Factors Affecting Crop Production
(Climatic - Edaphic - Biotic - Physiographic - Socio-economic factors)
Dr Y. K. Singh, DMC-ARTS, DMU, Imphal
CROP PRODUCTION:
1. INTERNAL FACTORS (Genetic or heredity)
2. EXTERNAL FACTORS (Environmental)
❖ INTERNAL FACTORS (Genetic or heredity):
The increase in crop yields and other desirable characters are related to Genetic makeup of plants.
▪ High yielding ability
▪ Early maturity
▪ Resistance to lodging
▪ Drought flood and salinity tolerance
▪ Tolerance to insect pests and diseases
▪ Chemical composition of grains (fat content, protein content. starch content)
▪ Quality of grains (fineness, coarseness)
▪ Quality of straw (hardness, softness, sweetness, juiciness, fibrous).
The above characters are less influenced by environmental factors since they are governed by
genetic make-up of crop.
❖ EXTERNAL FACTORS (Environmental):
A. Climatic, B. Edaphic, C. Biotic, D. Physiographic, E. Socio-economic
A. CLIMATIC FACTORS
Nearly 50% of yield is attributed to the influence of climatic factors. The following are the
atmospheric weather variables which influences the crop production - 1. Precipitation, 2.
Temperature, 3. Atmospheric humidity, 4. Solar radiation, 5. Wind velocity, 6. Atmospheric gases
1. Precipitation
▪ Precipitation includes all forms of source of soil-moisture which falls from atmosphere such as
rain, snow, hail, fog and dew.
▪ Rainfall is one of the most important factors influencing the distribution of vegetation of a
place.
▪ Total precipitation in amount and distribution greatly affects the choice of a cultivated species
in a place.
▪ Condition of heavy, evenly and irregular rainfall compel on the specialization of crop production
in different zones of the world (crops like rice, wheat, oilseeds in plains and tea, coffee and
rubber in hillslopes.
▪ Low and uneven distribution of rainfall causes dryland farming where drought resistance crops
like millet, pearl millet, sorghum and minor millets are specialized crop production.
▪ In semi arid and arid regions, option for crop production is very limited. Here, grasses and
shrubs are common because of hot and dry weather.
▪ Though the rainfall has major influence on yield of crops, yields are not always directly
proportional to the amount of Precipitation as excess above optimum reduces the yields or vice
versa.
▪ Distribution of rainfall is more important than total rainfall in drylands, where there is longer
growing season.
2. Temperature:
▪ Temperature is a measure of intensity of heat energy. The range of temperature for maximum
growth of most of the agricultural plants is between 15 and 40ºC.
▪ The temperature of a place is largely determined by its distance from the equator (latitude) and
altitude.
▪ It influences distribution of crop plants and specialisation of crop production.
▪ Germination, growth and development of crops are highly influenced by temperature.
▪ Temperature of air and soil moisture is directly related to physiognomy of plants that change
leaf production, growth, expansion and flowering.
▪ Physical and chemical processes within the plants are governed by air temperature.
▪ Plants’ diffusion rates of gases and liquids changes with temperature.
▪ Solubility of different substances in plant is dependent on temperature.
▪ The minimum and maximum above which crop growth ceases and optimum temperature of
individual’s plant is called as “cardinal” temperature.
3. Atmospheric Humidity (Relative Humidity - RH)
▪ Water is present in the atmosphere in the form of invisible water vapour, normally known as
humidity.
▪ Relative humidity is ratio between the amount of moisture present in the air to the saturation
capacity of the air at a particular temperature.
▪ Relative humidity influences the condition of water requirement of crop production.
▪ If relative humidity is 100% it means that the entire space is filled with water and there is no soil
evaporation and plant transpiration.
▪ Relative humidity of 40-60% is suitable for most of the crop plants.
▪ Very few crops can perform well when relative humidity is 80% and above.
▪ When relative humidity is high there is chance for the outbreak of pest and disease on crops
4. Solar Radiation (without which life will not exist)
▪ Insolation or solar radiation is the main source of temperature of air and soil moisture.
▪ From germination to harvest and even post harvest crops are affected by solar radiation.
▪ Biomass production by photosynthetic processes requires light.
▪ All physical process taking place in the soil, plant and environment are dependent on light.
