Crop Production and Management PDF

Crop Production and Management 1 What is crop production?  Crop production is the practice of growing and harvesting of crops  Crop production is an art and the science of growing and harvesting of crops  The physical works of crop production are considered...

Crop Production and Management 1 What is crop production?  Crop production is the practice of growing and harvesting of crops  Crop production is an art and the science of growing and harvesting of crops  The physical works of crop production are considered as an art of crop production which includes  land preparation  Sowing or planting  Weeding and cultivation  Harvesting and  Seed cleaning 2 The science of cop production is lies on the use of improved agricultural inputs with their packages obtained through research Agricultural inputs are: 1. Quality seed of improved varieties 2. Fertilizers to improve soil fertility 3. Herbicides to control weeds 4. Fungicides to control fungal diseases (rust, smut, blight, mildew, etc) 5. Insecticides to control insects (stalk borer, army worm, aphids, boll worm) 6. Agricultural machineries for land preparation, chemical spraying, harvesting and product processing 3  Need for cop production -The world population have been 1billion 100years ago -3 billion in 1960 -5 billion in 1987 -It was 6 billion in 1999 -7 billion 2011 - 9 billion In 2025 -This indicate that there an increasing demand for more and more food. The main source of our food are plants, primary producers. Thus we need to increase their production:  increased production can be achieved through extensive and intensive production approaches The opportunity for extensive production is already over as most of the lands are already under cultivation Thus the focus is intensive production ( increased production/unit area). This requires the in-depth understanding factors affecting (Yield limiting factors) crop production and their mgt What are yield limiting factors? Thus crop yield = F (G, environment and management) G=genetic potential-improved through natural and artificial selection E=climate (temp., rainfall, humidity, ) sunshine, altitude, water, air, soil ( soil type, nutrients, soil physicochemical characteristics etc..) Management: agronomic mgt ( sowing date, plant pop., spacing , weeding etc..), crop protection, storage, etc.. Improved G + suitable E + improved mgt = increased productivity per unit area. – there is no limit for improvement as science is advancing However, it is important to accurately identify yield limiting factors and eliminate or reduce the influences all those that can be managed and in fact it is challenging Crop production is one of the key areas of study that have profound impact on crop productivity’. Thus Goal: To contribute to increased crop production there by ensure food security through understanding plant nutrients, relationship with soil and generate and applying improved management technologies. The objective of crop production to produce high amount and quality yield without impoverishing the land This has been achieved with different methods of crop production 9 Methods of crop production I. Shifting cultivation or bush fallow In primitive agriculture the methods of crop production was shifting cultivation in which The farm is not at permanent location Instead, a piece of land is cleared and plowed continuously until low crop yields appeared The land is then abandoned until natural vegetation well grown on it (bush fallow) After several years of bush fallow the farmers return to their original locations The longer the duration of the bush fallow the higher the restoration of soil fertility Why the yield is declined? Because of soil fertility declination, high incidence of weeds, disease and insects 10 II. Bare fallow cultivation Bare fallow is a modification of bush fallow happened for every two or three years Farmers cultivated their lands for two or three years and left the lands bare fallow for one year and use them again for production During bare fallowing period the weeds are plowed under before flowering and decomposed easily to improve soil fertility 11 III. Continuous cropping It is the cultivation of the same pieces of land year after year. Continuous cropping is associated with higher level of technology and management to maintain high soil fertility and protection against pests Under continuous cropping soil fertility is maintained by: Industrial fertilizers, limes and gypsum Organic products- FYM and compost Selection of crops and crop combination for crop rotation and intercropping 12 Continuous cropping could be: Monoculture (mono-cropping or sole cropping) Crop rotation Intercropping What is mono-cropping? It is a continuous growing of the same crop species on the same land, or the same pieces of land is cultivated with the same crop species year after year What is crop rotation? Crop rotation is defined as a system of growing different types of crops in recurrent succession on the same land 13 Crop rotation should include 1. A legume/pulse crop to increase soil nitrogen 2. An inter-tilled crop to control weeds 3. A grass crop to maintain soil humus Importance of crop rotation Maintaining soil fertility Minimizing insect and disease infestation Minimizing the population of the same weed species Improving soil physical properties Minimize crop failure (risk avoidance) Minimize coast of production and maximize the farmers’ income Food and nutrition security?????? 14 Sole cropping and intercropping Sole cropping is the practice of growing one variety alone in a pure stand on the field Inter-cropping is the practice of growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same field The various crops in the inter-crop do not necessarily have to be sown or harvested at the same time 15 Types of inter-cropping (spatial arrangement) 1. Row inter-cropping crops in the inter-crop are grown in separate rows 2. Mixed inter-cropping Crops are grown intermingled with each other 3. Relay inter-cropping A second crop variety is sown between the stands of an existing sole crop just before the first crop is harvested Example, maize + tef 16 Wheat and broad bean row intercropping 17 Strip intercropping 18 Maize-haricot bean row intercropping 19 Maize sole cropping 20 Haricot bean sole cropping 21 Agronomic classification based on the purpose of a crop Cereals-are grasses cultivated for their edible seeds Pulse or legumes- are grain cops grown for their green pods and beans or peas and dry seeds Vegetable crops- are crops consumed as fresh or preserved