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    Improvement in Crop Yields: What Are The Common Crops in India?

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    Om Pandey
    This document discusses improving crop yields in India. It begins by describing the major crops grown in India, including cereals like wheat, rice and maize which provide carbohydrates, and pulses which provide protein. It then discusses the objectives of crop yield improvement, such as developing higher yielding varieties, improving quality, and developing biotic and abiotic stress resistance. The main approaches to improving crop yields are described as crop variety improvement through plant breeding, crop production management using different input levels, and nutrient management by providing both macro and micronutrients.

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    Improvement in Crop Yields: What Are The Common Crops in India?

    Uploaded by

    Om Pandey
    33 views14 pages
    This document discusses improving crop yields in India. It begins by describing the major crops grown in India, including cereals like wheat, rice and maize which provide carbohydrates, and pulses which provide protein. It then discusses the objectives of crop yield improvement, such as developing higher yielding varieties, improving quality, and developing biotic and abiotic stress resistance. The main approaches to improving crop yields are described as crop variety improvement through plant breeding, crop production management using different input levels, and nutrient management by providing both macro and micronutrients.

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    This document discusses improving crop yields in India. It begins by describing the major crops grown in India, including cereals like wheat, rice and maize which provide carbohydrates, and pulses which provide protein. It then discusses the objectives of crop yield improvement, such as developing higher yielding varieties, improving quality, and developing biotic and abiotic stress resistance. The main approaches to improving crop yields are described as crop variety improvement through plant breeding, crop production management using different input levels, and nutrient management by providing both macro and micronutrients.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    33 views14 pages

    Improvement in Crop Yields: What Are The Common Crops in India?

    Uploaded by

    Om Pandey
    This document discusses improving crop yields in India. It begins by describing the major crops grown in India, including cereals like wheat, rice and maize which provide carbohydrates, and pulses which provide protein. It then discusses the objectives of crop yield improvement, such as developing higher yielding varieties, improving quality, and developing biotic and abiotic stress resistance. The main approaches to improving crop yields are described as crop variety improvement through plant breeding, crop production management using different input levels, and nutrient management by providing both macro and micronutrients.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 14

    Improvement in Crop Yields

    India is blessed with many seasons and that hosts a variety of crops in
    this ​country​. This is because different ​crops​ need different
    temperatures​ and ​climatic​ conditions to complete their life cycle. The
    quality of crops is also dependent on what we call the photoperiod.

    This is related to the duration of ​sunlight​. This is another major ​factor


    upon which the types of crops are dependent. However, before we get
    into the depths of how we can improve the crop yields, let us discuss,
    what crops are majorly grown in ​India​!

    What Are The Common Crops in India?

    Amongst various cereals, wheat, maize, millets and rice are the
    commonest ones. They provide us with our daily dose of
    carbohydrates​ that is required for having ​energy​ in the body.

    We are also a leading producer of various pulses like black and green
    gram, pigeon pea and lentils that supplement our body with the
    necessary proteins. From the “fatty crops”, the usual ones are soybean,
    sesame, mustard, and linseed etc.
    Apart from these major varieties, we also grow other fodder crops to
    sustain our livestock. Recent statistics suggest that there has been an
    improvement in the crop production in India over the last five years. It
    has been achieved by various techniques of crop improvement. First,
    let us see what the objectives of crop improvement are!

    Objectives of Crop Yield Improvement

    The objective of crop yield improvement depends on the crop type.


