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5 Reasons Why Transplanted Seedlings Make For Better Yields

When done in the right way, farming can be a fulfilling and profitable profession. If you’re looking to improve your crop yields in the long run, it’s important to first understand and implement certain dos and don’ts into your farming practices.

Seedling transplantation is one procedure that you need to incorporate into your farming. Agricultural experts say that transplanted seedlings can bring with them a number of benefits.

The question arises, can transplanted seedlings help you achieve better crop yields? Just read on to find out more:

1. You’re supposed to transplant seedlings at an optimal stage of growth. If done at the right time, this process ensures that plants enjoy a higher survival rate and lower incidence of disease.
2. Because all the seedlings are raised in a nursery, you can maintain the purity of your land by de-weeding it beforehand. This means that your seedling have a better probability to thrive post transplantation.
3. When seeding your land in the traditional way, many of the seeds you’ve sown might not survive past the initial stage. However, when you choose to grow these seeds in a nursery, you end up using a lesser number of seeds due to optimal initial growing conditions. Your input costs can be lowered in this manner.
4. When you use transplanted seedlings, all your plants age evenly and can be harvested at one go. This is in contrast to traditionally sown plants, which grow in a haphazard manner—while some may be ready to harvest relatively soon, some can take their time to grow fully.
5. Transplanted crops have better root systems and grow quickly as opposed to traditionally seeded crops.

When you take the above reasons into account, transplanted seedlings are definitely the better choice. At Sneha Nursery, we use scientific techniques to nurture our seedlings, which can easily withstand transplantation shock.

If you have more questions about the methods we use, feel free to contact us on the number we’ve provided on our website.

Did you know that a Veterinary Hospital is very similar to a Human Hospital

 Veterinary Hospital is very similar to a Human Hospital

Store the grains - Get attacked by fungi and bacteria

1. Care must be taken to store the grains. After harvesting, the food grains may contain moisture.
2. If moisture is present in the grains they may easily get attacked by fungi and bacteria.
3. This reduces the quality, change the taste of food grains and cause grains lose their germinating capacity. Hence the grains must be dried in the sun before storage.
4. At home the farmers store food grains in metal bins and jute bags.
5. They also keep them in the bins and bags while storing food grains so that they cannot be attacked by microorganisms.
6. For storing food grains in large quantities silos and granaries or godowns are used.
7. Before storing food grains chemicals are sprayed in the grain storage area in order to kill pests and microorganisms.

Proposed 18% GST on purchase of unmanufactured tobacco riles farmers

Traders, manufacturers likely to bring down the purchase price of tobacco if they have to pay GST

The proposed levy of 18% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on purchase of unmanufactured tobacco has become a source of concern to the tobacco farmers in Karnataka.

Hitherto, traders and manufacturers were exempted from paying any tax while purchasing tobacco from auction platforms. The introduction of 18% GST on unmanufactured tobacco will indirectly hit farmers, said Javare Gowda, president, Virginia Flue Cured (VFC) Tobacco Growers’ Federation of Karnataka, told The Hindu.

“Much of the tobacco grown in Mysuru and adjoining regions is exported. Traders purchasing tobacco for international markets will compare prices and tax with other regions in the world before coming to the market. If they get the commodity elsewhere on the globe for a lesser price, they will skip our markets,” Mr. Gowda said.

Even though farmers need not pay the tax, sources in the Tobacco Board said tobacco growers are worried about the impact of introduction of GST on their interests.

Tobacco farmers in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, where auctions are under way, are already up in arms against the introduction of GST. “Farmers fear that the traders and manufacturers will bring down the purchase price when they have to pay GST, which will hit the farmers,” he said.

Tobacco farmers in Karnataka, who defied the drought and reaped a rich harvest last year, had completed the plantation early this year and were looking forward to a good yield.

Despite an increase in output last year, tobacco fetched the farmers a good price of ₹134.58 per kg against the ₹135.24 the previous year. “Thanks to the early rains this year, tobacco plantation in the region was completed before May-end unlike in previous years when the process would continue till July. Even the distribution of fertilizers was completed before May this year,” a board official added.

In view of the good season last year, the Tobacco Board too increased the crop size from 95 million kg to 99 million kg for this year. Hence, the area under tobacco cultivation has gone up marginally from 76,000 hectares last year to 81,000 hectares this year at the rate of 1.3 hectares per barn.

Even though the board has stopped issuing fresh licences for tobacco cultivation with a view to bring down its production in line with India’s commitment to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the number of licenced tobacco growers in the State has been hovering around 42,000 and the number of unlicenced growers around 30,000.

