Indian Agriculture Test - 1

The correct answer is It is the farming with maximum use of chemicals and fertilizers.

Organic Farming

It is a method of farming system which primarily aimed at cultivating and raising crop by using organic waste (crop, animal and farm watse) and other biological material along with microbes(biofertilizers) to release nutrients to crops.

Technique Used in Organic farming

• Crop rotation
• Green Manure
• Biological pest control
• Compost

Facts to remember

• Sikkim became the first 100% organic Indian state in world.
• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana promotes organic farming through the adoption of organic village by cluster approach and a participatory guarantee system of certification. Its definition of ‘organic’ comprises all types of chemical-free farming, including Zero Budget Natural Farming.

Concept:

• Every region follows different agricultural practices.
• Depending on the type of crop and scale of farming various agricultural practices are adopted.

Explanation:

About Jhoom farming:

• Jhoom farming is a type of shifting agriculture.
• It is the most common type of agricultural practice in northeast India.
• It is also called Slash and burn agriculture.
• It is a shifting cultivation practice.
• It is also known as fire-fallow cultivation.
• After cutting one crop, the land is left as it is for some years.
• Nothing is grown there. 
• Forest land is cleaned and ashes are added to the soil.
• Cultivated spots/ areas are usually small.
• Short periods of crop occupation alternate with long fallow periods.
• In one farm different types of crops like maize, vegetables, chillies, rice can be grown.
• The farmer cultivates on a plot of land temporarily.
• When finding the land infertile to grow due to soil exhaustion, they move on to another plot.

​Thus,

(A) After cutting one crop the land is left as it is for some year - Correct

(B) The weeds (bamboo etc.) are pulled out and burnt in the field - Incorrect

(C) The ash of the weeds acts as manure.- Correct

(D) When the land is ready for farming it is ploughed deeply before growing the seeds. - Incorrect

Concept:

Insecticide: 

• Insecticides are agents of biological and chemical origin that are used to kill or control insects.
• Based on Chemical nature, insecticides are classified as Inorganic and Organic.
• Organic insecticides mainly constitute C, H, and O.
• Organic insecticides are in turn classified as Hydrocarbon oil or petroleum oil, Animal Origin insecticides, Plant origin insecticides, and Synthetic organic insecticides.
• Insecticides are mostly used in agriculture, medicine industries etc.

Explanation:

• Pyrethrin is an insecticide that kills a wide range of insect pests including ants, mosquitoes, moths, flies and fleas.
• It kills off insects almost instantly upon contact.
• They are the alkaloids extracted from the plant leaves and parts of Chrysanthemum and are also known as natural insecticides which are widely used in modern-day agriculture for killing insects.
• Nicotine has been used as a natural insecticide and is the archetype for the large range of synthetic neonicotinoid insecticides.
• Nicotine is an alkaloid and natural insecticide that acts as an anti-herbivore chemical in tobacco plants.

Examples of Organic Insecticides:

Concept:

In the initial stage the crop requires water for its growth, so with the increase in the supply of irrigation water, the yield of the crop increases but after a certain limit due to various reasons like waterlogging and increase in salt content the yield of the crop decreases.

Important Points

The conditions in which the crop root-zone gets deprived of proper aeration due to the presence of excessive moisture or water content, the filed is said to be waterlogged.

Effects of waterlogging:

• Difficulty in cultivation operations
• Growth of water weeds & wild aquatic plants
• Rise of salts in surface layers
• Restricted root growth
• Lower soil temperature
• Plant diseases

The Correct Option is ''Mixed Farming''
Key Points

• Mixed farming is a system of farming on a particular farm that includes crop production, raising of livestock etc. 
• For example - a mixed farm may grow cereal crops such as wheat or rye and also keep cattle, sheep, pigs or poultry
• It is commonly seen in countries like India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Afghanistan, South Africa, China, Central Europe, Canada, and Russia.

Additional Information

• Mixed cropping is the growing of two or more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land
• Inter-cropping: Growing two or more crops in definite row patterns is known as inter-cropping.
• Crop rotation: The growing of different crops on a piece of land in pre-planned succession is called crop rotation
• Organic farming is a farming system with minimal or no use of chemicals as fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides etc. and with a maximum input of organic manures, recycled farm wastes, and bio-agents, with healthy cropping systems.

Mistake Points

• Mixed Farming and Mixed cropping are two separate concepts.
• In mixed cropping, two or more plants are simultaneously cropped in the same field.
• Mixed farming means crops + animal rearing.

The correct answer is Wheat.

• The ideal condition of the wheat crop is-
  • The ideal wheat climate has a winter temperature 10° to 15°C and summer temperature varying from 21°C to 26°C.
  • It thrives well at a rainfall of 75 cm and the highest limit of wheat cultivation is 100cm.
  • Alluvial Soil and Black Soils are ideal soils for its production.
  • Land-Plain land or gentle slope is ideal.
  • Top Wheat producing states of the country are-
    • UP > Punjab > MP > Haryana
  • Wheat like Barley, peas, gram and mustard is a Rabi crop and is sown in October- December and harvested in April-June.
  • India is the second-largest producer of wheat after China.

The Correct Answer is "Catch Crop".

