Nutrient Supplying Potential of Crop Residues in Indian Agriculture

The Indian agriculture sector has seen tremendous changes over the period. The country’s food grain production has increased from just 50 million tons (mt) in the 1950s to 308 mt at present, around a sixfold rise. All of this could become possible due to the introduction of green revolution technologies in the 1970s and onwards, such as the introduction of high-yielding varieties, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, selective herbicides, and improvement of irrigation facilities with improved agronomic management. According to an estimate, chemical fertilizers alone account for 50% of growth in the country’s foodgrain production. In the early 1950s, total fertilizer consumption in India was just 0.069 mt, which has increased to 2.25 mt in 1970–71 and 32.5 mt at present. This about 14.4 times rise in fertilizer consumption since the 1970s level to the present highlights the role of fertilizers and nutrient management in Indian agriculture. However, a continuous increase in fertilizer consumption over the year has invited many secondary agricultural problems, such as multi-nutrient deficiency, increased cost of production, and declining factor productivity of fertilizers. Imbalance and overuse use of fertilizers, along with increased cropping intensity and reduced recycling of residues are some of the reasons for such problems. Increased agricultural production also generates a large volume of surplus residue, which often creates problems for farmers. It is well-understood facts from various research studies that crop residues are the hidden treasurer of all the essential nutrients and organic carbon. This chapter highlights the potential of crop residue in nutrient recycling in India and the availability of surplus crop residue

Temporal characterization of biogas slurry: a pre-requisite for sustainable nutrigation in crop production

Biogas slurry serves as a useful organic fertilizer due to its substantial nutrient content, and its characterization enables the evaluation of nutrient content and its efficient utilization. This study focuses on the variations in the nutrient content of biogas slurry from different dairy farm systems located near the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) (New Delhi), Daryapur Kalan (New Delhi), and Madanpur (Uttar Pradesh) during the pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon seasons. The study reveals significant variations in macronutrient levels, particularly nitrogen (N), which showed variations exceeding 3% and a wider range of almost 6% during the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon periods. Spatial differences between dairy farms also contributed to the variance, with more than 10% differences observed between IARI and Daryapur Kalan and between IARI and Madanpur. Phosphorus (P) remained stable across seasons with spatial variation, while potassium (K) exhibited a reverse trend. Correlation analysis highlighted strong positive associations between N content and phosphorus (0.959), organic carbon (0.954), pH (0.813), and electrical conductivity (0.806). The findings suggest the use of biogas slurry has a potential to reduce the synthetic fertilizer consumption of N, P, and K by approximately 8.78%, 11.01%, and 14.33%, respectively and using them for further for nutrigation

Sequential herbicide application coupled with mulch enhances the productivity and quality of winter onion (Allium cepa L.) while effectively controlling the mixed weed flora

Weed control poses substantial difficulties for winter season onion (Allium cepa L.) cultivation in the north-western Indo-Gangetic Plains, primarily due to the constrained efficacy of the existing herbicides. To address this issue, a 2-year field study was conducted to assess the efficacy of pre- and post-emergence herbicides (pendimethalin, ethoxysulfuron, imazethapyr, and quizalofop-p-ethyl) individually and in combination with crop residue mulch for weed control in winter onion. The results revealed that using herbicides or mulches in isolation did not provide satisfactory weed control. However, the integration of natural mulch with pendimethalin followed by quizalofop-p-ethyl application proved to be the most effective weed control strategy, resulting in the least reduction in bulb yield (10.3%) compared to other treatments. On the contrary, combinations of pendimethalin with ethoxysulfuron or imazethapyr showed adverse effects on the onion crop and inflicted the highest yield losses among all treatments (78.6 and 83.4%, respectively). However, the combination of pendimethalin with quizalofop-p-ethyl coupled with crop mulch resulted in season-long weed control and over 80% bulb yield (36.58 t/ha) gains compared to the weed-free condition. These findings emphasize the efficacy of combining herbicides and mulches as an integrated weed management strategy for onions. By adopting such integrated approaches, farmers could improve weed control while maintaining bulb yield and quality, reducing the risks associated with herbicide resistance, and promoting sustainable onion production in the north-western Indo-Gangetic Plains

