Field Crops: Crop Management

Introduction
Crops: Cultivated plants or plant products from which human gets food, clothes, animal fe
eds and other benefits. Agonomically, crop is aplant cultivated for economic purposes.
Field Crops: The crops grown in the field (comparatively in larger areas) to get food,
clothes, animal feed and other human requirements are known as field crops.
Crop Production:The act or process of field crop production,e.g.,raisingof the field crops
under field condition to get grains,leaves,stems,tubers,roots,fruits,fiber,sugar,forage,etc.
Aims of crop production
 Maintain food self sufficiency
 Support the local populations in productive work
 Be source of raw materials for the development of industry
 Produce export crops in order to earn foreign currency
 Provide finance for the development of industry (through taxation)
Crop Productivity: It refers to the efficiency of crops measured by comparing the amount
produced with the time taken and inputs used to produce it.
Food self-sufficiency
 Can be narrowly defined as the ability of village, district, nations or a region to meet
100% of its staple food needs from domestic production and/ or storage under all-
weather probabilities.
 food self-sufficiency is the ability of nations to meet its entire staple food needs
through local production and/or storage except during periods of extreme drought or
natural disaster when commercial food imports and/or food aid is required.
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Food security is defined as “access by all people at all times to enough food for an active
healthy life”.
Two essential elements
 are the availability of food (i.e. adequate food availability) and
 The ability to acquire it (i.e. the food must be accessible to all people at all times).

LO1: Source information for input to planting plan

1.1. Identify and obtain requirements of the crop production plan

Careful planning of the crop production requirement is an essential part of good

production.

 To produce the right quantities of product, at the right time.

 To make efficient use of resources, particularly raw materials and labor
 To reduce risk and make sustainable development.
 To schedule production activities
 To analysis cost and benefit.
 To monitor the plan and prepare the final draft of production plan
1.2. Factors to be considered during planning

 Market trend information/Customer requirement

 Availability of resources/inputs, materials, tools and equipment
 Amounts of product/produce to be produced
 Suitability of environmental conditions
1.3. Identifying conditions that affect production requirement
 Availability of moisture (water)
 Availability of materials
 Temperature
 Labor availability

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  Soil factors
 Location
 Accessibility
1.4. Selecting machinery and equipments
Learners must also be able to carry out certain field operations in a safe manner, using
different machineries, equipments and the environment, such as use of conservation/buffer
margins, and where a farm has entered the Entry level relevant machinery. Since
agricultural crops different in kind, the machinery and equipments needed also different,
but mostly we use the following for the following purpose:
 Tractor- used for harrowing, disking, pulverizing, clotting and leveling the land.
 Shovel/ Spade- used for preparing bed, preparing ditches or watering canals and
irrigating.
 Hoes- used for land digging and preparing bed.
 Pick mattock- used for cutting and digging.
 Rakes- used for land leveling, taking away unnecessary plant residues, etc.
 Cutlass and sickle- used for cutting wood ,harvesting ,and clearing the land
 Trawler- used for mixing fertilizer with soil etc.
 Knapsack sprier- used for disease and pest controlling etc
1.5. Tillage and land preparation
Tillage is changing a soil’s condition or position with a tool, for man’s benefit.
 Tillage is a mechanical string of soil for seedbed preparation for planting. It includes
cutting and inversion of hard soils and separates it from lower layers after the harvest
of previous crop or fallow land.
Purpose of tillage: - In general, tillage is carried out for one or a combination of the
following reasons.
 Seedbed preparation/breaking crusts;
 Tillage loosens the soil, and results in a seedbed suitable for seed germination and
the development of young seedlings;
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 Tillage kills weeds cutting them just below ground level, by burying them
completely or by dragging them out to be left exposed on the soil surface;
 Tillage also initiates the germination of many weed seeds that will be destroyed by
subsequent cultivation;
 Tillage exposes the eggs and larvae of insect pests to adverse conditions such as sun
and predators, and destroys their breeding grounds. There is a similar effect on
underground rodents;
 Improving nutritional status of the soil;
 Tillage incorporates organic matter and crop residue into the soil;
 Soil and water conservation;
 Improving infiltration;
 Contour tillage can aid in erosion control;
 Improvement of the soil’s physical condition;
Types of tillage: -
A/Traditional tillage: - Using oxen drawn plough, hoe culture
B/ Conventional tillage: - Tractor plough followed by harrowing
C/Conservation tillage: - At least 30% of the soil remains covered by crop residue
after sowing.

