MODERN AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES , AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT , MODERN TECHNIQUES OF CULTIVATION , CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES
INTRODUCTION
All the humans depend on
agriculture for food. Urban industrial societies
depend on the base of food surplus All the humans generated by farmers and
herders. Without agriculture there could
be no cities, universities, factories or offices. Modern agriculture is an ever changing
approach to agricultural innovations and farming practice that helps farmers
increase efficiency and reduce the amount of natural resources needed to meet
the world’s food, fuel and fiber demand.
Not only farming we also
need to conserve our natural resources.
Natural resources play a significant part in our lives. It will be really difficult to imagine the
world without the natural resources. The
globe without natural resources will be the as the globe without nature. The resources not only add to our lives, they
serve the realm of progress.
MODERN AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES
Modern agriculture is an
ever changing approach to agricultural innovations and farming practices that
helps farmers increasing efficiency and reduce the amount of natural resources
needed to meet the world’s food, fuel and fiber demands. Modern farming practices allow farmers to
increase productivity while decreasing environmental impact. Modern agriculture is driven by continuous
improvement, using technology, digital tools and data to do so. The word modern farming or agriculture means
the use of modern techniques and sciences for increasing farming production.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF MODERN AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES
·
Intensive tillage:
The soil is cultivated deeply, completely and regularly in most modern
agricultural systems and a vast array of tractors and farm implements have been
developed to facilitate this practice.
The soil is loosened, water drains better, roots grow faster and seeds
can be planted more easily.
·
Monoculture: When
one crop is grown alone in a field, it is called a monoculture. Monoculture makes it easier to cultivate, sow
seeds, control weeds and harvest, as well as expand the size of the farm
operation and improve aspects of profitability and cost.
·
Genetic manipulation: The
development of hybrid seed, where two or more strains of a crop are combined to
produce a more productive offspring has been one of the most significant strategy
of Genetic manipulation.
·
Aeroponics: It
is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the
utilize of soil or aggregate medium.
Aeroponics is a subset of hydroponics and work by suspending plant roots
in the air and misting them with nutrient water. This method can provide a better level of
control over the amount of water that is used throughout the growing process.
·
Hydroponics: The
hydroponics method is soil less type of farming because it requires no soil for
the plant to grow. Instead, it uses
water as it growing medium. The growing
medium used in hydroponics farming systems can come from an array of different
sources; these can include but are not limited to a by product from fish water,
duck manure, or purchased chemical fertilizers.
·
Tissue culture: Tissue
culture refers to a method in which fragments of a tissue plant are introduced
into a artificial environment, where they continue to function or grow.
· Vertical farming: Vertical farming is the urban farming of fruits, vegetables and grains within a building in a city or urban center, in which floors are designed to accommodate certain crops.
AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Agricultural
management is an occupation that involves the science of food production. It deals with farming techniques, the
domestication of animals, and the general processing of food. There are many agricultural jobs that require
management, especially on projects working in a scientific discipline and with
farm labour.
Proper
management of farmland is vital for an investor to capitalize on the overall
appreciation of the asset. The
importance of a knowledgeable and professional farm manager the appreciation
and income of investment farmland.
The
key to proper Agricultural management includes focusing in the following areas;
ü Profitability
ü Leasing
ü Production
ü Conservation
ü Capital
improvements
ü Additional
revenue opportunity
ü Insurance
ü Taxes
ü Communication
Modern techniques of
cultivation is the use of modern technologies, techniques and science for
increasing farming production.
Development od agriculture and farming technology has greatly increased
the farming productivity. Modern
techniques of farming is a must to get more production according to rapid
population growth.
Some of the modern
techniques of cultivation are;
·
Hybrid seed technology:
A hybrid seed technology is a cross between two or more unrelated inbred,
resulting in a seed that carries one or more favorable traits. Hybrid seeds are commonplace in commercial
farming, mainly to increase crop yields.
Hybrid seed production is major in modern agriculture and home gardening.
