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Vegetable Gardening

How to Increase Seed Germination in your Kitchen Garden?

Introduction

As the world is witnessing increased urbanization, urban gardening is also getting common, new issues are arising daily related to kitchen or urban gardening, and people want solutions. This is because, kitchen gardening is different from open field practices. In open fields, the behavior of weather parameters is different and they impact the crops differently as compare to backyard gardens or urban garden systems.

Today I am going to write on a common question I am asked on my Facebook page (Arid Agriculture and Kitchen Gardening), through email and queries on my website that how to increase seed germination in kitchen garden? Germination of seed is a complex process. Even if you have top notch and branded store seeds, there are various other factors that hinder optimal germination. This includes the soil health (soil type, fertility, organic matter, pH, drainage etc.), the environmental conditions in your area, the farming practices you are following etc. These issues require a separate article to discuss in depth. The agenda of this article is to guide urban gardening lovers and amateurs with three simple and easy ways that will surely help them in achieving increased seed germination in kitchen garden.

You May Also Like Reading This : How to Grow Turmeric in Kitchen Garden?

How to Increase Seed Germination?

Soaking Seeds

First step in how to increase seed germination is the soaking the seeds before sowing. You can’t believe how a small duration of soaking the seeds in water can increase the germination rate of seeds. Soaking helps in softening the outer coating of the seed thus allowing easy germination. The water enters inside the seed, and elevates the process of germination after it is sown in the soil. Usually when you buy seeds, the information on it suggests soaking them in water. But how many of us follow that instruction? Even if it is not mentioned on the seed pack, water soaking is always beneficial. During winter season, soaked seeds harness more benefits. This is because, soaking seeds in water at room temperature (25oC-30oC) not only soften the coating but optimum temperature treatment is absorbed by the seed. So when you plant it in the soil even in the cold season, the germination rate improves. As far as soaking time is concerned, I recommend at-least two hours of soaking. However, an overnight soaking treatment will definitely increase seed germination in your kitchen garden.

Scarification

Next step in how to increase seed germination is scarification. When I am in a hurry to sow seeds in my kitchen garden, I use the process of scarification. It is a process to damage the outer coat of the seed so that the entry of water get easier that will eventually aid in increase seed germination. For scarification purpose, I use various tools including nail file, sand paper, a triangular file and nail clippers. There are few experts that support using hot water treatment or even acid treatment to the seeds but I am against these. Hot water treatment can cause permanent damage to the germinal hormones of the seeds while acid treatment is harmful for your skin. So my recommendation, do not use these.

Seed Scarification Tools

Now coming back to the tools I mentioned, they are pretty easy to use. For example, in case of sand paper, take two sand papers, and place the seeds between them. Rub the two sheets and your work is done. If there is large size seed, I use triangular file. For this, hold the file in one hand, and rub the seed on one edge. That’s it. Urban gardening is all about experimenting with new things, so you can use knife on your seeds especially the seeds that  are of medium size.

Manure or Compost Application

Being a big proponent of organic farming especially in kitchen gardens, I give a delight of farmyard manure or compost to my vegetable seeds at the time of sowing. If you are sowing in containers, pots or even in a plot of your kitchen garden, mixing manure or compost in the soil increase the germination rate of seeds. What I generally practice is, if I am sowing my vegetables in an open plot of my kitchen garden, I use trowel for plowing the plot and soften the soil. Then I mix the farmyard manure or compost in the soil and sow the vegetable seeds. The reason is that adding manure or compost increases the moisture carrying capacity of soil and makes it easier for the seeds to break their coat. As the coat breaks, they have ready-made nutrients available that help in speeding the germination process. Even the weak ones can show good germination due to nutrients availability.

Trowel for Plowing

There are many other methods of increasing the seed germination in urban gardening system. However the above three are easy to understand and application is swift. An integrated approach of using all three or any two above methods will bring great results. Hope this article has solved the problem of how to increase seed germination in your kitchen garden. If you have another query, write in comments below. Don’t forget to share this article for betterment of everyone.

Happy growing and Cheers 🙂

Cite this Article in APA Style as:

[box type=”note” align=”aligncenter” ]Rahman, M. A. (2017, August 23). How to Increase Seed Germination in your Kitchen Garden?[Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://aridagriculture.com/2017/08/23/how-to-increase-seed-germination-in-your-kitchen-garden/[/box]

 

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Agriculture Corner

Agronomic Procedures in Dryland Agriculture: Global Perspective

Introduction

Agriculture in dryland or arid lands is carried out in harsh environment. Water being the chief resource in crop growth, is scarce in drylands. To cope with this situation, there are certain agronomic procedures in dryland agriculture that are applied to have sustainable production in efficient manner.

Soil and water are two basic factors that are vulnerable to harsh environment in arid or dryland agricultural systems. These two factors require conservation measures to have sustainable crop production. Otherwise crop failure occurs. In modern day agriculture, agronomic and mechanical means are used to conserve soil and water. Mechanical measures are supposed to back or support the agronomic measures especially where slope surpasses the tolerable limit and runoff results in accelerated erosion. Thus, water being the scarce resource in dryland agriculture needs special attention of the agronomists and agricultural engineers to have supportable livelihoods of the farmers.

This article is focused on the agronomic procedures in dryland agriculture that are essential in terraced or inter-bunded areas. In reality, the agronomic measures enhance the utility obtained from all types of mechanical structures applied in an area. Below are few necessary measures that should be taken for resource conservation to achieve optimal crop production in dryland or arid agriculture system.