The farmers have resisted any move to abandon tobacco cultivation as there is no other alternative crop that is as remunerative as tobacco.

Cutting and Collecting a Crop

The process of cutting and collecting a crop is known as harvesting.

It can be done manually and mechanically. Manual method includes the cutting of crop plants using a sickle. The mechanical method involves using a machine called harvester.

After harvesting, the grains are separated from the chaff. This process is called threshing. The crop plants are beaten against a hard surface or the crop is spread on the ground and cattle are made to walk on it. In this way the grains are separated from their seed coat. Winnowing is used by small scale farmers. The lighter husk particles are carried away by wind and grains are separated. Now a days threshing is done by a machine called “combine” which is capable of harvesting and threshing.

Removing weeds from the crop plants

• The naturally grown unwanted or undesirable plants in the crop fields are called weeds.
• Weeds are harmful as they take more nutrients from the crop field. Weeds grow faster than crop plants by consuming more water and nutrients supplied for the crop.
• They also compete for space and sunlight. Therefore, weeds must be removed from the crop plants as they can affect the growth of the crop plants and reduce the yield from the crop. As weeds bear flowers and fruits earlier than crop plants, it is better to remove weeds before flowering stage.
• Removing weeds from the crop plants is called weeding.

Weeding can be done by two methods

1. Physical methods
2. Chemical methods

Physical Methods

1. Ploughing is one of the methods of weeding. Ploughing should be done before sowing seeds.
2. Removing weeds manually by cutting them close to the ground from time to time or by uprooting them with help of hand or a khurpi.
3. Seed drill is also used to uproot weeds.

Chemical Methods

When physical methods cannot be employed, weeding can done by spraying chemicals called weedicides.

Example: Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid.

The chemicals kill or stop the growth of weeds without damaging the crop plants. While spraying these weedicides, farmers have to take special care of themselves by covering their mouth and nose so that the chemicals cannot affect their health.

Modern Methods of Irrigation

Some traditional methods of irrigation are

• Moat
• Dhekli
• Rahat (lever system)
• Chain Pump

In all these traditional methods, human labour or cattle are used to lift water from the sources and take it to the fields. So these methods are cheaper but less efficient.

By using modern methods of irrigation, wastage of water can be minimized making those more economical than traditional methods.

The modern methods of irrigation are:

Sprinkler System

1. This method of irrigation involves a main pipe line, to which perpendicular pipes with rotating nozzles at the top are connected at regular intervals.
2. When water is supplied through the main pipeline under high pressure, water comes out from the rotating nozzles to the main pipe.
3. Water gets sprinkled throughout the field as if it is raining. This technique is more useful in uneven lands where there is scarcity of water and in sandy soil.

Drip System

1. This method involves a network of narrow tubes with small holes at regular intervals used throughout the field.
2. In this system water is allowed to flow through the pipes and is delivered drop by drop into the soil exactly at the roots so that water is not wasted at other places.

Advantages of Irrigation

Irrigation

• Like we all need water, plants also need water for their growth and development.
• Plants absorb water from the soil through roots. While absorbing, plants take all the nutrients and fertilizers supplied along with the water.
• Due to continuous evaporation from the surface, the amount of water present in the soil decreases.
• Since plants can not take water from lower depths, farmers supply water to the crop plants at different intervals depending on the need.
• The requirement of water differs from crop to crop and also from season to season. Some crops like paddy require the presence of water in the field during transplantation unlike other crops like cotton, gram and wheat.

"The process of supplying water to crop plants at different intervals is called irrigation."

Advantages of Irrigation

• Fields are irrigated before ploughing because water makes the soil soft and ploughing becomes easier.
• Water in the field helps to provide sufficient moisture for the germination of seeds.
• For healthy growth of crop and to get good produce from the plants, the crops must be irrigated.
• Crops are protected from hot air current and frost in the irrigation fields. 

Sources of irrigation

Water is taken from different sources like rivers, tube wells, open well, canal, reservoir of dams etc. for irrigation of crop fields. Farmers use different methods to lift water depending up on the availability of water sources.

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Manure vs Fertilizers

1. Manure

Manure is an organic substance. Manure is made by decomposing organic matter like animal waste and plant residue.
To prepare manure, farmers dump animal wastes like cow dung and plant wastes like hay and leaves in pits at open places. These wastes are decomposed by micro-organisms and get converted into manure.

Advantages of Manure

1. Manure makes the soil porous and increases the water holding capacity of soil
2. It improves the texture of the soil.
3. Manure increases the number of useful microbes in the soil. Hence it is considered better than fertilizers.

2. Fertilizers

Fertilizers are inorganic salts made in factories.

