Fodder Production through Agroforestry - A Boon for Profitable Dairy Farming

Agroforestry is playing the greatest role in maintaining the resource base and increasing overall productivity in the rainfed areas in general and the arid and semi-arid regions in particular. Agroforestry land use increases livelihood security and reduces vulnerability to climate and environmental change. There are ample evidences to show that the overall (biomass) productivity, soil fertility improvement, soil conservation, nutrient cycling, microclimate improvement, and carbon sequestration potential of an agroforestry system is generally greater than that of an annual system. Agroforestry has an important role in reducing vulnerability, increasing resilience of farming systems and buffering households against climate related risks. It also provides for ecosystem services - water, soil health and biodiversity. Therefore, agroforestry will be required to contribute substantially to meet the demands of rising population for food, fruits, fuel wood, timber, fodder, bio-fuel and bio-energy as well as for its perceived ecological service

Assessment of optimum sowing time based on heat indices and row spacing for summer guar

A field experiment was conducted during summer seasons of 2013 to 2015 on clayey soil of Junagadh (Gujarat) to ascertain proper time of sowing (4th week of January, 2nd week of February and 4th week of February) and spacing (30 cm x 15 cm, 45 cm x 15 cm and 60 cm x 15 cm) in relation to growth and yield of guar [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.]. The results revealed that sowing in 2nd week of February enhanced growth and yield attributes viz., plant height, pods per plant and test weight and ultimately gave higher seed yield (1387 kg/ha) and stalk yield (2846 kg/ha) with higher growing degree days (GDD), helio thermal units (HTU), photo thermal units (PTU) and heat use efficiency (HUE) as well as higher net returns (` 42,051/ha) and B:C ratio (2.29) over early (4th week of January) and late (4th week of February) sowing. The results further indicated that 45 cm x 15 cm spacing promoted growth and yield attributes viz., plant height, branches per plant, pods per plant and test weight compared to 30 cm x 15 cm and 60 cm x 15 cm, which reflected in higher seed yield (1272 kg/ha) and stalk yield (2680 kg/ha) along with higher net returns (` 37,154/ha) and B:C ratio (2.03) over 30 cm x 15 cm and 60 cm x 15 cm spacing. Therefore, sowing in 2ndweek of February (when soil temperature >22.3ºC at 5 cm and >23.9ºC at 10 cm depth) and spacing of 45 cm x 15 cm could be appropriate for maximizing yield and monetary returns from summer guar under south Saurashtra agro-climatic conditions of Gujarat