Organic Matter

It is a common observation that the soils in arid or dryland agriculture systems are very low in organic matter. Increasing the organic matter is somewhat expensive for the poor farmers. So, most common agronomic procedures in dryland agriculture are the leaving of crop residue in situ in the fields after harvesting the crop.

Organic Matter in Dryland Agriculture

Being an agriculturist, I am big opponent of applying chemical or synthetic fertilizer in dryland or arid agriculture systems to increase fertility of soil. This is because; these fertilizers act as competitors to crops and consume already scarce moisture in soil in their transformation. This also impacts the natural activities of microorganisms and destruct soil structures.

Soil in dryland or arid agriculture systems should be supplemented by organic farm manure or compost. Using cow/buffalo waste or poultry residue are good examples of manures, while utilizing dead leaves and kitchen waste are good examples for composting. These are very helpful in increasing soil-temperature, soil-air and soil-moisture relationship along with enhanced soil micro organismic activities.

Contour Tillage

Contour tillage is an agronomic practice if the land slope is more than the normal level. The objective is to reduce erosion and prevent runoff. It is generally recommended that all mechanical practices like ridging, ploughing, harrowing, sowing and trenching should be done on the contour. Moreover, these practices should be implemented across the direction of the slope especially where the land holding are small. Though, the procedure looks simple, but is quite effective against the forces that cause the soil erosion. Moreover, it also increases the time of concentration of water, so that more water seeps into the soil.

Contour Tillage in Dryland Agriculture

Dead Furrows

Dead furrows are very important when all tillage operations are completed. It is beneficial to leave a yawning dead furrow at least every 10 m interval. It should be ensured that this dead furrow remains in that position till crop harvest. The advantage of dead furrow is to reduce the velocity of runoff that results in water conservation.

Dead Furrow in Dryland Agriculture

Agro-Horticulture

In normal season, there are marginal lands that do not produce good annual income from crops. These soils are in-fact best suited for dryland horticultural crops like tamarind, olive, guava etc. These kinds of land help in growing such trees that have economic value and become assets to generate handsome profit. Another option is to grow such varieties of trees that are fast growing and usable as fodder, timber or fuel for the local community. Thus dryland become good source of income for local inhabitants.

Argo-Horticulture in Dryland Agriculture

Weeding

Regular weeding is not only a requirement in arid or dryland agriculture, but also it should be made a habit. Weeds compete for moisture and nutrients with crops. Mechanical weeding and line sowing along with using appropriate size of blade harrow eradicate the weeds. Hand hoes are useful for weeding within the rows.

Weeding in Dryland Agriculture

Growing Drought Tolerating and Early Maturing Varieties

It is wise to cultivate those varieties of crops in dryland or arid farming systems that have genetic character with the ability to endure shortage of water and drought circumstances. Similarly, it is worthy to select such crop varieties having shorter period of life cycle i.e. their seed to seed cycle is less. This will reduce the water requirements of the crop. These two measures are revenue generating in the drought-prone areas.

Cite this Article in APA Style as:

[box type=”note” align=”aligncenter” ]Rahman, M. A. (2017, August 22). Agronomic Procedures in Dryland Agriculture: Global Perspective [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://aridagriculture.com/2017/08/22/agronomic-procedures-in-dryland-agriculture-global-perspective/[/box]

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Career in Agriculture

Introduction and Career in Agronomy

Introduction

Agriculture science is a vast field that covers broad spectrum of farming activities. Out of these, agronomy can be regarded as the ‘true’ agriculture. This is because of what a layman perceives from the word ‘agronomy’ and its application at the field level. This article will provide a brief introduction of agronomy along with scope of career in agronomy.

To get more deep insight of what is agronomy? Let’s do the word analysis of the term agronomy.

Agronomy is derived from a Greek word “Agro’ meaning field and “Nomo” meaning management. It is quite understandable now basically what agronomy is? For a new entrant in the field of agriculture science, agronomy is that part of science that deals with smart and integrated management of farming activities by following holistic approach to achieve highest production and yield.

In agronomy we deal with the practices & principles of water, soil & crop management and it focuses on the relation of plants with the soil and climate. It covers all aspects of farming like sowing, irrigation, soil, seed, fertilizer, herbicide, pesticide, weeding, harvesting, post-harvest treatment, packaging and all other crop management practices with the aim to increase productivity and yield of farm crops.

It should now be cleared that agronomy is itself a vast field of knowledge. Sometimes agronomy is confused with horticulture, another branch of agriculture science, due to many similarities. However one should know that if he/she needs literature in cereal crops, then agronomy books should be consulted. However, still there are certain crops that can confuse a layman or freshly enrolled graduate. For example, corn is an agronomic crop, however, sweet or young corn is also considered as horticultural crop. Similarly, if pineapple is grown for fruit purpose, then it is horticulture crop while if it is cultivated for fiber purpose, then it is an agronomic crop.

In this scenario, there should be mark difference between agronomic and horticultural crops. Usual way of classification depends on the area of cultivation. In agronomy, crops are cultivated on vast lands while horticulture is usually concern with the cultivation in gardens and orchards which are smaller is size. However, still there are disagreements over this approach. Few other approaches to classify these two are; in agronomic crops, the consumers are both humans and animals, while in horticulture, the consumers are human. Agronomic crops are harvested usually at maturity and horticulture crops are harvested at various stages. There is high aesthetic sense attached to horticultural crops as compare to agronomic crops. Also management practices are intensive in case of horticulture crops while extensive in agronomic crops.

