Evaluation of the CERES-Rice version 3.0 model for the climate conditions of the state of Kerala, India

The CERES-Rice version 3.0 crop growth simulation model was calibrated and evaluated for the agroclimatic conditions of the state of Kerala in India. Genetic coefficients were developed for the rice crop variety Jaya and used for the model evaluation studies. In four experiments using different transplanting dates during the virippu season (June to September) under rainfed conditions (i.e. no irrigation), the flowering date was predicted within an error of four days and date of crop maturity within an error of two days. The model was found to predict the phenological events of the crop fairly well. The grain yield predicted by the model was within an error of 3 for all the transplanting dates, but the straw yield prediction was within an error of 27. The high accuracy of the grain yield prediction showed the ability of the model to simulate the growth of the crop in the agroclimatic conditions of Kerala. It can be concluded from this study that the model can be used for making various strategic and tactical decisions related to agricultural planning in the state

Not Available

Not AvailableLivestock is an integral part of any agricultural system all over the world. Optimized livestock production is depended upon many factors like environmental stresses, climatic factors, health status, nutrient availability, and genetic potential. In the changing climate scenario, nutritional stress act as the most important indirect stress affecting livestock leading to decreased performance, lower efficiency, increased mortality and it also affects the immune system. The animals in tropics faces the problem of low feed availability during summer and this leads to severe nutritional stress to livestock grazing in the low pasture lands. Under nutrition reduces the quality and quantity of milk production, effects growth potential and reduces body condition score (BCS), induces seasonal weight loss (SWL) and it also declines the reproductive capacity of the animals, it reduces the fertility rate, embryo quality, expression of oestrus behaviour, altering follicular development, compromising oocyte competence, and inhibiting embryonic development, reduced calf birth weight, reduced sperm output, decreased sperm motility and an increased proportion of morphologically abnormal spermatozoa in the ejaculate. The reduced nutrient availability also alters the endocrine and hormonal activity in livestock leading to physiological changes and decline in reproductive efficiency. The animals exposed to environmental stress are found to cope up with the adverse effects of the stress when the nutritional requirements are not compromised. Thus in order to sustain the productivity, suitable nutritional interventions are to be adopted like management of forage for the dry period, utilization of the non-conventional feed resources as alternatives, antioxidant supplementations during the stress period, and also water management strategies for both surface and ground water resources, at both local and national levels, as fresh and contamination free water is crucial for animal production. These efforts will ensure economically viable returns in livestock farms in the changing climate scenario..Not Availabl

Adaptation of livestock to environmental challenges

Not AvailableNot AvailableNot Availabl

Ameliorative Strategies to Sustain Livestock Production during Heat Stress

Not AvailableIn the changing climate scenario, heat stress is of major concern among livestock owners as it affects drastically livestock production which otherwise contributes 40% of world agriculture GDP (gross domestic product). Hence there is an urgent need for reviewing the various strategies to counter the heat stress impact on livestock production. THI (temperature humidity index) may not be the ideal index to quantify heat stress impact on livestock as it does not take into account solar radiation and wind velocity. Hence, more appropriate agro-ecological zone specific indices like Dairy Heat Load Index (DHLI) which takes into account all cardinal weather parameters is the need of hour. Development of appropriate heat abatement strategies depends on the type of dairy operation practiced in a particular livestock farm. During heat stress, management strategies such as providing shade, sprinklers, fans, cold water, minimum handling, grazing during early morning and late evening hours might be very beneficial to improve livestock production. Considerable efforts are needed to modify the existing housing condition according to the changing climatic condition to improve the livestock production. Apart from management strategies, nutritional strategies also must be given equal importance which not only will help the animal to survive the stress but also it will ensure optimum energy for production processes. Nutritional interventions such as additional concentrate supplementation, re-formulation of diet that accounts for reduced DMI, fat, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants supplementation are very vital for ensuring optimum production in livestock during heat stress condition. Appropriate health service measures needs to be taken to counter the emergence of sudden disease outbreaks during heat stress condition. Geographic information system (GIS) has to be integrated with disease surveillance program to create the hazardous maps of sudden disease outbreaks and correlating them with climate and other information might be very useful for future predictions. In addition, predictive modeling system can also be used as an effective tool to forecast the probability of a disease outbreak. Advanced technological development need to be integrated with suitable breeding programs using marker assisted selection to develop agro-ecological zone specific thermo-tolerant breeds of livestock. The developed strategies should be user friendly and economically feasible if farmers have to adopt those strategies to improve livestock production in the changing climatic condition.Not Availabl