Reasons for decline in soil fertility

 Reasons for decline in soil fertility

Introduction

Soil fertility is a component of overall

soil productivity that deals with its

available nutrient status, and its ability

to provide nutrients out of its own

reserves and through external

applications for crop production.

Increasing pressure on limited agricultural land in Indiahas resulted in overuse of chemical fertilisers, excessive tillage, and lack of appropriate crop rotation.

This has resulted in soil degradation and loss of fertility,which are emerging as major challenges for the Indianfarmers.

Clearly, the pressures of constantly increasing productionhave in turn resulted in a persistent decline in soilfertility– a major challenge that Indian agriculture iscurrently facing.

With rising population, limited availability of agriculturalland, small land holdings and declining soil fertility, Indiais under serious threat of losing its food surplus status inthe near future.

According to estimates, the demand for food grains isexpected to increase from 192 million tonnes in 2000 to 355 million tonnes in 2030.

Causes of decline in soil fertility

1. Loss of top soil by erosion

2. Nutrient mining

3. Physical degradation of soil (poor structure, compaction,

crusting and waterlogging etc.

4. Decrease in organic matter content and soil bioactivity

5. Loss of nutrients through various routes

6. Soil acidification, salinization and alkalization

7. Inefficient soil management

8. Soil pollution

1. Loss of top soil by erosion

The top soil is rich in nutrients and organic

matter. Loss of the fertile topsoil components

through erosion by water and wind results in

decreased fertility.

Soil erosion is very common in many parts of

the country.

The basic causes of soil erosion are the result

of human activities such as deforestation,

overgrazing and poor soil management.

2. Nutrient mining

• Removal of more nutrients by crops than

added through manures or fertilizers is

called as nutrient mining or depletion.

•  At present, nutrient mining is a

major threat to productive

sustainable farming. It is a widespread problem in

low- and medium input

agriculture. Nutrient mining is accelerated by

imbalanced fertilization.

Agriculture and Its Evolution

 Agriculture

• Derived from Latin words
• 'Ager'- soil
• 'Cultura'- cultivation
• Agriculture is a very broad term encompassing all aspects of crop production, livestock farming, fisheries, poultry, forestry, etc.
• Science and art of cultivating crop and rearing of animals 
• Integration of crop and animal rearing
• Agriculture started with civilization of human being
• All primary necessity of human life are directly related to Agriculture
• At present agriculture are main profession and the most important human economic activity worldwide
• Plant convert the environmental inputs ( i.e., solar energy, carbon dioxide, water) into economy products (i.e., plant actually do)

The beginning

• World was formed around 4600 million years ago
• Eukaryotic life forms: 1000 million years ago 
• First hominid life forms: 4 million years ago
• Earliest man (Homo ererctus) forms: 1.5 million years ago
• Control and use fire: 500 thousand years ago
• Direct ancestor of modern man( Homo sapiens): 250 million years ago
• Modern man appear in Africa: 35000 years ago
• First human farmers: about 12000 years ago
• Modern agriculture evolution: 1950 - present

Evolution of Agriculture ~ Timeline

The most important event in history of agriculture after 7500 BC listed as:-

• 7500 BC: Conversation of crops (wheat, barley)
• 6000 BC: Domestication of cattle and pig
• 4000 BC: Cultivation of maize
• 3500 BC: Cultivation of potato
• 3400 BC: Wheel was invented 
• 3000 BC: Bronze was used to make tools
• 2900 BC: Plough was invented, Irrigation started
• 2700 BC: Silk moth domestication
• 2300 BC: Cultivation of chickpea, pea, mustard and cotton. Domestication of fowl, buffalo and elephant
• 2200 BC: Cultivation of rice in India
• 2100 BC: Cultivation of fingermillet
• 1725 BC: Cultivation of sorghum
• 1700 BC: Taming of horses
• 1500 BC: Cultivation of sugarcane and Irrigation from wells
• 1400 BC: Use of Iron
• 1500 AD: Cultivation of sweet orange, sour orange, wild brinjal, pomegranate
• 1600 AD: Introduction to several crops in India from Portugal (sweet potato,  tomato,  chillies, pumpkin, papaya, cashew nut, custard apple, groundnut,  cotton, rubber, tobacco)

Stages in Development of pre-historic Agriculture

Identification and conservation of desirable native plants

• By using various part of plants like root leaves, seeds, fruit, flower, etc. man identified the desirable plant (crop plants)
• Conserved those plants from danger

