1.

INTRODUTION OF AGRICULTURE : Agriculture involving domestication of plants and animals

was developed around 12,000 years ago, although earlier people began altering
communities of flora and fauna for their own benefit through other means such as fire-stick
farming prior to that.[1][2]Agriculture has undergone significant developments since the time of
the earliest cultivation. The Fertile Crescent of Western Asia,Egypt and India were sites of
the earliest planned sowing and harvesting of plants that had previously been gathered in
the wild. Independent development of agriculture occurred in northern and southern China,
Africa's Sahel, New Guinea, parts of India and several regions of the Americas.[3] Agricultural
techniques such as irrigation, crop rotation, the application of fertilizers were developed soon
after the Neolithic Revolution but have made significant strides in the past 200 years.
The Haber-Bosch method for synthesizing ammonium nitrate represented a major
breakthrough and allowed crop yields to overcome previous constraints. In the past century,
agriculture in the developed nations, and to a lesser extent in the developing world, has
been characterized by enhanced productivity, the replacement of human labor by synthetic
fertilizers and pesticides, selective breeding, and mechanization. The recent history of
agriculture has been closely tied with a range of political issues including water
pollution, biofuels, genetically modified organisms, tariffs, and farm subsidies.
2.TYPES OF FARMING : Subsistence farming
commercial farming
shifting cultivation
nomadic herding
mixed farming
3.SUBSISTANCE FARMING : Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which the
farmers focus on growing enough food to feed themselves and their families. The typical
subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to feed and clothe
themselves during the year. Planting decisions are made principally with an eye toward what
the family will need during the coming year, and secondarily toward market prices. Tony
Waters[1] writes: "Subsistence peasants are people who grow what they eat, build their own
houses, and live without regularly making purchases in the marketplace." However, despite
the primacy of self-sufficiency in subsistence farming, today most subsistence farmers also
participate in trade to some degree, though usually it is for goods that are not necessary for
survival, and may include sugar, iron roofing sheets, bicycles, used clothing, and so forth.
Most subsistence farmers today live in developing countries.
4.COMMERCIAL FARMING : Commercial farming is characterized by a low fallow ratio and
generally the high use of inputs such ascapital, labour, or heavy use
of pesticides and fertilizers relative to land area.[1][2]This is in contrast to many sorts
of traditional agriculture in which the inputs per unit land are lower. With intensification,
energy use typically goes up, either provided by humans, or supplemented with animals, or
replaced with machines.Intensive animal husbandry involves either large numbers of
animals raised on limited land, usually confined animal feeding operations (CAFO) often
referred to as factory farms,[1][3][4] or managed intensive rotational grazing (MIRG). Both
increase the yields of food and fiber per acre as compared to traditional animal husbandry,

but in a CAFO the animal feed is brought to the animals which are seldom moved, and in
MIRG the animals are bunched up and constantly moved to fresh forage. There are many
modern-day forms of intensive crop based agriculture, but they are all characterised by
innovations designed to get the most yields per acre possible. This is usually done by a
combination of multiple crops per year, very few if any fallow years, and improved cultivars.
5.SHIFTING CULTIVATION : Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of
land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned and allowed to revert to their natural
vegetation while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cultivation is usually
terminated when the soil shows signs of exhaustion or, more commonly, when the field is
overrun by weeds. The length of time that a field is cultivated is usually shorter than the
period over which the land is allowed to regenerate by lying fallow.Of these cultivators, many
use a practice of slash-and-burn as one element of their farming cycle. Others employ land
clearing without any burning, and some cultivators are purely migratory and do not use any
cyclical method on a given plot. Sometimes no slashing at all is needed where regrowth is
purely of grasses, an outcome not uncommon when soils are near exhaustion and need to
lie fallow.
6.NOMADIC HERDING : Nomadic Herding is the act of bringing individual animals together into
a group (herd), maintaining the group and moving the group from place to placeor any
combination of those. While the layperson uses the term "herding", most individuals involved
in the process term it mustering, "working stock" or droving.Some animals instinctively
gather together as a herd. A group of animals fleeing a predator will demonstrate herd
behavior for protection; while some predators, such as wolves and dogs have instinctive
herding abilities derived from primitive hunting instincts.[1] Instincts in herding dogs and
trainability can be measured at noncompetitive herding tests. Dogs exhibiting basic herding
instincts can be trained to compete in herding and stock dog trials.[1] Sperm whales have
also been observed teaming up to herd prey in a coordinated feeding behavior.[2]

7.MIXED FARMING : Mixed farming is an agrarian system that mixes arable farming with the
raising of livestock. When on a farm along-with crop production, some other agriculture
based practice like poultry, dairy farming or bee keeping etc. is adopted, then this system of
farming is known as mixed farming. It is the dominant system in Europe and now in parts of
India, where most farms have a mixture of fields and pastures.It was first mainly used for
self-consumption, but now in Advanced countries like USA, Japan, etc., this is done for a
commercial purpose[1]For example, the same farm may grow cereal crops, and keep cattle,
sheep, pigs or poultry.[2]In mixed farming, along with farming some other agriculture based
practices are also carried out.Often the dung from the cattle is used to fertilize the cereal
crops. Before horses were used for haulage, many young male cattle were often not
butchered as surplus for meat but castrated and used as bullocks to haul the cart and the
plough.
8.RICE : Rice is a major food staple and a mainstay for the rural population and their food
security. It is mainly cultivated by small farmers in holdings of less than 1 hectare. Rice is
also a wage commodity for workers in the cash crop or non-agricultural sectors. Rice is vital
for the nutrition of much of the population in Asia, as well as in Latin America and the
Caribbean and in Africa; it is central to the food security of over half the world population.

