With New Education Policy in place, the country is in the process of transforming agricultural education being an important sector catering to food and nutritional security. With a major focus on agriculture and to attract youth in agriculture, it is important that the education is made interesting, simple and purposeful. Textbooks become the medium of outreach that helps in mentoring the young minds who are in the colleges and universities.
Earlier, we gave the fundamentals of agriculture in Elementary Agriculture, entirely based on the syllabus for educating agricultural graduates and based on the feedback from students. In this Volume II of Elementary Agriculture, we focus majorly on the crop diversification aspects covering cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits, and vegetables. Chapter 1 describes the history and scope of cereals and millets, while chapter 2 covers pulses. Third chapter includes production of oilseeds, and the practice and distribution of the fibre crops is given in Chapter 4. The 5th Chapter is about sugar-yielding plants. Sixth chapter is on fodder crops which is very important from animal nutrition perspective. All other crops have been covered in Chapter 7. Vegetable Production is highlighted in Chapter 8. Livestock management aspects have been addressed in Chapters 9. The 10th Chapter is on the Energy and Agricultural Engineering aspects including power transmission in enhancement of agricultural productivity. The 11th Chapter is focusing on the role of women in agriculture and the extension aspects of farming system have been covered in Chapter 12.
Finally, exemplary Questionnaire has been included to readily benefit students preparing for community survey in rural areas.
With growing population and climate change challenges, the food production systems warrant resilient practices in case of production technologies for all sorts of crops as cultivated by the farmers in the field. Thus, managing natural resources, utilizing the tools and implements, energy conservation becomes essentially to be studied and understood to widen the scope of agricultural perspectives for the beginners in agricultural education. In view of this, this book is entirely based on the syllabus of agriculture in different universities and is written in very simple and understandable words. Before compilation of this volume, various textbooks
Introduction India is the world’s second largest producer of rice, wheat and other cereals. The important cereals are-wheat, paddy, sorghum (Bajra), barley and maize etc. India is not only the largest producer of cereal as well as the largest exporter of cereal products in the world. Foodgrain production (2019-20): 296 million tonnes Scenario Table: States producing maximum area and production of crops in India
Pulses are edible seeds of the family Leguminosae, sub family papilionaceae, and are integral part of Indian diet. Indians consume 30 per cent of the world’s pulses, but domestic production of pulses has not kept pace with population growth. Pulses are called “poor man’s meat” as pulses are rich in protein, which is double the protein content of wheat and three times that of rice. Globally, 190 mha of pulses contributes to 5-7 mt of nitrogen in soils. Pulse means P = PEOPLE (major source of dietary protein) U = UMBRELLA L = LIVESTOCK (green nutritious fodder and feed) S = SOIL (builder and restorer of soil fertility through biological nitrogen fixation and green manuring). E = ENERGY.
Five major oilseeds are groundnut, sesamum, Rapseseed and Mustard, linseed and castor seed. India has the largest area and production of oilseeds in the world. Indian vegetable oil economy is the fourth largest in the world next to USA, China and Brazil. Importance Oilseeds are sources of oil, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins like Vitamin A, D, E and K and also contain 18 essential aminoacids and trace elements. Edible oils are next to food grains in Indian diet. Vegetable oils are mainly (95-98%) triacylgycerols which are made up of one glycerol molecule and three fatty acid molecules. Quality of oil depends upon the nature and proportion of the fatty acids present in three triacylglycerols. Vegetable oils have a number of industrial uses such as soaps, detergents, plastic films, metallic foils, Condiments, Cosmetics, Plastic, Polymers, Organic coatings, Printing ink, Oiled cloth
Cotton Cotton is one of the most important fiber and cash crop of India and play a key role in economic and social affairs of the world. Cotton is referred to as “King of Fibres” and also known as “White Gold”. India is largest produces of accounting for 22% cotton in the world. Nearly 65 per cent of the cotton crop is grown under rainfed conditions. Cotton production, processing and trade provides livelihood to several millions of people. Scientific Name : Gossypium hirsutum Family : Malvaceae Origin: Cotton has been used as a fabric in India from time immemorial. It has been cultivated in the Indus Valley for more than 5000 years before. The excavations of Mohen-jo-daro indicates a high degree of art in spinning and weaving with cotton at that time. It finds mention in the Rigveda, the oldest scripture of the Hindus. Manu also refers to it in his Dharma Shasta. India appears to have been the centre of an important cotton industry as early as 1500 B.C.
Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) Sugarcane is an important agro-industrial crop of tropical and subtropical region of the world. Sugar industry is next to textile industry provide employment to large number of people. It is the main crop of earning foreign exchange. It shares about 2% GDP. Family : Gramineae (Poaceae) Importance (Second largest agro-based industry) It is cash crop used for sugar, Jaggery (Gur) and Khandsari. Green top is used as green fodder. Dry leaves used as mulching and as a fuel. Bagasse (By product) is used as fuel, for the production of fibre board, paper etc. and for power generation (electricity). Molasses is used in distilleries for the manufacture of alcohol and is also used as an additive to feed livestock. Press mud is used as soil amendments, organic manure
Berseem is very important rabi season legume fodder and popularly know as the “King” of fodder crops. Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) Berseem, also called Egyptian clover, is an important winter forage. Family : Leguminaceae Importance It is quite nutritive and succulent highly pelatible. It has 20% crude protein and 70% dry matter digestibility Forage is also rich in calcium and phosphorus. Berseem cultivation changes chemical characters of soil
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Potato is the third most important food crop in the world after rice and wheat in terms of human consumption. Potatoes are an important staple food crop. Introduced into Europe in the 16th century by Spanish explorers, it is cultivated throughout the world including the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. Botanical Name : Solanum tuberosum L. Family : Solanaceae Importance Potato is an economical food, as it provides a source of low cost energy to human diet. For vegetable purposes, potato has now become one of the most popular crops in India and cultivated in almost all states and under very diverse agro climate conditions. Potatoes are a rich source of starch
Vegetables: Three conditions shoul1d be met to be called a horticultural produce as a ‘vegetable’ viz. Vegetables are herbaceous plants They mostly serve culinary purpose They are also used in small quantity in a raw form. Scenario Area India is the second largest producer of vegetables in the world, next to China. India’s share of the world vegetable market is around 14%. India produces 188.28 m tonns
Being an agricultural country with 1/5th of the world’s population of cattle and half of the world’s buffaloes. The cows and bullocks are the backbone of agriculture and play major role in the rural economy. India stands first in milk production in the world. Corresponding increase in human population, the per capita availability of milk is 145 gm/day which is far lower than the recommended level of 285 gm/day/head. Importance of Livestock Management Provides milk and milk products. Milk is a perfect food as it contains proteins, fat, milk sugar, minerals and vitamins. It is the only source of animal protein in vegetarian diet. Livestock gives us meat. Provides farmyard manure
Power transmission through belts, pullies, gears, speed and size Both stationary and portable types of agricultural machines make use of various types of power transmitting devices for doing useful work. Some of these power transmitting devices are meant to convert rotary motion into linear motion or oscillating motion. This transmission of power from generating unit to useful unit is possible through belts, pullies, gears, cams and couplings are also employed to transmit power. eg. The self propelled combine is a machine which employs most of the above power transmitting devices. In some machines the belt drive is used to transmit power between two parallel shafts placed a short distance apart. In others a sprocket and chain drive is preferred, when the two parallel shafts to be operated
The women is the backbone of agricultural workforce and are a vital part of Indian economy. Over the years, there is a gradual realization of the key role of women in agricultural development and their contribution in the field of agriculture, food security, horticulture, dairy, nutrition, sericulture, fisheries, and other allied sectors. Women form the backbone of agriculture, in India, Comprising the majority of agricultural laborers, women have been putting labour not only in terms of physical output but also in terms of quality and efficiency. With various targeted efforts, her enlightenment will change the face of rural India. Women make essential contributions to the agricultural and rural economies in all developing countries. Their roles vary considerably between and within regions and are changing rapidly in many parts of the world
Farming System Approach (FSA) Farming systems refers deliberate raising of crops,forest and fruit trees, animals including fisheries, piggery and duck farming, sericulture, mushroom, on a given unit of land to increase the productivity and profitability, to upgrade natural resource base and to achieve overall improvement in the environment The philosophy behind shifting from cropping system to the farming system mode involves In situ recycling of organic residues including farm wastes generated at the farm to reduce the dependency on chemicals Decrease in cost of cultivation through enhance input use efficiency, Effective use of bye-products/wastes of one component for the benefit of other component/components Upgrading of soil and water quality and bio-diversity,
Q.1 Fill in the blanks _______and_______are pulse crops. Rice is a_______pollinated crop. Different breeds of cattle are_______and_______ _______and_______are sugar crops. _______Important cereals are_______and_______ _______and_______are examples of fibre crops. _______Dapog method is originated from_______ The origin of rice is_______region. Best temperature range for germination of wheat is_______oC. Adsali sugarcane is of_______months duration. _______portion is taken in cane for propagation
