Agriculture Fundamentals
Cropping Systems, Farming Practices & Allied Sectors
📊 Key Facts
- Agriculture is livelihood for ~58% of India's population
- India ranks 1st in net cropped area (followed by USA and China)
- Share of agri + allied sectors in GDP: 19.9% (2020-21) at current prices — down from 50%+ in 1950s
- GVA growth in agri sector: 5.9% (2017-18) → 2.4% (2018-19) → 4.0% (2019-20) → 3.4% (2020-21)
- Employment share: 63% (1991) → 43.9% (2018) — agriculture employs declining but still largest share
📈 Recent Trends in Agriculture
- Dominance of food crops over non-food crops
- Dominance of cereals among food crops
- Decline in coarse cereals (millets, jowar)
- Declining importance of Kharif crops (more monsoon-dependent than Rabi)
- Declining share of agri in GDP (50% → less than 20%)
- Increasing trend in Horticulture & Floriculture output
- Growing institutionalisation of agricultural credit
- Growing volume of subsidies (fertilizer, irrigation, electricity)
🗺️ Cropping Pattern
Indicates the temporal and/or spatial arrangement of crops in a particular area. Depends on availability of various factors/resources (water, soil, climate, market). A one-year concept.
🔄 Cropping System
Comprises all cropping patterns grown on the farm and their interaction with farm resources, other enterprises, available technology and physical, biological, technological and sociological environments. Includes planting arrangements in time and space with associated crop management techniques.
| Season | Category | Crops/Description | Special Feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kharif (Monsoon) |
Rice-Based | Rice, then lentil/gram/pea/berseem/linseed | Relay Cropping — seed of next crop sown by broadcasting into maturing rice. Mixed varietal cropping — early rice (ahu) + deep water rice (bao); practiced in West Bengal |
| Non-Rice Based | Maize, Bajra, Cotton | Alternative crops in arid/semi-arid zones | |
| Rabi (Post-Monsoon) |
Wheat and Gram Based | Wheat, Gram (Chickpea) | Grown under identical climate; can substitute each other in the same field |
| Rabi-Jowar Based | Jowar (Sorghum), Bajra, Pulses, Oilseeds, Tobacco | Alternative crops alongside Jowar in Deccan plateau |
One crop, one piece of land
- Tree crop planting pattern
- Annual crop spatial pattern
More than one crop, one piece of land
Sequential Cropping — crops grown one after another:
- Double crop, Triple crop
- Relay crop, Cover crop
Intercropping — crops grown simultaneously:
- Mixed crop, Row inter-crop
- Strip crop, Multi-storey crop
🌾 Mixed Cropping
- Aimed to minimise the risk of crop failure
- Seeds of different crops are mixed before sowing
- All crops sown at the same time
- Crop sowing is random
- Pest control is relatively difficult
- Equal emphasis on all crops
- Same fertilizer and pesticide applied to all crops
🌱 Intercropping
- Aimed to increase productivity per unit area
- Seeds are not mixed
- Crops can be sown at same or different times
- Different crops grouped in rows/columns
- Pest control is relatively easier
- More emphasis on main crops
- Specific fertilizer and pesticide for each crop
📋 Principles of Organic Farming
- Crop rotation
- No agrochemicals
- No GMOs
- No synthetic fertilizers
- Use organic fertilizers
- Reduce use of non-renewable resources
- Use of local resources
✅ Effects of Organic Farming
- Reduced soil loss
- Lower energy use
- Lower water consumption
- Improved soil water-holding capacity
- Increased soil organic matter
- Larger floral, faunal, and microbiological biodiversity
📜 Multiple Certification Systems
Cumbersome, time-consuming, and expensive. NPOP (National Programme for Organic Production) certification is third-party — costs prohibitive for small farmers.
📉 Productivity Dip in Transition
Initial transition from chemical to organic farming causes yield dips for 2–3 years, making the process economically difficult for small farmers who cannot absorb income loss.
💰 High Price — Low Demand
Expensive organic produce discourages customers and affects sales. India's organic food market (US$1.9 billion, 2024) is growing but predominantly urban premium segment.
🌿 What is ZBNF?
