Thursday, November 18, 2010

The Reasons Agriculture is Important



Why is agriculture important? The concept of 'food security' is fundamentally important, and for that reason, agriculture is important. The task of feeding its people has been perhaps the first priority of its rulers throughout history. As such, agriculture is considered to be the very basis of political and social stability of a nation since times immemorial.

Moreover, the agricultural sector plays an important role in the sphere of providing large scale employment to people. Large and moderately large farms employ workers to undertake the various jobs relating to cultivation of crops and care of farm animals. In most of the countries of the world, agriculture still remains the biggest sector responsible for the employing and feeding a large percentage of the population.

Agriculture is also important from the point of view of appraising the standard of a country's development, based on the competence of its farmers. Poorly trained farmers cannot apply the advanced methods and new technologies. The prominence of science and technology in the development of agriculture is quite clear from the words of Deng Xiaoping -

The development of agriculture depends first on policy, and second on science. There is neither any limit to developments in science and technology, nor to the role that they can play in the field of agricultural growth'.

Though agriculture often plays a contributory role in the 'Gross Domestic Product' - GDP - of most countries, it nevertheless requires a substantial boost from both the local and the international community.

Agriculture is traditionally based on bulk manufacturing. Harvesting is done once a season, most of the times, and stocked and used later. In fact, some thinkers opine that people have begun to adopt 'batch processing' and 'stocking' in manufacturing, as a result of the practices from agricultural thinking. Before industrialization, people with the biggest stocks of food and other supplies were considered more stable, and they were able to face challenges of nature without having to starve.

So important is the role of agriculture that new concepts keep 'cropping up' to give the traditional activity a modern turn. One such new concept the world is raving about these days is - the importance of 'organic farming'. There is evidence that, apart from their numerous other benefits, organic farms are more sustainable and environmentally sound, giving agriculture a new dimension.

The importance of agricultural practices was further established when 'Organic food' began as a small movement decades ago, with gardeners and farmers rejecting the use of conventional non-organic practices. With the growth of the Organic food market now outpacing much of the food industry, many big companies have ventured into it. With the emergence of multi-national companies, and with the creation of a legal certification framework such as the Soil Association, there is every doubt that the very definition of organic food will change, making it more of a commercial activity than ever before!

In fact, modern agriculture has already undergone a sea-change from the ancient times. Today, the importance of agriculture lies in the fact that it is practiced both for subsistence as well as commercial reasons!

To trace the latest information in agricultural scenario and agro industry, agricultural, products, reserves, Indian importers, Trade Leads, business directories, catalogs and product reviews, www.made-from-india.com is the precise Indian Business to Business (B2B) portal. It maintains a large database of Indian Agricultural manufactures suppliers, India Agricultural products, Indian Farm Products, suppliers & producers of agricultural products including fertilizers, pesticides, animal feeds & extracts, agricultural product stocks, vegetable oil, Indian Agriculture information online news, irrigation equipment, machines & appliances, fruits & juices, edible products etc.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Top 7 Highlights of Australian Agriculture



Australia is a major agricultural producer, producing a great range of agricultural products for local, and international consumption. Some of this production is made possible through the use of protective canopies. How many of the following were you aware of?

Crops

Wheat is the most important agricultural crop to the Australian economy, judging by its monetary value, land usage and overall volume of production. It dwarfs the next nearest crop, barley, by a factor of over three. Barley itself has production over three times the next nearest crops. A cluster of crops jostle for this third position, with production of sorghum, cottonseed, canola, oats and lupines all usually significantly over one thousand kilo tonnes per annual.

Horticulture

While much of Australia is desert, and unsuitable for agriculture, the sheer size of the country means there are a variety of climatic zones. Oranges, apples, potatoes, carrots and tomatoes are the main fruits and vegetables being successfully grown in temperate areas. In warmer northern regions tropical fruits like bananas, mangoes and pineapples grow well.

Wine

It's not only Aussies that enjoy a good drop. Australian wine can be found on retailers' shelves all over the world. The major producing regions in Australia are the Barossa Valley in South Australia, Margaret River in Western Australia, the Hunter Valley in New South Wales and Sunraysia in Victoria. A strong Australian dollar, and oversupply of grapes have been challenges for the industry in recent years. The upside has been cheaper wine for Australian consumers.