·
Chemical pest control:
In the large monoculture fields of much of modern agriculture, pests include
such organisms as insects that eat plants, weeds that interfere with crop
growth and diseases that slow plant and animal development or even cause
death. When use properly, synthetic
chemicals have provided an effective, relatively easy way to provide such
control.
·
Use of synthetic fertilizers:
Very dramatic yield increases occur with the application of synthetic chemical
fertilizers. Relatively easy to
manufacture or mine, to transport and to apply, fertilizer use has increased
from five to ten times what it was at the end of World War II [1939-45]. Applied in either liquid or granular form,
fertilizer can supply crops with readily available and uniform amounts of several
essential plant
· Irrigation technologies: By suppling water to crops during times of dry weather or in places of the world where natural rainfall is not sufficient for growing most crops, irrigation has greatly boosted the food supply. Drawing water from underground wells, building reseviours and distribution canals and diverting rivers have improved yields and increased the area of available farm land.
The
various types of irrigation technologies are;
§ Surface
irrigation: This is one of the oldest form of
irrigation. Here water moves across the
surface of an agricultural land in order to wet it, and infiltrate into the
soil.
§ Drip
irrigation: It is other ways known as micro
irrigation or trickle irrigation. In
this system water falls drop by drop just at the position of the root. This method can be the most water- efficient
method of irrigation, if managed properly.
Evaporation and surface runoff can be minimised by this method.
§ Sprinkle
irrigation: This method is other wise known as
overhead irrigation. Here water is piped
to one or more central locations within the field and distributed by overhead
high- pressure sprinklers or guns.
·
Hybridization:
It is the process of crossing two genetically different individuals to result
in a third individual with a different, of ten preferred set of trait plants of
the same species cross easily and produce fertile progeny.
·
Budding:
Budding is inserting a single bud from a desirable plant into an opening in the
bark of a compatible rootstock combination.
·
Grafting:
Grafting is the joining together of plant part by means of tissue
regeneration. Grafting is the art of
placing a portion of one plant into or on a stem, root or branch of another in
such a way that union will be formed and the partner will continue to grow.
·
Layering:
It is a method of plant propagation that consist of rooting the stem of a
parent plant, without cutting the stems from the parent plant. Layering is used in gardening to propagate a
plant and thus obtain clones of a parent plant.
CONSERVATION
OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Natural
resources are the part of the environment that are highly important to humans
whether they in one form or the other.
Natural resources are available in nature itself and humans have no say
in making them. Some examples of natural
resources are air, water, coal, animals, plants, natural gas etc.
The
modern life style and the advance in technology have had a very bad impact on
natural resources. Natural resources
like coal and petroleum are depleting at a very fast rate and once they are
depleted we will have to depend on other sources of energy. Therefore, it is very necessary for us humans
to act in a way that ensures the conservation of natura resources.
Different
ways to conserve natural resources;
o
Use of alternative sources of power like
solar and wind energy.
o
Plant more trees for preventing the soil
erosion.
o
Use pipelines for transporting oil.
o
Treat the industrial sewage and wastage
even before they get released into the water bodies.
o
Include the rainwater harvesting systems
in the houses.
o
Use biogas in the house.
o
Use biofuels instead of the conventional
petroleum based fuels.
o
Ensure that the wastes are being recycled.
o
Use electronic mails.
o
Make use of the energy saving tube lights
and bulbs.
o
Practice the method of crop rotation.
o
Construct reservoirs.
The irrational consumption and overuse of
these natural resources has led to several socio-economic and environmental
problems. Non- renewable natural
resources take millions of years to form.
It is because of this reason that the conservation of these natural
resources is necessary so that the living beings can preserve them and use them
as required.
India is an agricultural
country. Agriculture and its allied
activities act as main source of livelihood for more than 80% population of
rural India. It provides employment to
approximately 52% of labour. India has
achieved significant growth in agriculture, milk, fish, oilseeds and fruits and
vegetables owing to green, white, blue and yellow revolutions. All these revolutions have brought prosperity
for the farmers. Many factors are
responsible for the achievement. The new
breed of skilled human resources was instrumental in generating new
technologies, and in its assessment and finally its dissemination to the
farming community through extension methods.
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