Collection and preservation of seeds

• After eating fruit threw seeds which germinated into same type of plants
• Collected seeds were grown at desirable place

Sowing of seeds

• With increase in population shortage of food was faced leading to start of sowing on the basis of climatic suitability

Tilling of land

• Seeds were damaged by birds or air or flow of water
• Loosened the soil (stone/wooden tools) and put seeds in soil

Shifting cultivation

• Enough land available for raising crops/plants
• Reduction in yield on same land 
• Shifted farming to new land

Weed control

• Unwanted plants grow with desirable plants and compete for resources
• Control of these unwanted plants (weed)  started
• Women mostly performed this work

Fallowing of land

• With rise in population people started living in groups and established villages 
• Reduction in yield on continuous raising crop plants on same soil
• Started fallowing same portion of land and tilling old fallow land

Use of domestic waste as plant nourishment

• Use of domestic waste in agriculture, good growth of crops
•  Domesticated several animals i.e., sheep, goat, cow and buffalo 
• Use of dunk, urine and animal wastes improved the soil fertility 
• Use of ashes, domestic waste, animal dung and urine and animal waste in agricultural production

Following crop rotation

• Growing cereals after legume crops gives better yield which resulted in crop rotation practice 
• Later must have known that legume fix atmospheric nitrogen

Green manuring

• Legumes must have been grown and turned into soil to improve the soil fertility

Contribution of India in Agricultural development

• Cultivation of rice
• Native of India:-  sugarcane, several legumes and tropical fruit like mango

Mohan Jodaro to Harappa territory (3000-1700 BC)

• Huge granaries 
• Main crops:- Barley, wheat, sesamum, peas, cotton, mustard, date palm and lantil 
•  Wooden plough and wheeled cart were used first time
• Ginning, spinning and weaving of cotton 
• Sling-ball for scaring birds and animals

Hindu epics

• Agriculture most important profession during this period
• Iron plough were started using
•  Main crops:- Bean, sesamum, millets, rice in Vedas
•  Buddhist period (600BC)- Importance of trees
•  Mahabharat and Ramayan (1000-500BC) 
• Irrigation from cauvery river (1AD-300AD)
• Amarkosha (Chandragupta-2  300AD) was a book mentioned in about classification of soil, land use, irrigation and manure
• Kanuj Empire of Harsha (606-647AD), during this period Fine scented rice was grown and also cultivation of pomegranate and sweet orange
• Krishi parashra (950-1100AD) was a book mentioned in about land manuring, crop rotation, irrigation, tillage, implements,  crop protection, and meteorology
• Construction of water reservoirs and irrigation channels (1336-1646AD)
•  Anantraja Sagar in Vijayanagar of AP (1337AD)

Mughal dynasty

• Gardens, flowers cultivation and provision of irrigation 
• large sum collection from peasants as peasantry (tax)

Status of Agriculture before Independence

• Arrival of Britishers in early 17th century
• Dynamic craft and cottage industries suffered due to mass production technology of British
• Modern institutions, universities, technologies, rail lines, roads, mass communication were developed
• Land ownership was given to a small group of peoples to the collect the rent from individual farmer and pay to government
• Zamindari system:-  Land ownership given to small group of people to collect the rent and pay to the Government
• Ryotwari system:-  Rural used used to collect rents directly from farmer
• Farmers had no security of land
• Irrigation scheme initiated
• Department of agriculture (1871) was created at national level
• Agriculture education facility:- Coimbatore(1878) and Pune (1890)
• Great famine (1876-77) , Famine commission appointed (1880)
• Royal agricultural society:-  Report on improvement in Indian agriculture (1891)
• IARI (1905) was setup at pusa Bihar 
• Agricultural college was set up
• Royal commission(1926)
• Department of food was created (1942)
• Grow more food Campaign,  food policy committee, Famine enquiry committee and fertilizer production program were initiated around 1945
• Research support to agriculture by creating research institution

Development of Agriculture after Independence

• Education commission (1948)
• Join Indo-American teams of 1955, 1950 and 1961
• Education commission (1964-66)
• State agriculture universities (SAUs) were established to integrate the agricultural education, research and extension activity
• At present we have 62 State agricultural universities, 5 Deemed universities and 2 Central agricultural universities, 4 Central universities with agriculture faculty
• Major areas of education started (Agriculture veterinary science, agriculture engineering, forestry, dairy technology, food technology, horticulture, fisheries, agribusiness
• ICAR:-  The Indian Council of Agricultural Research as the apex agency, is responsible  for growth and development of agricultural education and research in India
• The ICAR coordinates research in the country through its wide network of  National and Central research institutes (62), National research centre (14), National Bureaux (6), Directories project directories (14), All India coordinated research project (60), Network projects (19) and other project (10)

