Firstly, crop protection ensures plant health and sustainable yields. It changes based on culture type and hazard from diseases, insects, or weeds. At the same time, measures must be appropriate and preventive.
Moreover, digital solutions are widely used in crop protection compounds nowadays. They enable precise soil and plant analysis, providing accurate information about external factors like weather conditions. At the same time, they improve resource use, allowing farmers to protect crops, boost profits, and minimize environmental damage.
Here, we will discuss the different methods of crop protection.
Pests and Insects Management
Moreover, Insects and pests are the primary source of crop damage and yield loss. They can devastate the entire crop and consume a vast portion of seeds. If left ungoverned, they can decrease crop yield by 30-50(%) every year.
The best practices to protect crop damage include pest and insect management. For insect and pest control, pesticides and insecticides sprayed on crops can reduce crop loss.
Disease Management
Consequently, it is one of the most intricate crop protection methods because numerous aspects can affect diseases: plant age, genetics, environmental situations, and weather. Consequently, it can be challenging to detect a disease, particularly in the initial phases of infection. Therefore, it is vital to observe the health of the plants frequently and examine indications that arise sooner rather than later.
One of the following methods can help protect your crop from diseases:
- the application of chemicals
- culture variation
- deep plowing
- forming isolation
- farming of disease-resistant species
- heat treatment
- regular monitoring of plant surroundings.
Weed Management
Weeds are recognized for transferring pests and diseases that can damage crops and decrease yield. They also deplete plants with oxygen and nutrients, which can suggestively decrease their yield. Various research demonstrates that a deficiency of practical crop protection approaches contributes to the damage of 10 to 50 percent of yields.
Furthermore, weeds can be managed through preventive and fighter activities, including isolation and proper seed treatment and storage. Agrotechnical, biological, and chemical methods are examples of preventive measures. Implementing a mix of these techniques can significantly protect crops from damaging weeds.
Chemicals called herbicides are used to eliminate weeds. Herbicides come in two varieties: non-selective and selective. Non-selective herbicides kill crops and weeds, whereas selective herbicides exclusively kill weeds.
There are many diverse kinds of herbicides, and each one is classified by its mode of action, which is how the herbicide kills the weed. Certain herbicides prevent photosynthesis, whereas others damage cell walls.
Wildlife Pest Management
Additionally, for farmers, wildlife pest control is a significant task. Animals such as deer, wild pigs, rabbits, moles, elephants, monkeys, and many others may cause severe damage to harvests. They may damage the plants by racing across the field and trampling the crop fields, or they can eat plant portions.
Therefore, wildlife pests may effortlessly cause significant yield losses and produce further economic complications. Wildlife pest management necessitates a cautious approach, ensuring farmers protect animals from potential suffering while optimizing crop production.
Crop Rotation Management
Moreover, culture rotation is one of the most appreciated and adaptable crop protection methods. However, not all cultures are correspondingly lenient with the method. For example, corn can be sown in the precise position for up to five years.
On the other hand, rye, wheat, and sugar beet respond harmfully to double harvesting but can produce higher yields if appropriately rotated. For this reason, farmers may employ a six-field system rather than the three-field one.
EOSDA Crop Monitoring provides information on the sequence of cultures cultivated in particular regions, making plant rotation easier.