(a) Explain different types of farming. Discuss the factors affecting types of farming. 20 marks (b) Explain the term water use…

(a) Types of Farming and Determinants

Farming systems evolve through the interplay of agro-ecological conditions and socio-economic imperatives. They are categorized based on commercial orientation into subsistence and commercial farming; input intensity into intensive and extensive systems; enterprise mix into arable, pastoral, and mixed farming; and operational models into shifting cultivation (such as Jhum in North-Eastern states), ley farming, organic farming (fully adopted in Sikkim), and contract farming (widely practiced for potato in Punjab). In farm management, farms are also classed by enterprise pattern as specialised (one enterprise gives at least half the income, e.g., tea estates), diversified (several enterprises, none dominant), mixed (crops with livestock, e.g., crop–dairy farms of Punjab and Haryana) and ranching (grazing on natural grassland), and by water supply as dryland/rainfed (below about 750 mm rainfall), rainfed-humid and irrigated farming.

The adoption of a specific farming type is governed by physical factors (climate, topography, and soil determine biological feasibility), economic conditions (capital availability, landholding size, and market proximity dictate commercial viability), social factors (land tenure systems and dietary habits), technological capacity (irrigation access, mechanization, and hybrid seeds), and institutional support (minimum support prices, credit delivery, and enabling regulatory frameworks).

(b) Water Use Efficiency and Pressurised Irrigation

Water Use Efficiency (WUE) quantifies the ratio of biological or economic crop yield to the volume of water consumed, expressed as kg/m³ or kg/ha-mm. It comprises Crop WUE (WUEₜ, yield per unit evapotranspiration), Irrigation WUE (WUEᵢ, yield increase per unit irrigation water applied), and economic Water Productivity (WP). At the physiological level, intrinsic WUE measures the ratio of carbon assimilation to stomatal conductance (A/gₛ), whereas instantaneous (transpiration) WUE measures carbon assimilation relative to transpiration (A/E).

Under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)–Per Drop More Crop initiative, pressurized irrigation minimizes conveyance, evaporation, and deep percolation losses. Drip irrigation systems (utilizing point-source emitters, inline drippers, or subsurface drip lines) deliver water directly to the crop root zone along with dissolved nutrients via fertigation, typically saving about 30–60% of water and raising fertiliser use efficiency (up to about 80–90% for nitrogen under fertigation), with yield gains in crops such as sugarcane, banana, cotton and vegetables. Sprinkler systems (including fixed, semi-permanent, and centre-pivot configurations) simulate uniform rainfall over undulating topographies, typically saving about 25–40% of water without requiring prior land leveling, and suited to close-growing crops such as wheat, pulses and groundnut on light soils.

(c) Soil Erosion Factors and Agronomic Measures

Soil erosion involves detachment and transport of topsoil, modeled functionally by the Universal Soil Loss Equation (A = R × K × LS × C × P), where soil loss (A) depends on rainfall erosivity (R, kinetic energy of precipitation), soil erodibility (K, texture and organic matter content), topography (LS, slope length and steepness), crop canopy and cover management (C), and support conservation practices (P). Wind erosion, important in western Rajasthan, depends on wind velocity, soil moisture, soil aggregation and surface roughness, and vegetative cover. Human activity (deforestation, overgrazing, up-and-down-slope cultivation, shifting cultivation) accelerates both.

Agronomic conservation mitigates erosion by dissipating raindrop kinetic energy and reducing runoff velocity through non-structural field practices. Contour farming establishes ridges perpendicular to the slope to retard runoff. Strip cropping alternates erosion-permitting row crops with erosion-resisting dense legumes. Cover crops and organic mulching shield the soil surface from splash detachment and aggregate breakdown. Diversified crop rotations and zero-tillage preserve soil organic matter, root networks, and surface residues. Agroforestry models, including alley cropping and windbreak shelterbelts, stabilize soil matrices and intercept wind and overland flow.