▪ Solar radiation controls distribution of temperature over the earth and there by distribution of
crops in a region.
▪ Visible radiation is very important in photosynthetic mechanism of plants. Photosynthetically
Active Radiation (PAR - 0.4 – 0.7µ) is essential forward production of carbohydrates and
ultimately biomass. 0.4 to 0.5µ = Blue - Violet - Active, 0.5 to 0.6µ = Orange - Red - Active, 0.5
to 0.6µ = Green - Yellow - Active
▪ Photoperiodism is a response of plant to day length short day - Day length is < 12 hours (Rice,
Sunflower and cotton), long day – Day length is > 12 hours (Barley, oat, carrot and cabbage),
day neutral – There is no or less influence on day length (Tomato and maize).
▪ Phototropism, Response of plants to light direction. E.g. Sunflower
▪ Photosensitive – Season bound varieties depends on quantity of light received
5. Wind Velocity
▪ The basic function of wind is to carry moisture (precipitation) and heat.
▪ The moving wind not only supplies moisture and heat, also supplies fresh CO2 for the
photosynthesis.
▪ Wind movement for 4 – 6 km/hour is suitable for more crops.
▪ When wind speed is enormous then there is mechanical damage of the crops (i.e.) it removes
leaves and twigs and damages crops like banana, sugarcane, rice.
▪ Wind dispersal of pollen and seeds is natural and thew5tnecessary for certain crops.
▪ High speed wind causes soil erosion and damage of farm crops thereby causing disadvantage in
crop production
▪ Helps in cleaning produce to farmers.
▪ Increases evaporation from soil moisture
▪ Accelerate spread of pest and diseases.
6. Atmospheric Gases
▪ CO2 – 0.03%, O2 - 20.95%, N2 - 78.09%, Argon - 0.93%, Others - 0.02% require on plant growth.
▪ CO2 is important for Photosynthesis, CO2 taken by the plants by diffusion process from leaves
through stomata
▪ CO2 is returned to atmosphere during decomposition of organic materials, all farm wastes and
by transpiration
▪ O2 is important for respiration of both plants and animals while it is released by plants during
Photosynthesis
▪ Nitrogen is one of the important major plant nutrients. Atmospheric N is fixed in the soil by
lightning, rainfall and N fixing microbes available in pulses and other plants
▪ Certain gases like SO2, CO, CH4, HF released to atmosphere are toxic to plants
B. EDAPHIC FACTORS (Soil)
Plants grown in land completely depend on soil on which they grow. The soil factors that affect crop
growth are; 1. Soil moisture 2. Soil air 3. Soil temperature 4. Soil mineral matter 5. Soil organic
matter 6. Soil organisms 7. Soil reactions
1. Soil Moisture
▪ Water is a principal constituent of growing plant which forms more than 75% of plant body and
also extracts from soil moisture
▪ Water is essential for photosynthesis of crops while, all these waters require by crops for
photosynthesis are supply from soil moisture
▪ The moisture range between field capacity and permanent wilting point is available to plants
from soil moisture content in farms.
▪ Availability of moisture is more in clayey soils than sandy soils because of higher water
retention capacity of clay, therefore, choosing suitable crop is compulsory
▪ Soil water helps in chemical and biological activities of soil including mineralization.
▪ It influences the soil environment E.g. it moderates the soil temperature from extremes.
▪ Nutrient availability and mobility increase with increase in soil moisture content.
▪ Excessive soil moisture causes negative effect too, sometimes, it destroys crop health in farms.
It also may lead suffocation of crops, instances of pest or fungus.
2. Soil Air
▪ Aeration of soil is absolutely essential for the absorption of water by roots
▪ Germination is inhibited in the absence of oxygen
▪ O2 is required for respiration of roots and micro-organisms.
▪ Soil air is essential for nutrient availability of the soil by breaking down insoluble mineral to
soluble salts.
▪ For proper decomposition of organic matter.
▪ Potato, tobacco, cotton linseed, tea and legumes need higher O2 in soil air
▪ Rice requires low level of O2 and can tolerate water logged (absence of O2) condition.
3. Soil Temperature
▪ It affects the physical and chemical processes going on in the soil.