    The crop yield improvement is basically done for the following
    factors:
    ● Higher yield: You can achieve a higher yield of crops by
    developing HYV (high yielding variety) crops. This can be
    done by the process of hybridization and cross-breeding.
    ● Better quality: There are different reasons for improving the
    quality of different crops, such as improvement of the baking
    quality in cereals like wheat. On the other hand, pulses need to
    have better protein quality.
    ● Biotic and Abiotic Resistance: We should develop crops that
    are resistant to biotic stresses like insects and diseases and
    abiotic stresses like heat, salinity, and cold. This can
    significantly improve the crop production in the country.
    ● Various Desirable Agronomic Traits: Higher production can be
    achieved by developing such varieties of crops that contain the
    desirable agronomic traits to sustain the various threats during
    the production process.
    ● Better and Wider Adaptability of The Crops: By developing
    crops with better adaptability to changing climatic and
    nutritional conditions, we can stabilize the crop production,
    thus, leading to higher yields in crop each year.
    ● Easier to Adapt to Changing Climatic Conditions: We must
    concentrate on producing the varieties that are easier to adapt to
    the new and changing climatic conditions easily. This is one
    great way to improve the crop yield.

    How to Improve the Crop Yields?

    There are three basic approaches that are adopted in our country to
    increase the yield from agricultural fields. They are:

    ● Crop variety improvement


    ● Crop production management
    ● Nutrient management

    Crop variety improvement

    By this technique, what we mean is the combination of desirable


    characteristics from many crops into a single hybrid crop. The next
    step would be multiplying it. This method calls for the plant breeders
    to select the desirable characteristics and cross them so that the
    offspring has the best of both worlds! Isn’t it simply marvellous?

    Why is There a Need for Higher Crop Yield?


    ● With rising population and livestock, the demand for food and
    fodder has been increasing like never before.
    ● Along with that, there is a rise in the standard of living and
    people have become more conscious about their health. This
    has led to an increase in the demand for good quality products.
    ● It becomes necessary to increase the crop variety to produce
    disease-resistance offsprings of the crops.
    ● It also helps in providing better and superior varieties based on
    the quality and quantity of the yield.

    Crop Production Management

    India is basically an agriculture-based country. Around 3/4th of the


    population in the country is dependent on agriculture for a living.
    Based on the size of the farms, different farmers have different
    amounts of money, information, and technology to develop the crops.

    The more the inputs, the higher is the yield. Accordingly, there are
    three types of crop production management. These include ‘no cost’,
    ‘low cost’ and ‘high cost’ production practices.

    Nutrient Management

    This is an important part of improving the crop yield as plants do need


    inorganic elements for their growth. Many macro and micronutrients
    are important for the plants to build their structure and maintain their
    metabolism. There are sixteen types of nutrients that are required by
    the plants, which are subdivided into two categories:

    ● Macronutrients: These are the essential elements that are


    required in relatively in large quantities by the plants.
    Examples include carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen.
    ● Micronutrients: These are necessary for the plants in small
    quantities. Examples include magnesium, iron, boron, zinc etc.

    Question For You

    Q. Which of the following terms is used for raising both plant crop
    and livestock on the farm?

    a. Mixed farming b. Intercropping

    c. Monocropping d. Crop rotation

    Ans: a. Mixed farming. Mixed farming is a method of agriculture


    which involves cropping as well as raising livestock. For example
    growing of cereal crops with cattle farming as cattle excrete
    nitrogenous waste that can be used as manure for cereals whereas
    waste from crops is used as fodder and reduces the use of artificial
    fertilizers.

    Animal Husbandry

    Today, we will learn about another important chapter in Biology. How


    many of you have had the chance to look around for cattle and other
    animals? Are you aware that there is a whole branch of science that is
    dedicated to them? Sounds interesting, right? Let us know about this
    branch of agriculture, called as Animal Husbandry.

    Animal Husbandry

    It is that branch of ​agriculture​ which deals with the shelter, ​health​,


    feeding, and ​breeding​ of domestic animals.
    Why is There a Need for Animal Husbandry?

    With the rise in ​population​, the demand for ​food​, milk, eggs, and meat
    rises. Therefore, there has to be some process to increase the
    production​ of these food items to meet the rising requirements.
    Animal husbandry is essential to manage this gap between demand
    and supply.

    You must have heard of the two important revolutions in this field:
    Operation Flood that was related to milk production and silver
    revolution that was related to egg production. Let us now look at
    various segments of animal husbandry in detail.

