Effect of Modern Agriculture EFFECT OF MODERN AGRICULTURE

A Project Submitted to the

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Loknete Hon. Hanmantrao Patil Charitable Trusts,

Adarsh Institute of Technology & Research Centre, Vita

For the award of the II year Engineering of MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

In

Environmental Studies
By 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Awatade Ashwajit Dilip Pal Ravindra Bansisingh Mane Nitin Pandit Boke Balaji Suresh Suryavanshi Sagar Banderav ( 2168) ( 2140 ) ( 2134 ) ( 2201) (2222)

Under The Guidance Of Miss.

Year 2011-2012

Page 1

Effect of Modern Agriculture Loknete Hon. Hanmantrao Patil Charitable Trusts

Adarsh Institute of Technology & Research Centre, Vita

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the following students are working under my guidance. They have satisfactorily carried out and completed the project work for the II year of B. E. They are presently submitted their project entitled WATER CONSERVATION- RAIN WATER HARVESTING. This work is original and the project or the part of it has not been submitted for the award of any other degree.

1. 2. 3. 4.

Awatade Ashwajit Dilip Pal Ravindra Bansisingh Mane Nitin Pandit Boke Balaji Suresh 5. Suryavanshi Sagar Banderav

( 2168 ) ( 2140 ) ( 2134 ) ( 2201) (2222 )

Examiner

Guide & Coordinator: Dept. of Mechanical Engineering AITRC, Vita

Page 2

Effect of Modern Agriculture

Declaration
We are hereby declare that, the project entitled EFFECT OF MODERN AGRICULTURE is the original work carried out by us, at the Department of Environmental studies, Adarsh institute of Technology & Research Centre, Vita. This project or part of it has not been submitted previously for any other degree or any other purpose.

Place: - Vita Date:

Sr. No

Name

Roll No

Signature

1. 2. 3. 4.

5.

Awatade Ashwajit Dilip Pal Ravindra Bansisingh Mane Nitin Pandit Boke Balaji Suresh Suryavanshi Sagar Banderav

( 2168 ) ( 2140 ) ( 2134 ) ( 2201) (2222 )

Page 3

Effect of Modern Agriculture

Acknowledgement
We would like to express our deep sense of gratitude to our guide .for his continuous encouragement, keen interest and able guidance during the entire period of study. We must thank . coordinator of Department of Environmental Studies, Adarsh Institute of Technology & Research centre Vita, for his kind co-operation in completing the project work. We feel highly indebted to the Hon. Principal .. for this motivation. We are also like to express our thanks to teaching and Non-teaching staff of our college and we would like to express our special thanks to our friends for their constant encouragement for completing the same project.

Names
Awatade Ashwajit Dilip Pal Ravindra Bansisingh Mane Nitin Pandit Boke Balaji Suresh ( 2168 ) ( 2140 ) ( 2134 ) ( 2201)

Signature

Suryavanshi Sagar Banderav (2222 )

Page 4

Effect of Modern Agriculture

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

Environment
In general, environment refers to the surroundings of an object, or the Natural environment, all living and non-living things that occur naturally on Earth . The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species. The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished by components:

Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive human intervention, including all vegetation, microorganisms, soil, rocks, atmosphere and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries. Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well as energy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, not originating from human activity.

The natural environment is contrasted with the built environment, which comprises the areas and components that are strongly influenced by humans. A geographical area is regarded as a natural environment. Word "environment" is most commonly used describing "natural" environment and means the sum of all living and non-living things that surround an organism, or group of organisms. Environment includes all elements, factors , and conditions that have some impact on growth and development of certain organism. Environment includes both biotic and abiotic

Page 5

Effect of Modern Agriculture

factors that have influence on observed organism. Abiotic factors such as light, temperature, water, atmospheric gases combine with biotic factors (all surrounding living species). Environment often changes after some time and therefore many organisms have ability to adapt to these changes. However tolerance range is not the same with all species and exposure to environmental conditions at the limit of an certain organism's tolerance range represents environmental stress.

