Fundamentals of Agronomy-I: AGRO - 111
Fundamentals of Agronomy-I: AGRO - 111
Fundamentals of Agronomy-I
Important Topics
Agronomy-
‘It is the branch of agricultural science which deals with the principles and practices of field
management for the crop production.’
Scope-
scope means at which things or places we can apply the knowledge of Agronomy. We can get all
possible things (production, yield) which the basic farmers or producers need. We can study of
the following contents…..
- Crop production - by maximizing our yield.
- Soil management - by improving soil fertility & productivity.
- Proper method of tillage - by using modern concept of tillage (Minimum tillage, Zero
tillage).
- Suitable time of sowing - most important for seed germination & stability of plants.
- Proper method of sowing - (Drilling, Dibbling etc) for maintaining plant population.
- Maintaining farm implements & machineries in proper shape.
- Management of livestock including their feeding, management & disposal of farm and
animal products like milk and eggs etc.
Importance-
For getting higher yield, agronomy benefits in…
- Organic farming
- Sustainable agriculture
- Forestry
- Mixed farming
- Poultry production
- Sheep & Goat rearing
- Mixed & Inter Cropping etc.
2) Explain relationship of agronomy with other sciences & Role of agronomist in short.
Relationship with other sciences –
agronomy has a deep relation with the following sciences these are…
- Soil science & agriculture chemistry
- Genetics & plant breeding
- Horticulture
- Crop physiology
- Animal husbandry & dairy science
- Agro meteorology
- Agriculture extension
- Agriculture engineering
- Agriculture economics
- Agro-forestry
- Statistics
- Basic science like Mathematics, Zoology, Ecology etc
Role of agronomist- are…
- He should know the deep knowledge of agronomy.
- He should have the ability to convert his theoretical knowledge into practical.
- He is the co-ordinator of different SMS. (subject matter specialist)
- He is the consultant for the farmers.
- He should have mastery in agriculture production through research.
- He has well information of conducting experiments on different aspects like sowing time,
seed rate, spacing, fertilizer requirement, weed management, cropping systems etc.
Objectives-
- To make the soil loose and porous (friable).
- To remove weeds.
- To mix manures and fertilizers.
- To destroy insects and their eggs.
- To aerate the soil.
- To increase the soil temperature.
- To remove stubbles.
- To break hard pan (big stones).
- To incorporate organic manures.
- To have repeated exchange of air & gases. Etc.
4) What is Soil tilth or Tilth ? Explain the characteristics of good soil tilth & how soil tilth
is measured.
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Tilth - ‘It is the physical condition of soil resulting from tillage & said to be good when the soil
is soft, friable and properly aerated.’
5) What are the Types of Tillage ? write the names of tools & implements used in different
tillage operations.
Types of tillage operations…
A) Preparatory tillage
‘Tillage operations which are carried out from the time of harvesting of the previous crop
to the sowing of the next crop are known as preparatory tillage/cultivation.
i) Primary tillage – Ploughing (cutting & inverting the soil)
ii) Secondary tillage – Clod crushing, Land leveling, Discing (Disking), Manure mixing.
B) Seedbed preparation
After preparatory tillage the land is to be laid out properly for irrigating crops if irrigation
is available for sowing or planting seedlings which is known as seedbed preparation.
i) Harrowing
ii) Preparation of irrigation layouts – Ridge & Furrow, Flat beds, BBF etc
iii) Sowing & covering of seeds
C) Intercultural operations / Inter-tillage / Inter-cultivation
The tillage operations which are carried out in the standing crops. Viz.
i) Thinning ii) Gap filling
iii) Weeding iv) Hoeing
v) Top dressing of fertilizers vi) Earthing up etc.
Tools & implements used in tillage operations
Ploughing – MB plough, Chisel plough, Desi plough, Disc plough, Sub soil plough etc.
Clod crushing – Norwegian harrow, Plank etc.
Land leveling – Bulldozer, Keni, Plank-leveler etc.
Manure mixing – Manually, Disc harrow, country plough, cultivator etc.
Harrowing – Blade harrow, Disc harrow etc
Irrigation layout – Ridger, Bund former (Sarayantra), Blade harrow etc
Inter-tillage – Weeding hook (khurpi), Hoe, Japanese hoe.
Harvesting – Combine harvester etc.
&
Stubble Mulch Tillage –
Clean cultivation and unnecessary ploughing lead to soil erosion due to heavy rains and
wind in the arid lands. A new approach has been developed for protecting soils all the time either
by growing crops or spreading of crop residues.
‘Covering the soil surface with crop residues or stubbles during the fallow periods for
protecting soil is known as stubble mulch tillage or stubble mulch farming.’
7) Define Seed and write the qualities/characteristics of good seed.
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Seed - ‘Any material used for sowing or planting or propagation of a crop is called as seed. It
may be in the form of seed or seedlings or tubers or bulb or rhizome or root or cuttings or graft
or any other vegetatively propagated material.’
Note- (Vernalization – is the treatment in which the seeds are soaked in water for inducing
germination. By giving this treatment, the maturity period of long durational crop is
shortened.)
Name of crops Seed treatment Diseases
Sorghum 300 mesh fine sulphar dust @ 3gm/kg of seed. Grain smut
Bajra 20 % brine solution (NaCl or common salt solution) Ergot
Rice 3 % brine solution. Blast
Wheat Thirum (Fungicide) @ 2.5 gm/kg of seed. Smut
9) Define Seed Dormancy. Write down the causes of seed dormancy.
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Seed Dormancy- ‘It is an internal condition of viable seed which does not allow its actual
germination, although suitable temperature, moisture and aeration etc are provided.’
12) Define plant population. What are the effects of plant population on crop growth and
yield.
