Research Achievements of AICRPDA Centre Ballowal Saunkhri since inception

Not AvailableAICRPDA centre Ballowal Saunkhri is located in the agro-climatic Zone-l in the North-Eastern part of the Punjab. This zone popularly called kandi area is in the form of 10 to 20 km wide strip covering an area of approx 3.93 lakh hectares which comprises approximately 7.8 per cent of total geographical area of the State. The region stretches from Dhar Kalan block of Pathankot district to Dera Bassi block of SAS Nagar. The climate of the region varies between semi-arid to sub-humid. Rainwater constitutes the major water source for crops that becomes scarce due to erratic distribution in time and space. The region receives average annual rainfall of 800-1500 mm with a very high coefficient of variation. About 80% rain occurs in Kharif season (July-September) and rest 20% occurs in rabi season. A major portion (30-40%) of rain goes as runoff. Majority of the soils range from loamy sand to sandy loam and have low to medium moisture retention capacity and are highly erodible having gentle to moderate slope. The inherent fertility of the soils of this area is very low. Maize is the principal crop of Kandi area, beside this pearlmillet, greengram, blackgram and sesame are the other important kharif crops. Wheat, raya, taramira, lentil and gram are major rabi crops. The other emerging crops in the region are gobhi sarson, toria, linseed and arhar. The success of crops in this region depends upon the soil and water management.Not Availabl

Farmer’s participatory research thirty-four years of Operational Research Project on dryland agriculture(1984-2018)

Not AvailableOperational Research Project on Dryland Agriculture was initiated at Ananthapuramu under All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture under ICAR and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to meet the dryland research needs on farmers’ participatory approach in Scarce Rainfall Zone of Andhra Pradesh and similar land topography rainfall and other natural resources in the country. The research experiences are documented as “Farmers’ Participatory Research-Three Decades of Operational Research Project onDrylandAgriculture (1984-2018)”. This book contains enormous analysis and feedback and research finding of ORP on DrylandAgriculture over three decades in different watersheds. We are sure that the book will be of immense use of extension scientists, students and agriculture and allied department staff working in DrylandAgriculture and watershed management. The authors express their profound gratitude to Dr.V.Damodara Naidu, Honb’le Vice Chancellor, Dr.N.V.Naidu, Director of Research, ANGRAU, Lam,Guntur and Dr.M.Subba Rao, Associate Director of Research, RARS, Nandyal for their encouragement, valuable guidance in bringing out this publication. The team owe sincere gratitude to Dr.G.Ravindra Chary, Project Coordinator and Director(Acting), Dr. K.A. Gopinath, Principal Scientist (Agronomy), AICRP for Dryland Agriculture and team at CRIDA, Hyderabad, Dr.T.Yellamanda Reddy, Former Dean of Agriculture , ANGRAU, and Dr.G.Maruthi Shankar , Principal Scientist (Statistics) Rtd., CRIDA, Hyderabad for their valuable suggestions and financial support enabled to prepare the publication. The team thanks are due to former Chief Scientists, Scientists, Research Associates and Supporting Staff of AICRPDA, both ORP centre and main centre, for their contribution in the preparation of the book .Not Availabl

Climate Resilient Agriculture Experiences from NICRA Implementation in North Bank Plains Zone of Assam