This includes:
 Stubble mulch farming - retaining crop residues on the soil surface
 Minimum tillage – a method aimed at reducing tillage to the minimum necessary
for ensuring a good seedbed, rapid germination, a satisfactory stand, and
favorable growing conditions. It substitutes herbicides for mechanical weed
control during part of the fallow season, with tillage performed later to loosen the
soil and prepare a seedbed.
 No tillage (also called zero tillage): - relies completely on herbicides, both
contact and pre-emergence, for weed control throughout the fallow season.

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Favorable effects of mulching are: -
 Reduce run-off and erosion
 Reduce evaporation
 Improve soil moisture
 Improve nutritional status
Time of tillage
Early completion of tillage is often helpful to enable sowing immediately after rainfall
And before the soil dries up.Off season tillage done with pre season rainfall causes more c
onservation of moisture and also enables early and timely sowing.
LO2: Prepare planting plan
2.1. Determine agricultural crop and method(s) of sowing/planting
Method of sowing crops

1. Broadcasting: In broadcast method the seeds are spread uniformly over well-prepared
land. Broadcasting may be done by hand or mechanical spreader. Broadcasting is suitable
for close-planted crops that do not require specific crop or plant geometry. It is used when
the number of plants per unit area is more important than definite spacing from plant to
plant. This is the usual method of sowing.
2. Drilling: drilling is the practice is of dropping seeds in rows or lines. Crops such as
wheat, barley, mustard, carrot and sesame are sown by drilling.
3. Dibbling or planting: This method consists of putting or placing individual seed or
seed material in a hole or pit, made at pre-determined depth and spacing by manual labor
or with the use of mechanical dibbler or planter. Generally, the crops with bigger size
seeds and those needing wider spacing and specific crop geometry for their canopy
development are sown by this method. This method is suitable to plant crops like maize,
cotton, sun flower, sugar cane, etc.
Planting equipment
A wide range of crops are grown in the Ethiopia, all with various characteristics and
requirements. There are a range of sowing and planting equipment available to satisfy the
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planting and sowing needs of all crops. These equipments can be categorized into three
different types:
 Broadcasters
 Drills
 Planters
The equipment must have:
 Accurate metering to ensure the required plant population is achieved
 The ability to sow the seeds/plant into a range of soil conditions
 The ability to handle a range seed/plant sizes
 A range of easily adjustable sowing rates to suit a range of crops
 Uniform sowing/planting depth
 Sufficient hopper capacity to maintain output
Reasons for crop classification
 To get acquainted with crops.
 To understand the requirement of soil & water different crops.
 To know adaptability of crops.
 To know the growing habit of crops.
 To understand climatic requirement of different crops.
 To know the economic produce of the crop plant & its use.
To know the growing season of the crop
Approaches to achieving sustainable agriculture
• In practice, there are two main approaches to achieving the objectives of
sustainable agriculture:
– Integrated agriculture
– Organic farming
Integrated agriculture
 use of suitable species and varieties of crops