Advantages	Disadvantages
Fertilizers are rich in a specific plant nutrient such as nitrogen, phosphorous or potassium Fertilizers are more soluble in water and can be quickly absorbed by plants.	Excessive use of chemical fertilisers reduces soil fertility. Fertilisers reduce porous nature of soil which leads to water logging. When fertilisers are washed away by rain water, it leads to water pollution.

Advantages of Manure over fertilizers
When compared, organic manure is more desirable and effective than fertilisers. Because: Manure increases the soil capacity allowing to hold it water in large quantity. The interchange of gases becomes easy since manure has made the soil penetrable. The number of friendly microorganisms are increased. The smoothness of the soil has also been increased due to addition of manure.

Agricultural Implements Used for Sowing

The following are the tools a farmer may use for sowing: 

Traditional tool 

The traditional tool is made of wood or iron. It has a long tube with a funnel at the top. The tool is tied to a plough. Seeds are poured into the funnel. During this process, the plough makes borrows in the soil allowing the seeds from the funnel pass through.

Seed drill

ADVANTAGES OF A SEED DRILL

1. Seeds can be sown in a regular row.
2. Seeds are sown at proper depth with sufficient space between them.
3. Seeds get covered by the soil and cannot be picked up by birds.
4. It saves time and labour.

Good quality seeds

After preparing the soil by ploughing, a farmer selects good quality seeds to sow. Clean and healthy seeds of a good variety are called good quality seeds.

Watch the video below to see how a farmer selects seeds.

SELECTION OF SEEDS

To select good quality seeds, keep all the seeds in a container filled with water. We observe most of the seeds sink at the bottom and some seeds float on water. The seeds damaged by microbes or insects become hollow and float on water. The seeds that sink in water are good quality seeds.

Sowing

After selecting good quality seeds, a farmer sows them. The process of scattering seeds in the soil is called sowing.

• Sowing can be done manually by hand or by using tools (agricultural implements).
• Scattering seeds by hand is called broadcasting.
• When seeds are scattered by hand, they cannot be sown with proper spacing and cannot be placed at proper depth.
• As a result, the seeds on the surface of the soil can be easily picked up by birds.
• Proper distance between the seeds is important to avoid over-crowding of plants. Spacing helps plants to get sufficient sunlight, nutrients, and water from the soil.

Agricultural Implements used for Preparation of Soil

Agricultural Implements are nothing but tools. The main agricultural tools used for ploughing are:

Plough

• Wooden plough is used for ploughing the field since ancient times.
• It has a long log of wood called plough shaft.
• One end of the shaft has a handle. It contains a triangular iron strip.
• The other end of the shaft is attached to a beam. This beam is placed on the neck of bullocks.
• While ploughing, the plough share digs deep into the soil and breaks it.
• Nowadays, iron ploughs are increasingly being used in the place of wooden ploughs.

Hoe

• Hoe has a long rod of wood or iron.
• It has a handle at one end. Below the handle, it has a strong broad and bent plate of iron which acts like a blade.
• It has a beam at the other end which is placed on a bullock's neck

Cultivator

• Cultivator is a tractor driven tool generally used for ploughing very large fields.
• Since this method is mechanically advanced, ploughing with a cultivator saves time and labour.

Preparation of Soil

Ploughing?

• Preparation of soil is the first step in the crop production.
• Soil becomes hard during summer and it must be loosened in order to grow crops.
• This process of loosening and turning of soil is called ploughing or tilling.

ADVANTAGES OF PLOUGHING (OR) TILLING

1. When soil is loose, roots can grow deep into the soil and plants are held more firmly to the ground
2. Loosened soil allows the roots to breathe easily.
3. It allows earthworms and other microbes to grow. These organisms further loosen the soil and add humus to it.
4. Ploughing brings the nutrients to the top so those can be absorbed by the plants.
5. Ploughing also helps in mixing of manure with the soil.
6. Ploughing uproots and kills weeds.

Levelling?

• When soil is dry, it breaks into large pieces called crumbs.
• These crumbs are broken with a plank and the soil is then levelled with a leveller so that it cannot be carried away by water or blown away by wind.
• This process is called levelling.

Basic Practices of Crop Production

In order to cultivate a crop, a farmer performs a large number of activities. These activities or practices performed by the farmer during crop production are called agricultural practices. There are seven agricultural practices.