A natural farming technique developed by Subhash Palekar in which farming is done without use of chemicals, reducing production cost towards zero through utilization of all natural resources available in and around the crops. Unlike organic farming, ZBNF requires no external organic inputs or tillage.
🌱 Beejamrutham
Seed treatment with cow dung and cow urine based formulations. Protects seeds and seedlings from soil-borne and seed-borne diseases.
🐄 Jeevamrutham
Soil fertility through cow dung and cow urine based concoctions (microbial culture). Activates soil microorganisms. 200 litres per acre per month.
🌿 Mulching
Soil cover through trees, cover crops, and crop residues. Maintains soil moisture, suppresses weeds, feeds soil microbiota, prevents erosion.
💧 Waaphasa
Water vapour condensation for better soil moisture. Advocates alternate day or every third day watering instead of flood irrigation — reduces water use dramatically.
🌍 Definition
A farming system that can prevent losses of arable land while regenerating degraded lands. It conserves natural resources, biodiversity and labour. Zero/Minimal tillage is combined with intercropping and crop rotation.
🔄 Minimum Soil Disturbance
Zero or minimal tillage. Avoids plowing that disrupts soil structure and destroys soil microbiome. Reduces energy costs and carbon emissions.
🌱 Permanent Soil Cover
Crop residue or live mulch always covers the soil. Prevents erosion, maintains moisture, feeds soil organisms, regulates temperature.
🔁 Crop Rotation / Intercropping
Systematic crop diversity over time and space. Breaks pest/disease cycles, maintains soil fertility, reduces chemical dependency.
💧 Hydroponics
Method of growing plants without soil, using mineral nutrient solutions in water. Plants suspended with roots submerged in nutrient-rich water. Roots absorb water and nutrients but do not perform anchoring — plants must be mechanically supported from above.
Core elements: Fresh water, Oxygen, Root Support, Nutrients, Light
- Advantages: Grow anywhere, higher yields, fewer resources, easy troubleshooting
- Ideal for deserts and arctic regions — effective alternative farming method
- Conservation of water and nutrients; controlled plant growth
🌫️ Aeroponics
High-tech type of hydroponic gardening where the growth medium is primarily air. Roots hang in air and are misted with nutrient solution every few minutes. If misting cycles are interrupted, roots dry out rapidly — requires continuous operation.
- Greater oxygenation of roots than hydroponics
- Even higher yields and faster growth
- Used in space agriculture research (NASA)
- More energy-intensive and technically complex
🐟 Aquaponics — Aquaculture + Hydroponics Combined
A system combining conventional aquaculture with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment. Plants are fed with aquatic animals' excreta/wastes. Wastes broken down by nitrifying bacteria — initially into nitrites, then into nitrates — that plants use as nutrients. Water is recirculated back to the aquaculture system after being cleaned by plants.
Cycle: Fish produce waste → Nitrifying bacteria convert waste to nitrates → Plants absorb nitrates (cleaning water) → Clean water returns to fish → repeat
🌱 Sustainable Agriculture — Definition
A farming system "capable of maintaining their productivity and usefulness to society indefinitely" — must be resource-conserving, socially supportive, commercially competitive, and environmentally sound.
💧 Soil & Water Conservation
Prevent erosion, maintain soil organic matter, manage watershed, rainwater harvesting.
🌿 Integrated Nutrient Management
Balance organic + inorganic nutrients based on soil health cards; reduce synthetic fertilizer overuse.
🔁 Crop Rotations
Systematic crop diversity; nitrogen fixation through legumes; pest and disease cycle breaking.
💧 Efficient Irrigation
"More Crop Per Drop" — drip and sprinkler irrigation; micro-irrigation under PMKSY.
🐛 Integrated Pest Management
Biological control, resistant varieties, minimal chemical use; Farmer Field Schools for IPM training.
🌱 Natural Weed Control
Mulching, cover crops, crop competition — reduce herbicide dependence.
🍎 Pomology
Science of fruit farming — apples, mangoes, bananas, grapes, citrus fruits.
🥦 Olericulture
Science of vegetable farming — potato, onion, tomato, cabbage, brinjal.
🌸 Floriculture
Science of flower farming — rose, marigold, jasmine, chrysanthemum; for domestic + export markets.
