Geography Two - LOW YIELD OF CROPS

[Bhalla Changa]

LOW YIELD OF CROP

CAUSES

Deterioration of Soil

Yield of the crop is related to the fertility of the soil; fertile soil means more yield. Soil contains some properties and these essential properties serve as food for the plants. The consumption of these properties make the soil infertile. Absence of any particular property or unbalance quality of any property deteriorates the soil. Soil deteriorates due to the transporting agencies also. Strong wind or water take away the upper level of the land depriving it of the necessary elements. Constant ploughing makes the soil powdery and wind blows it away. Due to constant ploughing, some elements, necessary for its fertility evaporate.

Irrigation and Water Supply

Water is one of the chief elements of the plants’ requirement. The growth and development of plants are dependent on the proper supply of water. Some places look barren only because the areas are rainless and there is no provision of water for irrigating the land. Scarcity and uncertainty of rain cause famine. The areas which do not get suitable amount of rain, and where there is no irrigation facility, the yield is bound to be low.

Systems of Cropping

The systems of cropping are not less significant in causing low yield. The plants consume the chief elements of the soil. Different plants consume different elements in varying ratio. If same type of crop is raised continually, it means that the property of the soil required by this particular crop will ultimately be exhausted, and yielding capacity of the soil will be reduced. Excessive concentration on certain crops has ousted the system of crop rotation. Concentration of crops intensifies the evil of soil deterioration.

Lack of good Seeds

By healthy or good seeds, we mean seeds of better variety. Healthy parents breed healthy children. So is the case with the seeds. Healthy seeds yield healthy crops. Farmers, due to lack of knowledge or hand to mouth economy, do not give more emphasis on the good seeds. They sow the seeds out of the grain for daily use which is kept carelessly and is exposed to the air and heat and often damaged by insects and rats. When season comes, they use the same grain, which is proved to be ineffective for the germination. The yield is poor and naturally uneconomical. To the great disappointment of the farmers, all the seeds will not germinate and this will result in low yield and also waste of grains.

Size of Holdings

Another more important reason for the low yield is the small size of holdings. It affects the efficiency of production. Desirable arrangement cannot be made on small holdings. It is very expensive to till small pieces of land. Small holdings cause waste of land because demarcation line, drawn between land belonging to different owners, results in wastage. Small holdings, existing at different places, render a close supervision of farmers impossible. Mechanical methods cannot be applied here, because the introduction of mechanical methods means a further loss of land because tractor cannot do true justice on small holdings. It cannot take turn utilizing the corner of the fields, and it cannot move very close to the boundary line. This means that corners and sides of the field cannot be cultivated by the machinery. The portion leftover by tractors may be worked on by manual labor, but this will involve an extra expenditure which will be uneconomical. Small size of holdings also hinder the irrigation work. All these facts are responsible for the low yield of the corps.

Poor Livestock and other Equipment

Inferior breeds of livestock and inefficiency of the craft of farming are worth mentioning in connection with low yield. A pair of skeleton bullocks and primitive equipment are still seen working in the field. Harvesting and threshing are still done by human hands. This results in waste of time and field is not cultivated extensively.

Agriculture Finance

The financial needs of the agriculturists are responsible for the low yields. Farmers borrow money at high rates of interest. They are not in a position to return money with interest in time. Therefore, they have no alternative other than to sale the land or their standing crop at a price cheaper than the market. This tendency damps their spirit and they do not want to work for the benefit of others.

Agricultural Marketing and Transport

Inadequate transport facilities create wide variation in prices. The movement of the goods from the place of production to the place of consumption is a great problem for the village farmers. The farmers hurry up to sell the produce immediately after the harvesting is over, this is done due to the absence of modern storage system. All these factors kill the initiative of the farmers and thus they do not want to toil day-in and day-out for others.

Land Tenure and Tenancy

Land tenure and tenancy laws are very defective. The permanent settlement system has led to a number of evils. Neither the tiller nor the owner of the field takes interest in improving the field, which is very vital for increasing the yield.

Damage to Crops

Crops are damaged by men, beasts, pests, and plant diseases. Crops standing in the open field are exposed to many dangers which automatically reduce the yield.

Pressure of Population

Pressure of population affects the yield in two ways:
1. Due to the increased population, even the inferior lands are brought under cultivation which is uneconomical.
2. More fields are required for housing purpose and naturally the farmlands are utilized to accommodate the increasing population.

Poverty, Ill Health and Ignorance

Poverty, ill health and ignorance of farmers are also responsible for low yield. They are poor, so they cannot provide better seed and cannot adopt modern methods of cultivation for increasing the yield. Ill health does not permit the farmers to work hard on the field. Ignorance puts the farmers in dark regarding the demand of the produce and price of the commodity prevailing in the neighboring markets.