Cattle

Over sixty percent of Australian beef is exported, largely ending up on American and Japanese plates. Australia has stayed BSE (mad cow disease) free, giving it a major advantage over other producers in recent years. Australian sheep and lambs are also an important export. The Middle East is a major market. Pork is also produced in Australia, predominantly for local consumption.

Dairy farming

Milk, cheese, yoghurt and butter are some of the great locally produced dairy products Australians can enjoy, and maybe take for granted. The Westernisation of diets in Asia has seen demand for some of these products also increasing offshore. Increasing demand in the Middle East is also seen as supporting dairy farming in Australia, going into the future.

Seafood

Rock lobsters, prawns, tuna and abalone are some of Australia's largest export earning seafood products. With overfishing becoming a major global conundrum, it is encouraging to see that the proportion of Australia's annual seafood production coming from aquaculture has been steadily rising. It now stands at around a third of overall production.

Wool

Sheep not only provide great lamb roasts, but also some of the world's finest wool. The Merino variety of sheep is know for the high quality of its wool, and Australia dominates this sector, with around half the world's Merino wool production. For the wool market as a whole, Australia's market share is a little under ten percent.

Australia has been quite successful in the production and harvesting of the agricultural products listed above. The use of bird netting has been useful in protecting valuable crops from pests. Managing these and other agricultural challenges need to continue to keep Australia as a successful agricultural producer.

www.made-from-india.com is the precise Indian Business to Business (B2B) portal. It maintains a large database of Indian Agricultural manufactures suppliers, India Agricultural products, Indian Farm Products, suppliers & producers of agricultural products including fertilizers, pesticides, animal feeds & extracts, agricultural product stocks, vegetable oil, Indian Agriculture information online news, irrigation equipment, machines & appliances, fruits & juices, edible products etc.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Gypsum Valuable Input for Agriculture



India ranks second on the basis of population in the world. Agricultural land utilised by the burgeoning population, the cultivable land resource is shrinking day by day. To meet the food, fibre, fuel, fodder, and other needs of the growing population, the productivity of agricultural land has to be increased rationally. This requires the use of all resources judiciously. In India, the mineral gypsum is mostly used in the manufacture of cement, fertiliser, plaster of Paris, ceramics and distemper. Smaller quantity is used as soil conditioner, for carving and statuary purposes. India has huge resources of natural gypsum of the order of 1120 million tonnes, of which recoverable reserves are estimated at 237 million tonnes. Over 95 per cent of the natural gypsum come from Rajasthan.

Gypsum is chemically calcium sulfate dihydrate (CaSO4.2H2O). When dissolved in water, it yields calcium ions (Ca2+) and sulfate-sulfur ions (SO42-). Both of these ions are essential major nutrients for growing plants. In addition to this, calcium also plays a vital role in establishing and maintaining good chemical balance in soil, water and plants. Gypsum is one of those rare materials that perform in all three categories of soil treatment: an amendment, conditioner, and fertilizer. The usage of gypsum in agriculture can be grouped into following heads:

Reclaims soil sodicity: The sodic soils have exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) more than 15, it must be lowered for soil improvement as well as better crop growth. The calcium supplied by gypsum replaces the sodium held at the clay-exchange sites. The replaced sodium can be leached from the soil as sodium sulfate to an appropriate sink.

Decreases the toxic effect of NaCl salinity: Calcium from gypsum has a physiological role in inhibiting the uptake of sodium by plants. Thus plant are mitigate the sodium toxicity, which is more pronounced in the salt affected soils.

Decreases pH of sodic soils: The sodic soils are characterised by the high soil pH (>8.5). Gypsum lowers the high pH of sodic soils or near sodic soils to 7.5 to 7.8. These values are in the range of acceptability for growth of most crop plants. Increased calcium uptake by roots when gypsum is applied can decrease the pH of the rhizosphere.

Creates favorable soil EC: The more EC value of the soil is undesired for the crop growth. The high EC of soil are due to fertilizer application as well as by the weathering of soil minerals. Gypsum, being readily soluble, results in proper buffered solute concentration (EC) in soil to maintain soil in a flocculated state.