▪ It influences the rate of absorption of water and solutes (nutrients)
▪ It affects the germination of seeds and growth rate of underground portions of the crops like
tapioca, sweet potato.
▪ Soil temperature controls the microbial activity and processes involved in the nutrient
availability
▪ Cold soils are not conducive for rapid growth of most of agricultural crops
4. Soil Mineral matter
▪ The mineral content of soil is derived from the weathering of rocks and minerals as particles of
different sizes.
▪ These are the sources of plant nutrients e.g.; Ca, Mg, S, Mn, Fe, K etc.
5. Soil Organic matter.
▪ lt supplies all the major, minor and micro nutrients to crops
▪ It improves the texture of the soil
▪ It increases the water holding capacity of the soil,
▪ It is a source of food for most microorganisms
▪ Organic acids released during decomposition of organic matter enables mineralisation process
thus releasing unavailable plant nutrients
6. Soil Organisms:
▪ The raw organic matter in the soil is decomposed by different micro-organisms which in turn
releases the plant nutrients
▪ Atmospheric nitrogen is fixed by microbes in the soil and is available to crop plants through
symbiotic (Rhizobium) or non-symbiotic (Azospirillum) association
7. Soil Reaction (pH)
▪ Soil reaction is the pH (hydrogen ion concentration) of the soil (alkalinity/acidity).
▪ Soil pH affects crop growth and neutral soils with pH 7.0 are best for growth of most of the
crops
▪ Soils may be acidic (< 7.0), neutral (= 7.0), saline and alkaline (> 7.0)
▪ Soils with low pH is injurious to plants due high toxicity of Fe and Al.
▪ Low pH also interferes with availability of other plant nutrients.
C. BIOTIC FACTORS
Beneficial and harmful effects caused by other biological organism (plants and animals) on the crop
plants,
1. Plants
▪ Competitive and complimentary nature among field crops when grown together.
▪ Competition between plants occurs when there is demand for nutrients, moisture and sunlight
particularly when they are in short supply or when plants are closely spaced.
▪ When different crops of cereals and legumes are grown together, mutual benefit results in
higher yield (synergistic effect).
▪ Competition between weed and crop plants as parasites e.g.: Striga parasite weed on sugarcane
crop.
2. Animals
▪ Soil fauna like protozoa, nematode, snails, and insects help in organic matter decomposition,
while using organic matter for their living.
▪ Insects and nematodes cause damage to crop yield and considered as harmful organisms.
▪ Honey bees and wasps help in cross pollination and increases yield and considered as beneficial
organisms
▪ Burrowing earthworm facilitates aeration and drainage of the soil as ingestion of organic and
mineral matter by earthworm results in constant mixing of these materials in the soils.
▪ Large animals cause damage to crop plants by grazing (cattle, goats etc.).
D. PHYSIOGRAPHIC FACTORS
▪ Topography: Topography is the nature of surface. Topographic factors on Earth, level or
unlevel, sloppy, rocky, undulating etc.; affect crop production industry.
▪ Altitude: Increase in altitude cause decrease in growing of crops as it affects the crop growth
indirectly. The decrease in temperature with increase in altitude and increase in precipitation
and wind velocity (hills and plains) causes negative impact on crop production.
▪ Slope: Steepness of slope results in run off of rain water and loss of nutrient rich top soil
quickly. Less slope areas (less than 30 degree) are suitable for crop production.
▪ Exposure to light and wind:
In Hills & Mountain, orientation of landscape causes varying degrees of exposer to light and
wind. Areas of low intensity of light and strong dry winds could have poor crop yields in coastal
areas and interior pockets. Short duration of sunlight in northern & eastern face of ridges affect
yield in crops compared to southern & western face of mountains.
E. SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
▪ Society's inclination to farming and members available for cultivation and crop production.
▪ Appropriate choice of crops by farmers to satisfy the food and fodder requirement of farm
household
▪ Breeding varieties by human invention for increased yield or pest & disease resistance in society
for crop production industry.
▪ The economic condition of the farmers greatly decides the quantity and quality of input of farm
materials, as well as resource mobilizing ability (such as marginal, small, medium and large
farmers).
▪ Government and Financial institutions will provide necessities of crop production to farmers
through subsidies, loan, or social upliftment programmes.