🌳 Landscape Gardening
Design and maintenance of outdoor spaces for aesthetic and functional purposes.
🧑🌾 Traditional Marketing Methods
Produce directly sold by farmers through multiple intermediaries. ~50% of Indian agri produce sold via these channels. Farmers capture only 30–35% of consumer price.
🤝 Cooperative Marketing
Agriproducts purchased directly from farmers through NAFED's marketing network — eliminating middlemen. FPOs (Farmer Producer Organisations) are a modern form of cooperative marketing.
💻 Emerging Models
- e-NAM (National Agriculture Market)
- Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)
- Contract Farming
- Commodity & Future Markets
🏛️ APMC — Statutory Market Committee
APMC is a statutory market committee constituted by a State Government for trade in notified agricultural, horticultural, or livestock products under the APMC Act. Agriculture is a State subject — numerous mandis under various APMC laws exist where the first sale of notified commodities happens.
- Farmers must sell notified commodities only at designated APMC mandis in most states
- Commission agents (arthiyas) play intermediary role — often a source of exploitation
- Model APMC Act 2003 and Model State/UT APLM Act 2017 — attempts to overhaul the system
- e-NAM integrates APMC mandis into an online platform for transparent price discovery
- The three Farm Laws (2020) attempted to allow trading outside APMCs — repealed in 2021
🔬 ICAR — Indian Council of Agricultural Research
- Established in 1929 as a registered society under Societies Registration Act, 1860
- Autonomous organisation under DARE (Department of Agricultural Research and Education)
- DARE established: December 1973
- ICAR has played a pioneering role in ushering the Green Revolution
- 102 institutes, 71 All India Coordinated Research Projects (AICRPs)
- Supervises 731 KVKs through 11 ATARIs
📊 India's Agri R&D Spending
- India: 0.30% of Agriculture GDP — extremely low
- China: 0.62% | USA: 1.20% | Brazil: 1.82% | South Africa: 3.06%
- India spends the lowest among major agricultural economies
- Low R&D spending → slow yield improvement → persistent productivity gap
- Compare: Israel spends ~2.5% — world's most efficient irrigation R&D
| Year | Development | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | Establishment of Department of Agriculture in each Indian province | Formal beginning of organised agricultural administration in India |
| 1919 | IARI (Imperial Agricultural Research Institute) established | In response to Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms; later became premier agri research institution |
| 1929 | ICAR established | Coordinating body for all agricultural research; apex body under DARE |
| 1964 | ICAR's National Demonstrations programme | ICAR's first major foray into agricultural extension activities |
| 1970s | SAUs, T&V System, KVKs launched | World Bank-sponsored T&V system; first KVK at Puducherry 1974 (Mohan Singh Mehta Committee) |
| 1973 | DARE established | Dedicated department for coordinating agri research and education in India |
| 1998 | ATMA introduced | District-level autonomous body for decentralised, farmer-driven extension |
| 2005 | Agri-Clinics & Agri-Business Centres (AC&ABC) Scheme | Private sector participation in agricultural extension services; trained agri-graduates |
🐄 Livestock Census Key Facts
- Conducted since 1919; 20 censuses so far
- Released by Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying
- 20th Livestock Census (2019): 535.78 million total — 4.6% increase over 2012
- Top states by livestock (2019): Uttar Pradesh (67.8 mn) → Rajasthan (56.8 mn) → MP (36.3 mn) → West Bengal (37.4 mn) → Bihar (32.9 mn)
- Livestock GVA contribution: 24.32% (2014-15) → 28.63% (2018-19) of total agri & allied GVA
🥛 Livestock Population — Species Share (2019)
- Cattle: 35.94% (largest share)
- Goat: 27.80%
- Buffalo: 20.45%
- Sheep: 13.87%
- Pig: 1.69%
- Others: 0.23%
- Milk production (2018-19): Indigenous Buffalo (35%) + Crossbred Cows (26%) are top contributors
1. ZBNF was developed by Subhash Palekar and involves farming without chemical inputs.
2. Beejamrutham refers to soil fertility through cow dung and cow urine-based concoctions.
3. Waaphasa refers to water vapour condensation for better soil moisture management.
4. ZBNF requires plowing and soil tillage unlike Organic Farming.
Which are CORRECT?