Environmentalism is very important political and social movement with goal to protect nature environment by emphasizing importance of nature role in protection of the environment in combination with various actions and policies oriented to nature preservation. Environmentalism is movement connected with environmental scientists and many of their goals. Some of these goals include:

1. To reduce world consumption of fossil fuels 2. To reduce and clean up all sorts of pollution (air, sea, river...) with future goal of zero pollution 3. Emphasis on clean, alternative energy sources that have low carbon emissions 4. Sustainable use of water, land, and other scarce resources 5. Preservation of existing endangered species 6. Protection of biodiversity

Page 6

Effect of Modern Agriculture

Objective :-

Page 7

Effect of Modern Agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture (also called farming or husbandry) is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi, and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the development of civilization. The study of agriculture is known as agricultural science. Agriculture generally speaking refers to human activities, although it is also observed in certain species of ant and termite. The history of agriculture dates back thousands of years, and its development has been driven and defined by greatly different climates, cultures, and technologies. However, all farming generally relies on techniques to expand and maintain the lands suitable for raising domesticated species. For plants, this usually requires some form of irrigation, although there are methods of dryland farming; pastoral herding on rangeland is still the most common means of raising livestock. In the developed world, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture

Page 8

Effect of Modern Agriculture

has become the dominant system of modern farming, although there is growing support for sustainable agriculture (e.g. permaculture or organic agriculture). Modern agronomy, plant breeding, pesticides and fertilizers, and technological improvements have sharply increased yields from cultivation, but at the same time have caused widespread ecological damage and negative human health effects. Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry such as intensive pig farming have similarly increased the output of meat, but have raised concerns about animal cruelty and the health effects of the antibiotics, growth hormones, and other chemicals commonly used in industrial meat production. The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers, fuels, and raw materials. In the 21st century, plants have been used to grow biofuels, biopharmaceuticals, bioplastics, and pharmaceuticals. Specific foods include cereals, vegetables, fruits, and meat. Fibers include cotton, wool, hemp, silk and flax. Raw materials include lumber and bamboo. Other useful materials are produced by plants, such as resins. Biofuels include methane from biomass, ethanol, and biodiesel. Cut flowers, nursery plants, tropical fish and birds for the pet trade are some of the ornamental products. Regarding food production, the World Bank targets agricultural food production and water management as an increasingly global issue that is fostering an important and growing debate. In 2007, one third of the world's workers were employed in agriculture. The services sector has overtaken agriculture as the economic sector employing the most people worldwide. Despite the size of its workforce, agricultural production accounts for less than five percent of the gross world product .

Page 9

Effect of Modern Agriculture

CHAPTER 2
METHODOLOGY
Mostly agriclture field is depends on the nature growing of crops of plants doing in suitable time of every season. In the past the agriculture method was convention in which we mostly used animals for working in the farm on that time that have to need many workers. At that time effect of this method there is no well production from the agriculture. It is a hard work for the animals & farmer.