Root crops- are cultivated for their parts Sugar crops- sugar cane, sugar beet Oil crops: are crops on which food or industrial oils are extracted from their seeds (sunflower, safflower, sesame, niger seed, rape seed, line seed, nut, soy bean, castor bean) Fiber crops- cotton, sisal, Forage crops- are grown for animal feed in the form of hay, fodder, silage (maize, barley, oat, alfalfa) Tuber crops- potato Stimulant crops- coffee, tea, mint, tobacco 22 Growth and development of plants The life cycle of most plants begins with seed When environmental conditions are favorable, the dormant plant-embryo begins to grow The change from dormant condition to growth is germination External conditions for seed germination are moisture, oxygen, temperature and some times sun light or darkness The soil temperature should be above 15oC, and the soil not dry or water logged. Water logging causes shortage of oxygen in soils For proper seed germination the three environmental conditions should be found in proper balance Following the absorption of water by seeds starch is changed to sugar by enzymes. The sugar is easily dissolved in water and readily used by the embryo 23 Emergence is the coming out of seedlings from the soil. There are two types emergence a) Epigeal- the cotyledons are pushed above the soil surface (soy bean, pigeon pea) b) Hypogeal- the cotyledon is left in the soil (cereals) There are three main parts of the seedling a) Root b) Hypocotyle- from the uppermost root hairs to the first node c) Epicotyle- the plant portion above the first node (stem) 24  Environmental stresses Abiotic Biotic Climate Soil Pests Diseases Weeds Precipitation Temperature Wind Radiation Humidity Soil Soil Flood Drought Heat Frost acidity alkalility 25 Means or ways of increasing cop yields World crop production can be augmented with 1. Extensive farming In extensive farming, yield is increased by increasing arable lands through cultivating new lands, irrigating deserts and draining swampy areas 1. Intensive farming In intensive farming, the performance of crops and productivity of the arable land is increased through principles of crop production starting from seed-bed preparation to proper yield grain storage 26 Problems tree Political instability poverty Famine Low yield low/no input drought Poor soil fertility Pests & disease weeds Poor field management erosion Land shortage flood wind deforestation Population pressure polygamy religion Needs of parents 27 Solution tree Peace Food security High yield production Proper field management Soil fertility Inputs utilization Irrigation Soil conservation drainage Afforestation Family planning Education 28 Principles of crop production or packaging approach 29 To produce high amount and quality yield we should apply full packages of crop production The packages consists of: 1. Good land preparation The land to be ready for planting, the conditions of the soil must facilitate: Sowing, germination of seeds Emergence of seedlings Subsequent growth and development Therefore the land should be Free from weeds Level With smaller soil clods 30  Land preparation operations are 1. Plowing- to break soil surface and bury weeds and crop residue 2. Harrowing- to destroy weeds that may have germinated after the first plow and to break the soil clods 3. Leveling- to have a smooth seed bed 4. Rolling –to compact the soil for tef crop to minimize soil erosion together with tef seed because tef is planted on the surface The number of tillage or land preparation depends on 1. The initial conditions of the land (compacted and weedy) 2. The seed size of a crop 3. The nature of the soil (heavy or light) 2. quality seed of the right variety a) True-to-type: the variety must be compatible with the environment because each variety has its own environmental requirements b) Pure-to-type: the seed of a given variety should not have seeds of other varieties and weeds 31 c) healthy- not broken, free from disease pathogen and insect damage d) High germinablity- the viable seed has a germination percentage of 90- 100% in laboratory e) Plump and uniform seed size give vigour seedlings with rapid and uniform growth and compete well with weeds 3. Application of optimum fertilizer rate Fertilizer rate depends on soil fertility crop species 4. Sowing the right seeding rate to get optimum plant population to minimize competition between plants to reduce plant lodging and disease problem 32 Seeding rate depends on tillering capacity of the variety germinability of seed soil fertility and rainfall purpose of the crop (for grain yield or animal feed) 5. Sowing or planting in the right time helps to minimize insect and disease problems enables the tillers to produce seeds helps the crop to use the soil moisture before the onset of the dry season 6. Sowing at the correct depth seedlings may be emerged nearly at the same time and have uniform growth if the seeds are planted at the same depth Depth of sowing is influenced by Size of the seed Type of emergence Soil type Soil moisture 33 7. Timely weed control Crop seedlings at early growth stage are poorly compete with weeds, as a result tiller formation and then plant population is poor Generally 3-4 weeks from emergence is a critical time for competition. Therefore weed control at early seedling stage facilitates the development of tillers in cereals, and branches in pulses 8. Timely insect and disease control 9. Timely harvesting Early or late harvesting causes yield reduction in quantity as well as quality Early harvesting results in seed shrinkage and storage problem (insect and mold) due to higher grain moisture content Late harvesting also causes loss of grains due to seed shattering and stem breakage resulted from over drying 34 10. Drying grains to the required moisture content Grains must be dried out before storage For cereals 12.5-13% Pulses 10% Oil crops 7-8% 11. Cleaning and careful storage A yield loss in storage is Quantitative- loss in weight due to rat, weevil and grain moth damage Qualitative-change in color, smell, taste, nutritional value, loss of germination and contamination mycotoxins causing illness and death (nut and maize) for domestic animals and human being High temperatures and high relative humidity (>65%) and high grain-moisture content in the store are favourable conditions for storage pests like weevil, moth and molds 35 Storage problems can be solved by Storage hygiene Controlled ventilation Fumigation Properly drying grains In general neat, cool and dry store is important for safe storage against storage pests and molds 36 37