eChapters

Observation recording: Students are advised to visit the teak forest or plantation for seed collection then sowing the seeds in nursery and record the various nursery practices and conduct tending operations in teak plantation.

Objective: To study the planting and stand management practices of Kala Shisham (Dalbergia latifolia).

Observation recording: Students are advised to visit the shisham plantation or forest for seed collection then sowing the seeds in nursery and record the various nursery practices and conduct tending operations in shisham plantation.

Observation recording: Students are advised to visit the Sandalwood plantation or forest for seed collection then sowing the seeds in nursery and record the various nursery practices and conduct tending operations in Sandal wood plantation.

Observation recording: Poplar rarely raised by seeds. It is generally raised by stem cuttings. Students are advised to visit the Poplar plantation for collection of stem cuttings then raised in polythene bags and record the various nursery practices and conduct tending operations in Poplar plantation.

Observation recording: Students are advised to visit the Mahogany plantation for collection of seeds/stem cuttings then raised in polythene bags and record the various nursery practices and conduct tending operations in Mahogany plantation.

Observation recording: Students are advised to visit the Khair plantation for collection of stem cuttings then raised in polythene bags and record the various nursery practices and conduct tending operations in Khair plantation.

Observation recording: Students are advised to visit the Safeda plantation for collection of stem cuttings then raised in polythene bags and record the various nursery practices and conduct tending operations in Mahogany plantation.

Observation recording: To know the suitability of the tree species for plantation of various problematic areas, students are advised to visit the various nearby problematic sites or forest and record the naturally growing tree species.

Observation recording Lay the quadrats with the help of rope. Identify all the plant species, and count their number in each quadrat, dbh

Observation recording: Students are advised to visit the nursey and forest plantation to record the various tending operations which are adopted by the forest department or Plantation Company.

1.1 Introduction
Irrigation is the artificial application of water needed to the crop field. It is the process of uniformly wetting the root zone depth. The wetting may be done over the land surface or below of it. The application of water in excess to the requirement or accumulation of water in crop field due to rain or unplanned seepage is not considered as irrigation. However, irrigation is supplemental to rainfall. Irrigation water is considered as single most important input for crop production.

Co-operation and Mutual trust, are some of the most cherished values, as given by the Ancient Indian wisdom and is part of our Indian culture. There is a saying, “Many hands make light work.” It is only through mutual trust, cooperation and team spirit can there be all round progress and prosperity, and success for everyone concerned due to the synergistic effects of combined efforts.

Agricultural finance generally means studying, examining and analyzing the financial aspects pertaining to farm business, which is the core sector of India. The financial aspects include money matters relating to production of agricultural products and their disposal.

Cloud-based software is used for the management of financial and field activities of farms. Prior to computers, farmers maintained data manually by keeping lengthy records on papers. This method was prone to human calculation errors. After the computer boom in the 1980s, it was not long before finance software such as Money Counts came to market. 

The market research process is equally critical to rural marketing as to urban marketing because of two main reasons:

• The marketer has a limited understanding of the rural/urban consumer
• The marketer who is urban-oriented may need to find different ways to understand the decision variables in the urban market.

Agriculture depends mainly on natural resources like land situation, soil, water and a favourable climate. Continuous agricultural practices adopted without conservation of such precious resources may lead to unsustainability of growth in agriculture. Conservation of these resources and their sustainable use with appropriate measures would be required for a sustainable agriculture.

Modern farming system was aimed to maximise crop production by use of high yielding crop varieties or hybrids and application of agro-chemicals like fertilisers and pesticides along with irrigation and better crop production technologies. But without consideration of its impact on the environment and economics of the farmers, the monoculture of rice and wheat with agro-chemicals caused land degradation, soil and water contamination, gene erosion and environmental pollution.

Alternative agriculture is a production system that follows the concept of agroecology and does not use conventional methods. Natural farming, Bio-dynamic farming, Organic farming, Permaculture, Homa farming and many others are considered as alternative agriculture. In spite of some differences, these practices aim at preserving the environment and minimise the use or avoid synthetic agrochemicals. They rely on natural cycles, by using crop rotations, cover crops or no-tillage, etc.

Soil is made up of minerals, organic matter, gases, liquids and micro-organisms in different proportions. It provides anchorage to plants. It is important for life as it provides the medium for the growth of a plant, habitat for several insects and other organisms. Soil is a store house of nutrients, micro-organisms, air and water. It is the source of four essential ‘living’ factors including food, clothes, shelter, and medicines.

Soil, climate and water decide the nature of crop to be grown in a particular region. While soil and climate can be manipulated to certain extent, there is no substitute of water. Water is governed by the hydrological cycle. The major source of water is rainfall which has been reduced over the years due to climate change. The per capita water availability in India was 4944 m3 in 1955 which has been reduced to 1750 m³ now and is expected to come down to 1500 m³ by 2025.