Makes excess Magnesium non-toxic: Calcium is essential to the biochemical mechanisms by which most plants nutrients are absorbed by roots. Without adequate calcium, uptake mechanisms would fail. In soils having unfavorable calcium magnesium ratios, such as serpentine soils, gypsum can create a more favorable ratio. Thus render Magnesium non-toxic.

Decreases heavy-metal toxicity: Calcium plays a role of regulator for balance of micro-nutrients, such as iron, zinc, manganese and copper, in plants. Calcium prevents excess uptake of many of them; and once they are in the plant, calcium keeps them from having adverse effects when their levels get high. Calcium in liberal quantities helps to maintain a healthy balance of nutrients and non-nutrients within plants. Gypsum also removes excess of Boron from sodic soil. It also regulates non-essential trace elements.

Improves soil structure: Gypsum provides calcium, which, flocculate clays in acid and alkaline soil. A flocculated clays form friable soil with improved soil structure and tilth. It also allows for deeper, healthier root development and water penetration.

Prevents crusting of soil: Gypsum application can decrease and prevent the crust formation on soil surfaces which result from rain drops or from sprinkler irrigation on unstable soil. It can prevent crusting that result when acid soils are limed and the gypsum is coapplied with the lime.
Improves compacted soil: Gypsum can break up compacted soil and decrease penetrometer resistance. Combination with organic amendments also helps, especially in preventing return of the compaction. The soils applied with gypsum have low bulk density.

Makes slightly wet soils easier to till: Soils that have been treated with gypsum have a wider range of soil moisture levels where it is safe to till without danger of compaction or deflocculation. Even a liberal application of gypsum is a good procedure for starting a piece of land into no-till soil management or pasture. Gypsum also improves the ability of soil to drain and not become waterlogged due to a combination of high sodium, swelling clay, and excess water.

Stops water runoff and erosion: Gypsum improves water infiltration rates into soils and also the hydraulic conductivity of the soil. The use of gypsum can decrease wind and water erosion of soil.

Improves swelling clays: Gypsum can decrease the swelling and cracking associated with high levels of exchangeable sodium on the montmorillonite-type clays. As sodium is replaced by calcium on these clays, they swell less and therefore do not easily clog the pore spaces through which air, water and roots move.

Increases water retention in soil: Gypsum when applied to sodic soil reduced the levels of exchangeable sodium resulted in increase in water retention. The improved soil structure help in the more retention of water.
Increases the stability of soil organic matter: Gypsum is a source of calcium responsible for the binding of soil organic matter to clay and gives stability to soil aggregates.

Improves low-solute irrigation water: Gypsum is used to increase the solute concentration of low-solute water used for irrigation. Irrigation water from rivers that no longer have sources of leachable salts either penetrates poorly into soil or causes soil particles to degrade which results in low-water penetration. The problem can be corrected with surface-applied gypsum or application to the irrigation water.

Improves water-use efficiency: Gypsum application increases water-use efficiency of crops. Improved water infiltration rates, improved hydraulic conductivity of soil, better water storage in the soil all lead to deeper rooting and better water-use efficiency.

Efficiently use low quality irrigation water: Use of reclaimed municipal wastewater is important for conservation of natural resources. Reclaimed water can be satisfactorily used if amended with gypsum and water-soluble polymers.

Improves fruit quality and prevents some plant diseases: The quality of fruit depends on the amount of calcium. Calcium is nearly always only marginally sufficient and often deficient in developing fruits. Calcium moves very slowly, if at all, from one plant part to another and fruits at the end of the transport system get too little. Calcium must be constantly available to the roots. In very high pH soils, calcium is not available enough; therefore, gypsum helps. Gypsum is used for peanuts, which develop below ground, to keep them disease free. Gypsum helps prevent blossom-end rot of watermelon and tomatoes and bitter pit in apples. Gypsum is preferred over lime for potatoes grown in acid soils so that scab may be controlled.

Decreases loss of fertilizer nitrogen to the air: Calcium from gypsum can help decrease volatilization loss of ammonium nitrogen from applications of ammonia, ammonium nitrate, urea, ammonium sulfate, or any of the ammonium phosphates.

