95% of human populations protein & most of its calories are obtained from traditional land-based agriculture of crops and livestock Crops Worlds food is provided by only 14 crop species Six crops provide >80% of the total calories Types of Crops Cash crops grown to be sold or traded, e.g. jute Subsistence crops used directly for food by the farmer or sold locally, e.g., rice
Seasonal crops of Bangladesh
Mainly two seasons Rabi and Kharif
Kharif Kharif 1 & Kharif 2 Overlapping occurs Many are grown in all seasons Crops are divided into cereals, pulses, fiber crops, oil seeds, root crops, vegetables, spice crops, fruit crops Rice and maize are grown in all seasons whereas wheat is grown in Rabi season (rainfed & irrigated), barley & kaon in Rabi season Lentil, khesari, chickpea, balckgram all pulses grown in Rabi season Mungbean, another pulse crop grown in both Rabi & Kharif seasons
Soil
Collection of natural body occupying portion of the Earths crust
that supports plant growth which have acquired properties due to the integrated action of climate and vegetation upon parent material as conditioned by relief over a period of time Four major components of soil are air (25%), water (25%), mineral matter (45%), and organic matter (5% by volume) Type of soil at a particular site depends on soil-forming factors : (1) Parent material, (2) Climate, (3) Topography, (4) Living organism, (5) Time Soil fertility refers to the capacity of a soil to supply the nutrients and physical properties necessary for plant growth Ironically, agriculture depends heavily on soil quality, but agriculture can lead to a decline in that quality a dilemma
Soil
A high-quality soil has all the nutrient elements, a physical structure
conducive to plant growth, and high organic matter content Organic matter includes dead, partially or completely decomposed crop or plant and animal remains, forest litter, leaves, twigs, etc OM is the store house of nutrients and provides good structure Good structure is key to soil fertility When original vegetation is cleared, soil becomes exposed to more sunshine and oxidation results Rapid oxidation results decline in OM Soil begins to lose fertility Soils also lose fertility through surface and subsurface runoff of dissolved nutrients Loss of fertility is faster in warmer & wetter climates than it is in colder or drier climates
Soil Plowing & Erosion
Plowing is the shattering soil uniformly with partial to
complete inversion Plowing opens the soil to erosion even more than removal of the original vegetation Erosion is the wearing away and transportation of land surface by running water, wind, ice, or other natural agents Soil loosened by plowing can blow by wind when dry & wash away with rain water Plowed lands loose upper layers containing the most fertile organic matter The less OM present in the soil, the more vulnerable the soil is to further erosion Once erosion starts, the process can easily accelerate
Tillage operation in soil to receive the crop
Soil Erosion
Soil Plowing & Erosion
Population pressures have led to overgrazing, deforestation,
destructive crop practices like clearing & burning steep, forested slopes and plowing grasslands All these activities degrade or remove natural vegetation causing the underlying soil to become much more susceptible to the destructive action of erosion The result is a vicious downward cycle of deteriorationland degradation Such land degradation results in a reduced productive potential and a diminished capacity to provide benefits to humanity All forms of agriculture lead to soil loss Loss varies with the crops and the methods of agriculture Land used for row crops & small grains without conservation practices result in greater erosion loss Worldwide, erosion removes about 25.4 billion tonnes of soil each year
Sediment Damage
Much of the eroded soil
ends up in waterways causing downstream sedimentation Sediments fill in productive waterways Nitrate, ammonia, phosphates, & other fertilizers carried by sediments can cause eutrophication in downstream waters
Making Soils Sustainable: Contour Plowing
With good management soil is continuously formed at the rate of
1 mm/yr Ideal farming would result in soil loss no greater than the formation of new soil One way to counter soil erosion is to promote new soil formation Another way to counter erosion from plowing is contour plowing In contour plowing, the land is plowed along the contours perpendicular to the slope and as much in the horizontal plane as possible Contour plowing is the single most effective method for reducing soil erosion loss owing to water runoff
C o n t o u r p l o w i n g
Windbreak
Making Soils Sustainable: Mixed, Strip, Terracing,
Rotation, No-till agriculture
Other practices that can aid in the sustainability of soils include
mixed cropping, strip cropping, terracing, crop rotation An even more efficient technique to slow erosion is to avoid plowing altogether No till agriculture or conservation tillage is a recent form of combination of farming practices that includes not plowing the land, using herbicides to keep down the weeds In no-till agriculture the land is left unplowed most years
Mixed cropping
Steep Terracing
Strip cropping
Thai tea plantation
Conservation Tillage
No Tillage
Mulch Tillage/Conservation tillage
In mulch tillage plant residues or other materials are left to
cover the surface and allowed to decay in place Besides soil conservation, conservation tillage suppresses & controls the weeds These practices greatly (a) reduce soil & water loss (b) reduce traffic operations over the field (c) reduce the use of fuel (d) reduce soil compaction (e) increase profit
Approach to Sustainable Agriculture
Population pressures & the availability of arable land are the
most important factors determining sustainability of agriculture Maintenance and management of soil fertility is central to the development of sustainable food production systems The wisest approach to sustainable agriculture involves a combination of different kinds of land use as Use best agricultural lands for crops Poorer lands for pastures and rangelands Avoid using best lands for grain production for animal feed