Preface Agriculture encompasses large number of disciplines. Thus one has to read the number of text books to prepare ourself to come out successful in competitive examination. This book covers all the disciplines of agriculture mainly soil and crop management, crop improvement, crop protection, agricultural extension and economics and agricultural statistics. Further allied subject of horticulture, animal husbandry and ago-forestry also narrated in this book. In this revised edition cutting edge information were included. The contributors of this book meticulously updated and gave the concised information in different disciplines of agriculture for the benefit of the readers. Here, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to our friends and colleague Zadda Kavitha, N.Kumaran, K. Manikandan, R. Dhanabal, V.Radha Krishnan, Dinesh and Alagu for their support and inspiration rendered for preparing this book. Finally we wish to thank all the contributors, who responded to our request and provided unique information in a simple and easy language. We are thankful to the M/S New India Publishing Agency, New Delhi for designing and printing this book in perfect manner. We hope this book will be handy to the aspirants preparing for the competitive examination. The suggestions from the readers are welcome to improve this book in the future editions.

1.1. WEATHER AND TILLAGE Weather : A state or condition of the atmosphere at a given place and at a given instant of time' Climate : The generalized weather or summation of weather conditions over a given region during comparatively longer period Meteorology : Greek word “Meteoro” means 'above the earth's surface' (atmosphere) and “logy” means “indicating science”. Branch of science dealing with that of atmosphere is known as meteorology Agricultural meterology : Branch of applied meteorology or a branch of agriculture as it deals with agriculture Coordinates of India : 8o N and 37°N latitude; 68°E and 98°E longitude Coordinates of Tamilnadu: 08°05' N and 13°35' N latitude; 76°15' E and 80°20' E longitude Hydrosphere - water portion of the earth Lithosphere - solid portion of the earth Atmosphere - gaseous portion of the earth Atmosphere : It is the colourless, odourless and tasteless physical mixture of gasses, which surrounds earth on all

Soil Soil is a natural body of mineral and organic constituents differentiated into horizons usually unconsolidated, of variable depth which differs among themselves as well as from the underlying parent material in morphology, physical makeup, chemical properties and composition and biological characteristics (Whitney, 1982; Hilgard, 1892; Dokuchaiev, 1900 and Joffe, 1936). According to Soil Science Society of America (SSSA, 1970) soil is the unconsolidated mineral matter on the surface of the earth that has been subjected to and influenced by genetic and environmental factors of parent material, climate (including moisture and temperature effects), macro and microorganisms and topography, all affecting over a period of time and producing a product, that is “SOIL” that differs from the material from which it is derived in physical, chemical, biological and morphological properties and characteristics. The unconsolidated mineral material on the immediate surface of the earth, that serves as a natural medium for the growth of plants. Approaches of Soil Study Pedological Approach : The origin of the soil, its classification and description are examined in Pedology. (From Greek word pedon means soil or earth). It is the study of soil as a natural body and does not focus on the soil’s immediate practical use. Edaphological Approach: Edaphology (from Greek word edaphos means soil or ground) is the study of soil from the stand point of higher plants. Edaphologists consider the various properties of soil in relation to plant production. Soil Science : The science dealing with soil as a natural resource on the surface of the earth, including pedology (soil genesis, classification and mapping) and the physical, chemical and biological and fertility properties of soil and these properties in relation to their management for crop production.

3.1. INTRODUCTION TO PLANT BREEDING What is Plant Breeding?: Plant breeding is an art and science which deals with changing genotypes of the plants, to adapt them to the service of human being. (or) The application of genetic and cytogenetics principles in crop improvement are called plant breeding. Specific objectives of plant breeding: The main objectives of the plant breeding is to improve the characteristics of crop plants which are agronomically and economically desirable

4.1. PESTS OF FIELD CROPS Insect pests are the major constraints limiting agricultural productivity growth. It is estimated that herbivorous insects eat about 26 percent of the potential food production. Emerging problems of insecticide and disease resistance, secondary pest outbreak and resurgence further add to the cost of plant protection. Annual crop losses due to insect pests and diseases in India are estimated to be 18 percent of the agricultural output. Main causes of emerging pest and disease are favourable prevailing weather condition, absence of natural enemies, abundant food supply, use of pesticides, use of fertilizers and irrigation. PESTS OF RICE Borers and Defoliators

5.1. SEED AND SEED PRODUCTION Origin of Plentiful Yield is the Seed - Parashara 400BC Good Seed in Good Soil Yield Abundantly - Manu Smriti 200BC Botanically seed is a matured ovule containing an embryo in arrested state of development with a food reserve (endosperm) and protective coat (seed coat). In albuminous seeds the endosperm is present eg. rice, wheat, castor (cereals). Whereas, exalbuminous seeds the endosperm is absent eg. onion and pea (pulses). Types of fruit/ seed

