the crop gained from the parental sides or these can be modified in case of plants and some animals.
These help the crop from the attack of insect pests, i.e. there are plants being developed with high trichomes number which hinders insect movement on the plants.
The genetic change also allows to gain the maximum yield with the high nutritional value. Genetically modified crops are resistant to harsh and drought conditions.
External factors:
Climatic factors:
Climatic factors have a huge impact on crop production. Since there are many climatic factors that are the reason the change in one factor can cause the loss of yield.
- Temperature effect:
Normal range for most of the plants is between 1 to 40 °C. The young plants are effective with the increase or decrease in the temperature. There are many plants who grow at high temperatures and some crops grow at low temperatures.
For example, a suitable temperature for tomatoes, citrus and some other tropical plants is high. There some plants such as cabbage, winter wheat, alfalfa and most of the tropical plants grow in low temperatures.
Some parts of plants have the ability to bear high or low temperatures while other parts are more susceptible to damage than others.
- Moisture effect:
Moisture plays a very critical role in crop production. If the moisture content decreases below a certain level, the plant becomes very vulnerable to disease and insect pests. The plant also loses its potential to resist these damaging means.
Incase of low relative humidity with the combination of high wind and high temperature the loss of water gets intensively high and this causes the burning, leaf scorching, or fruit shriveling.
Being high moisture is rare but if it happens the damage effects are higher than the low moisture. High moisture leads to the pale green leaves and then it can lead to the permanent wilting of the plants.
- Light:
Lack of sufficient light can lead to lack of chlorophyll formation which then causes the leaves to turn yellow and then fall off. This condition is called etiolation.
- Air pollution:
The composition of air is mostly nitrogen and oxygen. The rest of air is made up of water vapors, carbon dioxide and dust particles. The crops which are present near the factory areas are the ones who get infected mostly by the air pollutants.
Biotic factors:
Biotic factors include living organisms such as plants and animals and these factors can be harmful as well as beneficial for crop production.
- Plants:
Plants which compete with the crops for the water, nutrients, sunlight and space they are called weeds. You can say every unwanted plant in the crop is weed.
On the other hand if we purposefully grow barrier crops which help to keep the pests away from the main crop, in this regard it plays a beneficial role in the crop production.
Intercropping is also beneficial economically because in this process farmers can grow multiple crops at a time. This will help to maintain biodiversity in crops and is also economical for the farmers.
- Animals:
Insects, nematodes, snails, and protozoa help to improve the soil fertility by decomposing the dead material. Pollinator insects such as honeybee and flies help to increase the cross pollination and increase the crop yields.
Other insect pests such as whitefly, aphids, and many others cause damage to the crops by feeding on them. Some insects such as Chrysoperla, ladybird beetle, and many other predatory and parasitoids feed on these harm causing insects.
Some large animals feed on the crops and cause damage to the crop.
C. Topography:
Topography plays a very important role in the germination of crop. Many factors like latitude, altitude and steepness of land affects the type of crop to be germinated on the land.
One Comment