Important Points

• A Catch crop is a crop that is sown to utilize land that would otherwise lie fallow; It may be grown between the period of one main crop and the next.
• It generally grows and matures quickly.
• Catch crops are also crops that are sown to prevent minerals from being flushed away from the soil.
• It is sown to prevent minerals from being flushed away from the soil.
• It is a type of crop that makes more efficient use of growing space.
• The purpose of a catch crop is to increase annual dry matter production, to take up soil mineral and urine nitrogen, and to reduce the risk of leaching or runoff.
• It is grown with the primary objective of catching excess nitrogen in soils that otherwise may be lost through leaching.
• The reduction in nitrate leaching losses results from the crop's rapid uptake of residual mineral nitrogen and the reduction of the soil water content of the soil, which reduces the risk of drainage.
• Sowing a catch crop in autumn or winter can reduce nitrate leaching losses.

Additional Information

Cash crop :

• A cash crop or profit crop is an agricultural crop that is grown to sell for profit.
• It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm.
• The term is used to differentiate marketed crops from subsistence crops, which are those fed to the producer's own livestock or grown as food for the producer's family.

Intercrop :

• Intercropping is the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field.
• The most common goal of intercropping is to produce a greater yield on a given piece of land by making use of resources or ecological processes that would otherwise not be utilized by a single crop.

Companion crop :

• Companion planting in gardening and agriculture is the planting of different crops in proximity for any of a number of different reasons, including pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial insects, maximizing the use of space, and otherwise increase crop productivity.

The correct answer is before the weeds produce flowers and seeds.

Key Points

• Removal of weed (or weeding) is done before the weeds produce flowers and seeds because:
  • If they flower they will also produce seeds and finally result in the dispersal of the seeds which makes it difficult to control the weeds because each seed will produce a new weed plant.
  • The best time to remove weeds is also when the soil is damp and moist.

Additional Information

• Weeding is the process to remove out the weeds.
  • Weeding is required because weeds are competitive plants as they reduce the useful crop yield by acquiring space, fertilizers, and nutrients from the soil
• Types of Weeding
• Hand Pulling and Cultivation
  • This refers to the process of weed removal by hands.
  • Certain tools such as a shovel can be used for the task.
• Pre-emergent herbicides​
  • Pre-emergent herbicides prevent the growth of weeds.
  • It is applied to the surface of the ground after planting perennial or annual plants. The plant should be in an active growth stage for effective results.
• Mulches
  • Mulches are spread on the garden to restrict the access of the sun to the weed seeds, thereby, preventing the growth of the weeds.

The correct answer is The High-income groups, who spend a large percentage of their income on food, benefited from this decline in relative prices.

Key Points

• The Green Revolution
  • The green revolution refers to the large increase in the production of food grains resulting from the use of high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds, especially for wheat and rice. 
  • Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • The use of these seeds required the use of fertilizer and pesticide in the correct quantities as well as a regular supply of water. 
  • At independence, about 75 percent of the country’s population was dependent on agriculture. 
  • Productivity in the agricultural sector was very low because of the use of old technology and the absence of required infrastructure for the vast majority of farmers.
  • India’s agriculture vitally depends on the monsoon and if the monsoon fell short the farmers were in trouble unless they had access to irrigation facilities which very few had.
  • The stagnation in agriculture during the colonial rule was permanently broken by the green revolution.
  • This refers to the large increase in production of food grains resulting from the use of high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds, especially for wheat and rice.
  • The use of HYV seeds required the use of fertilizer and pesticide in the correct quantities as well as a regular supply of water; the need for these inputs in correct proportions is vital.
  • The farmers who could benefit from HYV seeds required reliable irrigation facilities as well as the financial resources to purchase fertilizer and pesticides.
  • As a result, in the first phase of the green revolution (the approximately mid-1960s up to mid-1970s), the use of HYV seeds was restricted to the more affluent states such as Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. 
  • Further, the use of HYV seeds primarily benefited the wheat-growing regions only. 
  • A good proportion of the rice and wheat produced during the green revolution period (available as marketed surplus) was sold by the farmers in the market.
  • As a result, the price of food grains declined relative to other items of consumption. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • The low-income groups, who spend a large percentage of their income on food, benefited from this decline in relative prices. Hence, statement 3 is incorrect.
  • The green revolution enabled the government to procure a sufficient amount of food grains to build a stock that could be used in times of food shortage. Hence, statement 4 is correct.

The correct answer is September-October.

Key Points

• The crops which are sown in the rainy season are called Kharif crops.
• Kharif crops are the crops that are sown at the beginning of the rainy season, e.g. between April and May. 
• The Kharif crops are harvested in the month of September-October
• Important crops grown during this season are paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, tur (arhar), moong, urad, cotton, jute, groundnut and soybean.
• Kharif crop requires high temperature and high humidity.

Additional Information

• There are three cropping seasons in India.
  • Rabi.
  • Kharif.
  • Zaid.
• Rabi crops are sown in the winter season from October to December and harvested in the summer season from April to June.
  • Wheat, Barley, Peas, Gram, and Mustard-produced during Rabi.
• Zaid season is a short season In between the Rabi and the Kharif seasons.
  • Cucumber and watermelon are produced during Zaid.