Developing countries account for 95% of the total production, with China and India alone
responsible for nearly half of the world output.[75]World production of rice has risen steadily
from about 200 million tonnes of paddy rice in 1960 to over 678 million tonnes in 2009. The
three largest producers of rice in 2009 were China (197 million tonnes), India (131 Mt), and
Indonesia (64 Mt). Among the six largest rice producers, the most productive farms for rice,
in 2009, were in China producing 6.59 tonnes per hectare.[76] At 44 million hectares, India
had the largest farm area under rice production in 2009. The rice farm productivity in India
was about 45% of the rice farm productivity in China, and about 60% of the rice farm
productivity in Indonesia
9.WHEAT : There is a little increase in yearly crop yield comparison to the year 1990. The
reason for this is not in development of sowing area, but the slow and successive increasing
of the average yield. Average 2.5 tons wheat was produced on one hectare crop land in the
world in the first half of 1990s, however this value was about 3 tons in 2009. In the world per
capita wheat producing area continuously decreased between 1990 and 2009 considering
the change of world population. There was no significant change in wheat producing area in
this period. However, due to the improvement of average yields there is some fluctuation in
each year considering the per capita production, but there is no considerable decline. In
1990 per capita production was 111.98 kg/capita/year, while it was already 100.62
kg/capita/year in 2009. The decline is evident and the per capita production level of the year
1990 can not be feasible simultaneously with the growth of world population in spite of the
increased average yields. In the whole period the lowest per capita production was in
2006."[64]
10.COTTON : The largest producers of cotton, currently (2009), are China and India, with
annual production of about 34 million bales and 27 million bales, respectively; most of this
production is consumed by their respective textile industries. The largest exporters of raw
cotton are the United States, with sales of $4.9 billion, and Africa, with sales of $2.1 billion.
The total international trade is estimated to be $12 billion. Africa's share of the cotton trade
has doubled since 1980. Neither area has a significant domestic textile industry, textile
manufacturing having moved to developing nations in Eastern and South Asia such as India
and China. In Africa, cotton is grown by numerous small holders. Dunavant Enterprises,
based in Memphis, Tennessee, is the leading cotton broker in Africa, with hundreds of
purchasing agents. It operates cotton gins in Uganda, Mozambique, and Zambia. In Zambia,
it often offers loans for seed and expenses to the 180,000 small farmers who grow cotton for
it, as well as advice on farming methods. Cargill also purchases cotton in Africa for export.
11.JUTE : To grow jute, farmers scatter the seeds on cultivated soil. When the plants are
about 1520 cm tall, they are thinned out. About four months after planting, harvesting
begins. The plants are usually harvested after they flower, before the flowers go to seed.
The stalks are cut off close to the ground. The stalks are tied into bundles and soaked in
water (retting) for about 20 days. This process softens the tissues and breaks the
hard pectin bond between the bast and Jute hurd (inner woody fiber stick) and the process
permits the fibres to be separated. The fibres are then stripped from the stalks in long
strands and washed in clear, running water. Then they are hung up or spread on thatched
roofs to dry. After 23 days of drying, the fibres are tied into bundles. The suitable climate for
growing jute is a warm and wet climate, which is offered by the monsoon climate during the

fall season, immediately followed by summer. Temperatures ranging from 70100 F and
relative humidity of 70%80% are favorable for successful cultivation. Jute requires 23
inches of rainfall weekly with extra needed during the sowing period.
12.TEA : In 2003, world tea production was 3.21 million tonnes annually.[72] In 2010, world
tea production reached over 4.52 million tonnes after having increased by 5.7% between
2009 and 2010.[73] Production rose by 3.1% between 2010 and 2011. The largest producers
of tea are the People's Republic of China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Turkey.The following
table shows the amount of tea production (in tonnes) by leading countries in recent years.
Data are generated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as of
February 2012.
13.FARM IN INDIA : The written history of agriculture in India dates back to the Rigveda,
written about 1100 BC.[1] Today, India ranks second worldwide in farm
output. Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry and fisheries accounted for 13.7% of
the GDP(Gross Domestic Product) in 2013,[2]about 50% of the total workforce.[3][4] The
economic contribution of agriculture to India's GDP is steadily declining with the country's
broad-based economic growth. Still, agriculture is demographically the broadest economic
sector and plays a significant role in the overall socio-economic fabric of India. As Per the
2010 FAO world agriculture statistics, India is the world's largest producer of many
fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, majorspices, select fresh meats, select fibrous crops such
as jute, several staples such as millets and castor oil seed. India is the second largest
producer of wheat and rice, the world's major food staples.[5] India is also the world's second
or third largest producer of several dry fruits, agriculture-based textile raw materials
14.FARM IN USA :Agriculture is a major industry in the United States, and the country is a
net exporter of food.[1] As of the last census of agriculture in 2007, there were 2.2 million
farms, covering an area of 922 million acres (3,730,000 km2), an average of 418 acres
(1.69 km2) per farm.[2] Although agricultural activity occurs in most states, it is particularly
concentrated in the vast expanse of flat, arable land known as the Great Plains, which
encompasses the central region of the nation and in the region around the Great
Lakes known as the Corn Belt.[3] Corn, turkeys, tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts, and sunflower
seeds constitute some of the major holdovers from the agricultural endowment of the
Americas. European agricultural practices greatly affected the New England landscape,
leaving behind many physical foot prints. Colonists brought livestock over from Europe which
caused many changes to the land.