Sensor-based precision nutrient and irrigation management enhances the physiological performance, water productivity, and yield of soybean under system of crop intensification

Sensor-based decision tools provide a quick assessment of nutritional and physiological health status of crop, thereby enhancing the crop productivity. Therefore, a 2-year field study was undertaken with precision nutrient and irrigation management under system of crop intensification (SCI) to understand the applicability of sensor-based decision tools in improving the physiological performance, water productivity, and seed yield of soybean crop. The experiment consisted of three irrigation regimes [I1: standard flood irrigation at 50% depletion of available soil moisture (DASM) (FI), I2: sprinkler irrigation at 80% ETC (crop evapo-transpiration) (Spr 80% ETC), and I3: sprinkler irrigation at 60% ETC (Spr 60% ETC)] assigned in main plots, with five precision nutrient management (PNM) practices{PNM1-[SCI protocol], PNM2-[RDF, recommended dose of fertilizer: basal dose incorporated (50% N, full dose of P and K)], PNM3-[RDF: basal dose point placement (BDP) (50% N, full dose of P and K)], PNM4-[75% RDF: BDP (50% N, full dose of P and K)] and PNM5-[50% RDF: BDP (50% N, full P and K)]} assigned in sub-plots using a split-plot design with three replications. The remaining 50% N was top-dressed through SPAD assistance for all the PNM practices. Results showed that the adoption of Spr 80% ETC resulted in an increment of 25.6%, 17.6%, 35.4%, and 17.5% in net-photosynthetic rate (Pn), transpiration rate (Tr), stomatal conductance (Gs), and intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), respectively, over FI. Among PNM plots, adoption of PNM3 resulted in a significant (p=0.05) improvement in photosynthetic characters like Pn (15.69 µ mol CO2 m−2 s−1), Tr (7.03 m mol H2O m−2 s−1), Gs (0.175 µmol CO2 mol−1 year−1), and Ci (271.7 mol H2O m2 s−1). Enhancement in SPAD (27% and 30%) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) (42% and 52%) values were observed with nitrogen (N) top dressing through SPAD-guided nutrient management, helped enhance crop growth indices, coupled with better dry matter partitioning and interception of sunlight. Canopy temperature depression (CTD) in soybean reduced by 3.09–4.66°C due to adoption of sprinkler irrigation. Likewise, Spr 60% ETc recorded highest irrigation water productivity (1.08 kg ha−1 m−3). However, economic water productivity (27.5 INR ha−1 m−3) and water-use efficiency (7.6 kg ha−1 mm−1 day−1) of soybean got enhanced under Spr 80% ETc over conventional cultivation. Multiple correlation and PCA showed a positive correlation between physiological, growth, and yield parameters of soybean. Concurrently, the adoption of Spr 80% ETC with PNM3 recorded significantly higher grain yield (2.63 t ha−1) and biological yield (8.37 t ha−1) over other combinations. Thus, the performance of SCI protocols under sprinkler irrigation was found to be superior over conventional practices. Hence, integrating SCI with sensor-based precision nutrient and irrigation management could be a viable option for enhancing the crop productivity and enhance the resource-use efficiency in soybean under similar agro-ecological regions

