Improved methods of cultivation

Introduction

Agriculture is the backbone of Indian Economy. With the increasing need of population the traditional trend of agriculture is changing day by day and becoming a business-oriented sector.

To cope with the growing population improved techniques of cultivation have developed.

Improved methods of propagation

• Mciropropagtion

Mciropropagtion involves the production of plants from very small plant parts, tissues or cells grown aseptically in a test tube or other container where the environment and nutrition can be rigidly controlled. The growing of plant tissue such as callus, cell suspensions and various plant organs (stems, flowers, roots and embryos) in artifical meidum is known as tissue culture. Sometimes, tissue culture is synonymous for micropropagation.

The main advantage of this technique are rapid mass propagation of clones and can produce disease free seedlings.

• Types

Manistem tip elongation

Auxillary shoot production

Adventious initiation

Organogenesis

Embryogenesis

Seeds and sowing technique

Establishment of a good stand is the pre requisite for attaining high yields. It depends upon time, depth and method of sowing. Use of quality and improved seed play a role in increasing productivity. Seeds are subjected to special treatement like scarification, dipping in hot water, hormonal treatment etc. To reduce attack from these diseases, the seeds are treated with fungicides like thriam, captan, mancozeb, carbendazim, captfol etc.

• Optimum time of sowing

Sowing the crop at optimum time increases yields due to suitable environment at all the growth stages of the crop. Early flowering is induced and moisture stress or dry spells may be avoided during critical stages. The optimum time of sowing for most of tropical crops is immediately after the onset of monsoon i.e. June or July. The optimum time of sowing for temperate crops like wheat and barley are from last week of October to first week of November. The optimum time of sowing for most of the summer crops is first fortnight of January.

Depth of sowing

For obtaining good stand of the crop,it is essential to sow the crop at optimum depth. Crops with bigger sized seeds like groundnut, castor, sunflower etc. can be sown even upto a depth of 6 cm. Small sized seeds like tobacco, ragi, have to be sown as shallow as possible.The optimum depth of sowing for most of the field crops ranges between 3 cm to 5 cm.

• Method of sowing

Drilling in lines with ferti-cum seed drill has come in practise.also transplanting is followed in some crop to obtain better crop stand. The poly bag culture technique is now practised for rice, Polymulching is followed in groundnut.

Use of high yielding varieties

To increase the production, high yielding hybrid varieties with short duration are to be used. A considerable efforts have been taken to incorporate resistance and quality into the new variety,e.g. eight sorghum hybrids are developed among which CSH-5, CSH-4 are resistant to downy mildew and CSH-5, CSH-6 are resistant to shootfly.

Cropping systems and rotations

Depending on the resources and technology available, different types of cropping systems are adopted on farms. It includes intercropping, mixed cropping and sequences cropping. Intensive method of cropping is multiple cropping in which more number of crops within a year and more number of crops on the same piece of land are cultivated at any given period.

Sorghum-soybean and Sorghum- Groundnut have remunerative intercropping systems.

Intercultural operations

• Gap filling

In long duration and widely spaced crops gap filling os to be followed which helps to control the weed and increase yield.

• Thinning

Thinning is needed to obtain optimum plant population by removing excess population.

• Use of balance fertiliser

Now a days use of technical grade fertilisers with optimum dose are used. Suitable methods of fertiliser of application are used depending upon physical form, solubility, and mobility. Liquid fertilisers are applied with irrigation water. Fertilisers are applied by soil placement, fertigation etc. Demand for use of biofertilisers like rhizobium, blue green algae is increasing.

• Use of improved method of irrigation

Apart from use of traditional methods of Irrigation like flooding, border, check basin now day methods like drip, sprinklers are in use to save water and offer several advantages.

• Plant protection measures

Integrated pest management, use of bio pesticides, use of technical grade synthetic chemicals, bio control measures is important.

Harvesting and storage technique

Post harvest operations are assuming importance due to higher yields and increased cropping intensity. Due to introduction of modern technology, yield levels have substantially increased resulting in marketable surplus which has to be stored till prices are favourable for sale.

Time for harvesting can be known approximately by the duration of crop. As maturity depends on climate, maturity symptoms are good indicators for deciding the time for harvesting. Olpad thresher is used for wheat, barley oats etc. Japanese paddy thresher is used for threshing. Artificial methods like steam drying are in use.