    Cattle Farming

    The main reasons for Cattle farming include:

    ● Dairy: For obtaining milk.


    ● Draught: For tasks like tilling, irrigation and carting.

    Animals are broadly divided into two categories, based on the needs:

    ● Milch breeds or dairy animals: These include all the animals


    that are kept for obtaining milk. ​Indian​ milch cattle are made
    up of two species- Cows (Bos indicus) and Buffaloes (Bos
    bubalis).
    ● Draught animals: These animals are basically used for the
    purposes of agriculture and ​transportation​.

    Breeding For the Desired Quality

    The production of milk depends on the lactation period to some


    extent. This refers to the time of milk production after the calf is born.
    Therefore, one way of increasing the milk production can be by
    increasing the lactation period.

    There are two kinds of breeds. The exotic breeds that include Jersey,
    Brown Swiss are selected for long lactation periods. The local breeds
    like Red Sindhi, Sahiwal are resistant to ​diseases​. The two are
    cross-bred to get animals that are blessed with both the desired
    qualities.

    The breeding could be done by any natural method or by the process


    of artificial insemination. In the process of artificial insemination, the
    semen from the desired bull is injected into the reproductive tract of
    the selected cow. Examples of successful cross-breeds:

    ● Karan Swiss: Cross-breed of Brown Swiss and Sahiwal.


    ● Karan Fries: Cross-breed of Holstein-Friesian and Sahiwal.

    Let us now look at some of the best practices for farm ​management​.

    Best practices for Farm Management

    Shelter and grooming for the cattle


    You need to ensure that you provide proper shelter and cleaning
    facilities to the cows and buffaloes. This is important for the health of
    the breed as well as for the production of good quality milk. Let us
    look at some of the important tips for shelter and grooming for the
    cattle.

    ● Animals require regular brushing to remove any dirt and loose


    hair from their skin.
    ● They should be kept under well-ventilated roofed sheds so that
    they are protected from rain, ​heat​, and cold.
    ● The cattle shed should have sloping floors to stay dry and
    facilitate better cleaning.
    ● There should be an availability of proper and clean drinking
    water.

    Let us look at the food requirement of dairy animals. It is basically of


    two types:

    ● Food for Maintenance requirement: This food helps in


    maintaining normal metabolic activities of the body in the
    animal.
    ● Food for Milk producing requirement: This food is required
    during the lactation period.

    There are two components of the cattle feed: roughage and


    concentrate.

    ● Roughage: It is largely composed of fibres such as green


    fodder, silage, hay and legumes like berseem, cowpea.
    ● Concentrates: This food is basically low in fibres but has
    relatively higher levels of proteins and other nutrients.
    Examples include cotton seeds, oilseeds, oats, barley, gram and
    their by-products like wheat, beans, and molasses etc.
    The cattle could suffer from various types of diseases. Let us
    look at them in brief.

    Diseases of Cattle
    ● Diseases that are caused by parasites: These could be external
    parasites are tick mite, lice or internal parasites like worms.
    ● Communicable diseases that are caused by pathogens like
    bacteria, viruses, fungi etc.
    ● Non-communicable diseases that are caused due to deficiency
    of nutrients or malfunctioning of body organs.

    Symptoms of Sick Animals

    You can know that the animals are sick. There are some common
    symptoms that you can notice:

    ● The animal becomes inactive and stops eating food.


    ● It gets away from the other animals and may have fever and
    shiver.
    ● The dung may be loose and the urine may be differently
    colored.

    How to prevent cattle diseases?

    ● You must keep the animals in spacious, cleaned and airy


    shelter.
    ● You must feed the animals with nutritious feed.
    ● Vaccinate the animals at regular intervals.
    ● Isolation of sick animals is utmost important.

    Question For You

    Q. Name two cross-breeds of cattle.

    Ans: 1. Karan Swiss: Cross-breed of Brown Swiss and Sahiwal

    2. Karan Fries: Cross-breed of Holstein-Friesian and Sahiwal.

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