Modern Indian Agriculture

• Advancement of science and technology in agriculture
• Farmers adopt new technologies and techniques of agricultural production by replacing the traditional practices to harness the high level of productivity
• Self sufficient to meet the human and livestock needs and also provide sufficient raw material to industries
• Maintaining pace in agricultural production

Development leading to modernization of agriculture

Development of ideal plant types/varieties

After 1960, vast improvement in crop varieties has been made. Introduction of high yielding varieties responding to better management particularly in wheat and rice and hybrid in maize, sorghum, pearl millet, cotton and several vegetable crop has been tremendous positive change in agriculture production. Varieties resistance to many disease and insects, pests are available.

Development of improved crop production technologies

Improved production techniques for crop cultivation based on availability of various resources viz., land, water, capital and farm machineries have been developed. Improved production technologies includes selection of suitable crops/varieties, proper  land preparation, efficient sowing management (sowing time, seed rate, sowing method and plant geometry etc.), balanced nutrition, effective weed control,  aquatic water management and proper plant protection measures. Thus the new agriculture itself is an industry.

Minimum/zero tillage

Earlier it was considered that more yields are possible with more tillage, but now this idea has been changed. Now growers try to utilize the rich nutrition for upper soil surface and soil moisture more efficiently by minimising or not doing the tailors operations.

Intensive cropping

In the past, monocropping and double cropping under rainfed farming were considered ideal for crop production. Now due to availability of early maturing high yielding varieties and efficient soil moisture conservation techniques, several double cropping system has been evolved. Growing of three or more crops in a succession even without giving the rest to land became quit feasible to raise the returns per unit area and time. Many studies found that, intensive cropping system has no adverse effects on soil properties.

Dryland agriculture

In the areas where evapo-transpiration is greater than precipitation, growing of crops were risky but not improved cultivation technology for growing suitable crop has been developed. Now it is said, that soils of dry farming reasons are more hungry and thirsty.

Use of problematic and waste land in agriculture

This problematic soil like saline, alkaline,  acidic, flood prone, desert and other soils unsuitable for agricultural use are being reclaimed with suitable scientific technologies for their effective use in agriculture.

Maintenance of soil-health

It is well known that soil is a medium for plant growth to give ultimate yields. Hence,   any operation on the soil for agriculture viz., tillage, manuring, fertilizer application, irrigation, drainage, wedding, interculture practices and use of agrochemical may be done taking due to consideration about their influence on soil properties.

The old philosophy of Indian farming is getting changed and modern improved techniques for growing crops are being adopted.

A slow and gradual process (conclusion)

• Community living increase man's dependence on food
• Hunter-gathered status no longer sufficient
• Survival and self preservation were major challenges
• Increasing population
• Man learn to grow crops

What is Hemp?

Hemp is a kind of plant whose every part is useful, that's why many people called it Magical plant.

What is Hemp?

An exceptionally versatile plant.  When someone ask "what is Hemp"   most people think of marijuana and drugs, but that could not be farther from the truth. This is one reason we feel that industrial hemp is the most misunderstood plant in the world. As explained below, the real answer to the question, “what is hemp?” should be “a sustainable, natural solution to many of the needs of humanity.” With the passage of the Farm Bill in 2018, farmers are starting to grow hemp in many states. The question is bigger than what is hemp; it is now what can Hemp do for you and me and what can we do for it? Now hemp oils, CBD, hemp plastics, hemp building materials and many hemp fiber products can be seen and purchased on the market as explained below. 

Hemp is the low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) variety of the Cannabis Sativa plant. Under federal law, industrial hemp contains very small amounts of THC—indeed the plant must contain less than 0.3% THC by dry weight.

The industrial hemp plant generally grows very tall with thick stalks. These long stalks produce extremely long fibers which are useful for many applications. However, advances in genetics have produced industrial hemp plants in a variety of sizes to accommodate different purposes, such as CBD production.

The entire hemp plant is useful. In fact, the uses and products number in the thousands. It is sometimes easiest to simply state the wide variety of uses such as medicines, foods, paper products, molded plastics, textiles, body care products, construction, animal feed, animal bedding, nutritional supplements, and essential oils. However, we believe that viewing from a “plant-first” perspective is optimal as the “inputs” and “outputs” can be clearly distinguished. Consequently, we identify the primary parts of the plant and various uses/applications associated with each part.