Not Available

Not AvailableField experiments were conducted during winter seasons of 2007-08 and 2008-09 at Norman E Borloug Crop Research Centre, Pantnagar on sandy loam soil to assess the impact of seed inoculation with phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) and irrigation schedules with sprinklers on vegetable pea (Pisum sativum L.). Results revealed that yield attributes and green pod yield was not influenced significantly by PSB inoculation while irrigation schedules did. Irrigation scheduled at IW: CPE 1.0 through sprinklers produced at par green pod yield with flood irrigation at vegetative and flowering stages but recorded 19.2 and 30.9% higher green pod yield than 0.8 and 0.6 irrigation schedules. Similarly, values of yield components were also higher under this treatment. PSB inoculated treatment recorded 11.1% higher water-use efficiency than no inoculation. Among the irrigation schedules, maximum WUE was noticed with IW: CPE 0.6 treatment (97.0 kg/ ha-cm) while lowest (51.3 kg/ha-cm) was observed with flood irrigation at vegetative and flowering stages. In terms of gross, net return and B: C ratio, IW: CPE 1.0 was superior to other treatments.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableA 2-year field experiment was conducted during 2010-11 and 2011-12 to determine the effect of soiland plant based precision nitrogen (N) application on growth, productivity, profitability and nitrogen-use efficiency of rabi maize (var. HQPM 5). The treatments of the experiment included, control (no-N), 60, 120 and 180 kg N ha–1, soil based N (SBN), and plant based N (PBN) application,set in a three times replicated randomized complete block design (RCBD). N was applied in threesplits, except in PBN supply where only15 kg N ha–1was applied as basal and topdressing of 25-30kg N ha–1was done each time the SPAD values dropped to < 37 till silking. The quantity of N forSBN was decided using soil test crop response (STCR) model. On an average, PBN applicationresulted in a grain yield of 6.88 t ha–1that was almost equal to the yields obtained under 180 kg Nha–1and SBN application with additional advantage of saving of 30 and 55 kg N ha–1, respectively.These three treatments recorded significantly higher yields compared to lower rates of N application.Partial factor productivity, net returns and B: C ratio were also highest under PBN application. Theagronomic efficiency was highest with 60 kg N ha–1(24.8 kg grain per kg N) closely followed byPBN supply (24.2 kg grain per kg N), and lowest with SBN application (17 kg grain per kg N).Hence, it is concluded that plant based (SPAD value < 37) scheduling of N has merit over the otherapproaches and N rates, and may be adopted in rabi maize.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableKeeping in view the ecological importance of coastal ecosystem, an appraisal was carried out to explore the existing characteristic features, problems and status of erosion and its remedial measures for the conservation and management of valuable coastal resources in respect of three states i.e.West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in the east coast. It is reported that 8.94 Mha area is under coastal belts in these three states. The inherent problems associated with this ecosystem are high population growth, over exploitation of natural resources, water logging, flood, cyclones, drought and salinity due to regular intrusion of sea water through tidal effects, congestion of drainage, water erosion, sand dunes, wind erosion etc. Odisha coast alone accounts for 40% of the total disturbance that affected East Coast of India. In West Bengal, coastal area of Sundarban is affected due to soil acidity problems and about 0.65 Mha land is facing salinity problem. Similarly in Odisha, 0.4 Mha is affected by salinity problem spreading over four coastal districts of Odisha. The potential soil loss reported for Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal are 407, 144 and 17 and annual EI of 400 – 600, 600 – 800 and 600 – 800 MJ.mm. ha . h , respectively.Major portion of the coastal areas ofWest Bengal, Odisha andAndhra Pradesh falls in soil loss category of < 5 t ha yr . The extent of diminishing mangrove cover reported for Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh are 221, 2152 and 353 km , respectively. It has been reported that due to one meter rise in sea water level, the area inundated and population affected in Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh coasts shall be 0.81% and 1.76%, 1.88% and 2.35% and 0.19% and 0.93%, respectively.While discussing about the various inherent problems, adoption of suitable conservation measures is inevitable for the protection and management of this vulnerable ecosystem.