• Authors:
    • Venkateswarlu, B.
    • Rao,V. U. M.
  • Source: Climate Change Modeling, Mitigation, and Adaptation
  • Year: 2013
  • Authors:
    • Mahmood, K.
    • Awan, A. R.
    • Singh, R. K.
    • Stille, L.
    • Akanda, R.
    • Smeets, E. M. W.
    • Wicke, B.
    • Faaij, A. P. C.
  • Source: Journal of Environmental Management
  • Volume: 127
  • Issue: September
  • Year: 2013
  • Summary: This study explores the greenhouse gas balance and the economic performance (i.e. net present value (NPV) and production costs) of agroforestry and forestry systems on salt-affected soils (biosaline (agro) forestry) based on three case studies in South Asia. The economic impact of trading carbon credits generated by biosaline (agro)forestry is also assessed as a potential additional source of income. The greenhouse gas balance shows carbon sequestration over the plantation lifetime of 24 Mg CO2-eq. ha(-1) in a rice-Eucalyptus camaldulensis agroforestry system on moderately saline soils in coastal Bangladesh (case study 1), 6 Mg CO2-eq. ha(-1) in the rice-wheat- Eucalyptus tereticornis agroforestry system on sodic/saline-sodic soils in Haryana state, India (case study 2), and 96 Mg CO2-eq. ha(-1) in the compact tree (Acacia nilotica) plantation on saline-sodic soils in Punjab province of Pakistan. The NPV at a discount rate of 10% is 1.1 k(sic) ha(-1) for case study 1, 4.8 k(sic) ha(-1) for case study 2, and 2.8 k(sic) ha(-1) for case study 3. Carbon sequestration translates into economic values that increase the NPV by 1-12% in case study 1, 0.1 -1% in case study 2, and 2-24% in case study 3 depending on the carbon credit price (1-15 (sic) Mg-1 CO2-eq.). The analysis of the three cases indicates that the economic performance strongly depends on the type and severity of salt-affectedness (which affect the type and setup of the agroforestry system, the tree species and the biomass yield), markets for wood products, possibility of trading carbon credits, and discount rate. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
  • Authors:
    • Singh, U. P.
    • Punia, M.
    • Gupta, R.
    • Sidhu, B. S.
    • Chandna, P.
    • Ladha, J. K.
  • Source: Applied Geography
  • Volume: 32
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Satisfying the food demands of an ever-increasing population, preserving the natural resource base, and improving livelihoods are major challenges for South Asia. A large area of land in the Middle and Lower Gangetic Plains of South Asia remains either uncultivated or underused following the rice harvest in the kharif (wet) season. The area includes "rice-fallow," estimated at 6.7 million ha, flood-prone riversides (" diara lands," 2.4 million ha), waterlogged areas (4.9 million ha), and salt-affected soils (2.3 million ha). Bringing these lands under production could substantially improve the food supply and enhance livelihoods in the region. This paper describes a methodological case study that targeted resource-conserving technologies in underused lands of the Ballia District of eastern Uttar Pradesh (India) using multispectral remote-sensing images. Classification of temporal satellite data IRS-P6 in combination with Spot VGT 2 permitted the identification of all major categories of underused land during the post-rainy rabi/winter season, with an average accuracy of 89%. Based on three-year averages of field demonstrations, farmers gained an additional income of $63 ha -1 by introducing raised beds in salt-affected soils; $140 and $800 ha -1 by introducing deepwater rice varieties (monsoon) and boro rice (winter) in waterlogged areas; and $581 ha -1 by introducing zero-till lentil (winter) in rain-fed fallow lowland. Timely wheat planting through zero-tillage implies an additional income of $147 ha -1 and could increase wheat production by 35,000-65,000 tons in the district. The methodologies and technologies suggested in the study are applicable to more than 15 million ha of underutilized lands of the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia. If the technologies are precisely applied, they can result in more than 3000 million US $ of additional income every year to these poverty prone areas.
  • Authors:
    • Sampathkumar, T.
