AGRICULTURE

Agriculture is a art and science of cultivating the soil, growing crops and raising livestock, It includes the preparation of plant and animal products for people to use and their distribution to markets.Agriculture provides most of the world’s food and fabrics.

There are 4 types of agriculture which includes;

1)Shifting Cultivation

2)Subsistance Farming

3)Pastoralism

4)Intensive Farming

Shifting Cultivation:

Shifting cultivation is a form of farming where farmers cultivate the land temporarily for two or three seasons .Then they abandon the land and leave it to allow vegetables to grow freely. After that, farmers move to a different place. They leave the place when the soil gets out of fertility or land is overrun by weeds. The cultivation time is generally less than when the ground is allowed to regenerate fertility.

Subsistence Farming:

subsistence farming, form of farming in which nearly all of the crops or livestock raised are used to maintain the farmer and the farmer’s family, leaving little, if any, surplus for sale or trade. Preindustrial agricultural peoples throughout the world have traditionally practiced subsistence farming. Some of these peoples moved from site to site as they exhausted the soil at each location. As urban centres grew, agricultural production became more specialized and commercial farming developed, with farmers producing a sizable surplus of certain crops, which they traded for manufactured goods or sold for cash.

Pastoralism:

Pastoralism has involved the care of herds of domesticated livestock for four millennia, providing a range of services to subsistence farmers. Pastoralism takes different forms, depending on ecology, including nomadic because of discontinuous p pasture (e.g., Mongols), seminomadic with mixed herding-farming (e.g., Turkmen), and transhumance  and estivation (e.g., Mediterranean) with highly developed agriculture.

Intensive Farming:

Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of agricultural land area.

Agriculture Insurance:

What to do?

Safeguard yourself financially against natural risks like
natural disasters/ calamities, insect, pests & diseases and
adverse weather conditions.
1) Take benefit of appropriate crop insurance scheme
applicable in your area.
2)Four insurance schemes are being implemented namely,
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS),Coconut Palm Insurance Scheme (CPIS) and Pilot Unified Package Insurance Scheme (UPIS) (45 districts).
3) Coverage under PMFBY/WBCIS/CPIS/UPIS is compulsory, if you avail crop loan for notified crops.
4) Coverage is voluntary for non-loanee farmers.
5)Contact District Agriculture officers of State Govt./nearest branch of bank/PACS Common
Service Centre (CSC) or crop insurance company operating in your area for availing the benefits under the crop insurance scheme

Whom to Contact?
Nearest branches of Bank/ PACS/Cooperative Banks/ Common Service Centre (CSC) Empanelled General Insurance Companies notified for the area and District Agriculture Officer/Block Development Officer may be contacted or visit web portal http://www.pmfby.gov.in.

Soil Health Card:

What to do?
1) Always use appropriate quantity of fertilizer based on
soil test.
2) Use organic manures to maintain the fertility of soil.
3) In order to get maximum benefit of the fertilizers, always apply in root zone instead of broadcasting.
4) Resort to judicious and efficient use of Phosphatic Fertilizers for proper development of roots/shoots and timely maturity of crops, particularly the legumes which fix atmospheric Nitrogen for enrichment of soil.
5)Farmers desirous of adopting Participatory Organic Guarantee System (PGS – India) Certification system may form a group of at least 5 farmers and get it registered with the nearest Regional Centre of Organic Farming.

Soil Health Card: Soil health card has been launched on 19th February 2015. Under the scheme,
Soil health card will be provided to all farm holdings in the country at an interval of 2 years so as to
enable the farmers to apply appropriate recommended dosages of nutrients for crop production
and improving soil health and its fertility

Whom to Contact?
District Agriculture Officer / District Horticulture Officer / Project Director ATMA

Pradhan Manthri Krishi Sinchai Yojana And Others

What to do?
1) Conserve soil and water through good Agricultural Practices.
2) Harvest rain water through construction of check dams and ponds.
3) Adopt crop diversification, seed production and nursery raising in water logged areas.
4) Adopt drip and sprinkler irrigation system to save 30-37% water and enhance crop quality and productivity.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) : PMKSY was approved by the Cabinet
Committee on Economic Affairs on 01.07.2015 with an outlay of Rs. 50,000 crore for a period of 5
years (2015-16 to 2019-20).
The vision of PMKSY is to ensure access to some means of protective irrigation to all agricultural
farms in the country – to produce ‘per drop more crop. Thus bringing much desired rural prosperity.
PMKSY is strategized by focusing on end-to end solution in irrigation supply chain, viz. water sources,
distribution network, efficient farm level applications, extension services on new technologies &
information etc. based on comprehensive planning process at district/State level.

Whom to Contact?
District Agriculture Officer / District Soil Conservation Officer / Project Director ATMA /District
Horticulture Officer.