Karshaka

  Historical civilizations and modern life as we know it would not have been possible without agriculture. It was through the cultivation of nutritional food that the structure of early societies could diversify and focus on various tasks. As time passed, agriculture became the most dominant land use on the planet, feeding a booming population and transforming natural habitats of many species. Whether the outcome of this change delivers negative or positive consequences depends largely on our approach. You may think it sounds counter-intuitive, but sustainable management of our lands can prevent many problems we are currently facing. When done right, farmers could actually bring about many positive environmental impacts of agriculture that may enrich local biodiversity and boost vital ecosystem services. How does agriculture affect the environment in a positive way? Agriculture creates habitats Agricultural systems that work in harmony with nature such as organic, permaculture...

  The amount of arable land is likely going to remain constant. As the population steadily grows, we will need to produce more crops from existing resources. By the year 2050, there will be 9 billion people on the planet. To feed this growing population, food production must increase by at least 70%. If the agriculture industry does not look beyond traditional strategies, future generations will not be able to produce and take advantage of our arable land. In the past, agriculture focused on taking full advantage of available land and yielding as many crops as possible. There was no focus on sustainable crop production or land preservation. From a financial standpoint there was no focus on profitability and conserving land and resources. These go hand-in-hand. Three benefits of taking a leap towards sustainable agriculture :  1. Conserving the environment and preventing pollution By adopting sustainable practices, farmers will reduce their reliance on nonrenewable en...

Introduction The Indian agricultural marketing was governed by a set of public-owned wholesale markets established during the colonial period. Due to dated regulatory frameworks and restrictions on trading, the system faced a fair share of shortcomings. To unify the market platform, the Union Budget 2014–15 launched the eNAM to link the physical mandis (markets) to an electronic platform. The aim of the scheme is to provide a national market for agriculture. National Agriculture Market (eNAM) is an electronic platform that networks the already existent Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities. It was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India in April 2016. As on December 2021, 1.69 crore (17 million) farmers and 1.55 lakh (0.155 million) traders were registered on the eNAM platform. The National Agriculture Market platform is currently present in 18 states and three union...

  Smart Agriculture in India  Smart farming has emerged to be the need of the hour for the  Indian agriculture sector. It is much more efficient than the traditional methods of farming. Smart farming, which involves the application of sensors and automated irrigation practices, can help monitor agricultural land, temperature, soil moisture, etc. This would enable farmers to monitor crops from anywhere. Moreover, smart farming can help integrate digital and physical infrastructures which would benefit small farmers. The small and marginal farmers of India find it challenging to integrate digital and physical infrastructures which hampers their revenue growth.  Agro-based start-ups can reach out to the farmers and help them gain access to such viable and cost-effective solutions. According to a report published by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in 2019, there were more than 450 argi-based tech driven start-ups in India as of 2019...

  Crop yield has been one of the major concerns to farmers for a very long time. Farming efficiency always depends upon the average crop yield obtained per acre of land. Efforts have been made since ages to increase crop productivity in agriculture, today, in addition to the age-old practices there is a need to adapt various other important techniques for increasing crop productivity to meet the requirement of increasing population. What could be done to increase crop yields? It is important to note that a crop yield is determined by a number of factors like the soil, seeds, and planting procedures. Now let's take a look at some of the most successful techniques for farmers to boost crop yields, and how various techniques can be combined to improve agricultural performance. 1. Quality seeds Quality seeds play a vital role in crop production, it is very important for the farmer to maintain the quality of the crop in order to get better market prices, and quality harvest always depen...

                                       A Hindu, a Rabbi, and a Jehovah’s Witness were lost. They happen upon a farm and request to spend the night. “I only have room for two people, so one of you will have to stay in the barn,” the Farm Owner explains. The Hindu jumps in right away, insisting it’s no problem. However, he knocks on the front door a few minutes later. “I apologise, but there’s a cow in the barn, and cows are sacred to me.” “No problem,” the Rabbi says as he walks to the barn. Within a few minutes, he returns and knocks once more. “There’s also a pig in there, which goes against our beliefs.” “I’ll go then, friends,” the Jehovah’s Witness says as he walks to the barn. A few moments later, there is a knock at the door. It’s the cow and the pig.