Agricultural education is essential as it pertains not only to food security, but also to human health. In order to attract young people to agriculture, it is crucial that education in this field be made engaging, straightforward, and purposeful. Textbooks are a means of reaching out to college and university students, who constitute a significant audience. The present work is a textbook on the fundamentals of agriculture, which is entirely based on the curriculum for educating agricultural graduates and is also informed by student feedback.
The first chapter provides an overview of the history and scope of agriculture, while the second chapter covers crop classification. The third chapter includes definitions of soil, soil composition, soil profile, soil development, and the different soil classes of India, and the fourth chapter provides an overview of the extent and distribution of these soil classes. The fifth chapter deals with the classification of problem soils and their distribution, as well as reclamation methods. The sixth chapter covers plant nutrition, including all the functions and deficiency symptoms of plant nutrition, as well as the classification of nutrients. Fertilizers and manures, and their role in crop production are discussed in Chapter 7. Chapters 8 and 9 address all aspects of irrigation and rainfed agriculture, respectively. The tenth chapter covers Agricultural Engineering, including implements, tillage, devices, and power transmission, and their role in enhancing agricultural productivity. Finally, the textbook includes a selection of sample questions and answers to help students prepare for competitive examinations.
Content
1. Indian Agriculture: Scope and Resources, 2. Cropping Seasons and Classification of Crops, 3. Soil: Origin, Classification and its Properties, 4. Problematic Soils: Saline and Alkali Soils, Acidic Soils 5. Nutrient Management, 6. Fertilizers and Manures, 7. Irrigation and Drainage,8. Rainfed Agriculture,9. Questionnaire
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