Field crops of Afghanistan - British Council Schools Online

Field crops of Afghanistan - British Council Schools Online

AGRICULTURE OF INDIA
AND AFGHANISTAN
Agriculture in
India
Types
of
soils
found
in
India:
• Alluvial Soils
• Black Soil
• Red and Yellow
Soils
• Laterite Soil
• Arid Soil
• Forest Soils
Cropping
Seasons
There are mainly three copping seasons in India
namely, Kharif, Rabi and Zaid.
Rabi crops:
1. They are sown in
winter from October
to December.
2. Crops include
wheat, barley peas,
gram and mustard.
3. Productivity
depends on winter
monsoon
Kharif crops:
1. Are sown in onset
of monsoon and
harvested in Sep-Oct
2. Crops include
paddy, maize, jowar,
bajra, tur, moong,
urad,etc
Zaid Crops:
1. Grown between
kharif and Rabi
Crops
2. Crops watermelon,
muskmelon,
cucumber, vegetables
and fooder
Rabi Crop
Wheat
Wheat:
Second most important cereal crop.
Main food crop in the north an north-western part of the
country.
Requires cool growing season and bright sunshine during
ripening and 50-70 cm of annual rainfall evenly distributed
over the growing season.
Grown in Ganga-Satluj plains in North West and black soil
region in the Deccan.
Major wheat producing states are Punjab, Haryana, UP, Bihar,
Rajasthan and parts of MP
Kharif Crop
Rice
Rice
1. Staple food crop of a majority of people in India.
2. Second largest producer of rice in the world.
3. It is a kharif crop which requires high temperature and humidity
with annual rainfall of above 100 cm.
4. Grown in plains of North and North Eastern India, coastal plains
and deltaic regions.
5. Canal irrigation and tube wells made it possible to grow rice in
areas of less rainfall such as Punjab, Haryana and West Uttar
Pradesh and Parts of Rajasthan.
Zaid Crop
Sugarcane
Sugarcane
India is 2nd largest producer after Brazil
Requires 27C temperature and annual rainfall between
75cms to 100cms.
It is a source of sugar, gur, khandsari and molasses.
Grown in UP, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
AP, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana.
Subsistence farming
Majority of farmers in India practises subsistence farming.
This means farming for own consumption. In other words,
the entire production is largely consumed by the farmers
and their family and they do not have any surplus to sell in
the market. In this type of farming, landholdings are small
and fragmented. Cultivation techniques are primitive and
simple. In other words there is a total absence of modern
equipments like tractors and farm inputs like chemical
fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides. In this farming,
farmers mostly cultivate cereals along with oil seeds,
pulses, vegetables and sugarcane.
Commercial Farming
Commercial farming is just the opposite to subsistence
farming. In this case, most of the produce is sold in the
market for earning money. In this system, farmers use
inputs like irrigation, chemical fertilizers, insecticides,
pesticides and High Yielding Varieties of seeds etc. Some
of the major commercial crops grown in different parts of
India are cotton, jute, sugarcane, groundnut etc. Rice
farming in Harayana is mainly for commercial purpose
as people of this area are predominantly wheat eaters.
Howevr in East and North-Eastern states of India, rice
cultivation would be largely of subsistence type.
Intensive and
Extensive Farming
The basic difference between these two types of farming is the
amount of production per unit of land. In comparison with
temperate areas of USA, Canada, and former USSR, India does
not practise extensive cultivation. When we use large patch of
land for cultivation then we call it extensive farming. Here, total
production may be high due to larger area but per unit are
production is low. Intensive Farming records high
production per unit of land. Best example of intensive
cultivation is in Japan where availability of land for cultivation is
very limited. Similar kind of situation can be observed in the
state of Kerala in India.
Plantation Farming
It is an estate where a single cash crop is grown
for sale. This type of agriculture involves growing
and processing of a single cash crop purely meant
for sale. Tea, coffee, rubber, banana and spices
are all examples of plantation crops. Most of
these crops were introduced in India by the
Britishers in the 19th Century.
Mixed Farming
It is a situation in which both raising crops and
rearing animals are carried on simultaneously. Here
farmers engaged in mixed farming are economically
better of than others.