Page 10

Effect of Modern Agriculture

CROP IMPROVEMENT
Crop improvement refers to the genetic alteration of plants to satisfy human needs. In prehistory, human forebears in various parts of the world brought into cultivation a few hundred species from the hundreds of thousands available. In the process they transformed elements of these species into crops though genetic alterations that involved conscious and unconscious selection, the differential reproduction of variants. Through a long history of trial and error, a relatively few plant species have become the mainstay of agriculture and thus the world's food supply. This process of domestication involved the identification of certain useful wild species combined with a process of selection that brought about changes in appearance, quality, and productivity. The exact details of the process that altered the major crops is not fully understood, but it is clear that the genetic changes were enormous in many cases. In fact some crop plants have been so changed that for many of them, maize, for example, their origins are obscure, with no extant close wild relatives. The selection process was unconscious in many cases. For example, in wild wheats, the grains scatter by disarticulation, separation of the seed from the seed head. When these grains were harvested by cutting the heads with a sickle, an unconscious selection occurred for "non-shattering" types that would then be continually replanted. For some crops a clear conscious selection occurred, especially when the variant was obvious and would be maintained by vegetative propagation. Something so clearly useful as a seedless banana must have been immediately seized upon and maintained ("fixed") by planting offshoots of the plant. The changes wrought in domestication included alteration in organ size and shape; loss of many survival characters, such as bitter or toxic substances; disarticulation of seeds in grains; protective structures, such as spines and thorns; seed dormancy; and change in life span increased in crops grown for roots or tubers and decreased in crops grown for seed or fruit. Selection by bulking desirable types (mass selection) is a powerful technique for making rapid changes easily while maintaining genetic diversity in the population. The selection of naturally occurring variants is the basis of crop improvement. Over thousands of years this technique resulted in the development of modern basic crops. The discovery of techniques for asexual (vegetative) propagation, such as by using natural offshoots, rooting stem cuttings, or various grafting techniques, made it possible to "fix" genetic variants. This was the technique used for many tree fruits, enabling identical plants to be cultivated in orchards. Naturally produced seedlings derived from intercrosses of these selected plants were then available for selection again. Many present-day fruit crops are similar to those cultivated in antiquity, and some ancient selections are still cultivateddates, for example. As humans carried improved crops to new locations, opportunities opened to increase genetic variation from natural intercrosses with new wild populations. The changes that occur can be dramatic over time, as seen in the proliferation of breeds of animals and especially the wide range of changes brought about by fanciers of dogs, chickens, and pigeons. The observation of these changes influenced the thinking of Charles Darwin to suggest that natural selection, the survival of the fittest, could lead to enormous genetic changes if carried out over a long enough time, and could lead to the origin of new species.

Page 11

Effect of Modern Agriculture

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries a conscious attempt was made to predict the performance of plants that could be expected from one seed generation to the next. The concept that ancestry was important in crop improvement led to refinement in the selection process, brought about by keeping records and the assessment of lineage. Furthermore it became obvious that variation could be managed by controlling the mating process, an extension of what had long been known in animal breeding. This new type of selection, termed pedigree selection, was found to increase the efficiency of the process. Progeny testing (evaluating the genetic worth by progeny performance) increased efficiency of this process. The origins of commercial plant breeding began in the second half of the nineteenth century among seed producers. It involved controlled crosses (hybridization) between selections to control genetic recombination, followed by selection of improved types. This is still the basis of traditional plant breeding. Interestingly much of this early type of plant breeding was carried out without a clear understanding of the genetic mechanism involved in inheritance. Until the famous experiments with the garden pea by Gregor Mendel (18221884), a Catholic priest in Brnn, a Moravian town then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the basic theory of inheritance involved the concept of blending. Mendel unraveled the basic concept of inheritance and clearly showed that characters in the pea were due to elements, later called genes, that remained unaltered as they were inherited. Many characters in peas, such as tallness and dwarfness, were shown to be controlled by a pair of genes, of which one member was not always expressed (the concept of dominance and recessiveness). Mendel demonstrated that the gametes of the pea contained one member of the gene pairs that controlled characters and that recombined randomly at fertilization. Mendel's paper was published in 1866, but it had no impact until the paper was "rediscovered" in 1900, when it created a sensation. It was soon obvious that the differences in appearance among plants (phenotypes) could be explained by the interaction of various genes (genotypes) as well as interaction with the environment.