Not AvailableClimate change impacts on agriculture are being witnessed all over the world, but countries like India are more vulnerable in view of the huge population dependent on agriculture, excessive pressure on natural resources and poor coping mechanisms. The warming trend in India over the past 100 years has indicated an increase of 0.60°C. The projected impacts are likely to further aggravate field fluctuations of many crops thus impacting food security. There are already evidences of negative impacts on yield of wheat and paddy in parts of India due to increased temperature, water stress and reduction in number of rainy days. Increased abnormalities in amount and distribution of rainfall has also been observed in North Bank Plains Zone (NBPZ) of Assam along with increase in numbers of wet spell driven flash floods and seasonal droughts in recent years. Planned adaption is essential to increase the resilience of agricultural production to climate change. Several improved agricultural practices evolved over time for diverse agroecological regions in India have potential to enhance climate change adaptation, if deployed prudently. Management practices that increase agricultural production under adverse climatic conditions also tend to support climate change adaptation because they increase resilience and reduce yield variability under variable climate and extreme events. Keeping this in view, National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture was implemented under All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture, Biswanath Chariali centre on 2011in two selected villages of North Lakhimpur, Chamua and Ganakdoloni. The main aim of the project is to enhance resilience of Indian agriculture to climate change and climate variability through strategic research and technology demonstration. In this bulletin the authors have penned down the experiences gained from implementation of NICRA in NBPZ of Assam. It is hoped that the bulletin will be able to serve the purposes towards achieving its objectives and act as a benchmark study for the entire area. It is expected that the information contained in this bulletin will be exploited by the scientist of different disciplines and extension officials for making rational recommendation. The authors will remain ever grateful to Project Coordinator, (AICRPDA), CRIDA, Hyderabad and Director of Research (Agri), AAU for their guidance, encouragement and sincere support. The authors extend thankfulness to the fellow Scientists, Research Associates and other technical staff for their cooperation and help. The authors express their thankfulness to Sharada Offset, Biswanath Chariali for printing the report.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableSmart farming includes application of advanced technology in agriculture to increase the sustained production. It involves various technologies like high resolution satellite data, Global Positioning System, Geographic Information System, field sensors, Artificial Intelligence and, automated machineries, etc. Further, the emerging technologies of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Internet of Things, and cloud computing are expected to leverage this development and introduce an Internet of Things of robotic and computer science in farming. Big data is considered as a potential technology for assessment and management of farm-level decisions to increase farm productivity by detecting and overcoming cumbersome practices. Big data has wide range of applications in smart farming, which includes real time weather monitoring, soil moisture monitoring, automated irrigation systems, inputs monitoring, crop monitoring, pest monitoring, market intelligence, etc. to increase the farm yields. Since both big data and smart farming are relatively new concepts and emerging fields, knowledge and awareness on their applications and implications immensely helps the researchers, farmers and other stakeholders to effectively leverage the potential of these emerging technologies to optimize the farm resources and improve overall farm productivity.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableGrowing population and its need pressurize Indian agriculture to produce more from shrinking arable land. Balanced nutrition plays a key role in enhancing the productivity of crops and sustainability of production systems. Potassium is third most important plant nutrient. Recent studies showed declining status of K in majority of the soils in India. High crop K removal than K addition by farmers and imbalanced use of NPK fertilizers contributed to large-scale K mining and K deficiency in soils and crops. K fertility depletion observed in all soil types. Widespread K deficiency was identified in rice-wheat system of Indo-Gangetic plains, horticultural, plantation, ornamental, aromatic and avenue plants. The current fertilizer recommendations are obsolete, very much generalized without considering the soil types, hence need revision and revalidation. Site-specific fertilizer recommendations, if followed can minimize the fertility K depletion and maintain productivity and sustainability and also economize the fertilizer cost. Awareness on K use by farmers needs immediate action.Not Availabl

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Not Available: To make rainfed agriculture an economically viable enterprise for improving the livelihood and welfare of the farming communities contributing around 40 percent of the total food production in India, it is vital to implement best management practices to keep soils healthy, conserve agronomic inputs, minimize environmental impacts, and produce adequate yields. Increases in the sudden downpour of rain invites a high amount of soil loss from agricultural fields, eroding the uppermost soil layer. Permanent fodder grass strips effectively trap sediments and check nutrient removal from soil on one hand and on other meet the green fodder demands of small ruminants. However, nutrients removed by erosion create a limitation on land productivity. It has been observed that grass systems are useful for the improvement of other soil properties (soil physical and biological properties, for example) related to soil erosion control, slope stabilization, and food production. Hence, this study brought out the impact of grass-strip-based cropping systems on the sustainability of rainfed farming. Fields with grass strips improved their soil quality from 0.39 to 0.52 over a four-year period. This concept of growing grasses on both sides of a field (in a one-meter strip) in areas of loamy fine sand to sandy loam textured soils improves soil health and significantly reduces runoff from cropped fields. A permanent belt of Brachiaria ruziziensis and Stylosanthes hamata in two meter widths was established at every fifteen meters across the direction of the slope and reduced soil loss by 65–70 percent. This mechanization of friendly technology provides sufficient green fodder for small ruminants. A castor–redgram rotation with fodder grass strips (especially Brachiaria ruziziensis) on the upper and lower sides of the slopes fetched better crop productivity, and thus the total returns increased from 137,022 rupees/ha to 178,689 rupees/ha. The use of grass strips is a low-cost measure for soil conservation, especially for slowing down the run-off from sudden downpours of high intensity. This study may aid researchers and managers in helping farmers with this low-cost and viable technologyNot Availabl

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