| Course Code | AGR 204 |
| Course Title | Commercial Crops |
| Credit Hour | 3(2+1) |
| Full Marks | 75 |
| Theory | 50 |
| Practical | 25 |
Objectives
Upon the completion of this course, the students will be able to know about the principles and practices of common commercial crop production with respect to Nepalese Agriculture.
Syllabus of Commercial Crops in Bsc.
Agriculture
Importance, origin, history, distribution, yield, soil and climatic requirements, improved cultural practices: land preparation, crop rotation, manure, and fertilizer application, recommended varieties, seeds and sowing, intercultural operations, water, and weed management, harvesting, storage, the current status of research, constraints, and opportunities of the following crops with reference to Nepal; Sugar crops- sugarcane, Fiber crops-jute and cotton, narcotic crops-tobacco, Tuber crops-potato.
Course Outline
A. Theory
| S.N | Topic / Chapter Name | No. of Lectures. |
| 1 | Tobacco 1.1 Economic importance, distribution, yield, and ecology – relation to temperature, moisture, light, and soil 1.2 Raising tobacco seedlings and their transplanting 1.3 Fertilizer management: effects of N, P, and K on growth and development and dosing, timing and methods of application of NPK fertilizers 1.4 Plant management: soil loosening, weeding, irrigation, topping, and desuckering 1.5 Methods of harvesting, curing: definition and methods: Flue curing. 1.6 Air curing, Fire curing, and sun curing | 6 |
| 2 | Potato 2.1 Economic importance, distribution, yield, and ecology – relation to temperature, moisture, light, and soil 2.2 Seed and sowing: requirements of good seed, seed preparation, seed treatment, dormancy 2.3 Planting time, seed rate, seed size and spacing, methods of planting 2.4 Fertilizer management: effects of N, P, and K on growth and development and dosing, timing and methods of application of NPK fertilizers 2.5 Plant management: Soil loosening, earthing up, weeding, irrigation, and haulm pulling. Harvesting and storage. | 5 |
| 3 | Jute 3.1 Economic importance, distribution, yield, and ecology – relation to temperature, moisture, light, and soil 3.2 Fertilizer management: effects of N, P, and K on growth and development and dosing, timing and methods of application of NPK fertilizers 3.3 Sowing of jute, plant management: gap-filling, hoeing, weeding, thinning, irrigation 3.4 Harvesting and post-harvest operations including steeping, retting, and extraction 3.5 Jute fiber and its defects. | 5 |
| 4 | Sugarcane 4.1 Economic importance, distribution, yield, and ecology – relation to temperature, moisture, light, and soil 4.2 Planting materials, types of planting materials, planting time seed selection, seed preparation, and treatment 4.3 Planting methods: Flat, Furrow, Ridge and furrow, Trench, Deep trench 4.4 IISR8626, spaced transplantation technique and Ring or pit 4.5 Fertilizer management: effects of N, P, and K on growth and development and dosing, timing and methods of application of NPK fertilizers 4.6 Plant management: intercropping, earthing up, weeding, irrigation, detracting, propping and tying, and harvesting 4.7 Ratoon management: definition, the extent of ratooning, yield, reasons for low yield from ratooning, and advantages 4.8 Ratoon management: Variety, plant crop and harvest, time of harvest, method of harvest, stubble shaving, shoulder breaking, fertilizer application, and water management | 8 |
| 5 | Cotton 5.1 Economic importance, distribution, and yield 5.2 Ecology – relation to temperature, moisture, light, and soil 5.3 Cotton fiber and it’s quality: staple length, fineness, strength, and ginning percentage 5.4 Seed preparation and sowing. 5.5 Fertilizer management: effects of N, P, and K on growth and development and dosing, timing, and methods of application of NPK fertilizers. 5.6 Plant management: crust breaking, thinning, weeding, irrigation, topping, defoliation, and desiccation. Harvesting and Gossypol. | 6 |
| Total | 30 |
B. Practical
| S.N | Topic / Chapter Name | No. of Lectures. |
| 1 | Classification and morphological characteristics of tobacco | 1 |
| 2 | Differences between two species of tobacco. | 1 |
| 3 | Raising tobacco seedlings. | 1 |
| 4 | Classification and morphological characteristics of potato | 1 |
| 5 | Morphology of potato tuber. | 1 |
| 6 | Classification and morphological characteristics of sugarcane including noble cane and mobilization. | 1 |
| 7 | Numerical problems in relation to seed rate yield estimation and commercial cane sugar (CCS). | 1 |
| 8 | Classification and morphological characteristics of cotton | 1 |
| 9 | Branching and flowering in cotton | 1 |
| 10 | Characteristic of cotton species. | 1 |
| 11 | Numericals problems related with fertilizers dose, yield estimation, and seed rate of cotton. | 1 |
| 12 | Classification and morphological characteristics of jute | 1 |
| 13 | Differences between two species of jute. | 1 |
| 14 | Fiber layers in jute | 1 |
| 15 | Analysis of boll weight of cotton/ statistical analysis of crop yield | 1 |
| Total | 15 |
References
- Arnon, I. 1972. Crop Production in Dry Regions.Vol. 2. Leonard Hill, London
- BakumovskyUstimenko, G. B. 1983. Plant Growing in the Tropics and Subtropics. Mir Publisher, Moscow
- Hoveland, C. S. 1980. Crop Quality, Storage and Utilization. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Maidison, Wisconsin
- Martin, J. H., W. H. Leonard and D. L. Stamp. 1976. Principles of Field Crop Production. Third Edition. Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc., New York
- Metcalf, D. S. and D. M. Elkins. 1980. Crop Production: Principles and Practices. Fourth Edition. Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc., New York
- Prasad, R. 2004. Textbook of Field Crops Production. ICAR, New Delhi
- Purseglove, J. W. 1974. Tropical Crops: Monocotyledons. The English Language Book Society and Longman, London
- Purseglove, J. W. 1979. Tropical Crops: Dicotyledons. Longman Group Limited, London
- Singh, C. 1997. Modern Techniques of Raising Field Crops. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
- Sundara, B. 1998.Sugarcane Cultivation.First edition.Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.
- Sundaraj, D. D. and G. Thulasidas. 1993. Botany of Field Crops. Second Edition. Macmillan India Limited
- Yadava, R. L. 1994. Agronomy of Sugarcane: Principles and Practices. International Book Distributing Co., Lucknow