Page 12

Effect of Modern Agriculture

MODERN DEVELOPMENT
Electric power has had an impact on modern agriculture that has been at least as significant as that of either stream or gasoline because electricity in its nature is far more versatile than the earlier power sources. Although there had long been scientific interest on the effects electricity had on plant growth especially after the development of electric lamps , it has the development of electric motor that really gained the interest of the farming community . Some authorities saw its value to farmers. Electricity case of operation and low maintenance showed in time and labor. It was not long before the electric motor begun to replace mobile steam engine on threshing, winnowing and other crop-processing equipment outside the barn. Today in the most advance countries virtually all rural primises-domestic, commercial industrial and farms have inadequate supply of electricity.

Page 13

Effect of Modern Agriculture

MODERN APPLICATION

Page 14

Effect of Modern Agriculture

CHAPTER 3
CHEANGES CAUSED BY MODERN AGRICULTURE A) Agricultural machinery :-

Agricultural machinery is machinery used in the operation of an agricultural area or farm.

Types :Combines might have taken the harvesting job away from tractors, but tractors still do the majority of work on a modern farm. They are used to pull implements machines that till the ground, plant seed, and perform other tasks. Tillage implements prepare the soil for planting by loosening the soil and killing weeds or competing plants. The best-known is the plow, the ancient implement that was upgraded in 1838 by John Deere. Plows are now used less frequently in the U.S. than formerly, with offset disks used instead to turn over the soil, and chisels used to gain the depth needed to retain moisture. The most common type of seeder is called a planter, and spaces seeds out equally in long rows, which are usually two to three feet apart. Some crops are planted by drills, which put out much more seed in rows less than a foot apart, blanketing the field with crops. Transplanters automate the task of transplanting seedlings to the field. With the widespread use of plastic mulch, plastic mulch layers, transplanters, and seeders lay down long rows of plastic, and plant through them automatically. After planting, other implements can be used to cultivate weeds from between rows, or to spread fertilizer and pesticides. Hay balers can be used to tightly package grass or alfalfa into a storable form for the winter months. Modern irrigation relies on machinery. Engines, pumps and other specialized gear provide water quickly and in high volumes to large areas of land. Similar types of equipment can be used to deliver fertilizers and pesticides. Besides the tractor, other vehicles have been adapted for use in farming, including trucks, airplanes, and helicopters, such as for transporting crops and making equipment mobile, to aerial spraying and livestock herd management

Page 15

Effect of Modern Agriculture

1. Tractor :A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction. Most commonly, the term is used to describe a farm vehicle that provides the power and traction to mechanize agricultural tasks, especially (and originally) tillage but nowadays a great variety of tasks. Agricultural implements may be towed behind or mounted on the tractor, and the tractor may also provide a source of power if the implement is mechanised. The word tractor was taken from Latin, being the agent noun of trahere "to pull". The first recorded use of the word meaning "an engine or vehicle for pulling wagons or ploughs" occurred in 1901, displacing the earlier term traction engine (1859).

2. Tracked vehicle :A tracked vehicle (also called: track-type tractor, tractor crawler, or track-laying vehicle) is a vehicle that runs on continuous tracks instead of wheels. Tracked vehicles include construction vehicles, military armored vehicles and unmanned ground vehicles. The principal design advantages of tracked over wheeled vehicles are that they are in contact with a larger surface area than would generally be the case with a wheeled vehicle, and as a result exert a much lower force per unit area on the ground being traversed than a conventional wheeled vehicle of the same weight. This makes them suitable for use on soft, low friction and uneven ground such as mud, ice and snow. The principal disadvantage is that tracks are a more complex mechanism than a wheel, and relatively prone to failure modes such as snapped or derailed tracks.

Page 16

Effect of Modern Agriculture

3. Roller :The roller is an agricultural tool used for flattening land or breaking up large clumps of soil, especially after ploughing. Typically, rollers are pulled by tractors or, prior to mechanisation, a team of animals such as horses or oxen. Flatter land makes subsequent weed control and harvesting easier, and rolling can help to reduce moisture loss from cultivated soil. On grassland, rolling levels the land for mowing and compacts the soil surface. For many uses a heavy roller is used, and rollers may be weighted in different ways. Heavy rollers may consist of one or more cylinders made of thick steel, a thinner steel cylinder filled with concrete, or a cylinder filled with water. A water-filled roller has the advantage that the water may be drained out for lighter use or for transport. In frost-prone areas a water filled roller must be drained for winter storage to avoid breakage due to the expansion for water as it turns to ice.