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableAn experiment consisting of five multitier cropping systems comprising square planting (4m x 4m) of two fruit trees (papaya and drumstick), Gliricidia or No-Gliricidia planting on plot boundary with ginger as intercrop and a control (farmers' practice of broadcast sown fingermillet) was carried out for four years (2007-2010) on 2% sloping land having sandy clayey red lateritic soil in Eastern Ghat Highland zone of Odisha. Planting papaya and drumstick along with ginger arrested the runoff by 6.05 and 5.24% compared to control. Gliricidia planted on boundary of papaya + ginger and drumstick + ginger plots decreased soil loss by 8.64 and 7.88 t/ha, respectively, over control. These multitier cropping systems reduced nutrient losses (N, P and K) by about 50%. Gliricidia improved ginger yield by 11.5% under papaya + Gliricidia and 8.6% under drumstick + Gliricidia system over papaya and drumstick sole treatments. Maximum net returns ( 2.29 lakhs ha-1) were obtained from ginger + papaya + Gliricidia with benefit: cost ratio of 1.67. Farmers' practice (broadcasting of finger millet) was not found economical as it gave benefit: cost ratio below 1 and allowed higher runoff, soil and nutrient losses.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableAn experiment was conducted during winter season of 2014-15 at Tarnak Research Farm of Afghanistan National Agricultural Sciences and Technology University (ANASTU), Kandahar, Afghanistan. Soil of the experimental site was sandy clay loam in texture with slightly alkaline (pH 8.3) in reaction having cation-exchange capacity of 80.58 meq 100g–1 and electrical conductivity of 0.21 dSm–1. The initial N, P and K contents were in low to medium range. The treatments consisted of seven nitrogen rates viz., 0, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160 and 180 kg ha–1 was replicated thrice using a RCBD. Significantly higher growth parameters viz., plant height (85.1 cm), dry matter production (2882 g m–2), number of tillers m–2 (335) and number of spikes–1 (321) were recorded with application of 180 kg N ha–1 in comparison with other N rates. Yield attributing characteristics viz., spike length (12 cm), spikelets spike–1 (20.3), grains spike–1 (46.6), weight of single spike (2.5 g), grain weight spike (1.83 g) and 1000-grain weight (39.2 g) as well as grain yield (4.47 t ha–1), biological yield (10.9 t ha–1) and harvest index (41%) were significantly higher with application of 160 kg N ha–1 than other higher and lower N rates.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableA field experiments was conducted during summer season of 2017 to determine the effect of moisture conservation and (INM) on growth and productivity of maize at Tarnak Farm of Afghanistan National Agriculture Sciences and Technology University (ANASTU), Kandahar province of Afghanistan. The experiment comprised of 12 treatment combinations viz., 3-moisture conservation practices (MCP) including flat bed (FB), raised bed (RB) and raised bed + mulch @ 3 t ha–1 (RBM) in mainplots and 4-INM options, control (no-nutrient application), 100% recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF, 150:6040 NPK), 50% RDF + FYM (5 t ha-1) + 2 foliar sprays of urea (2%) and 50% RDF + FYM (10 t ha–1) + 2 foliar sprays of urea (2%) in sub-plots. The treatments were set in a three-time replicated split-plot design. Results revealed that RBM recorded the highest values of growth and yield attributes, which consequently led to the highest grain and straw yields. Raised bed and RBM showed similar effect on growth, yield attributes and productivity of maize. Grain yield (5.22 t ha–1) with RBM was 14.5% higher over FB (4.56 t ha-1) whereas, RB without mulch produced 6.1% higher grain yield (4.84 t ha–1) over FB planting. The higher growth and productivity of maize with RBM was likely due to increased availability of moisture for a longer duration which might also have enhanced the nutrient utilization during dry and hot summer season. Among the INM options, 50% RDF + FYM (10 t ha–1) + 2 foliar sprays of urea (2%) recorded the maximum values for growth, yield traits and grain yield (5.69 t ha-1). This INM option was at par with 100% RDF (5.44 t/ha) and significantly better than 50% RDF + FYM (5 t/ha) + 2 foliar sprays of urea (2%) (5.06 t ha–1) and control (3.31 t ha–1). Thus, RBM and 50% RDF + FYM (10 t ha–1) + 2 foliar sprays of urea (2%) were the most suitable MCP and INM option to obtain highest productivity of maize in Southern region of Afganistan.Not Availabl