19. Wheat Production Technology

Wheat

Scientific Name:

Tritichum Aestivum L

Introduction:

1. Wheat is grown on different land areas globally than other crops and is close to 1/3 of rice and corn in total world production.
2. With manufacturing achieving ten times in 5 years, India is the second largest wheat producer in the world.
3. Various research and researches display that wheat and wheat flour play a more and more vital function within the control of the Indian meals economy.
4. Wheat production is set at 70 million tonnes consistent with yr in India and counts for approximately 12 compatible with cent of global manufacturing.
5. Being the second biggest in population, it's also the second biggest in wheat consumption after China, with a significant and developing wheat demand.
6. Essential wheat-developing states in India are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Bihar. All of the north is replenished with wheat cultivation.
7. Wheat has a slender geographic land base for manufacturing as compared to rice or pulses. Wheat is a temperate crop requiring low temperatures and most of the country is tropical.
8. India's wheat production increase is pushed basically by yield increase and via a shift in production from other crops to wheat and a boom in cropping intensity.
9. Some of the principal elements that affect yield, fertilizer use seems to have much less effect in the latest years at the same time as growth in irrigated and high-yielding variety (HYV) places appear to play a more important role in raising yield.
10. Relying on the population and profits growth, poverty comfort, and the price of urbanization, a call for-deliver gap may also open at the cost of about 1 to two cents according to year, which is equal to zero.7 to at least one. Four, million tonnes of wheat, growing hefty over the years.
11. Promoting fast financial improvement and earnings growth in India which embraces the terrible and especially the rural bad may result in considerable growth in the call for wheat and for that reason a diffusion in alternate possibilities.

Economic Importance of Wheat:

• Wheat by myself accounts for 14 percent of the cost added in agriculture and provides three percent of the country’s GDP in line with the Ministry Of Finance (2009). Wheat is the maximum vital agricultural crop; Its miles grew through approximately eighty percent of farmers on about nine million ha, Which is close to 40 percent of the country’s general cultivated land, According to reliable assets in Pakistan.
• The crop also has money owed for an expected 37 percent of both meal's energy and protein intakes. Its miles therefore the single maximum critical meal crop in Pakistan. Those elements exhibit the position and importance of wheat in Pakistan’s economy and public support to the agriculture region.

Production Technology:

Seed-bed preparation:

    2-3 ploughings and 2 cultivations followed using planking are enough to put together a seed bed.

Sowing Time:

• It's miles rabi season crop. In barani regions: 20th October – tenth November
• In irrigated regions, the optimum sowing time is 1st November – fifteenth November
• Sowing after November results in 10-12 kg grain yield reduction in step with acre per day.

Seed Rate:

• 40-50 kg/acre (60 kg/acre in case of December sowing). If germination is much less than 90%, then the seed charge should be multiplied.

Sowing Methods:

    In barani regions: Line sowing with pora or drill

• In irrigated regions: Sowing with automated rabi drill is pleasant. If the drill isn't always to be had, then kera. Or seed may be broadcasted however seed fee should be multiplied by way of about five%.
• In the case of overdue sowing or saline soils, shallow dry sowing observed by irrigation is the best.
• According to care, the premier plant population of wheat is 10-12 lac flora.

Fertilizer:

• Fertilizers should be implemented in line with the fertility repute of soil (in irrigated regions) and with rainfall (in barani areas). Less fertile soils require extra fertilizer and more significant rainfall regions require more fertilizer.
• The full P and k have to be carried out in irrigated areas at seedbed education. However, N is applied in 2 splits, ½ N at seed mattress training and ½ N with 1st or 2nd irrigation.