Major Concern of an Agronomist

The agronomist, one who studies and have expertise in agronomy, has concerned with the restoration and conservation of soil fertility, use of optimal seed rate and preparation of seedbeds to enhance productivity, manage time and dates of sowing and harvesting of crops as per climatic conditions, test new varieties in fields, conservation of soil moisture, management of weeds are and all other agronomic practices that make the finite land and water resources we have in hand, more productive.

Career in Agronomy

Career in Agronomy

The role of an agronomist is increasing; varying and becoming challenging as farming is now facing multidimensional challenges in the 21st century. Agronomy as a field is seeking skilled, passionate and hardworking job seekers to make it an exciting career with huge opportunities nationally and globally.

Like i said earlier, agronomy is a vast field than any other branch of agriculture. Job prospective is also wide. The condition is only one. You should be passionate to learn, use out of the box approach in the field, ready to accept innovation and advancement and incorporate all these factors in you as your skills.

After acquiring a professional degree in agronomy, the graduate has two choices to avail. Either he can start his own business and becomes an entrepreneur or get hired by government institutions or private giants, corporations etc.

Business Career in Agronomy

Like many other business, this business does not require large investment. You can be a consultant to farmer or a farming community. Large farmers always require expertise of a qualified agronomist to look after their business by providing services.

An agronomist can start an import export business of certified seeds, fertilizer, pesticides etc. He can become a wholesale distributor or can be a retailer of specific products. It is better to create a specific niche to deal in. This means, it is good to deal in limited products like seed or fertilizer rather than involving and expanding the business at once.

Another opportunity is to become distributor of an agronomic product. Many multinational companies seek expertise of agronomist to sale their products. An agronomist is in a good position to market the product by convincing the customer logically and scientifically.

Job Career in Agronomy

In the developing countries, where agriculture has central position in the economic structure, agronomists have bright scope in government jobs as well as in private sector. A graduate holding 4 years bachelor degree in agronomy gets fair chance to get hire. The major options are research, teaching and on-farm jobs. In research, they can experiment with new verities in labs to get better yield and improve quality. In teaching, colleges and universities hire agronomists. On-farm duties include experimenting new farming practices for better management. The salaries are competitive especially in private sector.

International Scope for an Agronomist

International scope for an agronomist is bright. In the Middle-Eastern countries, the demand of agronomists is on boom. They offer handsome salaries. Besides earning a good living, a benefit of working in Middle-Eastern countries is the scope of learning, an agronomist gets hand on. They have monetary resources, so these countries are ready to experiment on new ideas to have sustainable food supply. Other international job avenues include Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO), World Food Program (WFP), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) etc.

According to US Bureau of Labor Statistic (BLS), an agronomist was earning $49,840 annually in 2016. Also according to US BLS, there is a projection of 5% increase jobs for agriculturists in US in the coming decade. For other countries, the projection is somewhat same as expansion and contraction in US economy has global impact. So international scope for an agronomist is not going to face recession in near future.

Last but not the least; being agronomist, you have a safe and sustainable profession waiting for you. The demand of food is constant or increasing with population explosion. In my opinion, agronomists have always a better outlook for jobs than other fields of agriculture.

Cite this Article in APA Style as:

[box type=”note” align=”aligncenter” ]Rahman, M. A. (2017, August 20). Introduction and Career in Agronomy [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://aridagriculture.com/2017/08/20/introduction-and-career-in-agronomy/ [/box]

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Vegetable Gardening

How to Grow Nutri-Fresh Okra in Kitchen Garden?

Introduction

Are you a green veggie lover like me and maintaining your own kitchen garden? If yes, then I have a brilliant idea for you; why not grow vegetables of your choice in your kitchen backyard. It can save you money and time as well. As going shopping per every veggie craving can cost you lots of time and is exhausting too. Trust me; your own grown fresh veggie is worth tasting as compared to the stale ones we usually get from the market. And this is the sole objective of today’s urban gardening to have economized and fresh food on dining table.

Also Read: 3 Most Healthy Vegetables to Grow in Your Kitchen Garden

So today, I am going to share my experience about how to grow nutri-fresh Okra. Yes your famous Lady Finger, which will be fresh, organic and delicious after cooking. Okra is loved all round the world for its delicious taste, rich Vitamin A content and as an excellent tonic for diet conscious people. So, my recommendation is that, if you have still some inches of dirt left in kitchen garden, grow Okra.

Also Read: Kitchen Gardening for Beginners

Climate for Growing Okra

Considering climate for growing Okra is critical like every other vegetable. However, growing Okra in kitchen garden and urban gardening systems is easy in areas with temperate and tropical climate prevails. Okra can easily be grown in warm humid temperatures; and it sustains from April to October/November in these zones. Frost kills Okra. For urban gardening, it can also be grown in container or pot. However, these should be 14 inch deep for facilitating root growth and should be placed in terrace or garden patch with good sunshine.

Growing Okra in Pots

How to Grow Nutri-Fresh Okra

Soil and Seeds for Okra

It can grow in sandy/loamy soil with pH above 6. Seeds can be saved from the already dried pods from previous harvest of your neighbor or friend or some seed store as per your desire. It is better to choose disease resistant variety. Seeds should be purchased from a certified nursery or online store, ensuring that these are pest and disease free.

