Evolution of Farmland In India
Evolution of Farmland In India
Farmland in india is the pillar upon which the economic development of a country depends. Even standing in the year 2020, our basic need is still food and shelter. Farming supplies all our fooding needs. It is the fusion of science and creativeness to grow crops, plants and livestock. It all started from the inception of human civilization and continuing till today also.
Types of Farming Related to Evolution of Farmland:
Different farming practices are followed around the world to meet the requirement of the human being. Today’s age due to the rapid growth of population the need for the crop as well as better farming technique is required.
Subsistence farming refers to the local or small scale farming practice. Farmland In India grows different crops or vegetables intending to meet their requirement. The excess crops are sold in the local market to earn money. This increases food security into the rural economy. Also for this, price inflation affects the rural market in the least possible way. This farming practice usually doesn’t require today’s modern farming tools and practices as a small unit of the crop are produced.
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Subsistence Farming[/caption]
Commercial farming refers to large scale farming. Here technology is used to produce crops at larger quantity so that it can fulfill the domestic as well as international need. Here the need for technology is acute. Modern farming technology is applied to maximize the production quantity. Industrial crops such as jute, cotton, olive, palm etc also come under this category.
Here techniques such as plant breeding, horticulture, soil management etc are very widely applied. Along with that in this farming need for pesticides and fertilizer is present.
Do you know how the initial story of this practice?
The history of agriculture in the world is one of the greatest chapters in the human book of development. For a long time, the humans were hunters and nomadic type of species. The true shift in the agro-life of humans came about 12000 years ago, which brought the first marks of a more permanent form of life in the humans and right from here the evolution of food and lifestyle marking the onset of the agricultural life of the humans.
During this period humans, for the first time found a long-term solution for food in the Fertile Crescent, an area situated across the present Middle East with ready access to water from big water bodies like Mediterranean sea. This was a remarkable foundation which was proved a milestone marking the change in human food habits forever. Then for ages, very little changes occurred significantly a more settled life and access to high-quality land. This was significantly a big change for the global cultivation and brought about an evolution to the initially developed agriculture.
As time goes on We arrive at the mid-era. In this age slowly science & technology crawled into the agricultural segment. We approached the Middle Ages, a period marked by the development of selective cross-breeding plants and animals and a technique known as Ridge and Furrow farming it is a ploughing method executed with the help of oxen similar to the traditional method of ploughing used even today. Farmland In India turning point in the evolution of farming. And along with these came changes like crop rotation and growing varied seasons and a better understanding of harvesting and crop seasons. The latter half of the 16
th century saw the modernization of farming systems.
But in the 18
th century came the Industrial Revolution which took the agricultural life of humans to a new height which brought in changes like crops requiring less labor, better soil and improved livestock care. New technologies and equipment were introduced to increase productivity. During this time like every other field agriculture also got new heights and flourished with full power.
The Severe Change Comes:
Up next came the period of machines and mechanized life. Like every other sphere, agriculture was also no alien to types of machinery in the 20
th century. The 20
th-century agriculture i.e. the present-day agriculture is associated with the use of newly developed pesticides, use of machinery, pesticide technologies which successfully coincides with huge population growth around the globe.
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Evolution of Farmland[/caption]
And today we are standing at the edge of yet another turning point to balance the sustainability and a large scale food production for an expected mega population of about 9.6 billion people by 2050. Developments like digital farming, improvement in data collection method, GPS in cultivation and better knowledge to the approach of monsoon, even drought-resistant seeds are still going on which are sure to help the agriculture of the globe according to the requirements and demands of the mankind. We are sure to witness greater evolution in the field of agricultural science. Continuous research is still going on to provide sufficient food to the ever-increasing population of the globe.
Modern technologies associated with Farmland:
Today due to urbanization and globalization the area of cities and towns are spreading day-by-day. So the aggregate Farmland In India of a geographical area is shrinking over time. But as said earlier the quantity of food crop required to feed this vast population is growing over time. So to resolve the issue modern technology came up with different process, practices and ideas. We have mentioned some of the mention able and widely practiced technologies of farming here below:
Genetic engineering is the science which alters or restructure the DNA of a living being by deleting, adding and changing the DNA codes. This technique is famous for breeding and increasing the production quantity. Like if you are harvesting mangoes then such kind of mango tree seeds are available which can maximize the production. It helps the farmer to generate profit and ultimately contributes towards the economic development of the country.
Plant breeding refers to the breeding technique in which two plants with the best qualities are combined to produce a single and best desirable plant. This way new varieties and species can be created. Also, it can reduce the risk of damage by pest attack or plant disease. Even in some part of the world, this method is used for developing plant offspring which can survive extreme weather condition.
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Plant Breeding[/caption]
Soil Management implies the study of treating and protecting the soil so that its productivity and fertility can be maximized. It comprises off some operations, treatment and procedures to increase the soil quality so that the crops or the agricultural product can be of the best quality. It has some segments such as- conservation of soil, amending the soil, optimizing the soil quality by balancing the nutrients etc.
Hydroponics evolved as a very recent technique. It is a part of horticulture practices where you can grow or seed plants without using any soil. Only with water solution mixed with required minerals in a liquid form you can raise plant. This procedure reduces the risk of pest attack and also consumes less water. Vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, carrot, etc are ideal to grow using this technique.
Finally, we can say that today’s Farmland In India is the outcome of prehistoric farming practice. With the flow of time, science and skill contributed their best to make it what it is today. In future, surely there be lots of modification and creation be added to this continuous process to make this, even more, better for the betterment of mankind.
Featured Image:
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Hydroponics[/caption]