Hemp Seeds

The hemp seed is uniquely healthy and useful. From a food standpoint, the hemp seed is calorically dense and derives 25% of its total calories from protein. Approximately 30% of the seed’s calories derive from fat. In fact, the hemp seed contains omega-3 fatty acids and gamma linolenic acid (GLA) along with magnesium (which can aid sleep and heart health) and the amino acid arginine. The variety of products derived from hemp seed and hemp seed oil is astonishing. These include:

• Cereals
• Cooking oils
• Cosmetics
• Bars
• Bio-plastics
• Bird seed and animal feed
• Fuel
• Lotions
• Lubricants
• Margarine
• Paints and ink
• Protein powders
• Soap and Shampoo

The Hemp Stalk

Use of industrial hemp stalks is ancient. The tall, thick industrial hemp stalks produce extremely long soft fibers able to be grown on an annual basis. Traditionally, hemp fiber was (and is) a very coarse fiber when raw, which made it well suited to rope but less than ideal for clothing designed to be worn against delicate human skin. Advances in breeding of the plants and treatment/processing of the fibers resulted in a much finer, softer hemp fiber—ideal for weaving into hemp clothing, fabrics and rope. For a fun aside, watch the video on Hemp for victory to learn more about the importance of hemp during war times.

The hemp stalk provides numerous highly valuable products including:

• Apparel
• Agro-fiber composite
• Brake linings
• Cardboard
• Canvas/tarps
• Carpet
• Diapers
• Denim
• Fine fabrics
• Filter paper
• Geo-textiles
• Handbags
• Nets
• Paper
• Rope/twine
• Shoes

Hemp Leaves

The leaves of the industrial hemp plant commonly remind people of industrial hemp’s cousin, marijuana. Unfortunately, this distracts people from the benefits of this leafy wonder. In addition to various, highly valuable industrial uses identified below, the leaves can be eaten raw to great benefit. The leaves contain fiber, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. The leaves also contain powerful antioxidants called polyphenols which help fight again disease and improve aging skin. The hemp leaves contain CBDa, THCa, terpenes, and chlorophyll. Aside from their raw use as a food product, hemp leaves also can be processed into the following products listed below. (Note, some of the products stated below derive from hurds (pulp) which uses both stalk and leaves).

• Animal bedding
• Compost & mulch
• Cement
• Fiberboard/fiberglass
• Insulation
• Papers
• Stucco/mortar

The Hemp Flower

The coveted industrial hemp flower is truly a fountain of health benefits that science is only beginning to fully understand. It is a powerful source of CBDs – a collection of cannabinoid compounds that warrant their own in-depth discussion. Needless to say, Hemp-derived CBD is very useful for health and the business of producing and selling CBD is thriving. However, to briefly summarize, products deriving from hemp flowers include:

• Isolates
• Distillates
• Oils

Nigerian students were beaten, humiliated and thrashed by college authority and dragged out of the campus

On 15th July in afternoon a group of Nigerian students were brutally beaten by locals inside the college(Roorkee institute of technology).

 The management hired some local gundas,let them dressed with the college security uniforms and Physically attack these Nigerian students just  because they went out without getting an out pass from the college. 

They’ve been injured seriously and has been admitted to the hospital. The good thing is the local police rushed in right after some of their friends informed the police and they are now under the protection of the police.

On the day before (14th July) this case this happened:

Ibrahim was going out to buying some foods/vegetables without outpass and when he came back the security guard said to leave this college immediately as he went out without permission (for breaking the rules). But Ibrahim said that where will i go in this pandemic, I have no place/resident to stay. 

And security call the police and they had an agreement that Ibrahim will leave the college hostel after this pandemic. 

And suddenly next day (on 15th July) this happened as mentioned above.

Read this post by victim Nigerian students:

My name is Diaby Ibrahim studying at RIT. 5 months ago before the lockdown my friend Emmanuel and I asked to leave the school since the school was going on lockdown too, they refused to grant us the permission to go.

Later on after the pandemic increased the school cut off food for us and asked us to pay for the food and we agreed. We then asked the school for permission to go and get food stuffs outside but the always refused us to do so. It continued like that for months and it came to the point where we starved for two days without eating anything. We went back to the college to get permission to buy food outside still the same response. It took them twenty days to give my friend who is suffering from dislocation in his shoulder permission to get his medicine after several cry out to go and replenish his medicine.