Okra Seeds

Cultivating Ground for Okra

Select a patch in your garden which receives at least 6 hours of full day and sun light mix. Seeds can be soaked for few hours in water to aid in germination. Then sowing is done. Seeds should be sown 1/2inch deep and 12 inches apart in soil. Seedlings usually appear in 2-12 days. Leave ample room i.e. 3 feet in between the rows to support the growth as okra can grow up to 6 feet high. It can hinder the growth of other garden plants so chose the garden patch carefully.

Okra Seedlings Appearing from Soil

Strengthening Soil for Okra

Soil amendments can be done in terms of addition of animal manure and mulch for moisture retention. Regular watering (ideally twice a day in extreme summers) and treatment of worms, diseases and weeds is necessary. White yellow flower appear after 6-8 weeks of planting which are followed by okra pods.

Flowering on Okra

 

Harvesting the Okra

Harvesting the Okra is interesting. Harvest the immature pods 2-3inch long and harvest daily. If left unattended, pods mature and turn tough which are not ideal for cooking but can be used for obtaining seeds for future. Frequent harvesting facilitates pod production. Use scissors or wear gloves for harvesting as spiny pods can irritate the skin.

Ready to Harvest Okra

Enjoy your own grown lady finger by making a curry instantly, preserve it as pickle or share it with the neighbor’s which is in fact the best part. Sharing is caring 🙂

Cite this Article in APA Style as:

[box type=”note” align=”aligncenter” ]Rahman, M. A. (2017, August 19). How to Grow Nutri-Fresh Okra in Kitchen Garden? [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://aridagriculture.com/2017/08/19/how-to-grow-nutri-fresh-okra-in-kitchen-garden/[/box]

 

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Vegetable Gardening

3 Most Healthy Vegetables to Grow in Your Kitchen Garden

Introduction

Freshly picked, home grown vegetables are the best source of rich and healthy nutrients; you can have anytime you want. It is always tough to choose what to grow in your kitchen or home garden. But today, i am going to solve this problem by writing on 3 most healthy vegetables that you should give a try in your kitchen garden. I hope this article will help every dirt lover in troubleshooting his/her most important concern. But first, let’s discuss why to choose healthiest vegetables when there are several other options available.

The reason of this article is that all vegetables don’t have equal benefits when you talk about your health. In fact, the element of health is pivotal in choosing what you grow in addition to fulfill your hobby. So it is always wise to grow most healthy vegetables.

Also Read: Kitchen Garden for Beginners

Now, internet is full of articles suggesting which crops are best to be grown in your garden. They give you a mammoth list to choose like top 10 or 20 veggies, however many of these fail to address the specific benefits of each vegetable they suggest. My list of 3 most healthy vegetables to grow in your garden covers these aspects so, that you have full confidence on what you are growing and eating. I always advice my readers, don’t stick in just cultivating your own garden, but also teach your neighbors and others about what you learn here and by your own way of cultivation. This is the best way to serve the community.

Now here is the list 3 most healthiest vegetables to grow in your garden.

1. Spinach

Popeye? Yes I know that’s what comes in your mind in first place. Definitely, spinach has something in it that we had watched Popeye eating spinach and getting balloons in his biceps and forearms. Though I am not preparing you to eat spinach and fight, but yes, spinach adds power to your immune system to fight foreign invaders in your body.

Spinach: 1st Best Veggie to Grow in your Kitchen Garden

Benefits: It provides basic nutrients to bones, hairs and skin. Spinach is also known for improving blood glucose, especially in diabetic patients, pull down the risk of cancer, control and optimize blood pressure and most importantly it aids in curtailing the risk of developing asthma.

What your body gets? 28 micro grams of Vitamin C from 100g serving. It fulfills 34 percent of your daily Vitamin C requirement. It also contains an antioxidant known as Alpha-Lipoic Acid, fibers, Vitamin A and Iron.

Also Read: Five Cheap DIY ways to Kill Home and Kitchen Garden Weeds

2. Broccoli

Sowing and watching these tiny trees growing in my kitchen garden is always a fun for me. However in my childhood, i remember of pushing my plate with Broccoli away from me. Since I learnt what these tiny veggies give to my body, I am using it at least thrice a week now.

Broccoli: 2nd Best Veggie to Grow in your Kitchen Garden

Benefits: Broccoli is a nutrient powerhouse that has lot of healthy calories. Obesity is a global phenomenon that is the root cause of many other diseases. Broccoli is on top of the list to fight obesity. Further, it is helpful against diabetes and heart diseases. Skin complexion is also improved because of certain amino acids present in it.

What your body gets? A cup full of broccoli provides your body with 43 milligrams of Calcium. In addition to this, it also adds 92 micro grams of Vitamin K, fulfilling your 100 percent daily requirement of it. Also it helps in improving digestion system and gives you fresh feeling.

3. Beet Roots

Apart from the delicious taste, it’s the color of the beets that always fascinated me since my childhood. I remember those days, when I used to go to the veggie store with mom and my first choice was always to pick green leafy reddish color beets in the shopping basket. As I grow older, and studied the advantages of eating this God’s gift, I made the routine to add it 3-4 days at least in my meals.

The most common way to use this veggie is in the salads. However, very few of you know that its greenish leaves are more nutritious than the beet root itself.  It is actually a great “two-fer” crop. Roots ad leaves are edible. Young green leaf can be added to the salad, while mature ones are perfect to sauté as a quick and delicious side meal. Red colored beet juice is equally popular in many parts of the world to reduce excess body fat.

Beet Root: 3rd Best Veggie to Grow in your Kitchen Garden

Benefits: The roots of the beets are high in potassium, iron and vitamin C. On the other hand, the greens are superior to roots in terms of nutritional value. These are rich and high in iron, Magnesium, Calcium, Zinc, Potassium, and Vitamins A, B6 and C.

