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Agricultural cycle

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The agricultural cycle is a yearly series of activities required to grow and harvest crops. These activities are essential because a crop cannot grow without them. The process involves many specific steps to ensure plant health and productivity. These steps include preparing the soil, sowing, adding manure or fertilizers, irrigation, harvesting, and storage. By following this cycle, humans can manage the life of a plant from its beginning to its final use.

Before a plant can grow, farmers must engage in crop selection. This is the process of choosing how to start the new plants. There are two main techniques used: sexual and asexual reproduction. The sexual technique involves growing a new plant from a seed. In contrast, the asexual technique uses vegetative processes to create new plants. These methods determine the properties of the future crop and how it interacts with the soil.

Asexual reproduction includes methods like budding, layering, and grafting. Grafting is an artificial method of propagation where parts of different plants are joined together. These parts bind and continue growing as a single plant. This is often used on dicots and gymnosperms. These plants have a vascular cambium, which is a layer between the xylem and phloem tissues. A grafted plant has two parts: the rootstock and the shoot. The rootstock is the lower part containing the roots. The shoot consists of the branches and the primary stem.

Another asexual method is budding. In budding, a bud from a parent plant is joined onto the stem of another plant. The new plant eventually becomes a replica of the parent. Sometimes the new plant becomes independent, but it may also stay attached to form accumulations. Once the plant is established, it must undergo germination. Germination, or sprouting, is the first sign of life in a seed. For a seed to develop into a seedling, it requires water, air, temperature, energy, viability, and enzymes. If any of these factors are missing, the process will fail.

As plants grow, they must undergo pollination to reproduce. Pollination is the transfer of pollen to the female organs of the plant. This process requires very specific environmental conditions to be successful. The ideal temperature for pollination is 24.4 °C. The relative humidity should stay between 50% and 70%. If the humidity rate rises above 90%, the pollen may not shed. To prevent this, farmers can increase air circulation to keep humidity levels under control.

Irrigation is the process of artificially applying water to the soil to help plants grow. This is especially important in dry or arid regions. Irrigation does more than just provide water; it increases the growth rate and the total yield of the crop. In temperate or tropical areas, rainfall and snowfall provide most of the water. However, in dry places, groundwater is an essential resource. Groundwater is collected in basins made of gravel and aquifers, which are rocks that hold water.

Humans use various structures to manage and distribute irrigation water. Dams serve as essential distributive sources for water. Underground wells are also important for storing water, particularly in America and the state of Arizona. There are two primary techniques for irrigation: spray irrigation and drip irrigation. Drip irrigation is considered more efficient than spray irrigation. This efficiency comes from the fact that less water evaporates during the process. By choosing the right methods, farmers can successfully complete the agricultural cycle.

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