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  crop rotation that mitigates weed, disease, and pest problems and provide
alternatives sources of soil nitrogen;
 careful soil cultivation that avoids soil compaction and erosion;
 fertilization based on need, ideally with a combination of organic and mineral
fertilizers;
 application of mechanical methods of weed control to reduce herbicide input; and
 use of pest-control strategies that reduce the need for pesticides by integration and
promotion of natural enemies; synthetic pesticides should be used only when other
methods of control cannot prevent a threshold of damage being crossed\
Organic Farming
Organic farming is a system, which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetic inputs
(such as fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, feed additives etc) and to the maximum extent
relies upon crop rotations, crop residues, animal manures, off-farm organic waste, mineral
grade rock additives and biological system of nutrient mobilization and plant protection.
 Its objective is to create nutrient cycles within the farm that are as closed as possible
(imitate natural eco-system)
 Helps in maintaining environment health by reducing the level of pollution.
 Reduces human and animal health hazards by reducing the level of residues in the
product.
 Helps in keeping agricultural production to be sustainable.
 Reduces the cost of agricultural production and also improves the soil health.
 Ensures optimum utilization of natural resources for short-term benefit and helps in
conserving them for future generation.
 Overall, organic agriculture aims at using ecological principles to create synergies
among the system components and to improve sustainability.
Main concepts of agricultural production
Traditional agriculture
Farming practices before the introduction
of agro-chemicals, high yielding varieties
and machines 7
Conventional Agriculture Sustainable agriculture
Crop production in monoculture by Approach of integrated
using high yielding varieties, environmental soundness, economic
chemical fertilizers and pesticides; profitability and social equity
factory farming of livestocks

Integrated agriculture Organic agriculture

Minimizing negative impacts of conventional No use of chemical fertilizers and
agriculture by combining biological, pesticides, crops and live stocks
technological and chemical measures production designed in ways to
create nutrient cycles
Crop yield and factor affecting it
The crop's environment can be broken down as:
 Conditions which control resource uptake; these may be either
 Abiotic (e.g., weather, certain soil characteristics)
 Biotic (e.g., weeds, pests, pathogens, soil organisms)
 Consumable resources (CO2, light, water, nutrients)
 Crop plants must consume resources to grow and produce a harvestable yield.
 In most agro ecosystems, crop productivity is limited by the availability of one or
more required resources, most often nutrients, water, and light.
 The amount of yield achieved by a crop is a function of both the level of limiting
resources available to the crop, and the efficiency with which it uses these resources.
 Factor affecting crop yield
– Resources not under grower control: light, CO2, water (precipitation), nutrients
released by mineralization.
– Environmental conditions, not under grower control: temperature, wind, seasonality,
topography, length of growing season, relative humidity; soil type, soil depth, soil
organic matter, soil pH; pest, weed and pathogen populations (in part).

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 – Resources under grower control: nutrients (from fertilizer), water (from
irrigation).
– Crop varieties.
– Management: land preparation, choice of cropping system; choice of cultivars; date
of planting; plant population; fertilizer application, irrigation, timing of nutrient
input; timing of pest, weed and pathogen control; date of harvest; management of
residues

 Co2

Potential Defining  Radiation

yield factors
 Temperature

 Crop characteristics

 Physiology, phenology

 Canopy architecture

Attainable Limiting  Water

yield factors  Nutrient

 Nitrogen
 Phosphorus

 Weeds
Actual Reducing  Pests
yield factor  Diseases
 Pollutants

LO3: Determine scheduling and key responsibilities

3.1. Determining scheduling for planting
Schedule for planting and key responsibilities has to be properly planned to suit seasonal
influences, weather and weather for casts, as well as the local geography and the
organizations resourcing situation.

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 Month Who is involved? Other activities/ crops
J F M A M Jn Jy Ag S O N D Men, Women, Male competing for women’s
children, female labour at this time
children, Hired male
labour, hired female
labour
RAINS
Tasks
Land preparation
Land clearing
Making mounds/
ridges
Obtaining vines
Transporting vines
Planting
Weeding
Applying fertilizer
Harvesting
Transport to market
Selling
Processing roots
Conserving vines

Points to be taken in to consideration during scheduling for planting are:

 Range of geographic
 Resourcing factors
 Operation that occur at the same time
4. Determining conditions of agricultural crops
4.1. Assessing and identifying nutrient requirements and deficiencies
Essential elements
Essential can be expressed as:
a) Required for normal growth and completion of the life cycle
b) Not replaceable under normal growth condition
c) Have a demonstrated biological role in the plant – structural or physiological
There are sixteen (16) essential elements that are requires by most plants. Excluding C, H 2,
and O2 obtained from the air and are the most abundant elements in the plants.
Elements obtained from the soil
1. Macro-nutrient (Major elements):- N, P, K are fertilizer elements.
2. Secondary nutrients: - Ca, Mg, S, are lime elements.
3. Micro-nutrients (Trace or minor elements):- Bo, Cl, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Zn
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4. Benefical elements: - Co, Na, Va, Ni, Si.
4.2. Identifying Factors affecting crop capacity
The three groups of factors that largely determine whether certain crops can be
economically produced in given region, and therefore, determine their distribution, are
climate, soil and social conditions.
A. Climate condition
Climate largely determines the type of vegetation that grows naturally in any part of the
world and the kinds of agriculture that are possible. The three most important factors in
climate from the standpoint of plant response are temperature, water supply/precipitation/
and light.
There are also other factors like humidity, solar radiation, wind and atmospheric gases but
generally they are of less influence than the three mentioned.
I. Temperature
Temperature is often the factor limiting the growth and distribution of plants. It influences
the rate of growth, development and number of flower that produce seeds. The ranges of
maximum growth of the plant are 15-32o
Effects of high temperature on plant growth
 Dropping off flowers
 Growth rates and flower formation is affected
 Desiccation of the plant parts
When temperature is below 15oC frost or pale-yellow color of the plant parts occur.
II. Water supply/precipitation/
Precipitation includes all forms of water like rainfall, snow, hail. Precipitation or water
supply is the most important factor in determining the distribution of a crop plant.
Although total annual precipitation is important, its distribution plays an essential role in
crop production. In case of plant growth for their seed, the most critical period or the
period of greatest need for moisture, is when fertilization of the flowers is taking place.

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Crop plants differ in their water requirements, even though they are almost all require an
average amount of water.
Importance of water for plants
 About 80-90% of actively growing plant tissue is water
 It is the medium through which the soil nutrients move into plants
 It is essential in the photosynthetic nutrient, manufacturing process.
Over a very large part of the earth’s surface the relative scarcity or abundance of water is
the most important factor in determining whether plants can grow, or what kids of plants
will survive.
III. Light
Light affects the development of crop plants mainly through affecting:-
1. Their structural development
2. Their food production
3. The time required for certain species or varieties to produce seeds
Seeds of most grasses are light sensitive, and light are necessary for their germination.
Light is necessary for photosynthesis and, therefore, is required by green plants for the
manufacture of food.
IV. Evaporation and transpiration
The evaporation of moisture from the soil and transpiration by plants must be taken into
accounts in considering precipitation in relation to crops responses.
B. Soil Factors
Soil factors are nutrients and water, moisture, soil temperature, soil reaction, micro-
organism, and anchorage (firming).
 Soil moisture
The amount of soil moisture has impact on performance of individual plants. If soil pores
are completely filled with water, water logging condition is happen. Then water logging
resulting in shortage of oxygen, leaching of plant nutrients, poor germination or nil,
stunted growth, failure of seed formation, yellowing of leaves etc.
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  Soil temperature
It is another soil factor that determining the growth of plants. It influences the rates of
absorption of water and solutes, germination of seeds, growth of seeds, growth of roots,
and decomposition of organic matter.
 Soil air
Under normal growing conditions there is a concentration of carbon-dioxides in the soil
and low concentration of oxygen. Carbon-dioxides content of the soil air remains
relatively uniform, whereas the oxygen content may vary widely.
 Soil reaction (soil acidity or soil alkalinity)
 Soil alkalinity
Lack/shortage of rainfall in drier regions results in an accumulation of salts (cations like
Ca ++, Mg++, Na+, etc). When such accumulation exists the production of crops may be
uncertain, or even impossible, over relatively large areas.
Plants are varying in their tolerance of alkaline soil. Among the tolerant crops are sugar
cane, sugar beet, cotton, rye and many of the grasses. Grasses or cereals seem to be more
tolerant than the legume crops.
Effects of soil alkalinity
 Soil compaction: - because high NaOH in the soil dissolves organic matter in soil.
 Poor water infiltration
 Restriction of root growth etc
 Soil acidity
++
In high altitudes which characterized by high amount of rainfall leaching of cation (Ca ,
Mg++, Na+, etc) to the lower subsoil will be occurred but the amounts of Aluminum and
hydrogen is higher.
Many crops are tolerant to acidic soil conditions and often make satisfactory growth. Some
of these crops are tobacco, cow pea etc.
Impact of acid soil on crop production
 Toxic to plant due to the high accumulation of Al+++ and Mn++
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  Nutrient phosphorous is fixed
 The activities of soil organism is poor
4.3. Maintaining nutrient requirement of the crop