What your body gets? One cup of raw beets (100 grams) delivers about 3 grams of dietary fiber and 60 calories. In addition to this, your body gets 0.01 and 0.06 grams of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids respectively. You also get 1.6 grams of protein and 6.8 grams of sugar.

Cite this Article in APA Style as:

[box type=”note” align=”aligncenter” ]Rahman, M. A. (2017, August 18). 3 Most Healthy Vegetables to Grow in Your Kitchen Garden [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://aridagriculture.com/2017/08/18/vegetables-to-grow-in-kitchen-garden/[/box]

 

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Career in Agriculture

Introduction and Career in Horticulture

Introduction

Horticulture is a science of cultivating flowers, fruits and vegetable plants and  an important branch of agriculture science. This article will introduce you to the branch of horticulture in brief and also put light on opportunities when you plant to have career in horticulture.

The word ‘Horticulture’ is derived from a Latin word ‘Hortus’ meaning enclosure/garden and ‘culture’ meaning cultivation. So, horticulture means the culture or cultivation of garden crops.It is regarded as a revenue generation profession. This is because, per acre yield from a horticultural crop is way higher than the agronomic or field crops. This means, a horticulturist can earn more from less piece of land. A farmer, cultivating tomatoes in open fields is worse off than a horticulturist cultivating the tomatoes in tunnel farming. The resources are also used optimally and cheaply in horticultural crops and the efficiency rate is high.

Branches of Horticulture

There are four branches of horticulture. These include’

  1. Floriculture

It is a field of science that deals with the study of ornamental plants and landscaping.

  1. Olericulture

It is a branch of horticulture that deals with the study of cultivation of vegetable crops.

  1. Pomology

The study and art of growing fruits is called as Pomology.

  1. Fruit and vegetable preservation

 The principles of fruits and vegetable preservation are studied under this branch.

Scope and Career in Horticulture

Arid environments are most appropriate for cultivating horticultural crops due to less availability of suitable land and water availability. As less land is required to practice horticulture, it is easy to manage the resources more effectively and efficiently.

Introduction and Career in Horticulture

Career in Horticulture

Career opportunities in horticulture are enormous. There is a broad range of challenging as well as rewarding professional professions waiting for horticulturists in production, management, marketing, education and research fields. Graduates often open their own business enterprise dealing with any branch of horticulture.

Business Career

Horticulture is a promising and good family business. It does not need heavy investment. The piece of land required is small. This means labor requirement is also less. However, if you still need a helping hand, horticulture can supply the labor with yearlong employment, whereas this is not possible during slack seasons in field crop cultivation. As mentioned earlier, the rate of return per acre is higher. Another benefit that can be harnessed from horticulture is that you can control the growing environment in some cases like vegetable crops. This way, you can grow off-season vegetables and market them to earn good profit.

As a horticulturist businessman, you can experiment with crossing various varieties of a vegetable or fruit to get a profitable hybrid variety. This is a best way of utilizing what you learnt. Last but not least, opening your own consulting firm is another option for a horticulturist.

Job Career

As an employment, there is great scope for graduates. Landscaping jobs are the most suitable ones for them. There is always room for horticulturist to get hired by a private or public housing society, public park authorities, owner of homes etc. Multinational firms and corporations also seek expertise of horticulturists in return of good salaries. Teaching profession is another avenue to earn from what you learnt. Similarly, horticulturists are also required as quarantine experts on the dry and sea ports to inspect the quality of imported and exported fruits and vegetables.

Cite this Article in APA Style as:

[box type=”note” align=”aligncenter” ]Rahman, M. A. (2017, August 17). Introduction and Career in Horticulture [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://aridagriculture.com/2017/08/17/introduction-and-career-in-horticulture/[/box]

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Vegetable Gardening

How to Grow Quinoa Seeds in your Kitchen Garden?

Introduction

You can probably identify numerous protein rich food items like red meat, fish, chicken, red beans etc. What if i introduce you to an incredible grain, highly rich in protein, and easily cultivable in your kitchen garden that you will get astonished? A crop, that is most suitable to cultivate in Arid or dryland agriculture system? Well yes, here I am again with a remarkable recommendation to grow Quinoa seed in your kitchen garden. It is also termed as protein pearl of arid or dryland agriculture systems.

Urban gardening, no doubt, has touched new statures of brilliance, providing you the opportunity to get fresh, organic and balanced diet food meals from right next door to your kitchen garden or from backyard garden.

What is Quinoa Seed?

Before giving any delay, let me introduce with my today’s baby grains that are ‘Quinoa Seed’. The importance of this seed can be understood by the fact that United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) celebrated year 2013 as the “International Year of Quinoa”. The origination of Quinoa shows that, it was domesticated some 3000 to 4000 years ago in the Andean region of Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru.

Quinoa Seeds

Nutritional Facts of Quinoa Seeds

It is cooked like rice and wheat. It has abundant important nutrients and minerals like carbohydrates, protein, fats, potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, calcium etc. Below table shows some important information about the value of nutrients and minerals you get from 100 grams of uncooked Quinoa serving.