We then decided to go out after several pleading to go and get food stuffs. When we came back we were locked outside the hostel till 1am before letting us in.

After that the school decided to debarred us from the hostel and we told them if we vacate the hostel at this crucial time we can’t be guaranteed safety since we have no relatives here in India. We pleaded that after the pandemic we can vacate the hostel but the insist we leave.

See this some burtal image  of ROORKEE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY:

In hospital

These are not college guards all are gundas  heirs from outside on 400 rupees by college management

RIT use these Nigerian students for advertising their college

Coronavirus can damage the brain

How can the coronavirus reach the brain?

The brain!  An area in the body that supposed to be highly protected!

More and more research continues to reveal the dramatic effect that COVID-19 exerts on the central nervous system. Around 36% of COVID-19 patients show neurological symptoms. This open a new question not only for the  COVID-19 treatment, but also it's a long term effects. The empact COVID-19 has on the brain is often overlooked due to the complicated diagnostics of medically unstable patients. How ever in the case of brain infection, the coronavirus can lead to a number of neurologic symptoms like headache, seizures, loss of control over body movement and lot of vital senses such as test and smell. Our brains are protected against viral and bacterial infections thanks to the Blood-Brain-Barrier which a thick natural border that separates the brain from the rest of the body. The border is made of cells that only let very small particles to pass through. However severe inflammations the comes with diseases like COVID-19 can destroy this barrier.  Some viruses can even use inflammatory cells as 

"Trojan horses" to trick their way into the brain. The new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, is throught to be one of them.

Another possibility is that the cells that build the Blood-Brain-Barrier themselves get infected and then allow the virus to pass through this border into the brain. 

Brains of infected COVID-19 people show the Presence of the virus in endothelial and neuronal cells.

The virus, however, can use another way to travel to the central nervous system. One such way is accomplished through the axons threadlike parts of the neuron that are found all over body. Through these axons, the virus can potentially travel to the main part of neurons in the brain or spinal cord. 

Brain cells that are damaged release chemical called biomarkers that can be found in the cerebrospinal fluid which is a colourless body fluid found in the brain and spinal cord. The presence of these biomarkers in the blood of COVID-19 patients, especially patient with severe cases, indicates that brain cells have been attached and damaged by the coronavirus.

Even the host's immune system can misdirect it's attack when faced with a viral infection in the brain and damage the central nervous system. 

The brain is fragile organ with most of its cells lacking the ability to regenerate. This mean that the damage to the brain can be lasting and potentially lead to Neurological disorder.

In a recently published study researchers used a brain model called BRAIN SPHERE  

 made from specific stem cells to test whether SARS-CoV-2 can infect neurons. Three days after the infection, viral particles were found in the body of some brain cells indicating that infection has indeed occurred. 

The coronavirus targets neurons because they have a specific receptor called ACE2. Which SARS-CoV-2 can recognise and used as the key to enter into the brain cells. This is the same receptor that the virus utilizes to enter into other cells like lung cells, heart cells, kidney cells and the insulin producing cells in the pancrease. Among other respiratory virus that can invade the brain is Influenza (a flu virus). Other coronaviruses have also previously shown to infect the brain in the both animals and humans.

Previously thought to be rare, viral infection of the brain can lead to brain inflammatio, meningitis and lasting neurological damage. These findings direct the attention to the current treatment of COVID-19 patients the largely overlook neurological symptoms. Between the challenge of identifying wether the brain has been infected, unstable patients, and the lack of direct treatment, diagnosing the brain infection in a timely manner could help us tackle such symptoms as early as possible.

Research: Crop plants are taking up microplastics

Research: Crop plants are taking up microplastics

Large gaps between epidermal cells at the site of lateral root emergence

Microplastics (MPs), i.e., tiny plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in length, can now be found throughout the ocean and other aquatic ecosystems, and even in our seafood and salt. As MPs have become ubiquitous, scientists have become concerned about the transfer of MPs from the environment to the food chain and the potential impact of MPs on human health.

Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) recently found that microplastics are indeed contaminating edible plants, including vegetables we eat. The study was published in Nature Sustainability on July 13.

The study was led by Luo Yongming, a professor both at the Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research (YIC) and the Nanjing Institute of Soil Science of CAS.

Most MPs are emitted to the terrestrial environment and accumulate in large amounts in soil. In addition, secondary particles are formed by the degradation of plastics. Wastewater, an important source of water for agricultural irrigation, also contains small-sized MPs.

