Improvement in Food Resources

Improvement in Crop Yield

Improvement In Crop Yield

• Crop Variety Improvement

  This approach depends on finding a crop variety that can give a good yield. Varieties or strains of crops can be selected by breeding for various useful characteristics such as disease resistance, response to fertilisers, product quality and high yields.

  Factors for which variety improvement in crops is done

  1. Higher yield: To increase the productivity of the crop per acre.
  2. Improved quality: Quality of crop products vary from crop to crop.
  3. Biotic & Abiotic resistances: Crop production reduces due to biotic and
  4. abiotic factors. Varieties resistant to these factors can improve crop production.
  5. Wider adaptability: Crops which can grow in different conditions, will help in setting high production.
  6. Desired agronomic traits: Crops which contain desired agronomic traits (height, branching, leafs), sets high production.

• Crop Production Improvement

  Crop Production Improvement: It involves different practices carried out by farmers to achieve higher standards of crop production.

  They are, nutrient management, Irrigation, cropping patterns.

• Nutrient Management

  The higher yields of crops mainly depend upon input applications like improved seeds, fertilizers and modern techniques of sowing and harvesting. Plants require a number of nutrients for their growth and development.
  Plants get nutrients from air, water and soil. Nearly 16 elements are essential for plant growth and reproduction. On the basis of the requirement by the plants, they are further classified into Macro Nutrients and Micro Nutrients.

  Macro Nutrients

  Elements which are needed in large quantities for the growth of the plants are called Macro Nutrients. They are Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Sulphur, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium and Iron.

  Micro Nutrients

  Elements which are needed by the plants in very small quantities are called Micro Nutrients. They are Manganese, Copper, Molybdenum, Zinc, Boron and Chlorine.

• Irrigation

  Irrigation is necessary for crops to get water during their growing season.

  Source of irrigation:

  Wells: There are two types of wells, namely dug wells and tube wells. In a dug well, water is collected from water-bearing strata. Tube wells can tap water from the deeper strata. From these wells, water is lifted by pumps for irrigation.

  Canals: This is usually an elaborate and extensive irrigation system. In this system, canals receive water from one or more reservoirs or from rivers. The main canal is divided into branch canals having further distributaries to irrigate fields.

  River Lift Systems: In areas where canal flow is insufficient or irregular due to inadequate reservoir release, the lift system is more rational. Water is directly drawn from the rivers for supplementing irrigation in areas close to rivers.

  Tanks: These are small storage reservoirs, which intercept and store the run-off of smaller catchment areas.Rainwater harvesting

  Watershed management: the building of small check dams which helps in increasing groundwater level and helps in reducing soil erosion.

• Cropping Patterns

  Crop Patterns: Different patterns are used to maximize the production from crop field. They are :

  1. Mixed cropping
  2. Intercropping
  3. Crop rotation

  Mixed cropping: Growing two or more than two crops together on the same piece of land is called mixed cropping. E.g., wheat and gram, wheat and mustard, groundnut and sunflower.

  Inter cropping: Two or more crops are grown on the same field in a definite pattern. Few rows of one followed by few rows of the other. E.g., Soybean + maize, Finger nullet (Bajra) + Cow pea (lobia)

  Crop rotation: Crop rotation is the policy of growing different crops one after another on the same field.

  If some crop is grown again and again on the same field, same nutrients are extracted from soil again and again. So we should choose different crops so that all nutrients of soil are used.

  Advantages :

  1. Soil fertility is maintained.
  2. It controls pests and weeds.
  3. Several crops can be grown in succession with only one soil preparation.

• Crop Protection Management

  To protect crops against diseases caused organisms and other harming factors is called crop protection. Following methods are used to control these problems :

  1. Pest control during growth
  2. Storage of grains

  Pest control during growth: Pest is any destructive organism which can destroy or harm crops or products obtained from them. Pests are of many types :

  1. Weeds: Unwanted plants in the cultivated field e.g., Xanthium.
  2. Insects: Insects can harm plants in following ways :
     1. They cut the root, stem and leaf.
     2. They suck the cell sap from various parts of the plant.
  3. Pathogens: Any organism such as bacteria, fungi and viruses which cause diseases in plants are called pathogens. They are transmitted through air, water, soil.

  Storage of grains: For getting seasonal foods throughout the year, they are stored in the safe storage. But during storage of grains, they can be destroyed and wasted by various means.

  1. Biotic problem: Due to living organisms like insects, birds, mites, bacteria, fungi.
  2. Abiotic problem: Due to non-living factors such as moisture, inappropriate temperature etc. These factors affect quality degradation, loss in weight, change in colour, poor germinability.