Irrigation:

    It requires 3-4 irrigations:

• 1st irrigation: 20-25 days after sowing (DAS) at Crown root initiation (CRI) degree (when adventitious root development starts offevolved), 30-40 DAS in rice areas.
• 2nd irrigation: 15-45 DAS at tillering (wherein secondary shoots get up from the principal or primary shoot). Tiller is a shoot having its very own root, stem, leaves, and inflorescence. The first tiller arises 15 Das with a brand new tiller after every 4-five days and keeps until forty-five DAS. Irrigation throughout this level complements tiller development.
• 3rd irrigation: eighty-90 DAS at the booting stage while the spike is growing inside the flag leaf and close to emergence.  Irrigation for the duration of this degree complements spike length and quantity of tillers according to the point.
• 4th Irrigation: one hundred twenty-five-one hundred thirty DAS during milking degree of grain development. Irrigation at some stage in this stage will increase grain length and weight.
• If sufficient water isn't always available, then lessen the variety of irrigations to 2-3 at the maximum essential crucial increase tiers i.e. CRI, booting, and milking stages.

Measures for plant protection:

Weeds:

15-20% discount in yield takes place because of weeds.

Cultural manipulation: 1. Daab (delayed planting) is performed with double rain irrigation.

2. Crop rotation wherein the wheat field is sown with some other rabi crop within the next season e.g. Berseem and many others. With it, tough weeds like wild oat or dumbi sitti are managed.

3. Hoeing or intercultural with bar harrow after 1st or second irrigation.

Chemical control: Pre-emergence herbicides e.g. Stomp or Treflan @ 1.3-2 L /acre for controlling BL weeds and grasses.

Post-emergence herbicides e.g. Buctril fantastic for BL weeds; topic, Puma is excellent for grasses.

Insect Pests:

• Grasshoppers, crickets, aphids, armyworms, and white ants.
• Grasshoppers and white ants assault at the seedling stage and are greater extreme in rainfed areas.
• Aphid, Armyworm attack at heading.
• A spray of suitable pesticides is recommended earlier than grain improvement.

Diseases:

    Stem rust, leaf rust, black rust, and stripe rust are severe. In team rust, brick-pink spore-containing pustules appear on all plant components in patches. In loose smut, floral parts are converted into a black powdery mass.

Harvesting:

    The crop matures when plants begin drying and yellowing. In-plane regions, regions of Punjab, wheat harvesting starts in mid-April and maintains until cease may also. In hilly areas, wheat is harvested in June and July. The crop is harvested via sickle or by integrated harvester or tractor set-up reapers. Combine harvester harvests in addition to threshing the crop

Storage:

    After harvesting, the grain has to be dried enough for safe storage. Luggage, bins, and stores must be fumigated to avoid the attack of saved grain pests and rats.

Varieties:

    Genetically resistant varieties like Akbar-19, Markaz-19, Ghazi -19, Anaj-17, Barani-17, Ujala-16, Jauhar-16, Fatehjang-16, Gold-sixteen, Borlaug-sixteen, Pakistan-13, Millet -eleven, NARC-11, AAS-11, Faisalabad-08, Fakhar e Bhakkar,  Bhakkar star, and Zincol are nevertheless recommended for cultivation in the field.

References:

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2. History of Agriculture

 Ancient History of Agriculture:

       Agriculture was first adopted in Egypt by 7000 BCE, and in the Indian subcontinent, wheat and barley were farmed in Mehrgarh, Balochistan. By 6000 BCE, ancient agriculture had also begun on the banks of the Nile, where rice was considered a primary crop alongside wheat. In China and Indonesia, crops such as taro, mung, and azuki were grown as preliminary and main crops. However, due to improper management of water distribution, these crops were only grown near the banks of rivers and canals. These crops were favored because they contain large quantities of carbohydrates and essential proteins. The adoption of these new farming and fishing methods resulted in a boom in human civilization.

    According to archaeological evidence, the spread of agriculture was also aided by the migration of farming communities from the tropical Sahara region around 6,500 years ago. By this time, the Sumerians had already developed core agricultural techniques such as large-scale cultivation of land, mono-cropping, organized irrigation, and the use of specialized labor forces. These techniques were used along the waterway known today as the Shatt al-Arab, which stretches from the Persian Gulf delta to the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In earlier times, crops were grown mainly for personal consumption, but as time passed, many countries began growing crops for trade purposes and started using a barter system for exchange.

Simple Definition of Agriculture: 

    Agriculture is the practice of cultivating plants and animals to produce various essential goods such as food, animal feed, fiber, fuel, and more. 

