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Succession Planting
In agriculture, succession planting refers to several planting methods that increase crop availability during a growing season by making efficient use of space and timing. There are four basic approaches, that can also be combined: *Two or more crops in succession: On the same field where one crop has just been harvested, another is planted. The duration of the growing season, the environment, and the choice of crop are important variables. A crop that prefers the chilly spring months can be followed by a crop that prefers the summer heat. *Same crop, successive plantings: Several smaller plantings are made at timed intervals, rather than all at once. The plants mature at staggered dates, establishing a continuous harvest over an extended period. Lettuce and other salad greens are common crops for this approach. Within a small garden or home garden, this method is useful in circumventing the initial large yield from the crop and rather providing a steady, smaller yield that may b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agriculture
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in the cities. While humans started gathering grains at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers only began planting them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. In the 20th century, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monocultures came to dominate agricultural output. , small farms produce about one-third of the world's food, but large farms are prevalent. The largest 1% of farms in the world are greater than and operate more than 70% of the world's farmland. Nearly 40% of agricultural land is found on farms larger than . However, five of every six farm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Growing Season
A season is a division of the year marked by changes in weather, ecology, and the amount of daylight. The growing season is that portion of the year in which local conditions (i.e. rainfall, temperature, daylight) permit normal plant growth. While each plant or crop has a specific growing season that depends on its genetic adaptation, growing seasons can generally be grouped into macro-environmental classes. Axial tilt of the Earth inherently affect growing seasons across the globe. Geography Geographic conditions have major impacts on the growing season for any given area. Latitude is one of the major factors in the length of the growing season. The further from the equator one goes, the angle of the Sun gets lower in the sky. Consequently, sunlight is less direct and the low angle of the Sun means that soil takes longer to warm during the spring months, so the growing season begins later. The other factor is altitude, with high elevations having cooler temperatures which short ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Continuous Harvest
In agriculture, continuous harvest is the availability of a crop over an extended period during the growing season. Each crop has a harvest window during which it is ready for picking. Some are harvested by removing the whole plant, for example, cutting a head of lettuce. Others can be picked over varying periods: peas and corn may have a window of two weeks, cucumbers six or eight, tomatoes produce until the end of the season. To provide a season-long continuous harvest of a crop with a shorter harvest window, succession planting techniques are used, including multiple plantings at different times, and planting of cultivars with different maturity date Maturity or immaturity may refer to: * Adulthood or age of majority * Maturity model ** Capability Maturity Model, in software engineering, a model representing the degree of formality and optimization of processes in an organization * Developme ...s. In this way, with effective timing, a new planting or variety of a crop is alwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lettuce
Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae mostly grown as a leaf vegetable. The leaves are most often used raw in Green salad, green salads, although lettuce is also seen in other kinds of food, such as sandwiches, wraps and soups; it can also be grilled. Its stem and seeds are sometimes used; celtuce (asparagus lettuce) is one variety grown for its stems, which are eaten either raw or cooked. In addition to its main use as a leafy green, it has also gathered religious and medicinal significance over centuries of human consumption. Europe and North America originally dominated the market for lettuce, but by the late 20th century the consumption of lettuce had spread throughout the world. , world production of lettuce (and chicory) was 27 million tonnes, 53percent of which came from China. Lettuce was originally farmed by the ancient Egyptians, who transformed it from a plant whose seeds were used to obtain oil into an important food crop raised fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leaf Vegetable
Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by their petioles and shoots, if tender. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad greens, whereas leaf vegetables eaten cooked can be called pot herbs. Nearly one thousand species of plants with edible leaves are known. Leaf vegetables most often come from short-lived herbaceous plants, such as lettuce and spinach. Woody plants of various species also provide edible leaves. The leaves of many fodder crops are also edible for humans, but are usually only eaten under famine conditions. Examples include alfalfa, clover, and most grasses, including wheat and barley. Food processing, such as drying and grinding into powder or pulping and pressing for juice, may involve these crop leaves in a diet. Leaf vegetables contain many typical plant nutrients, but their vitamin K levels are particularly notable since they are photos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intercropping
Intercropping is a multiple cropping practice that involves the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field, a form of polyculture. The most common goal of intercropping is to produce a greater yield on a given piece of land by making use of resources or ecological processes that would otherwise not be utilized by a single crop. Methods The degree of spatial and temporal overlap in the two crops can vary somewhat, but both requirements must be met for a cropping system to be an intercrop. Numerous types of intercropping, all of which vary the temporal and spatial mixture to some degree, have been identified. Mixed intercropping Mixed intercropping consists of multiple crops freely mixed in the available space. In the 21st century, it remains a common practice in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Georgia (country), Georgia, and a few other places. Freely mixed intercropping has been practiced for thousands of years. In medieval England, farmers mixed oat and barley, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Companion Planting
