Crop Production and Management

• Preparation of soil by tilling and levelling .
• Sowing of seeds into prepared soil
• Adding manure and fertilisers for replenishment and enrichment of soil and healthy growth of crops
• The supply of water to crops at appropriate interval called as irrigation
• Protecting from weeds by using weedicides
• Harvesting of crops by machines
• proper storage to protect them from harmful effects of pests and microorganisms

Irrigation is the artificial application of water to crops at different intervals. The time and frequency of irrigation varies from crop to crop, soil to soil and season to season. Like in summer frequency of irrigation is higher because of the increased rate of evaporation. Water is very important for proper growth and development of flowers, fruits and seeds of plants, it plays important role in

• germination of seeds
• transportation of nutrients in different parts of plants
• protects crops from both frost and hot air currents
• it maintain the moisture of soil

Traditional method of irrigation involves cattle or human labour and thus are cheaper than modern methods of irrigation, various traditional ways of irrigation are:
Moat ( pulley system)
Chain pump
Dhekli
Rahat (Lever system)

Modern method of irrigation help us to use water economically, it involves following methods: Sprinkler system: In this system the perpendicular pipes with rotating nozzles on top are joined to the main pipeline at regular intervals when water is allowed to flow through the main pipe under pressure with the help of pump, it escape from the rotating nozzles, it gets sprinkled on the crop as if it is raining, sprinkler is very useful for sandy soil. Drip system: In this system water falls drop by drop just at the position of the roots. So it is called drip system. It is the best technique for watering plants, trees and garden. This system provides water to plants drop by drop, and water is not wasted at all

Weeds: weeds are unwanted plants that grow along with crop plants and compete with them for water, nutrients, space and light, thus they effect growth of crop plants. Some of the weeds are poisonous for animals and human beings and they interfere even in harvesting of crop plants. Weedicides are chemical that are sprayed in the fields to kill the weeds, they do not damage the crops. Weedicides are diluted with water and are sprayed in the field by sprayer to kill the weeds.

A Harvest Festival is an annual celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. The efforts of the farmer of past season borne fruit in the form of crop, laden with grain, at this point they celebrate harvest festival to express their joy and happiness. Special festivals associated with the harvest season are pongal, Baisakhi, Holi, Diwali, Nabanya and Bihu.

Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area in sequential seasons. Growing the same type of in the same place for many years in a row disproportionately depletes the soil of certain nutrients. With rotation, a crop that leaches the soil of one kind of nutrient is followed during the next growing season by a dissimilar crop that returns that nutrient to the soil or draws a different ratio of nutrients: for example, rice followed by cotton.