Despite the prevalence of MPs throughout the environment, the matter of MP uptake by crop plants has not received much attention.

For decades, scientists believed that plastic particles were simply too large to pass through the physical barriers of intact plant tissue. But this new study disproves this assumption.

"Cracks at the emerging sites of new lateral roots of lettuce and wheat crops can take in MPs from the surrounding soil and water. Those MPs can then be transferred from the roots up to the edible parts of the crop," said Prof. Luo.

Scientists already knew that particles as tiny as 50 nanometers in size could penetrate plant roots. But Prof. Luo's group revealed that particles about 40 times that size can get into plants as well.

The MPs identified in this study were spherical plastic particles up to 2 micrometers in size with a small degree of mechanical flexibility. These features allowed the MPs to squeeze into the small apoplastic space of plant root cells.

"Another mechanism is that at the lateral root emergence sites there are small cracks, and then the particles go through those cracks and enter the xylem vessels. Thus it is even possible that particles larger than the ones we studied might also be taken up by plants," said Dr. Li Lianzhen, first author of the study.

These findings shed new light on the possibility of food chain transfer of MPs. If MPs are getting into our crop plants, they are also getting into our meat and dairy. This raises obvious concerns about growing crops on fields contaminated with wastewater treatment discharge or sewage sludge, a process that could introduce MPs into the food chain. It also raises the key question of how MPs affect human health, a question for which there is as yet no clear answer.

Aside from the possible health impact, MPs in crops is also undesirable from the standpoint of agricultural sustainability.

13 Foods That Increase Sperm Volume

13 Foods That Increase Sperm Volume

There are a lot of steps that you can take to improve your sperm volume, and diet is definitely one of the most important things that can help increase your sperm count as well as your semen volume. Here is a list of a few foods that can help you in this endeavor.

Dark Chocolate

A powerful aphrodisiac, dark chocolate contains L-Arginine. This is an amino acid which is known to increase semen volume as well as improve the intensity of your orgasms. Just don’t overdo it or else you will end up gaining weight which will only reduce levels of testosterone in your body and your sperm count.

Oysters

Zinc is an essential mineral that plays an important role in improving testosterone levels as well as sperm production. Oysters are rich sources of this mineral. An increase in testosterone levels also helps improve your sexual desire and energy, which means that you are going to derive more pleasure from your sexual encounters besides having higher chances of conceiving.

Eggs

High in protein and vitamin E, eggs are considered to help in the production of healthy and strong sperm in the testicles. They are also believed to prevent sperm cells from the harmful effects of free radicals, which may kill sperm.

Bananas

Bananas contain an enzyme called bromelain which is supposed to increase male libido. They are also rich sources of vitamin B, which can help bring an increase in stamina, making sure that you have more energy available for your sexual encounters.

Spinach

Leafy green vegetables such as spinach are rich sources of folic acid. Low levels of folate can give rise to distorted sperm shapes such as ones with two heads or two tails. The sperm are also at an increased risk of chromosomal abnormalities. This means that firstly your sperm will find it difficult to reach an egg and even if it does reach an egg, it will not be able to fertilize it. Furthermore, even if these sperms are able to fertilize an egg, the chances of birth defects are quite high in such cases.

Asparagus

A green vegetable that is high in vitamin C, asparagus is also a good food to increase sperm volume. Vitamin C protects the sperm cells from the damaging effects of free radicals and thus ensures that the sperm store in the male reproductive system does not get depleted.

Garlic

Garlic is a very effective food that has been used for centuries in treating various physical ailments including heart problems and respiratory infections. What most people don’t know is that it is also a potent aphrodisiac and very effective in boosting sperm volume. It contains a compound called allicin which improves blood flow to the male sexual organs, increasing sperm production and semen volume.

Carrots

Vitamin A is an important nutrient for increasing sperm production as well as improving their motility. Carrots are rich in this nutrient. You can also consume vitamin A by eating foods such as oatmeal, red bell peppers and dried apricots.

Goji Berries

These berries are known to improve your overall stamina and mood. But that’s not all, they also keep temperatures in the scrotum at the optimum level. The scrotum contains the testes which produce sperm. Higher temperatures tend to hamper the sperm production and decrease the volume that is released in a man’s ejaculate. They also promote sperm production by improving blood circulation and protecting against free radical damage.

Walnuts

Another key nutrient for sperm volume is omega-3 fatty acids. These essential fatty acids are supposed to increase sperm count as well as improve blood flow to the penis.

Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds contain phytosterols which are known to improve testosterone production and reduce the size of an enlarged production. Both these factors help in increasing sperm count as well as semen volume. They also contain essential fatty acids that improve blood flow to the male reproductive organs.

Ginseng

Ginseng is a powerful herb known for its powerful effects on improving virility in men. It increases sex drive and also enhances your sexual performance. It has been found to be quite effective in men with erectile dysfunctions, increasing semen volume and sperm production.

Maca

This one is another herb that is known to increase semen volume. It has been found that men who consume this herb in the form of a supplement can expect higher sperm count per milliliter of semen, higher semen volume per ejaculation and also better sperm motility. It is also known to have a positive effect on the sex drive and arousal of both men and women. This list of foods is definitely not a comprehensive one. Eating a balanced diet which is rich in minerals such as zinc and vitamins such as A, B12, C, and folic acid will ensure that more sperms are produced in your testes and they are healthy enough to fertilize an egg.

Tillage

Tillage

The word tillage is derived from ‘Anglo-Saxon’ words Tilian and Teolian, meaning ‘to plough and 

prepare soil for seed to sow, to cultivate and to raise crops’. Jethrotull, who is considered as father 

of tillage (Jethrotull also coined the term weed and Zero tillage) suggested that thorough 

ploughing is necessary so as to make the soil into fine particles.

Tillage is the mechanical manipulation of soil with tools and implements for obtaining conditions

Ideal for seed germination, seedling establishment and growth of crops.

Tilth is the physical condition of soil obtained out of tillage (or) it is the result of tillage. The tilth

may be a coarse tilth, fine tilth or moderate tilth.

Objectives of tillage:

The main objectives of tillage are,

• To prepare a good seed bed which helps the germination of seeds.

• To create conditions in the soil suited for better growth of crops.

• To control the weeds effectively.

• To make the soil capable for absorbing more rain water.

• To mix up the manure and fertilizers uniformly in the soil.

• To aerate the soil.

• To provide adequate seed-soil contact to permit water flow to seed and seedling roots.

• To remove the hard pan and to increase the soil depth.

To achieve these objectives, the soil is disturbed / opened up and turned over.

Influence of tillage on soil physical properties:

➢ Pore space: Tillage breaks the hard pan and compacted layers of the soil, this turns large 

aggregates of soil particles into finer ones. Finer aggregates are loosely staked in a random 

manner. This results in increase in pore space between the aggregates. 

➢ Soil structure: The primary soil particles viz sand, silt and clay are usually grouped 

together to form aggregates. The arrangement of primary soil particles and their aggregates 

into certain defined pattern is called soil structure. Soil with crumb structure is considered 

best for cultivation of crops since it has more pore space. Soils which do not have 

aggregates with naturally preserved boundaries are called structure less soil. Moisture is 

required for formation of aggregates. When soil is subjected to tillage at optimum moisture, 

crumb structure is developed so that loss of soil by erosion is greatly reduced. Soil structure 

is destroyed when tillage is carried out at inappropriate soil moisture.

➢ Bulk density: Bulk density is the mass of a unit volume of soil(volume include both solid 

and pore space). Bulk density of fine textured soil is less(due to more pore space) than 

coarse textured soil. After tillage soil is loosened, the volume increases without any effect 

on weight. Therefore bulk density of tilled soil is less than untilled soil.

▪ Bulk Density (B.D)= weight of soil/volume of solids and pores.

➢ Soil colour: soil with more organic matter are dark colour of soil. Tillage increases the 

oxidation and decomposition of organic matter resulting in fading of colour.

➢ Soil Water: The amount of water in soil increases with increase pore space, soil depth and 

roughness, all these increases with tillage.

➢ Soil temperature: Tillage loosens the soil surface resulting in decrease in thermal conductivity and 

heat capacity.

Types of tillage: 

 Tillage operations may be grouped into

1. Conventional 

2. Conservation

Conventional tillage

Conventional tillage is again of two type : 

1. On season tillage and 

2. Off season tillage

1. On-season tillage

Tillage operations that are done for raising crops in the same season or at the onset of the crop 

season are known as on-season tillage. 

They may be preparatory cultivation and after

cultivation.

A. Preparatory tillage: This refers to tillage operations that are done to prepare the field for raising

crops. It consists of deep opening and loosening of the soil to bring about a desirable tilth as well as

to incorporate or uproot weeds and crop stubble when the soil is in a workable condition.