Carbohydrates 64.2 g
Protein 14.1 g
Fats 6.1 g
Potassium 563 mg
Phosphorous 457 mg
Magnesium 197 mg
Calcium 47 mg

Source: United States Department of Agriculture

Growing Quinoa Seed in your Kitchen Garden

It is also pronounced as “Keen-waah”. The most frequent question I am asked is, whether we can grow Quinoa in Kitchen garden or backyard garden? The answer is simply yes. However, it should be noted that Quinoa seeds should never be grown in pots and containers. The Quinoa crop is large and in pots or containers, it will give tiny harvest. Your efforts will not pay back.

On the other hand, if you want to décor your kitchen garden with attractive deep red and purple flowers for late spring, then growing Quinoa seeds in a container is good option. Quinoa plant produces these fresh flowers before going to produce seeds.

Quinoa Seed Flowers

Growing Requirements for Quinoa Seeds

The basic need to grow Quinoa seed in kitchen garden is bright sunlight, organic fertile soil that should be well drained and preferably weather with temperature around 32oC. Early spring is a great time to cultivate Quinoa seeds in your kitchen garden. Quinoa can bear low frost, but don’t test its tolerance in high freezing. The crop is slow one, as far as its harvesting is concern. It is usually ready to harvest anywhere between 90 to 120 days.

Quinoa seeds can be started directly into the soil, that is, no requirement of transplantation. At the start of spring warmth, when soil temperature is around 16oC, just seed it in the soil. The soil should be weed free and beds should be clear. Planting the seed in a row is recommended. The depth for sowing the seeds should not be more than one-fourth of an inch. As they germinate, don’t get confuse in considering them weed due to their close resemblance with a common garden weed, the lamb’s quarter.

Freshly Grown Quinoa Seed Plant

Your Quinoa will be slow in the beginning. So patience is required. However, as soon as it acquires a height of a foot, the pace of growth increases. One thing should be kept in mind that Quinoa seed plants do not need much water. They like dry soil to grow.

Next, Quinoa crop do not need fertilizer, unless and until your soil is too much weak. In that case, only use organic fertilizer like farm manure or compost. Mulching is usually not recommended for Quinoa plants.

Harvesting the Quinoa Plants

When the plant stem gets naked off and no leaves remain on them, it is the time to harvest your Quinoa seeds. It is wise to check whether the seeds are dried before harvesting. A simple test can be carried out my pressing your thumbnail in the Quinoa seed on the plant. If a dent remains on the seed, it shows that seeds are not dried fully. However, in case you have to harvest it earlier, dry them indoors.

Harvesting the Quinoa Seeds

No special mechanical equipment is needed to separate grains from the plant. Your hand and arm is your best companion in getting Quinoa seeds out of the head. Just shake the seed heads on a neat surface. After you get the Quinoa seeds, remove any dirt or unwanted element and wash them. From 8-10 Quinoa plants, expect one pound of Quinoa seeds. Dry these seeds in open air and then store.

Storing your Quinoa Seeds

After you grow Quinoa seeds in your kitchen garden, storing them in an appropriate way is utmost task that should be given due importance. After drying the seeds, they should be placed in an air locked jar or container. Then place them in a cool and dry surface and most importantly, away from light. In this manner, you give a six month or more storing time to your Quinoa seeds.

Storing the Quinoa Seeds

Enjoy the Quinoa meals 🙂

Cite this Article in APA Style as:

[box type=”note” align=”aligncenter” ]Rahman, M. A. (2017, August 16). How to Grow Quinoa Seeds in your Kitchen Garden? [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://aridagriculture.com/2017/08/16/how-to-grow-quinoa-seed-in-your-kitchen-garden/[/box]

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Vegetable Gardening

Benefits of Using Turmeric-The Super Food

Introduction

God has gifted turmeric with so many benefits. Science is still searching on this plant to explore more health and medicinal benefits of using turmeric. In India, China and Pakistan, turmeric is called as ‘Super Food’ due to its powerful nature of healing. It contains bio-active compounds that act as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. Today’s article is focused on the medicinal use of turmeric and turmeric as a food ingredient.

Medicinal Use of Turmeric

Medicinal use of turmeric is globally recognized. It helps the body right from tip to toe in many ways. Firstly, it has anti-depressant properties that are helpful in combating Alzheimer’s disease and dementia symptoms. The medical science today confirms that using turmeric 3-4 days a week stops any active cancerous agents in the body so it is an anti-cancerous agent.

Also Read: How to Grow Turmeric in Kitchen Garden

Adding more to the list of benefits of using turmeric, there is an important bio active compound found in it i.e. is ‘Curcumin’. This compound has the ability to boosts the brain-derived neurotropic factor. These factors are connected in a manner to enhance brain function thus the risk of having brain diseases becomes less.

Medicinal Use of Turmeric

The most important medicinal use of turmeric is by mixing its powder in fresh glass of milk. One table spoon of powdered turmeric mix with 250 ml of fresh milk becomes strongest agent to heal the internal damaged tissues and organs of the body. In sub-continent, after any physiological damage or accident that leaves a person with wounds, turmeric mix with milk is given immediately to stop internal bleeding too. This usage is well known and exercised worldwide.

Turmeric with Milk

Turmeric as a Food Ingredient

Turmeric as a food ingredient is widely used in India and Pakistan. The inhabitants of these countries are the chief consumers of turmeric powder as a prominent ingredient in nearly all types of curry recipes. A pinch of its powder is used to add attractive orange color, taste and odor in the meals.

Turmeric Powder in Curry

On the other hand, turmeric as a food ingredient is also consumed as food item as its leaves have high nutritional valuable. The young fresh flowers and shoots are used extensively in Thai cuisines. Similarly, Indonesian people like to have turmeric leaves in their fish meals to enhance flavor. Additionally, if it is used in combination with black pepper, the benefits of turmeric increases 10 folds as pepper contains piperine that aid in absorption of turmeric in the body.