Page 17

Effect of Modern Agriculture

B)

Crop rotation

Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar types of crops in the same area in sequential seasons. Crop rotation confers various benefits to the soil. A traditional element of crop rotation is the replenishment of nitrogen through the use of green manure in sequence with cereals and other crops. Crop rotation also mitigates the build-up of pathogens and pests that often occurs when one species is continuously cropped, and can also improve soil structure and fertility by alternating deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plants. Crop rotation is one component of polyculture.

Page 18

Effect of Modern Agriculture

C)

Domestication

Domestication (from Latin domesticus) is the process whereby a population of animals or plants, through a process of artificial selection, is changed at the genetic level, accentuating traits desired by humans. It differs from taming in that a change in the phenotypical expression and genotype of the animal occurs, whereas taming is simply the process by which animals become acclimatized to human presence. In the Convention on Biological Diversity, a domesticated species is defined as a "species in which the evolutionary process has been influenced by humans to meet their needs."[1] Therefore, a defining characteristic of domestication is artificial selection by humans. Humans have brought these populations under their control and care for a wide range of reasons: to produce food or valuable commodities (such as wool, cotton, or silk), for help with various types of work (such as transportation, protection, and warfare), scientific research, or simply to enjoy as companions or ornaments. Plants domesticated primarily for aesthetic enjoyment in and around the home are usually called house plants or ornamentals, while those domesticated for large-scale food production are generally called crops. A distinction can be made between those domesticated plants that have been deliberately altered or selected for special desirable characteristics (see cultigen) and those domesticated plants that are essentially no different from their wild counterparts (assuming domestication does not necessarily imply physical modification). Animals domesticated for home companionship are usually called pets while those domesticated for food or work are called livestock or farm animals.

Domestication Plants :The earliest human attempts at plant domestication occurred in South-Western Asia. There is early evidence for conscious cultivation and trait selection of plants by pre-Neolithic groups in Syria: grains of rye with domestic traits have been recovered from Epi-Palaeolithic (c. 11,050 BP) contexts at Abu Hureyra in Syria, but this appears to be a localised phenomenon resulting from cultivation of stands of wild rye, rather than a definitive step towards domestication. By 10,000 BC the bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) plant, used as a container before the advent of ceramic technology, appears to have been domesticated. The domesticated bottle gourd reached the Americas from Asia by 8000 BC, most likely due to the migration of peoples from Asia to America. Cereal crops were first domesticated around 9000 BC in the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East. The first domesticated crops were generally annuals with large seeds or fruits. These included pulses such as peas and grains such as wheat. The Middle East was especially suited to these species; the dry-summer climate was conducive to the evolution of large-seeded annual plants, and the variety of elevations led to a great variety of species. As domestication took place humans began to move from a hunterPage 19

Effect of Modern Agriculture

gatherer society to a settled agricultural society. This change would eventually lead, some 4000 to 5000 years later, to the first city states and eventually the rise of civilization itself. Continued domestication was gradual, a process of trial and error that occurred intermittently. Over time perennials and small trees began to be domesticated including apples and olives. Some plants were not domesticated until recently such as the macadamia nut and the pecan. In other parts of the world very different species were domesticated. In the Americas squash, maize, beans, and perhaps manioc (also known as cassava) formed the core of the diet. In East Asia millet, rice, and soy were the most important crops. Some areas of the world such as Southern Africa, Australia, California and southern South America never saw local species domesticated. Over the millennia many domesticated species have become utterly unlike their natural ancestors. Maize ears are now dozens of times the size of those of wild teosinte. A similar change occurred between wild strawberries and domesticated strawberries. Domesticated plant species often differ from their wild relatives in predictable ways. These differences are called the domestication syndrome, and include :