Types of preparatory tillage

a. Primary tillage

b. Secondary tillage

a. Primary tillage: The tillage operation that is done after the harvest of crop to bring the 

land under cultivation is known as primary tillage or ploughing. Ploughing is the opening of 

compact soil with the help of different ploughs. Country plough, mould board plough, bose 

plough, tractor and power tiller drawn implements are used for primary tillage.

b. Secondary tillage: The tillage operations that are performed on the soil after primary 

tillage to bring a good soil tilth are known as secondary tillage. Secondary tillage consists of 

lighter or finer operation which is done to clean the soil, break the clods and incorporate the 

manure and fertilizers. Harrowing and planking is done to serve those purposes. Planking is 

done to crush the hard clods, level the soil surface and to compact the soil lightly. Harrows, 

cultivators, Guntakas and spade are used for secondary tillage.

c. Layout of seed bed:This is also one of the components of preparatory tillage. Leveling 

board, buck scrapers etc. are used for leveling and markers are used for layout of seedbed.

B. After cultivation (Inter tillage): The tillage operations that are carried out in the standing crop

after the sowing or planting and prior to the harvesting of the crop plants are called after tillage.

This is also called as inter cultivation or post seeding/ planting cultivation. It includes harrowing,

hoeing, weeding, earthing up, drilling or side dressing of fertilizers etc. Spade, hoe, weeders etc.

are used for inter cultivation.

2. Off-season tillage: 

Tillage operations done for conditioning the soil suitable for the forthcoming main season crop are 

called off-season tillage. Off season tillage may be, post harvest tillage, summer tillage, winter 

tillage and fallow tillage, sub soiling, clean tillage.

Demerits of conventional tillage

➢ Continuous use of heavy ploughs create hard pan in the subsoil, results in poor infiltration. 

➢ It is more susceptible to run-off and erosion. 

➢ It is capital intensive and increase soil degradation. 

➢ It increases the degradation of organic matter in soil which and soil become nutrient 

deficient.

➢ Tillage cause release of CO2 in atmosphere due to rapid increase in life activities in soil 

including microorganisms and faster degradation of organic matter due to better flow of air 

and water in the soil.

Conservation tillage:

Conservation tillage system tries to solve the problems arising due to conventional, tillage without 

much affecting the production. Some agronomists define conservation tillage as a type of tillage 

operation in which we Ploughing the field with lesser number of passes over the entire land or 

ploughing only in the required space of the land and then sowing is called conservation tillage.

Different types of conservation tillage are described below.

1. Minimum tillage: It aims at reducing tillage operations to the minimum necessity for ensuring a 

good seed bed. The advantages of minimum tillage over conventional tillage are,

➢ The cost and time for field preparation is reduced by reducing the number of field

➢ operations.

➢ Soil compaction is comparatively less.

➢ Soil structure is not destroyed.

➢ Water loss through runoff and erosion is minimum.

➢ Water storage in the plough layer is increased.

Tillage can be reduced in 2 ways

1. By omitting operations which do not give much benefit when compared to the cost.

2. By combining agricultural operations like seeding and fertilizer application.

The minimum tillage systems can be grouped into the following categories,

1. Row zone tillage: Primary tillage is done with mould board plough in the entire area of the field; 

secondary tillage operations like discing and harrowing are reduced and done only in row zone.

2. Plough plant tillage: After the primary tillage, a special planter is used for sowing. In one run 

over the field, the row zone is pulverized and seeds are sown by the planter

3. Wheel track tillage : Primary ploughing is done as usual. Tractor is used for sowing; the wheels 

of the tractor pulverize the row zone in which planting is done.

In all these systems, primary tillage is as usual. However, secondary tillage is replaced by direct 

sowing in which sown seed is covered in the row zone with the equipment used for sowing.

2. Zero tillage (No tillage): In this, new crop is planted in the residues of the previous crop without 

any prior soil tillage or seed bed preparation and it is possible when all the weeds are controlled by 

the use of herbicides. Zero tillage is applicable for soils with a coarse textured surface horizon, 

good internal drainage, high biological activity of soil fauna, favourable initial soil structure and an

adequate quantity of crop residue as mulch. These conditions are generally found in Alfisols, 

Oxisols and Ultisols in the humid and sub-humid tropics.

Till planting

Till planting is one method of practicing zero tillage. A wide sweep and trash bar clears a strip over 

the previous crop row and planter opens a narrow strip into which seeds are planted and covered. 

Here, herbicide functions are extended. Before sowing, the vegetation present has to be destroyed 

for which broad spectrum non selective herbicides like glyposate, paraquat and diquat are used.

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