Turmeric Leaves in Food Meals

The Turmeric Tea

Turmeric tea can be included in both categories viz., medicinal use of turmeric and turmeric as a food ingredient. Turmeric tea is prepared by using fresh or powdered form turmeric. But personally, I recommend using the fresh ones. Boiling fresh turmeric in water produces attractive yellow color tea that can be consumed directly or by mixing sugar, honey or lemon juice to add taste in it. Among several benefits of this tea, important ones include:

  • Depresses cholesterol
  • Help treating uveitis
  • Boosts immune system of the body
  • Sustains ulcerative colitis remission
  • Comforts arthritis signs.
The Turmeric Tea

Cite this Article in APA Style as:

[box type=”note” align=”aligncenter” ]Rahman, M. A. (2017, August 15). Benefits of Using Turmeric-The Super Food [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://aridagriculture.com/2017/08/15/benefits-of-using-turmeric-the-super-food/[/box]

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Vegetable Gardening

How to Grow Turmeric in Kitchen Garden?

Introduction

Whenever you plan to start your kitchen garden, never think of it as a source of saving few bucks. Keep in mind that you are doing this exercise for a healthy life of your family and delicious meals. It also saves your time resource, rather going to the shop for buying. Open your kitchen door, at pick fresh, organic and wholesome veggies.

It is a common question I am asked that what should be grown in a kitchen garden. People are confused in choosing what should be grown? My earlier article Kitchen Gardening for Beginners has few recommendations for that. I simply recommend growing what your family likes to have in meals plus the items you need in daily routine and those that should be in your fridge anytime. I am also of the view to grow some easy to cultivate crops in your kitchen garden so that your momentum and motivation doesn’t lose.

Also Read: Kitchen Gardening for Beginners

Today, I am going to write about how to grow turmeric in your kitchen garden. Turmeric benefits are immense and this little gift of God has miraculous healing powers that one cannot imagine. Originated in India, it is obtained from underground tubers and rhizomes. It is now widely cultivated in tropical Asia and to smaller extent in other subtropical and tropical parts of the world.

Also Read: Benefits of Using Turmeric –  The Super Food

How to Grow Turmeric?

Growing Turmeric

The answer to how to grow turmeric in your kitchen garden is way easier than you think. It will be much easier if you read the few paragraphs below that will guide you to the ultimate way of growing turmeric. As far as its season is concerned, late winters are regarded as perfect time to plant it. The temperature of 68-95 F (20-35 oC) is optimum. Below 10 oC, the plant stops to grow and suffers. However for tropics, it can be planted all-round the year.

Choosing the Turmeric Rhizomes

Turmeric grows same as ginger from rhizome. The first step is choosing the turmeric rhizomes to be used as seed. The best way is to buy the rhizomes from an organic food store. It can be also be purchased from a local seed store. Online gardening shops are also selling turmeric rhizomes for kitchen gardens.

Choosing Turmeric Rhizomes

Soil Requirement and Planting Turmeric

Slightly acidic to slightly basic soil pH is needed. It can be sown in pots or in open kitchen garden soil. For both, the planting hole should be 2 inches. The plant can attain a height of 1 meter. For pot growers, the depth and width of pot should be 12 inches and plant not more than 1 -2 rhizomes in each pot.

Sowing Turmeric

Got the rhizomes? Now divide the rhizomes into small pieces with each having 2-3 buds on it. For both pot and open kitchen garden growers, fill the planting hole with rich organic soil. The soil must have light and loamy characteristics and should be well drained. Place the rhizomes 2 inches deep. After planting the rhizomes, immediately water it.

Turmeric Rhizomes with Buds

It should be kept in mind that water requirements of turmeric are same as of ginger. The soil should be kept moist throughout the growing season from spring to fall. If you are growing turmeric in warmer region, make sure that the soil remains moist in winters too.

Climate and Turmeric

If you are growing turmeric in tropical climate, then winters should not be a problem. However in warm temperate zones, a reduction in water supply is a strategic step around the end of fall at the time when leaves start to wilt and turn yellow as temperature gets low. Further, it is wise to cut the plant to ground without removing rhizomes from the soil, so that plant can hibernate and spend the winter season safely. Don’t worry; it will perk up once spring season hits your calendar.

Turmeric Plant

If you are a resident of cooler part of the globe, then it is important to dig up the rhizomes from the soil to save them from freezing out. Carefully dig the ground or pot, and get the rhizome out. Wash it with fresh water to remove excess soil from it. Remove the rotting pieces and allow it to air dry. Once dry, store it in cool and dry place until spring starts.

Fertilizer Application and Pruning

If your soil is rich in nutrients, then at kitchen garden level or pot growers, there is a seldom need of fertilizer. But if you do need it, my only recommendation is to apply mulch or compost. If you have access to all-purpose liquid fertilizer, apply it once a month around the stem only. As far as pruning of turmeric plant is concerned, NEVER prune it. Only remove the dried or dead leaves time to time, that’s it.

Pest and Diseases

I personally like to have turmeric in my kitchen garden as it is less prune to diseases and pest attack. This means; other crops around turmeric are safe. In rare cases, scales and red spider mites can create problem. In case of poorly drained soils, rhizome rot and leaf spot appear due to water logging.