To trace the latest information in agricultural scenario and agro industry, agricultural, products, reserves, Indian importers, Trade Leads, business directories, catalogs and product reviews, www.made-from-india.com is the precise Indian Business to Business (B2B) portal. It maintains a large database of Indian Agricultural manufactures suppliers, India Agricultural products, Indian Farm Products, suppliers & producers of agricultural products including fertilizers, pesticides, animal feeds & extracts, agricultural product stocks, vegetable oil, Indian Agriculture information online news, irrigation equipment, machines & appliances, fruits & juices, edible products etc.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Agriculture Injuries and Fatalities



When it comes to on the job injuries, most people think of factory workers as the population most at risk. But, surprisingly, most factories have less injuries and fatalities than other industries. Factories are very closely monitored and very strict rules are put into place in order to protect employees from any type of injury. All the employees must go through a number of stringent safety courses as well.

The more industrialized the industry, in general, the more safety standards are put into place. There are a number of reasons for this. For one thing, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA keeps an extremely watchful eye on factories. They are also tightly unionized and have dozens of unions representing their employees at all times. Unions can help guarantee reasonable work hours, safe working conditions and very competitive wages.

The industries that actually experience the most injuries and fatalities of employees are the ones less closely regulated. One of these industries is agriculture. In fact, agriculture is one of the two most dangerous industries in the United States.

The Numbers

Every year in the United States, an estimated 710 agriculture employees dies while on the job. Other serious issues facing agriculture employees are the high number of permanent, non-fatal injuries. There are around three of these permanent injuries for every fatality.

These permanent injuries and fatalities are most common in the harvest months. The second most risky time is during the planting months.

Agriculture Machinery and Farm Structures

There are a number of reasons why the agriculture industry has such a high number of fatalities and injuries. But by far the most common cause of deaths are accidents caused by farm machinery. Tractor overturn is the single most common fatal agriculture accident. In addition to tractors, the dozens of large machines used for planting and harvesting are extremely dangerous.

These machines contain huge, sharp blades which can cause accidental amputation in less than a second. The safety features on these machines are often inferior in relation to their danger level. Many employees are also not properly schooled in the safety measures that must be taken in order to avoid injury.

In addition to farm machinery, farm structures can be quite dangerous. Indoor farm activities are typically done in confined spaces such as silos. Many agriculture products such as manure also produce toxic gases which can be fatal in small spaces

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Is Agriculture As Green As We Think It Is?



Images of smoke belching from the chimneys of factories, oil refineries or cars inching their way in a downtown street are typical images that come to one's mind when one thinks of greenhouse emissions. On the other hand vast stretches of emerald fields and meadows nearby with flocks of sheep and cattle grazing idly conjure an image of perfect harmony with nature. This makes us believe that agriculture and animal husbandry are perfectly eco friendly occupations that do not threaten the atmosphere in any way.

The perfect picture post card scenario it seems is far from true according to scientists and agriculture experts and recent studies present a grim picture.

Let us take a quick look at the facts

- Agriculture accounts for 10% of all greenhouse emissions globally
- Paddy fields in particular release 10 million tonnes of methane which is 20% of all human produced methane emission
- Livestock comprising sheep and cattle are responsible for half of the global agricultural emissions with these animals releasing methane directly into the atmosphere.
- A vast amount of nitrous oxide is released due to the decaying of manure.

A fast growing world population demanding a higher and higher output of both grains and meat forced more and more wetlands/peat lands to be brought under agriculture. These lands store an estimated 300 billion to 700 billion tonnes of carbon and their degradation results in massive volumes of carbon dioxide emissions averaging 2 to 3 billion tonnes a year which is the equivalent of 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

This truly is a catch 22 situation, while bringing more lands under cultivation and increasing the number of animals being reared for meat threatens the eco system, producing less crops and meat threatens to starve the world's growing population. While we can reduce industrial emission to an extent by driving around lesser, sharing cars to work using public transport and implementing pollution control measures in factories, how can we stop increasing agricultural activity in proportion to need. This is a question that needs to be addressed by agricultural experts and scientists.

www.made-from-india.com is the precise Indian Business to Business (B2B) portal. It maintains a large database of Indian Agricultural manufactures suppliers, India Agricultural products, Indian Farm Products, suppliers & producers of agricultural products including fertilizers, pesticides, animal feeds & extracts, agricultural product stocks, vegetable oil, Indian Agriculture information online news, irrigation equipment, machines & appliances, fruits & juices, edible products etc.