SEVEN AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES

1. Preparation of soil
2. Sowing
3. Adding manure and fertilizers
4. Irrigation
5. Removal of weeds
6. Harvesting
7. Storage of grains

Height Cost Of Ongole Jathi Bulls

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Types of Milk

Importance of Cow

Importance of Cow 

Eruvaka Ustav Inaugurated on 4 Sunday 2017

Eruvaka Ustav Inaugurated on 4 Sunday 2017 At Gumpula Village, Chivvemla Mandal, Suryapet District.

జైకిషన్ అద్వర్యమంలొ ఎరువక ఉస్తవలు, తెలుగు రాష్ట్రంలో  ని  ప్రతి గ్రామం లొ 

Jaikishan

Fore Details : 9100056546 jaikishan whatsup number

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Geo Spatial Technology Centre Inaugurated

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The use of sewage and wastewater for irrigation

The use of sewage and wastewater for irrigation 

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Young Male Sheep - Ram lambs

Male Sheep	What is it Called?
Young Male Sheep	Ram Lamb
Castrated Male Sheep	Wether
Adult Male Sheep	Ram
Slang for Adult Male Sheep	Buck
Name for Male Sheep in the UK	Tup
Male Sheep Without Horns	Polled
Male Sheep With Horns	Horned

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The Waltair Railway Division is planning to set up Roof-Top Solar Plants

In an attempt to go green, the Waltair railway division is planning to set up roof-top solar plants at the city railway stations and other offices in public private partnership (PPP mode).

ప్రత్యామ్నాయ  ఇంధన వనరుల వాడకం పెంచడంలో భాగంగా విశాఖ రైల్వేస్టేషన్ అతి త్వరలో సోలార్ వైపు అడుగులు వేస్తోంది.

వాల్తేరు రైల్వే డివిజన్ పరిధిలో అన్ని రైల్వే స్టేషన్స్ మరియు రైల్వే ఆఫీస్ బిల్డింగుల మీద సోలార్ ప్యానల్స్ ప్రభుత్వ ప్రైవేట్ భాగస్వామ్యంతో ఏర్పాటు చేయబోతున్నారు.

ఈ ప్రాజెక్టుకు సంబంధించి రెన్యూ సోలార్ పవర్ ప్రై
వేట్ లిమిటెడ్ కంపెనీ వాల్తేర్ రైల్వే డివిజన్ తో 25 సంవత్సరముల ఒప్పందం కుదుర్చుకుంది.

ఈ ఒప్పందం లో భాగంగా అతి తక్కువ ఖర్చుతో సోలార్ రూఫ్ టాప్ ద్వారా 1 మెగావాట్ విద్యుత్ ఉత్పత్తి  చేయడానికి అంగీకారం కుదరింది.
ఈ విధమైన అవగాహన ఒప్పందం గ్రీన్ ఎనర్జీ వైపు ప్రభుత్వం వేస్తున్న గొప్ప ముందడుగు.

Vanam-Manam reaches just 20 per cent of its target in AP

Green cover withers 

The government's ambi-tious plans to achieve 50 per cent green cover in the state remains a dream in the absence of any action to achieve the goal. The forest department is lagging behind in the Vanam-Manam initiative launched by the AP gov-ernment to increase the green cover in the state. The forest department was entrusted with plant-ing 6.65 crore saplings. It has achieved 20 per cent of the task with only 1.38 crore plants on the ground. The progress of the targets given to other departments is even worse. The district water management agency (DWMA) was given a tar-get of 42.74 lakh planta-tions but it has reached only 2.92 latch, which is only 6.8 per cent. The forest department has claimed it has reached more than the intended target in devel-oping stocks with the nurseries. According to the data on the CM's dashboard, for a target of developing 15.02 crore saplings, it has 15...- crore saplings in stock. However, the utilisation of the stocks was only 44.5 per cent. Moreover, there is no clarity as to how many plants have survived, as there's no supervision after the saplings were planted. The government has announced that all the tress were geo-tagged and the self-help groups are entrusted with the protection of these trees. However, the situation on the ground tells a differ-ent story. At many places where the mass planta-tion drive was taken up, the plants have withered.

Saplings withered at Kotthuru Tadepalli, where Chief Minister par-ticipated in mass planta-tion programme of Vanam Manam near Vijayawada, on Tuesday.

At Kotturu Tadepalli where CM Chandrababu Naidu himself participat-ed in the plantation drive, a handful of plants have survived. Only the saplings planted on either side of the pathway, watered occasionally, have survived but with-out any growth even after almost a year.

The government is fac-ing criticism on conduct-ing mass plantation pro-grammes without consid-ering practicality.

 Environmentalist Duggaraju Srinivasarao has observed that plant-ing 1 crore saplings on a single day is next to impossible. It needs at least 30 sq ft of space for a canopy to grow, but the saplings were planted without leaving even 10 sq ft. As a result, most of

■ ANDHRA Pradesh has 36914.78 sq km of notified forestlands; of which 9241.77 sq km are of scrub forests and 3900.49 non-forestlands.

