E–H
e-NAM
The national online mandi platform that lets your lot be bid for by traders from outside your local mandi, so you are not tied to one set of buyers. Which mandis and crops are live on it keeps expanding, so check the e-NAM portal.
Related guides →Earthworm
A segmented, soft-bodied worm — not an insect — that tunnels and aerates soil, breaks down organic matter and leaves nutrient-rich castings. Finding plenty of them when you dig is one of the simplest signs of living, healthy soil.
Related guides →Economic threshold level (ETL)
The pest level at which the crop loss it will cause finally exceeds the cost of treating it. Below the ETL, spraying loses you money and kills natural enemies; the whole point of scouting is to know where you stand against it.
Related guides →Edge effect
Life is always thickest where two habitats meet — pond and bank, forest and field. Making a boundary wavy instead of straight multiplies that productive edge without adding an inch of land.
Related guides →F1 hybrid
The first generation from a cross between two parent lines, which is the vigorous, uniform generation you actually plant. Seed collected from an F1 crop gives the mixed-up second generation, which is why it is not worth saving.
Related guides →Fall Armyworm
A caterpillar with an inverted-Y marking on its head that feeds deep inside the maize whorl, leaving papery window-pane patches, ragged holes and packed frass. An invasive pest first reported in India in 2018 that spreads and multiplies fast.
Related guides →Farmyard manure (FYM)
Well-rotted cattle dung mixed with urine and bedding, the oldest manure on the Indian farm. It is applied and mixed into the soil before sowing, and must be fully rotted or it will burn the crop and bring weed seed.
Related guides →Fat and SNF
The two things a cooperative dairy measures in every milk delivery: fat percentage and solids-not-fat, the protein, lactose and minerals left after fat. Both together decide the rate you are paid per litre, so feeding and clean handling directly affect your income.
Related guides →Feather meal
Poultry feathers turned into fertiliser. Feathers are almost pure keratin, which ordinary compost bacteria cannot break down — but ferment them in water and that same protein becomes a fast, high-nitrogen liquid feed.
Related guides →Fertigation
Feeding water-soluble fertiliser through the drip line so it reaches the root zone with the irrigation. Because nothing is spread on dry soil, less is lost and small doses can be given more often.
Related guides →Flood irrigation
The old practice of letting water run over the whole field or into basins and furrows. It costs least to set up but wastes the most water, and on uneven land the far end stays thirsty while the near end drowns.
Related guides →Fodder
The green and dry bulk feed animals live on, from berseem, maize and napier to straw and tree leaves. Fodder is the single biggest running cost in dairying, so growing your own decides whether milk pays.
Related guides →Foliar spray
Spraying dissolved nutrients directly on the leaves, which absorb them within hours. It is meant for correcting a visible micronutrient shortage quickly, not for replacing the main fertiliser given to the soil.
Related guides →Food forest
A planting laid out in layers like a natural forest — tall fruit trees, small trees, shrubs, vegetables and root crops together — so one patch of ground carries several harvests instead of one.
Related guides →FPO (Farmer Producer Organisation)
A registered company or society owned by member farmers that buys inputs and sells produce in bulk, giving small growers the bargaining power of a big one. Registration norms and support grants change, so confirm current rules with NABARD or SFAC.
Related guides →Fruit Fly
A small brownish fly with patterned wings whose female punctures ripening fruit to lay eggs; maggots feeding inside rot the fruit and drop it early. A major pest of mango, guava and cucurbits, managed well with methyl eugenol pheromone traps.
Related guides →Fruit tree guild
A deliberate group of plants set around one fruit tree, each doing a job for it — fixing nitrogen, keeping weeds down, drawing up minerals, or pulling in pollinators and pest predators.
Related guides →Fungicide
A product used against fungal diseases such as blight, rust, mildew and blast. Most work as protectants that shield healthy tissue rather than curing infected tissue, which is why they pay off applied before or at the first sign of disease, not after.
Related guides →Fusarium Wilt
A soil-borne fungal wilt where yellowing starts on one side of the plant or one set of lower leaves. Cut the stem crosswise and the tissue under the bark is distinctly brown. It persists in soil for years and has no cure once a plant is infected.
Related guides →Garden Spider
An eight-legged arachnid rather than an insect — either an orb-weaver spinning a circular web between plants or a wolf spider hunting on foot across the soil. Both catch a wide range of flying and crawling pests and are harmless to people.
Related guides →Germination rate
The share of sown seeds that actually come up, usually written as a percentage on the seed packet. Testing a small sample before sowing tells you whether to raise your seed rate or reject the lot.
Related guides →GM (genetically modified) seed
Seed in which a specific gene has been inserted in the laboratory to add a trait, such as Bt cotton's built-in resistance to bollworm. In India only some GM crops are approved, and approvals are decided by the regulator, not the seller.
Related guides →Green Lacewing
A delicate pale green insect with lacy, net-veined wings held tent-like over its body. Its larva, the aphid lion, is a fierce predator of aphids, whiteflies and mites, and is widely reared for release in Indian cotton and vegetable fields.
Related guides →Green manure
A quick-growing crop such as dhaincha or sunhemp grown and then ploughed straight back into the field while still green. It adds nitrogen and organic matter without buying a single bag of fertiliser.
Related guides →Greywater
Used water from bathing, washing and the kitchen — everything except toilet waste. Passed through a simple sand, gravel and plant filter, it is safe enough to water fruit trees and non-edible plantings.
Related guides →Gross margin
Income from a crop minus the variable costs of growing it, before counting land rent and fixed costs. It is the quickest number for judging which crop to plant on the same piece of land.
Related guides →Ground Beetle
A fast-moving, dark, shiny beetle that shelters under mulch, stones and crop residue by day and hunts at night. It and its larvae prey on cutworms, slugs, snails and soil-dwelling caterpillars that cut seedlings at the base.
Related guides →Groundnut
Moongphali, an oilseed legume whose pods form underground, grown mainly in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Gypsum and calcium at pegging decide how well the pods fill.
Related guides →Grow bag
A cheap fabric or HDPE sack filled with potting mix, used to grow vegetables where there is no soil to dig — terrace, balcony or paved yard. Light, movable, and needs watching for water in summer.
Related guides →Guntha
A small land measure used in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka, equal to 1,089 square feet, with 40 guntha making one acre. It is handy for pricing small plots and for bunding or plot-wise work estimates.
Hectare
The metric land measure of 10,000 square metres, used in government records, research data and subsidy limits. 1 hectare = 2.47105 acres, so 1 acre = 0.404686 hectare.
Herb spiral
A small bed built up in a rising spiral, so the sun-baked top suits dry-loving herbs and the cool base suits mint and coriander. Several growing conditions packed into a couple of square metres.
Related guides →Honeybee
A fuzzy, golden-brown banded bee that pollinates a large share of fruit, vegetable and oilseed crops — often the single biggest yield factor in cucurbits, mustard and fruit trees. Never spray insecticide on open flowers while bees are foraging.
Related guides →Hoverfly
A harmless bee mimic with yellow-and-black bands that can hover motionless in mid-air — something no true bee or wasp can do. Adults pollinate flowers; their legless, slug-like larvae hidden among leaves devour aphids.
Related guides →Hybrid seed
Seed produced by deliberately crossing two different parent lines to get higher yield and more uniform plants. You must buy it fresh every season, because seed saved from a hybrid crop does not repeat the same performance.
Related guides →