Higher germination rates More predictable & synchronous germination Increased size of reproductive organs A tendency for ripe seeds to stay on the plant, rather than breaking off and falling to the ground Reduced physical and chemical defences

Page 20

Effect of Modern Agriculture

D)

Fertilizer

Fertilizer (or fertiliser) is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin (other than liming materials) that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use. They are essential for high-yield harvest: European fertilizer market is expected to grow to 15.3 billion by 2018. Mined inorganic fertilizers have been used for many centuries, whereas chemically synthesized inorganic fertilizers were only widely developed during the industrial revolution. Increased understanding and use of fertilizers were important parts of the pre-industrial British Agricultural Revolution and the industrial Green Revolution of the 20th century. Inorganic fertilizer use has also significantly supported global population growth it has been estimated that almost half the people on the Earth are currently fed as a result of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use. Fertilizers typically provide, in varying proportions:

six macronutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S); seven micronutrients: boron (B), chlorine (Cl), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), and zinc (Zn).

The macronutrients are consumed in larger quantities and are present in plant tissue in quantities from 0.15% to 6.0% on a dry matter (0% moisture) basis (DM). Micronutrients are consumed in smaller quantities and are present in plant tissue on the order of parts per million (ppm), ranging from 0.15 to 400 ppm DM, or less than 0.04% DM. Only three other macronutrients are required by all plants: carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. These nutrients are supplied by water and carbon dioxide. The nitrogen-rich fertilizer ammonium nitrate is also used as an oxidizing agent in improvised explosive devices, sometimes called fertilizer bombs, leading to sale regulations.

Page 21

Effect of Modern Agriculture

E)

Irrigation

Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall. Additionally, irrigation also has a few other uses in crop production, which include protecting plants against frost, suppressing weed growing in grain fields and helping in preventing soil consolidation. In contrast, agriculture that relies only on direct rainfall is referred to as rain-fed or dryland farming. Irrigation systems are also used for dust suppression, disposal of sewage, and in mining. Irrigation is often studied together with drainage, which is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area. Irrigation is also a term used in medical/dental fields to refer to flushing and washing out anything with water or another liquid.

Types Various types of irrigation techniques differ in how the water obtained from the source is distributed within the field. In general, the goal is to supply the entire field uniformly with water, so that each plant has the amount of water it needs, neither too much nor too little.The modern methods are efficient enough to achieve this goal. 1.Surface :In surface irrigation systems, water moves over and across the land by simple gravity flow in order to wet it and to infiltrate into the soil. Surface irrigation can be subdivided into furrow, borderstrip or basin irrigation. It is often called flood irrigation when the irrigation results in flooding or near flooding of the cultivated land. Historically, this has been the most common method of irrigating agricultural land. Where water levels from the irrigation source permit, the levels are controlled by dikes, usually plugged by soil. This is often seen in terraced rice fields (rice paddies), where the method is used to flood or control the level of water in each distinct field. In some cases, the water is pumped, or lifted by human or animal power to the level of the land. 2. Localized Localized irrigation is a system where water is distributed under low pressure through a piped network, in a pre-determined pattern, and applied as a small discharge to each plant or adjacent to it. Drip irrigation, spray or micro-sprinkler irrigation and bubbler irrigation belong to this category of irrigation methods.

Page 22

Effect of Modern Agriculture

3. Drip irrigation Drip irrigation, also known as trickle irrigation, functions as its name suggests.In this system water falls drop by drop just at the position of roots. Water is delivered at or near the root zone of plants, drop by drop. This method can be the most water-efficient method of irrigation[26], if managed properly, since evaporation and runoff are minimized. In modern agriculture, drip irrigation is often combined with plastic mulch, further reducing evaporation, and is also the means of delivery of fertilizer. The process is known as fertigation.