Selecting types of fertilizers

Fertilizer, natural or synthetic chemical substance or mixture used to enrich soil so as to
promote plant growth. Plants do not require complex chemical compounds analogous to
the vitamins and amino acids required for human nutrition, because plants are able to
synthesize whatever compounds they need. They do require more than a dozen different
chemical elements and these elements must be present in such forms as to allow an
adequate availability for plant use. Within this restriction, nitrogen, for example, can be
supplied with equal effectiveness in the form of urea, nitrates, ammonium compounds, or
pure ammonia
Objective of fertilizer application
 To promote greater plant growth or better crop quality
 To maintain soil fertility, indirectly reduce soil erosion
Application of N fertilizers
N-fertilizers are required throughout growing period of a crop and since they are lost
through leaching, apply using split application techniques.
Seed manure: - is a kind of fertilizer applied near the seed or together with the seed.
After manure: - is a kind of fertilizer applied during growing season and booting stage or
flag leaf stage to crops.
Application of phosphorous fertilizers
P-fertilizer is required at early stage of growth and is available to growing plants, slowly.
Therefore, apply the entire quantity in one dose before sowing or during planting.
a. As basal manure: - mix with organic manure, and add 2-3 kg of fine Ca super
phosphate into every 100kg organic matter, make it wet and pile together, then cover with
soil or other thing until well-rotted.
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b. Band placement: - applied in furrow.
c. Hill placement: - applied in the holes.
Application of Potassium fertilizers
K-fertilizers have the characteristics of N and P fertilizer. It is always advisable to apply
the entire quantity at sowing time.
Types of potassium fertilizers
 Potassium chloride: - k20= 47-61%
 Potassium sulphate:-K20=47-52%
 Potassium is mainly applied as seed manure
4.4 Monitoring the health of the crop
Monitoring is a constant process of control with the aim of maintaining the quality of the
crop to be produced. A brief visual inspection is by no means sufficient; rather it is
important that a systematic search for possible sources of damage, amount of weed and
disease infestation, presence of insect pest are performed. Such sources should be
identified, measures must be taken and the success of these measures then examined.
Monitoring comprises regular inspection of the field as well as continuously sampling of
the plant.
5. Determining and assessing effective pests and disease
Definition of pest, insects and disease
Pests: - are any organisms which interfere with human activities. They are reducing
quality and quantity of crops.
Insects: - are small animals which belong to Anthropoid phylum. Their body is divided
into three sections, head, thorax and abdomen. Most adult insects have three pairs of legs
and one or two pair of functional wings.
Disease: - is an abnormal deviation in physiological, biochemical processed in plant.
 It results in retardation of development of the plant.
 Reduction In quality and quantity.
 Expressed in the reactions of the plants.
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 5.1. Controlling pests
5.1.1. Control methods of weeds
Weed management is most successful when it involves an integrated approach using a
variety of methods. The common methods used to manage weeds include prevention and
cultural, mechanical, biological, and chemical means.
2.3. Control methods of diseases
When possible, use the cultural, mechanical, biological, and/or chemical control with the
least environmental impact to manage disease. Prevention is key! Altering the interaction
between the host, the environment, and the pathogen, may reduce the risk of disease
development.
Important strategies to minimize the incidences of disease include:
Culture Practices Farmers should thin plants to appropriate spacing to allow good air
circulation.
 Site Selection and Preparation
 Intercropping
 Strip farming
 Trap and decoy crops
 Fertilizer and crop nutrition
 Deep burial of crop residue
 Planting on a raised bed
 Crop Rotation Eradicate Alternative Hosts
 Irrigation Management
 Sanitation
 Managing Insect Vectors
 Rouging (removal) of diseased plants
 Plant Host Resistance
 Planting Certified Seed
Chemical control
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Plant diseases caused by parasitic microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, mycoplasma,
viruses, and nematodes may sometimes be controlled through the use of chemicals.

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