 ■ AP HAS 22 per cent of notified cover when com-pared to the total land available in the state. Out of the total notified forest area, more than 8 per cent was degraded.

 ■ A SENIOR forest official said their first priority is to rejuvenate the degraded forest area through seed dibbling.

 ■ ENVIRONMENTALISTS termed the mass planta-tion drives as namesake exercises without commit-ment.

them have died. These are all namesake exercises with school children.
which all the same pro-vides photo opportunities for ministers.

State has its share in green loss 

The state government had its share of vanish-ing green cover. The gov-ernment is acquiring thousands of acres of forestlands for various development projects in the state. The govern. ment has de-notified nearly 34,000 acres in cap-ital region and now plans are afoot to acquire near-ly 9,324 acres of forest-land for Amaravati-Anantapur express high-way in Guntur. Prakasam, Kadapa. Kurnool and Anantapur districts. The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act gave a provision to de-notiry the degraded forestlands for the purpose of con-structing the capital for the new state. However even this provision comes with riders that the state government should develop double the amount of forest according to Compe-nsatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) Act. The state government did not put in any efforts towards developing com-pensatory afforestation. Environmentalists doubt that the huge scale of publicity to Vanam-Manam and other pro-grammes with inflated figures was actually to bypass the law and to show that they have thi-nned the norms.

Rainwater Harvesting System -How to save rainwater

Rainwater Harvesting System -How to save rainwater

3 Things To Keep In Mind Before Growing Tomatoes

Tomatoes are known for their juiciness and nutrition, forming a quintessential part of almost everyone’s diet.

Tomato cultivation takes place in different parts of the world, throughout the year. From large-scale farmers maintaining large plantations to individual homeowners rearing tiny home gardens, tomatoes are the chosen crops of many kinds of people.

If you’re looking to grow tomatoes for commercial purposes, it’s important to know certain details well-beforehand. Read on to find out more.

Maintain Optimal Soil Conditions

Tomatoes grow in a wide variety of soils, but the most optimal types for tomato cultivation include loam and sandy loam soils. It’s important to ensure that the soil is loose and well-drained. This prevents any damage that may be caused due to water logging and also makes way for easy root growth.

Heavy clay soils are not recommended for tomato cultivation. However, the texture of such a soil type can be improved by tilling and addition of sand, sawdust, etc.

Tomato plants grow best in soils with neutral to near-neutral pH levels. They are moderately tolerant to slightly acidic soils with pH levels between 5.5 to 6.8, provided the soil is aerated and free from salts.

Choosing The Right Seeds

Check for diseased or broken seeds and discard them. Early germinating seeds that are uniform in shape and size should be picked for sowing. You need to sow seeds in well-prepared seedbeds that have the right nutrition to support the baby plants.

After initial germination, tomato seeds develop embryonic cotyledons that need to be carefully differentiated from true leaves.  You should transplant seedlings only after they’ve developed true leaves and that too, at the optimal time.

At Sneha Nursery, we grow tomato seedlings in a scientific manner. The seedlings grown in our advanced greenhouses are supplied with the optimal nutrition in a soil type that’s highly amenable to their growth. With our seedlings, you’ll be able to easily achieve uniform yields.

Moreover, our seedlings are resistant to a variety of adverse environmental conditions and endure any undue shock caused due to transplantation.

Fertilizers As And When Required

Nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus are the three main ingredients of most plant fertilizers. These elements are crucial to the growth of tomatoes as well. Nitrogen encourages leaf growth and enhances chlorophyll production. However, in tomato plants, too much nitrogen can lead to excessive leaf growth, which in turn discourages blossoms and fruits.

Phosphorus helps with flowering and also aids in energy production, while potassium helps in fighting diseases and improves fruit quality. In fact, once the plant starts flowering, it’s recommended to increase the supply of potassium.

Tomato plants also require secondary nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and sulfur, but in lesser quantities. Calcium optimizes nutrient availability and is useful in maintaining cell health. Sulfur helps in the formation of proteins and amino acids and magnesium is related to photosynthesis and chlorophyll production.

Even micronutrients such as zinc, iron, molybdenum, etc. are necessary for many reasons, but in much lesser quantities. For example, molybdenum helps the plant in properly using nitrogen while zinc aids in proper sugar consumption.

If you want a bumper crop of tomatoes this coming season, then do remember to implement these points. With the right measures, tomato cultivation can be easy and highly rewarding.