Crop Protection

Crop protection is the practice that farmers use to shield their crops from various harmful agents like pests, diseases, weeds, and animals. Without protection, crops can suffer significant losses, which reduces the food supply and affects farmers’ incomes.

1.0Definition of Crop Protection

In simple words, crop protection definition is keeping the crops disease-free from sowing to harvest. It makes the crops healthier and yields a better harvest. It is one of the most important aspects of crop management and agriculture now. Crop protection management is even more critical today due to the tremendous food demand and the current climate change scenario.

2.0Common Threats to Crops

There are various reasons that lead to the ruin of crops. They are the destructive forces that harm plant growth, lower crop quality, and cause significant losses. Given below are the major ones:

1. Pests: Insect pests like aphids, caterpillars, beetles, and locusts eat leaves, stems, and fruits and harm crops.
2. Diseases: These are caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi. For example, fungal rust in wheat or bacterial blight in rice.
3. Weeds: Weeds fight with crops for light, water, and nutrients. Wild grass and Parthenium are two of them.
4. Rodents and Birds: Rats, crows, and squirrels injure seeds, fruits, and grains in the field.
5. Environmental Factors: Unfavourable weather conditions like heavy rain, powerful winds, or drought also decrease the crop yield, but protection is mainly on living factors.

3.0Crop Protection Methods

Farmers employ various forms of crop protection from pests depending on the threat, crop type, and size of the farm. Crop protection methods are either chemical, biological, or mechanical in character. Let us study some of the most widely employed ones:

4.0Weed Crop Protection

Weed crop protection is managed by:

• Hand removal (manual hand-weed removal)
• Mulching (applying material over the area of ground that suppresses weed growth)
• Selective herbicides which will only kill weeds, not crops
• Weed control is required as they take up nutrients at a higher rate and develop sooner than crops.

5.0Crop Protection Benefits

The benefits of crop protection, when done correctly, have numerous advantages for both farmers and the environment. Let us discover more.

1. Increased Yield of Crops

Stronger crops develop better and yield more. Crop protection enables farmers to produce high-quality produce free from damage.

2. Quality of Produce

Cover crops are immune, i.e., pests do not infest fruits and cereals, resulting in healthy and larger crops. Because of this, they will receive a good price when sold in the marketplace.

3. Economic Stability for Farmers

Saving from losses caused by pests and disease implies that the farmers will not waste their time and money. It raises their income and makes them self-sufficient.

4. Food Security

When crops are secure and production is maximised, it gives enough food to the increasing population. It eradicates hunger as well as import costs.

5. Sustainable Agriculture

It is a fresh security system like Integrated Pest Management (IPM) with reduced chemical, ground and water health being preserved. It gives long-term soil fertility as well as environmental agriculture.

6. Reduces Dependence on Chemicals

By using biological and cultural approaches, the application of lethal pesticides is minimised to the extent that the environment is rendered harmless to all living organisms.

6.0Crop Protection in Modern Agriculture

As with modernity, crop protection management too has become scientific and eco-friendly. New technologies are further assisting farmers by monitoring crop health and treating crops only when necessary. The above depicts how crop protection is being utilised to full capacity by modern agriculture:

a) Drones and Remote Sensing

They search for crops for signs of pests or disease early on. Drones can direct chemical spraying.

b) Biopesticides

They are microbial or plant oil-based. They kill pests but not useful insects or soil.

c) Resistant Crop Varieties

Scientists are creating naturally resistant seeds for common pests and diseases. This reduces spraying.

d) Agricultural Training and Education

Farmers are being educated to identify early warning symptoms of crop disease and how to utilise the best practices of protection.

e) Government Support

Government schemes like the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) and Integrated Pest Management Programs are encouraging Indian farmers to adopt good crop protection practices.