Farming is one of the most popular ancient occupations of mankind. Farming represents the food culture of the people living in a particular area too. When done on a large scale, it is called agriculture. With the development of science and technology, several modern agro-based machines and skills are introduced to produce a high yield with minimum cost. The government also introduces new policies and schemes to enhance the knowledge and uplift the state of farmers. Nowadays more people are developing a love for farming and agriculture. To ease those new farmers, let’s have a look at the famous farming practices prevailing in the world.
Subsistence Farming:
It is one of the oldest methods of farming practiced by farmers generally in India. In this, the whole family of farmers works in the field. The landholdings are usually small and scattered. They follow the traditional method of farming and use primitive tools. As most of the farmers are poor, they cannot afford electricity, irrigation, high yielding variety of seeds, and fertilizers. Even if they are managed somehow, the yield generated is less and they are more likely to be consumed by the family. While some of the yields are sold which serves as the money input for the next yield. It is being replaced slowly by mystical agriculture.
Crop Rotation:
Another popular farming practice includes crop rotation. In this method, farmers never leave the land empty by continuously growing different crops on the same land. This helps to enhance soil fertility by reducing pests, minimizing the use of chemicals, and reducing reliance on only one set of nutrients which also results in maximizing yields. It also contributes to the soil and nature by protecting the soil from erosion. The selection of crops typically depends on the soil condition, food demand, and understanding of farmers.
Terrace Farming:
As the name goes, terrace-like structures are formed for cultivation. This method is proved useful in hilly areas where farming is done on hills or slopes of mountains. As the availability of flat land is limited, the slopes are cut down by giving it a terrace-shaped structure to facilitate a small patch of flat/level land. This also protects the soil from getting eroded and generates a high yield. Do you know who invented terrace farming? It was the Wari-culture tribes who developed this method of farming in the south-central Andes, 1000 centuries earlier.
Inter-Cropping/Mixed Cropping:
Don’t misinterpret it as crop rotation. This mixed or Inter-Cropping method requires sowing of more than two crops at the same time. Whereas, in crop-rotation farmers only sow one crop at a single time. You wouldn’t believe this method was originally developed by the Wadi-Tribal people thousands of years ago. This method utilizes the whole land to maximize yield while reducing the risks of association with one product only. It helps in creating a diversity of atmosphere. It attracts a variety of beneficial and predatory insects which increases soil organic matter and fumigates the soil.
Water Harvesting:
One of the major factors that are essential for farming is water. In older times, people used to depend solely on rain for irrigation and this may also prevent them from producing a high yield as rain is an uncontrollable factor. With time, this new method is evolved which productively uses rainfall as a factor to harvest water for future irrigational purposes. Many water harvesting techniques include collecting water from rooftops, from swollen streams and rivers, or artificially constructed catchments. This helps farmers in storing water for extreme conditions like drought or limited rainfall. According to some sources, the strawberry farms in Bangalore are cultivated by water harvesting methods.
These are our top five famous farming practices employed by the farmers for a prolonged period. Hope you enjoyed reading it.