6.1. PLANT WATER AND MINERAL NUTRITION Plant water Water form the major constituent of living (cells) things and the cells originated in a highly aqueous medium and all the vital processes of the life are carried out in it. Besides, water predominately acts as a source of hydrogen to plants and is released by the photolys is of water during photosynthesis. In living tissue, water is the medium for many biochemical reactions and extraction process. Inorganic nutrients, photosynthesis, bases and hormones are all transported in aqueous solution. Soil nutrients are available to plant roots only when it get dissolved in water. It is essential for life and plays a unique role in virtually all biological process. Water absorption Plants absorbed water through root hairs which are in contact with soil water and form a root hair zone a little behind the root tips.Root hairs are tubular hair like prolongations of the cells of the epidermal layer of the roots. When roots elongate, the older root hairs die and new root hairs are developed so that they are in contact with fresh supplies of water in the soil. Mechanism of water absorption 1. Active absorption of water : In this process the root cells play active role in the absorption of water and metabolic energy released through respiration is consumed active absorption may be of two kinds.

Extension is an “Out – of – School” system of education for rural people. The term “Extension” have originated in Latin. It means stretching out. The term “University Extension” was first used in 1866. The person considered as Father of extension and the concept of Extension Education Process was given by Paul Leagans The person considered as father of extension in India is K.N.Singh The term “Extension Education” was first coined in United Kingdom Extension education is an applied behavioral science and brings about behavioral changes in human beings. The philosophy of extension is not “What to Think?.” It is “How to think?”

Economics definition Adam smith (1776) defined economics as the science of wealth in his book An Inquiry into Nature and Causes of Wealth of Nations. According to Marshall Economics is primarily a study of mankind in the ordinary business of life. Agricultural Economics : An applied social science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of agricultural or farming goods and services.(or) an applied phase of social science of economics in which attention is given to all aspects of problems related to agriculture. Subject matter of Economics : It can be studied through a) traditional approach and (b) modern approach. a) Traditional Approach : Economics is studied under five major divisions namely consumption, production, exchange, distribution and public finance. Consumption : The satisfaction of human wants through the use of goods and services is called consumption. Production : Goods that satisfy human wants are viewed as "bundles of utility". Exchange : Goods are produced not only for self-consumption, but also for sales. They are sold to buyers in markets. The process of buying and selling constitutes exchange. Distribution : The production of any agricultural commodity requires four factors, viz., land, labour, capital and organization. The land owner gets rent, the labourer earns wage, the capitalist is given with interest and the entrepreneur is rewarded with profit. The process of determining rent, wage, interest and profit is called distribution. Public finance : It studies how the government gets money and how it spends it. b) Modern Approach : The study of economics is divided into: i) Micro-economics and ii) Macro-economics.

9.1. STATISTICAL METHODS Measures of central tendency : Three measure of the central tendency of a frequency distribution are mean, median and mode. Mean / average / arithmetic mean : It is sum of all of the data values divided by the number of data values and it affected by extreme values. Median : It is the middle value of the data set when it has been arranged in ascending or descending order. This is not at all affected by extreme values. Mode : It is the value that occurs most often in a distribution. Not affected by extreme values. It used to find the ideal size of different age group. eg: size of readymade garments, shoe size Harmonic mean : Reciprocal of the arithmetic mean of the reciprocal of a given value. It deals with rate, price and speed. Measures of dispersion : It is the degree to which the data tend to spread about the mean value is called dispersion. Range : The range of a distribution with a discrete random variable is the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value. Standard Deviation (SD) : It is the square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of the deviations measures for the mean or square root of the variance. Variance : It is the average of the squared deviation from the mean or the square of the standard deviation Standard Error (SE) : It is the measure of the mean difference between sample estimate of mean (X) and the population parameter (μ). Coefficient of Variation (CV): It is defined as the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean. This is expressed as percentage.

1. Area, Production and Productivity of Horticultural Crops (2013-2014)

Cattle Buffaloes Sheep Goat Swine Camel Rabbit Poultry Animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of science concerned with the care and breeding of domestic animals such as cattle, hogs, goat, sheep and horses. India supports nearly 20% of the world livestock and 16.8% human population with a land area of only 2.3%. India leads in cattle and buffalo population and has world’s second largest goat and third largest sheep population. As per the 19th Livestock census (2012) cattle (191 millions), buffalo (109 m), Sheep (65 m), goats (135 m), pigs (10.29m), camels (0.4 m) and poultry (729.2 m) population was reported in India. The total livestock population has decreased by about 3.33% over the previous census. India’s milk production increased from 43 million tonnes in 1983 to 155.5 million tonnes in 2015-16 (annual growth of 6.27%) and stands first in milk production in world.. The egg production is around 82.93 billion during 2015-16. The per capita availability is around 66 eggs per annum. The poultry meat production is estimated to be 3.26 million tonnes. Wool production (43.6 million Kgs) and meat production is 7.0 million tonnes in 2015-16.

12.1. BASIC AND CURRENT FACTS OF AGRICULTURE Basic information related to agriculture and allied sciences in India