Harvesting and Processing

The turmeric gets maturity in 8-10 months. Maturity appears as leaves turned yellow and stems start to dry. Harvesting is easy. Just dig up the plant and get your own grown turmeric. It is wise to cut the amount of turmeric you need and replant the rest for next crop.

Harvesting Turmeric

The processing of turmeric is not difficult. Boil the rhizomes in water. After boiling, carefully place them on an open tray and remove the skin. Place the tray first to air dry the naked rhizomes. After this, place them in good sunshine for dry. When rhizomes get dry, grind the rhizomes. This will provide you homemade organic fresh turmeric powder. Store the powdered rhizome in an air tight container and place it in a dry and cool place.

I hope your query about how to grow turmeric is well addressed in this article. Should you have any query, do not hesitate to contact me for further guidance.

Processing Turmeric

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[box type=”note” align=”aligncenter” ]Rahman, M. A. (2017, August 14). How to Grow Turmeric in Kitchen Garden? [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://aridagriculture.com/2017/08/14/how-to-grow-turmeric-in-kitchen-garden/[/box]

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Agriculture Corner

Problems of Dryland Agriculture

Introduction

The dynamics of dryland farming are different and harsh than irrigated farming. So the problems of dryland agriculture are also unique. Water is the chief requirement for cropping. The crops in dryland or arid lands have to face the challenge of shortage of water more frequently. Rainfall is the sole option for them to get water. Though groundwater is available, however it is a common phenomenon that dryland farmers are poorer than other farmers. It is challenging for them to get access to the groundwater. That is why crop failure is quite common in drylands leaving the farmers and habitants worse off. Either they have to rely on previous stored grains or to buy from market, which is for sure expensive for them.

Having said that, water shortage is not the only problem faced by dryland farming community, there are several other problems of dryland agriculture. In this article, i am going to discuss few of these problems of dryland agriculture for beginners to get better insight of the issue.

1. Moisture Stress, Dryness and Uncertainty

The rainfall in dryland is erratic and has no pattern. In some years, there is plenty of rainfall, while sometime drought prevails in the area. Farmers have no opportunity to take necessary steps on soil for moisture conservation. This result in dryness of soil—crop roots fail to harness moisture, even if they are lush and lengthy, eventually crop failure occur. Farmers do not have enough resources to gamble with nature. So they crop half-heartedly and get nominal production and yield. This issue can be addressed by providing the farmers with necessary weather forecasting advisory, so that they can schedule their cropping activities accordingly to get maximum benefit from available water.

2. Water Storage

Water storage facilities are seldom available in areas where dryland agriculture prevails and this is a serious problem of dryland agriculture. It is more prevalent in developing nations of Asia, Africa and some countries of South America. Water is lost in several ways including evaporation, runoff or used by weeds. As mentioned earlier, problem of dryland agriculture is that there may be no rain or high intensity torrential rain. So there is an opportunity available to save this water. But due to lack of indigenous physical and financial resources along with less state level interest in dryland agriculture, water is wasted. This water can be stored in ponds or ditches or even in the soil. If government support is not available, farmers can form a community at village level and pool resources to have a localized water storage infrastructure to use water during dire need.

3. Marketing Problems of Dryland Produce

Marketing is another problem of dryland agriculture. Farmers usually grow same type of crops. At crop maturity, farmers want to market their produce as it is difficult to store it due to lack of storage facilities. This enables the traders and middleman to have upper hand on them and thus the agricultural produce is sold in difficulty and at low price. An option for dryland farmers is to cultivate different crops in a season or also they can pool money to build local level storage facilities.

4. Limited Liberty of Crop Selection

This is a serious concern for dryland farmers. There are very limited crops that have the adaptability to grow in arid or dryland conditions. However, it is also an opportunity for them. Oil seeds have greater adaptability and resistance to grow in dryland conditions. If cultivation of oil seed crops is done properly and carefully, these crops can earn handy cash for farmers and can be sold quickly. In this way, farmers can buy other products and food items of their need.

5. Vigilant and Judicious Fertilizer Application

We are too much dependent on fertilizer. First, it was needed to increase the output of crops. However, now it is a must need due to weaker soil conditions. The fertility and availability of organic matter in soil has depleted over the past few decades and it is more severe in arid lands. Thus, this increases the problems of dryland agriculture many folds. Moreover, the irrigated farmers have a defined schedule of farming activities specially the irrigation. So they have the liberty to apply fertilizer and schedule it accordingly. In case of dryland farmers, it is a difficulty to manage fertilizer application. In case of applying fertilizer through broadcasting for basal or top-dressing, it is useless without availability of moisture and it is wasted

6. Quality of Crop Produce

The above mentioned problems of dryland agriculture put a big question mark on the quality of crop produced in dryland or arid conditions. Grain quality is the biggest issue as it is of inferior quality due to underdevelopment. On the other hand, the plant growth is also affected, often termed as stunted. This result in less fodder production and farmers get less return on their produce from the market.

These are few common problems of dryland agriculture and farming community. The ultimate responsibility is on government shoulder for backing the farmers in these areas. This is because of the poverty and lack of resources which is common in arid or dryland farming system. Moreover, the current changing climate is another threat to this form of cropping system. Last but not least, extensive research for new crop varieties, innovative water resource management and introduction of unique cropping practices can aid in lessening problems of dryland agriculture.

Cite this Article in APA Style as:

[box type=”note” align=”aligncenter” ]Rahman, M. A. (2017, August 13). Problems of Dryland Agriculture [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://aridagriculture.com/2017/08/13/problems-of-dryland-agriculture/[/box]