4. Sprinkler In sprinkler or overhead irrigation, water is piped to one or more central locations within the field and distributed by overhead high-pressure sprinklers or guns. A system utilizing sprinklers, sprays, or guns mounted overhead on permanently installed risers is often referred to as a solid-set irrigation system. Higher pressure sprinklers that rotate are called rotors and are driven by a ball drive, gear drive, or impact mechanism. Rotors can be designed to rotate in a full or partial circle. Guns are similar to rotors, except that they generally operate at very high pressures of 40 to 130 lbf/in (275 to 900 kPa) and flows of 50 to 1200 US gal/min (3 to 76 L/s), usually with nozzle diameters in the range of 0.5 to 1.9 inches (10 to 50 mm). Guns are used not only for irrigation, but also for industrial applications such as dust suppression and logging.

Page 23

Effect of Modern Agriculture

5. Center pivot Center pivot irrigation is a form of sprinkler irrigation consisting of several segments of pipe (usually galvanized steel or aluminum) joined together and supported by trusses, mounted on wheeled towers with sprinklers positioned along its length. The system moves in a circular pattern and is fed with water from the pivot point at the center of the arc. These systems are found and used in all parts of the world and allow irrigation of all types of terrain. 6. Sub-irrigation Subirrigation also sometimes called seepage irrigation has been used for many years in field crops in areas with high water tables. It is a method of artificially raising the water table to allow the soil to be moistened from below the plants' root zone. Often those systems are located on permanent grasslands in lowlands or river valleys and combined with drainage infrastructure. A system of pumping stations, canals, weirs and gates allows it to increase or decrease the water level in a network of ditches and thereby control the water table. Sub-irrigation is also used in commercial greenhouse production, usually for potted plants. Water is delivered from below, absorbed upwards, and the excess collected for recycling. Typically, a solution of water and nutrients floods a container or flows through a trough for a short period of time, 1020 minutes, and is then pumped back into a holding tank for reuse. Subirrigation in greenhouses requires fairly sophisticated, expensive equipment and management. Advantages are water and nutrient conservation, and labor-saving through lowered system maintenance and automation. It is similar in principle and action to subsurface drip irrigation. Automatic, non-electric using buckets and ropes

Besides the common manual watering by bucket, an automated, natural version of this also exist. Using plain polyester ropes combined with a prepared ground mixture can be used to water plants from a vessel filled with water. The ground mixture would need to be made depending on the plant itself, yet would mostly consist of black potting soil, vermiculite and perlite. This system would (with certain crops) allow to save expenses as it does not consume any electricity and only little water (unlike sprinklers, water timers, ...). However, it may only be used with certain crops (probably mostly larger crops that do not need a humid environment; perhaps e.g. paprikas).

Using water condensed from humid air

In countries where at night, humid air sweeps the countryside, water can be obtained from the humid air by condensation onto cold surfaces. This is for example practiced in the vineyards at Lanzarote using stones to condense water or with various fog collectors based on canvas or foil sheets.

Page 24

Effect of Modern Agriculture

RESULT

Page 25

Effect of Modern Agriculture

CONCLUSION

In recent years the costs for fuel and chemicals have increased sharply, the high use of pesticides has led to the development of resistance in many species and concern has development over environmental contamination by fertilizers and pesticides. To produce high yields, protect soil productivity, and maintain environmental quality farming must be based on an understanding of how water and dissolved chemicals move through the plant-soil-ground water system. The purpose of this extension series is to build such understanding and the remaining bulletins explain how agricultural chemicals affect human health, how they get into drinking water, and how such contamination can best be prevented.

Page 26

Effect of Modern Agriculture

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Web Sites: www.google.com www.wikipedia.com www.cpcb.com www.mpcb.com

Books:

P.D. Raut, Environmental Studies,SUK.

Page 27