Companion planting in gardening and agriculture is the planting of different crops in proximity for any of a number of different reasons, including Weed control, weed suppression, pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial insects, maximizing use of space, and to otherwise increase crop productivity. Companion planting is a form of polyculture. Companion planting is used by farmers and gardeners in both industrialized and developing countries for many reasons. Many of the modern principles of companion planting were present many centuries ago in forest gardens in Asia, and thousands of years ago in Mesoamerica. The technique may allow farmers to reduce costly inputs of artificial Fertilizer, fertilisers and pesticides. Traditional practice History Companion planting was practiced in various forms by the indigenous peoples of the Americas prior to the arrival of Europeans. These peoples domesticated Cucurbita pepo, squash 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, then m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cropping System
The term cropping system refers to the crops, crop sequences and management techniques used on a particular agricultural field over a period of years. It includes all spatial and temporal aspects of managing an agricultural system. Historically, cropping systems have been designed to maximise yield, but modern agriculture is increasingly concerned with promoting environmental sustainability in cropping systems. Manish mandavi B.Tech student Crop choice Crop choice is central to any cropping system. In evaluating whether a given crop will be planted, a farmer must consider its profitability, adaptability to changing conditions, resistance to disease, and requirement for specific technologies during growth or harvesting. They must also consider the prevailing environmental conditions on their farm, and how the crop will fit in with other elements of their production system. Crop organisation and rotation Monoculture is the practice of growing a single crop in a given area, where ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Organic Farming
Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2024 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007.''/ref> is an agricultural system that emphasizes the use of naturally occurring, non-synthetic inputs, such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation, companion planting, and mixed cropping. Biological pest control methods such as the fostering of insect predators are also encouraged. Organic agriculture can be defined as "an integrated farming system that strives for sustainability, the enhancement of soil fertility and biological diversity while, with rare exceptions, prohibiting synthetic pesticides, antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, and growth hormones". It originate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multiple Cropping
In agriculture, multiple cropping or multicropping is the practice of growing two or more crops in the same piece of land during one year, instead of just one crop. When multiple crops are grown simultaneously, this is also known as intercropping. This cropping system helps farmers to double their crop productivity and their income. But, the selection of two or more crops for practicing multicropping mainly depends on the mutual benefit of the selected crops. Threshing can be difficult in multiple cropping systems where crops are harvested together. It can take the form of double-cropping, in which a second crop is planted after the first has been harvested. In the Garhwal Himalaya of India, a practice called barahnaja involves sowing 12 or more crops on the same plot, including various types of beans, grains, and millets, and harvesting them at different times. Benefits of multiple cropping Adopting the practice of multiple cropping on a large scale can help in reducing th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catch Crop
In agriculture, a catch crop is a fast-growing crop that is grown between successive plantings of a main crop. It is a specific type of cover crop that is grown between two main crops. This crop is utilized as a way to reduce nitrogen leaching but it also promotes environmental benefits such as fortifying soil structure, retention of water and enhancement of soil biological activity. Catch crops revolve around plant species that have short growing seasons, rapid growth, low soil and nutrients requirements to be considered a catch crop. Catch cropping is a type of succession planting. It makes more efficient use of growing space. For example, radishes that mature from seed in 25–30 days can be grown between rows of most vegetables, and harvested long before the main crop matures. Or, a catch crop can be planted between the spring harvest and fall planting of some crops. Leach reduction Growing catch crops is to improve and help maintain soil organic matter. This is achieved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyculture
In agriculture, polyculture is the practice of growing more than one crop species together in the same place at the same time, in contrast to monoculture, which had become the dominant approach in developed countries by 1950. Traditional examples include the intercropping of the Three Sisters (agriculture), Three Sisters, namely maize, beans, and Cucurbita, squashes, by indigenous peoples of Central and North America, the rice-fish systems of Asia, and the complex mixed cropping systems of Nigeria. Polyculture offers multiple advantages, including increasing total yield, as multiple crops can be harvested from the same land, along with reduced risk of crop failure. Resources are used more efficiently, requiring less inputs of fertilizers and pesticides, as interplanted crops suppress weeds, and legumes can Nitrogen fixation, fix nitrogen. The increased diversity tends to reduce losses from Pest control, pests and plant diseases, diseases. Polyculture can yield multiple harvests ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
