Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
13.3 TRADITIONAL CONCEPT OF SOIL FERTILITY
Krishi parashara (ca. 400 BC), one of the well-known ancient Indian texts on agri-
culture, stressed soil management: “Farms yield gold if properly managed but lead
to poverty if neglected.” It also emphasized, “Crops grown without manure will not
give yield.” In Krishi Gita (ca. 1500 AD), Parashurama recommended deep sum-
mer plowing and green manuring for rice to obtain good yields (Nene 2009). These
verses indicate that farmers in ancient India realized that good management and
nurturing of soil are essential to realize good yields.
Farmers in India describe productive and fertile land as urwar and upjau , which
literally means well-prepared land that has a good seedbed, is brown and plain, and
is able to provide good nutrients to crops. Farmers also saw soil fertility as a multi-
faceted concept. It includes factors such as the soil capacity, drainage, tillage, and
manure requirement, and shows how easy it is to work (Rhoades 1998). Probably
the earliest form of soil fertility management originated when nomads, people who
moved between grazing areas with their animals, discovered that they could grow
crops readily on new land, but that if they tried to grow crops on the same piece of
land for more than one season, they would obtain less food from the crops planted.
Once this lesson had been learnt, the process of “shifting cultivation” gradually
became more sophisticated. This form of soil management by shifting cultivation has
been widely practiced throughout the world. It is an essential response to the problem
of obtaining food where the soil itself is incapable of sustaining the continuous pro-
duction of crops for an unlimited period. The system is sustainable as long as there
is sufficient land for the soil to be allowed to recover until its productivity returns to
the former level. It is also dependent on the knowledge and experience acquired by
the farmers themselves (FAO 1994). In terms of fertility, three main classes are rec-
ognized by traditional Indian farmers, namely, Bangar (fer tile), Karail (moderately
TABLE 13.7
Different Soil Fertility Practices as Ranked by Farmers and Constraints in
Adoption in Present-Day Farming
Soil Fertility Practices
Rank
Constraints in Adoption
Sheep, goat, and cow penning
I
As animal migration came down, this practice
declined. More expensive to farmers now
Crop rotation
II
Shift in preference towards cash crops
Application of crop residue
III
Use of crop residue as fodder and fuel
Fallowing
IV
Shortage of land
Incorporation of weeds
V
Shortage of labor
Manuring
VI
Manure used as fuel and decline of livestock
Tillage practices
VII
Reduction in draft power
Green manuring
III
Lack of seeds of green manuring crop and attack
of wild blue cows
Source: Singh, R.K., and P.K. Singh, Asian Agrihist. , 9(4), 291-303, 2005.
 
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