POTASSIUM FERTILIZATION FOR DIRECT SEEDED BASMATI RICE

Not AvailableThe effect of potassium (K) application based on 4R stewardship (right rate, time, method, and source) on growth, yield attributes and yields of dry direct seeded basmati rice (Oryza sativa L.) was evaluated during rainy (kharif) season of 2015 and 2016 at IARI, New Delhi. Application of recommended dose of K (60 kg/ha), half as basal and remaining half at panicle initiation (PI) stage increased the grain (5.4 t/ha) and straw yields (7.65 t/ha) by 10 and 4% respectively, over applying the full dose as basal. A strong, positive and significant correlation was observed between yield attributes [panicle weight (r2=0.79), panicle length (r2=0.83), fertility % (r2=0.84)] and yield of dry direct seeded basmati rice. Similarly, positive and significant correlation was observed between leaf area index at 60 DAS (r2=0.73) & 90 DAS (r2=0.91) and dry matter production. The two foliar sprays of 2.5% potassium nitrate (1st at active tillering, and 2nd at panicle initiation) increased fertility (83.5%) and grain yield (4.3 t/ha) by 6% and 8% respectively, over control. However, the combined application of foliar sprays and two split application of recommended dose of K showed non-significant effect on growth, yield and yield attributes. Thus, to obtain higher yield in dry direct seeded basmati rice, application of 60 kg/ha, half as basal and remaining half at panicle initiation (PI) is recommended.Not Availabl

Agroforestry Systems for Soil Health Improvement and Maintenance

Agroforestry integrates woody perennials with arable crops, livestock, or fodder in the same piece of land, promoting the more efficient utilization of resources as compared to monocropping via the structural and functional diversification of components. This integration of trees provides various soil-related ecological services such as fertility enhancements and improvements in soil physical, biological, and chemical properties, along with food, wood, and fodder. By providing a particular habitat, refugia for epigenic organisms, microclimate heterogeneity, buffering action, soil moisture, and humidity, agroforestry can enhance biodiversity more than monocropping. Various studies confirmed the internal restoration potential of agroforestry. Agroforestry reduces runoff, intercepts rainfall, and binds soil particles together, helping in erosion control. This trade-off between various non-cash ecological services and crop production is not a serious constraint in the integration of trees on the farmland and also provides other important co-benefits for practitioners. Tree-based systems increase livelihoods, yields, and resilience in agriculture, thereby ensuring nutrition and food security. Agroforestry can be a cost-effective and climate-smart farming practice, which will help to cope with the climate-related extremities of dryland areas cultivated by smallholders through diversifying food, improving and protecting soil, and reducing wind erosion. This review highlighted the role of agroforestry in soil improvements, microclimate amelioration, and improvements in productivity through agroforestry, particularly in semi-arid and degraded areas under careful consideration of management practices

Integrated nutrient management for improving crop yields, soil properties, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Recently, most agrarian countries have witnessed either declining or stagnant crop yields. Inadequate soil organic matter (SOM) due to the poor physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil leads to an overall decline in the productivity of farmlands. Therefore, the adoption of integrated nutrient management (INM) practices is vital to revive sustainable soil health without compromising yield potential. Integrated nutrient management is a modified nutrient management technique with multifarious benefits, wherein a combination of all possible sources of plant nutrients is used in a crop nutrition package. Several studies conducted in various parts of the world have demonstrated the benefits of INM in terms of steep gain in soil health and crop yields and at the same time, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other related problems. The INM practice in the cropped fields showed a 1,355% reduction in methane over conventional nutrient management. The increase in crop yields due to the adoption of INM over conventional nutrient management was as high as 1.3% to 66.5% across the major cropping systems. Owing to the integration of organic manure and residue retention in INM, there is a possibility of significant improvement in soil aggregates and microbiota. Furthermore, most studies conducted to determine the impact of INM on soil health indicated a significant increase in overall soil health, with lower bulk density, higher porosity, and water-holding capacity. Overall, practicing INM would enhance soil health and crop productivity, in addition to decreasing environmental pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and production costs

