Crop Diversification Essay

Modern day farming has transformed from the farming process of last century. Instead of farmers producing for their families, farmers are now similar to input/output managers supplying massive manufacturers that feed the country.

However, a downward trend is evident in the actual multi-cropping index, caused principally by the increasing costs of farming and limitations in the supply of labor. We argue that improving the utilization rate of the enhanced agro-climatic resources is possible by introducing new combinations of cultivars, adopting more laborsaving technologies, and providing incentives to farmers.

There used to be a lot more farmers, each one with a smaller farm, but growing quite a few different products like corn, wheat, hay, barley, oats, etc. Today there are a lot less farmers, but about the same amount of land is being farmed. Each farmer has a much bigger acreage to cultivate. Now each farmer specializes in one product. This way each farmer is more efficient in what they grow.. The most produced commodities are grains, oil seeds, dried beans and peas at 42%, other crops and hay account for another 31%. Now, most products are enhanced of fertilizers and pesticides, although there is an increasing demand for organic products which are overall more

Indian groups have adopted agriculture. The ability to grow crops has a huge implication for the

Throughout time, humans have pushed forward in every aspect in life in order to improve their living standards, wealth and most importantly the agricultural sector which is the base of every human race. Food is the basic requirement for any individual to stay alive and healthy. In an article by Tamsin McMahon, she states that over the past 60 years, the world population has grown from 2.5 billion to 7 billion while world hunger dropped from 40% down to 15% (McMahon T., July 2012). This shows that our agricultural advances through technology have helped control world hunger and decrease it by more than half, but this is a short-term solution if we want to consider the future generations that depend on our current actions toward the three main pillars of agriculture which are: Health and nutrition, Economy and sustainability all while considering the local small farms and corporate farms.

South Asia is one of the most densely populated regions of the world, where despite a slow growth, agriculture remains the backbone of rural economy as it employs one half to over 90 percent of the labor force. Both extensive and intensive policy measures for agriculture

Crop rotation may be used better to increase abundance on land. Farmers should pay more attention to their food crops as they could possibly be harvested more often. Farmers should also pay attention to their crops because they may be able to leave less time between each harvest therefore increasing their yield. In order to increase food production without expanding on existing agricultural land, the following steps could come in handy: careful selection of seed types that have adapted to the climate conditions, more effective use of fertiliser, more attention directed towards micronutrients, and improved knowledge of the area and climate to discover more appropriate planting and harvesting

Mayan civilization underwent massive developments in agriculture and within their society. According to historian Sylvanus Griswold Morley, Maya Maize agricultural practices have remained the same as they were over three thousand years ago. (Morley 128) A uncomplicated process of felling the forest, burning dried trees and bushes, planting, and switching up the spots of the cornfields every few years. This system is known as the milpa agriculture, pulled from the Aztec word for cornfield. Agricultural tools were fire-hardened, the Maya xul, a pointed planting stick, the baat, a stone axe, chim, a fiber bag for carrying the seed corn. At first, they used sticks to punch holes into the ground, but progressively obtained more advanced farming techniques. Their main crops they grew were maize (corn), beans, squash, avocados, chili peppers, pineapples, papayas, and cocoa, which was used for

The capability to withstand water shortages and the havoc caused by the harvest passes makes the plants to mature early with its productivity level being high. Regions suffering from food shortages can only undergo starvation for short period before it can start to enjoy the food. On the other hand, the abovementioned advantages make farmers engage in profitable farming business with the low level of costs of farm inputs and high outputs. This aspect benefits not only the farmers but also the population that stands to enjoy a large variety of food stuff at their disposal.

The most popular agricultural method is monoculture. Monoculture is the practice of growing one species of crop in one designated area year after year. Some pros we can identify of this practice are it being “faster, cheaper, greater,” producing higher yields, profitability, and lowered costs. In this practice there is no rotation between seasons with other crops. The same crop is grown in the same land area year after year. Through this it becomes easier for farmers to keep track of their farms. It’s a simple and easy practice because one does not need to fret about multiply crops at a time. One can master the techniques of preventing diseases and pests to maximizing their yield. The focus is on one specific crop type, making it easier to harvest and irrigate. One is also able to utilize their labor, money, and time resources more efficiently due to the

Formerly, the majorly cultivated crop in North Indus and Eastern Indus were wheat and rice respectively (Ladha et al., 2000). The adaptation and expansion of Rice-Wheat farming system occurred in India with the development of short duration varieties of rice and wheat during the Green Revolution (Timsina et al., 2001). The allied farming activity is livestock rearing in IGP. The livestock comprises 10% livelihood of rice-wheat based small farm holders in Indo-Gangetic plain (Erenstein et al., 2007) with an average 3.6 cow/household (Erenstein and Thorpe, 2010, cited in Erenstein 2011) .

Farming has transformed so much over the years. Six thousand years ago, farmers had holding pens and growing fields (Shmaefsky 1). In today's world farming is not that simple. Since farming has transformed, larger operations are taking away a lot of the mom and pop farms, and making them big industrial farms. Another change is the restaurant industry, which grew in the 1950s, causing the need for more crops, but in a shorter amount of time (Shmaefsky 37). Farmers are using Genetically Modified Organisms to farm more and at a quicker rate.

Conversely, natural cultivation is an advanced technology that does not harm the environment as well as the biosphere. As a matter of fact, no longer do cultivated areas contaminated, pesticide residual, emaciated and degraded. Instead, this technique assists boost biodiversity and the biosphere reserve in nature and protect the environment from antiquated farming practice. It would be the height of folly, however, not to mention some drawbacks of organic agriculture and advantages of intensive farming. For one thing, organic farming, while conventional farming is manufacturing bigger yields, cannot produce enough food to assuage the world’s appetite. For another thing, it would be rather difficult for the impoverished and underprivileged to afford high-priced products from natural farming, which, consequently, can in part limit their interests of utilizing fresh food. Meanwhile, intensive agriculture, with curtailed prices, can meet the requirements of more people. In conclusion, there is no denying that organic and intensive farming play a vital role in life. Notwithstanding, everything frequently parallels with its downsides and these methods are not an exception. Anyway, with the rational ways of exploiting these technological advances and future development in their security, hopefully all problems will be eliminated and the merits can be

Over the years agricultural industries, especially the food industry, have developed negative reputations, all due to made up myths that people have chosen to believe in. Some of those myths include: farmers are trying to hide the way they run their businesses, the food system is controlled by select large corporations more worried about money than consumer satisfaction, and crops that are not affected by herbicides are bad because they remain normal when treated. Many of these allegations come from people who are poorly educated of how the food industry works. Let’s see if we can clear up a few things and get our facts straight.

3. Government and NGOs have been conducting regular training programs in developing a skilled manpower for this industry.