All classifications are based on nature and purpose of
farming. It may overlap. For example: Banana is a
plantation type of farming. It can also be classified as
commerical farming.
Agriculture in
Afghanistan
Field crops of Afghanistan
Hing
Asafoetida, or hing, is a
perennial herb (genus Ferula)
growing wild in the deserts of
Afghanistan's
northern
provinces. The stem and roots
of the Hing plant emit sap that
is dried and used as a
spice.
Currently Hing is
collected and sold informally
in local markets.
PIGEON PEA PODS
Pigeon pea (and sunn hemp) - while
not major crops - are grown around
the country for use as windbreaks
and/or as a living fence to help
prevent animals moving between
fields. It is also recognized as a
drought-tolerant green manure,
provides weed control, and is used
as firewood in tandoor ovens.
Pigeon Pea, known as harhar
(Pashto), is most commonly found in
the eastern provinces (Nangharhar,
Laghman, Kunar, etc.) and northern
(Balkh, Kunduz, Tahar) provinces.
SOYABEAN
Soybean has not been traditionally grown
in
Afghanistan,
but
has
become
increasingly popular since 2010 as a result
of major pushes from foreign NGOs and
grower's associations, which have worked
to create export markets and supply
necessary inputs.
Sustained access to
necessary inputs, particularly machinery,
is currently the major limitation for
soybean
production
in
Afghanistan. Soybean is a healthy, lowcost, and easily preserved source of
protein, making it a good alternative to
meats in diversifying family diets.
SUNN-HEMP
Sunn Hemp (and pigeon pea) while not major crops - are grown
around the country for use as
windbreaks and/or as a living
fence to help prevent animals
moving between fields. Sunn
Hemp is also used for green
manure, as well as fodder for goats
and camels. Its bitter flavor deters
most other livestock. It grows in
warm climates (eastern provinces,
such as Nangharhar) and is a good
source of oil.
FAVOURABLE SOILS OF AFGAHNISTAN
FOR CROPS CULTIVATION
ALLUVIAL SOIL
Soils of alluvial plains: Because
of leaching or precipitation of
minerals, most of these soils
lack normal horizonation; some
may have it as a result of
repeated floodplain sediment
deposition. Some reflect strong
aridity and have altered upper
horizons or slight hardpans.
These soils occur in lower
reaches of most river valleys.
SALTY MARSH SOIL
Saline, alkalai, and salt
marsh
soils:
These
halomorphic soils occur in
poorly drained areas where
soluble salts of sodium,
calcium,
and
magnesium
become
concentrated
through high evaporation.
They are most common in the
low-lying Sīstān depression,
the Herat-Farāh lowlands,
and the Turkestan plains.
DESERT SOILS
Desert soils, mostly dunes: Soils in this group
have little horizonation and are dominantly
sand; they occur in the desert wastes of
southwestern
Afghanistan
and
on
the
Turkestan plains.
Desert soils, with few dunes: As used in this
classification, these soils tend to be true desert
soils with thin or discontinuous organic layers.
They commonly have a calcium-rich lower
zone which may be a hard-pan. The upper
horizons may be deflated away to leave a
truncated soil profile consisting of a lag-gravel
concentrate. These soils are most common in
the Herat-Farāh lowlands between the lowlying halomorphic soils along the Iranian
border and the Sierozemic and brown soils
further to the east, towards the mountains.
This soil group also occurs along the border
with Pakistan.
MOUNTAIN SOILS
Mountain soils of chestnut, brown forest,
and podzolic zones: These soils tend to exist
in areas of slightly greater precipitation in
the mountains of eastern Afghanistan and
possibly in the Paropamisus in the central
and western parts. They are transitional
between the calcic, arid, and grasslandsteppe soils and the soils of the high
mountain areas, so they tend to have
shrubs and trees and increased leaching of
soil materials.. Some may have calcium-rich
horizons; others may not, especially as
precipitation increases into the podzolic
soils. This soil type tends to occur beneath
the more heavily watered and forested
zones of the higher mountains. They may
have a dark, humus-rich layer underlain by
a light, leached layer and a lower, clay-rich
layer.
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