   Before the development of agriculture, humans were primarily hunters and gatherers, relying on natural resources for survival. However, as humans began to understand the importance of soil conservation and cultivation, they were able to form settled communities and develop agriculture as a way of life. This led to the formation of tribes and clans that were able to stay in one place and pass on their knowledge of farming from one generation to the next. With the rise of agriculture, cities began to emerge, and trade relationships between them became stronger. As a result, human society began to form and relationships between individuals and groups became more complex. 

Middle age of agriculture: 

    During the Middle Ages, farmers in North Africa and the Near East developed and disseminated agricultural technologies including irrigation systems based on hydraulic and hydrostatic principles, the use of machines such as water wheels or norias, and the use of water-raising machines, dams, and reservoirs. At that time formation of moldboard plows by the Chinese is the main contribution to them. 

Re-birth to present day:

    After the year 1492, a global exchange of crops and livestock occurred, resulting in the introduction of new crops like tobacco, potatoes, and coffee. These introductions caused a growth in the human population. In the early 1800s, the production of crops increased rapidly due to the proper selection of varieties and cultivars. During this time, mechanized agriculture developed and tractors were invented. This invention helped reduce the amount of working time required. In the early twentieth century, many farms were established in the United States, Germany, Argentina, and other countries.

    Throughout history, the increase in agricultural productivity has often been challenged by population growth, soil degradation, droughts, and other factors that threatened the food supply, with the poorest members of society bearing the brunt of famine.

When agricultural technology was not advanced, people exploited their soil, leading to the depletion of essential nutrients. In 1798, economist Thomas Malthus predicted that unchecked population growth would lead to a scarcity of food, resulting in an imbalance in the human population. However, Malthus also believed that scientific innovations in agriculture would ultimately lead to large-scale food production.

    Irrigation, crop rotation, and fertilizers were initially introduced after the Neolithic Revolution and continued to advance in the past two centuries, particularly with the British Agricultural Revolution. The use of machinery, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and selective breeding has greatly increased productivity in agriculture in developed nations since 1900, and to a lesser extent, in developing countries. The development of the Haber-Bosch process enabled the large-scale synthesis of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, leading to significant growth in crop yields.

British Agricultural Revolution: 

    Between the 17th and 19th centuries, Britain experienced a dramatic increase in agricultural productivity known as the British Agricultural Revolution. This "revolution" consisted of a variety of improvements to agricultural methods which more or less took place simultaneously. Farmers developed new methods of crop rotation, began cultivating land that had been marshy or forested, and planted new crops such as the turnip. 

    Advancements in agricultural technology have been ongoing, with innovations such as improved plows, farming tools, and the mechanized combine harvester being developed over time. The introduction of the horse-drawn plow in the early 1900s spurred the growth of more machinery on the farm. As the global population has grown from 1.6 billion in 1900 to 7 billion in 2011, agricultural productivity has also increased significantly. In 2012, global food production generated enough calories to feed the entire population, yet hunger continues to be a global crisis due to the unequal distribution of food resources and significant waste of the world’s food supply. In addition, an estimated 1.6 billion people still suffer from malnourishment.

Innovations in this Field:

     Innovations in food production and distribution have played a crucial role in meeting the food demands of a growing population. Crops such as corn, sweet potatoes, and cassava, originally from the Americas, have spread worldwide and their high nutrient content has helped prevent malnutrition and support population growth. Over the 18th century, advances in transportation, including expanded railways, shipping canals, and new grain storage and transport machinery, facilitated the growth of the U.S. as a major exporter of wheat and corn, helping to meet food demands in Europe during times of scarcity. The development of refrigerated transport has also allowed farmers to ship perishable food over greater distances, enabling more efficient and widespread distribution of food.

    Meanwhile, the development of hybrid seed, and particularly hybrid corn, revolutionized agriculture. Hybrids improve the results of planting and often produce plants and fruits that are hardier and more uniform. Hybrid seeds contributed to the increased agricultural output of the second half of the 20th century.

    Agriculture is a very vast field and we cannot define it in a single topic. so the next topic is about their branches and also their importance.  

References:

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