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Plant population- ‘It is defined as the number of plants per unit area’. Eg. Optimum plant
population of kharif hybrid sorghum is 1,37,000 to 1,50,000 plants/ha. ( plants pe hectare).
Effect of plant population plant growth & yield – Plant densities influence the crop growth
considerably….
1. High density is conducive for building up of pests diseases.
2. At very high density, seedling mortality is common.
3. High plant density may decrease protein & oil content.
4. At high plant density lodging is more.
5. With increasing density, competition for light, plant height increased.
6. Widely spaced plants have circular root distribution.
7. There is interpenetrated root growth at high density.
Fertilizers – these are industrially manufactured chemicals containing plant nutrients which
when added to the soil makes it productive and promotes plant growth.
15) Give the classification of manures & fertilizers with suitable examples.
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Mainly three basic types…
A) Organic (Natural) – includes
Bulky organic manures Concentrated organic manures
FYM Groundnut cake
Compost Linseed cake
Vermi-compost Neem cake
Green manure cotton seed cake
Sheep manure Bone meal
Sewage waste Meat meal
Sludge Slaughter house refuse etc
C) Biofertilizers –
1. Rhizobium 2. Azotobacter 3. Azospirillum
4. PSB 5. Blue green algae
16) Enlist the methods of fertilizer application & explain any one. Write the time of
fertilizer application in short.
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Methods of fertilizer application are…
1. Broadcasting
2. Drilling
3. Band placement
4. Point placement
5. Injection into soil
6. Fertigation
7. Root dipping
8. Foliar application
17) Define Green Manuring, write types of green manuring with example, write advantages
& disadvantages of green manuring.
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‘Green manuring is a practice of ploughing or turning the undecomposed green plant tissues into
the soil for the purpose of improving soil fertility.’
1) Green manuring in situ Sunhemp, Dhaincha, Guar beans, Kulthi, Senji etc.
B) Curative – it includes
1) Mechanical/Physical methods
2) Cultural methods
3) Biological methods
4) Chemical methods
Explanation-
1) Physical
i) Hand weeding ii) Hoeing iii) Hand pulling iv) Burning
v) Flooding etc
2) Cultural
i) Crop rotation ii) Kind of crops
iii) Use of fertilizers iv) Date & seed rate of sowing etc
3) Biological
Using of living organisms (insects) for controlling the weeds.
Ex.
Bio-Agents (insects) Host weeds
1. Cochineal scale (insect) Prickly pear (Nagphana)
2. Moths Lantana camara (Ghaneri)
3. Zygograma bicolorata (beetle) Parthenium (Gajar gavat) etc
4) Chemical
Using of different types of chemicals for the control of weeds.
Ex.
2,4-D, MCPA, Atrazine, Simazine, Glyphosate, Alachlor, Diuron, Pendamethalin etc
22) Define herbicides and classify it. Write short notes on Allelopathy or Allelopathic effect
of weed.
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Herbicides are the chemicals used for weed control and which suppress or destroy the growth of
weeds.
Classification of herbicides –
A) Based on chemical composition
B) Based on selectivity
C) Based on time of application
D) Based on formulation
E) Based on residual effect.
B) Based on selectivity-
1) Selective 2) Non-selective
i) Foliage ii) Soil application i) Foliage ii) Soil application
DNBP Simazine Glyphosate Soil fumigants -
Nitrofen Atrazine Paraquat Cynamide
Propanil Butachlor Dalapon Methyl bromide
2,4-D MCPA Sulphuric acid Soil sterilents
MCPA Nitrofen Sodium cloride NaCl
MCPB Dinitrophenols Etc Atrazine
Development- Plant development is an overall term which refers to the various changes that
occur in a plant during its life cycle.
In consideration of various horticultural crops and products, Watada et al. (1984) proposed the
following definition of development: ‘the series of processes from the initiation of growth to
death of a plant or plant part.’
Growth Curve -
It is an ‘S’ shaped curve obtained when we plot growth against time. It is also called
‘sigmoid curve’.
This curve mainly shows four phases of growth-
1. Lag phase - Initial slow growth occurs
2. log phase/grand period of growth/exponential phase - The rapid period of growth where
maximum growth is seen in a short period.
3. Diminishing phase - where growth is seen slow.
4. Stationary/steady phase - where finally growth stops.
This term has a following synonyms viz. Model plant type, Ideal plant type.
3) Crop ideotype - This ideotype performs best at commercial crop densities because it is a poor
competitor. In case of cereals a crop ideotype is erect, sparsely-tillered plant with small erect
leaves.
Other types -
4) Market ideotype - includes traits like seed colour, seed size, cooking & baking qualities. Etc.
5) Climatic ideotype - includes traits like heat & cold resistance, maturity duration, drought
resistance. Etc.
6) Edaphic ideotype – includes traits like salinity tolerance, mineral toxicity, deficiency
tolerance. Etc.
7) Stress ideotype – traits resistant to water stress.
8) Disease & pests resistance ideotype. Etc.
Crop distribution - it is the transfer of crop or crop varieties or new technology from one place
to the another place (locality).
30) What is physiological maturity & harvesting maturity ? Write about Cleaning, Drying
& Storage of field crops.
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Physiological maturity - is the developmental stage after which no further increase in dry matter
occurs in the economical part. Translocation of photosynthesis is stopped to economic part at the
physiological maturity stage.
Harvesting maturity - it occurs generally seven days after physiological maturity. Loss of
moisture from the plants occurs at this stage.
Cleaning – after threshing of earheds, grain should be separated from the bhussa. For this
purpose we can use natural wind or artificial wind by holding the threshed grains against wind.
Drying – grains should be dried in bright sunshine to remove excess moisture for keeping the
quality of grains.
Storage – we can store the grains in gunny bags, containers, storage house, bins, pots etc. for the
purpose of future use.