COVID-19, deforestation, and green economy

Corona has severely impacted many sectors in the past 2. 5 years, and forests are one of the major hits among all sectors affected by the pandemic. This study presents the consolidated data on deforestation patterns across the globe during COVID and also analyzes in depth the region-specific contributing factors. Exacerbated deforestation during COVID alarms biodiversity conservation concerns and pushes back the long-term efforts to combat pollution and climate change mitigation. Deforestation also increases the risk of the emergence of new zoonotic diseases in future, as deforestation and COVID are intricately related to each other. Therefore, there is a need to check deforestation and inculcation of conservation measures in building back better policies adopted post-COVID. This review is novel in specifically providing insight into the implications of COVID-19 on forests in tropical as well as temperate global regions, causal factors, green policies given by different nations, and recommendations that will help in designing nature-based recovery strategies for combating deforestation and augmenting afforestation, thus providing better livelihood, biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, and better environmental quality

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Not AvailableThe 120 countries have committed to set the UNCCD sustainable development goal on achieving the land degradation neutrality by 2030 including India. The target has to be accomplished in a synergistic and cost-effective manner in accordance with countries’ specific national contexts and development priorities. Globally, the ravine landscapes are considered among the world’s most degraded ecosystems. Therefore, restoring ravines is considered a high priority item in the natural resource management programs. The vegetation cover augmented with appropriate conservation measures is the most sought restoration strategy. The engineering measures are prerequisite for slope stabilization and sustainable productive utilization in ravine ecosystem. The several methods for slope stabilization are available but only few are applied in ravine land. Therefore, in this chapter, we have covered only those slope stabilization techniques which were successfully applied for the restoration of ravine landNot Availabl

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Not AvailableSRI method is emerging as a potential alternative to traditional way of flooded rice cultivation and is showing great promise to address the problems of water scarcity, high energy and chemical usage. It is not only a new high yielding technique, it has a very large and diversified area of work. It is a good sign that farmers across the world are adopting System of Rice Intensification (SRI), as it gives equal or more produce than the conventional rice cultivation; with substantial reduction in the investments on external inputs like water, seed chemicals etc. Less demand of water makes more water available for other purposes. On the other hand soil possesses greater biodiversity and less methane emission because of aerobic condition. It reduces water use for rice production, cost of cultivation, dependency on purchased inputs, can increase water productivity (grain yield per total water input), income and sustainability. In a large scale, in can help to achieve food security, can generate employment, can improve soil and water quality due to less use of synthetic chemicals. Ultimately SRI can help us to proceed one step forward to an ecofriendly an d sustainable environment.Not Availabl

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Effect of tillage and crop establishment methods on productivity, profitability and quality of rice under rice-wheat cropping systemRice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) had played a great role in the food security of India. A field experiment on sandy clay loam soil was conducted during kharif and rabi seasons of 2011 at the Agriculture Research Farm, Institute of Agriculture Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (UP) to study the effect of tillage and crop establishment methods on productivity, profitability and quality of rice under rice-wheat cropping system. The experiment was conducted in strip-plot design with four crop establishment methods (Direct seedling by zero till drill, direct seedling of sprouted seeds by drum seeder, hand transplanting and mechanical transplanting by self propelled transplanter) in rice as horizontal strip and four tillage methods in wheat as vertical strips. Highest value of B: C ratio, grain protein content and nutrient uptake were obtained with mechanical transplanting but it was found at par with hand transplanting. Highest plant height, dry matter, grain yield and net return were recorded with hand transplanting which was found at par with mechanical transplanting, so this treatment could be an efficient alternative method to produce high yield and income as compare to hand transplanting, particularly under labour constrained conditions.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableAn experiment was conducted from 2014–2018 to find out the effect of conservation tillage and weed management methods on weed flora, growth and yield of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. cv. RC 101) under pearlmillet-mustard-cowpea cropping system. The results showed that amongst tillage treatments, zero tillage with residue application during both kharif and rabi season and only during rabi for four years significantly increased the the grain yield by 49 and 18%, gross returns by 43 and 14% and reduced the total weed biomass by 48 and 32%, respectively with higher weed control efficiency compared to zero tillage without residue application. Among different weed flora, zero tillage with residue application during both kharif and rabi season and only during rabi reduced the narrow-leaved weeds population by 40 and 19%, broad-leaved weeds by 23 and 8%, respectively. All the tillage conditions had not significantly controlled sedges. On the other hand, among different weed management practices, the pre-emergence application of pendimethalin + imazethapyr 1.0 kg/ha with one hand weeding at 20–25 DAS resulted in the significant reduction of total weed biomass, highest grain yield, weed control efficiency and gross returns. The integrated weed management approach reduced the narrow-leaved weeds by 49%, broad-leaved weeds by 52% and sedges by 59% compared to herbicides application alone. However, the interaction effect of tillage practices and weed management approach was not significant except for the total weed biomass at harvest.Not Availabl