    • Pandian, B. J.
    • Mahimairaja, S.
  • Source: Agricultural Water Management
  • Volume: 103
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Field experiments were conducted during 2007-2009 to study the effect of deficit irrigation practices through drip irrigation system on soil moisture distribution and root growth in cotton-maize cropping sequence. Creation of soil moisture gradient is indispensable to explore the beneficial effects of partial root zone drying (PRD) irrigation and it could be possible only through ADI practice in paired row system of drip layout, that is commonly practiced in India. In the present study, PRD and deficit irrigation (DI) concepts (creation of soil moisture gradient) were implemented through alternate deficit irrigation (ADI) at two levels of irrigation using drip system. Experimental treatments comprised of six irrigation levels (full and deficit) through drip system with surface irrigation for comparison. Maize was sown after cotton under no till condition without disturbing the raised bed and drip layout. Roots confined to the shallow depth and recorded the lowest values for both the crops under conventional drip irrigation at 100% ETc. Among the deficit irrigation treatments, mild deficit irrigation produced longer lateral roots from both the sides of the plant. Contrary to rooting depth, severe water stress affected the lateral root spread and recorded lower values than other drip irrigation treatments. Soil moisture content (SMC) was low nearer to the plant (at 30 cm across the lateral) and far away (at 30 cm along the lateral) from the plant, irrespective of treatments. The reduction in SMC was increased at all locations as applied water level decreased. It is concluded that alternate watering imposed through ADI at 100% ETc produced longer lateral roots with higher values for root dry mass Alternate deficit irrigation (ADI) resulted uneven distribution of soil moisture content. Among the ADI treatments, ADI at 100% had less uneven distribution than ADI at 80% ETc.
  • Authors:
    • Prasad, J.
    • Venkateswarlu, B.
  • Source: Current Science
  • Volume: 102
  • Issue: 6
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Carrying capacity (CC) in the context of Indian agriculture, denotes the number of people and livestock an area can support on a sustainable basis. CC is dynamic in nature, varying from time to time based on utilization of resources, technology application and management. In India, rainfed agriculture occupies nearly 58% of the cultivated area, contributes 40% of country's food production, and supports 40% of the human and 60% of the livestock population. The food grains production has increased several fold in the last four decades. During the last decade (TE 1998-99 to TE 2008-09) the production in coarse cereals, oilseeds and pulses increased by 20%, 16% and 3% respectively, primarily due to the yield gains. There is a need to further increase food production substantially for meeting the requirements of the ever-increasing population. This will put tremendous strain on natural resources which are already under stress due to unsustainable utilization. Continuous decline in groundwater levels, growing deficiency of major and micronutrients, declining factor productivity and looming threat of climate change are some of the issues which will have a bearing on food production in the near future. However, the large realizable yield gaps in many rainfed crops, opportunities to increase yields through rainwater harvesting and recycling, soil fertility improvement, crop diversification and effective dissemination of technologies give a hope that future requirements of food can be met, but it requires substantial resources. This article discusses issues constraining rainfed crop production and possible ways to enhance productivity in a sustainable manner.
  • Authors:
    • Balakrishna, A.
  • Source: Journal of Development and Agricultural Economics
  • Volume: 4
  • Issue: 5
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Since the introduction of Bt cotton in India, there has been a serious debate going on its impact on cost, returns and productivity. Andhra Pradesh continue to be the largest cultivator of Bt cotton in India and it occupies third position among Indian cotton growing states both in terms of area as well as outturn. In this context, it would be appropriate to analyze the output and efficiency of inputs used in cotton cultivation in Andhra Pradesh state of India. The study is based on a sample survey of selected farmer households in cotton cultivating villages in Andhra Pradesh of India. The study used Multi-stage stratified random sampling method to select the respondents from among the farm households. A detailed structured questionnaire was used to conduct face-to-face interviews with the farmer households. The sample households among the cotton cultivating households who have cultivated non-Bt cotton during last year or last two years have been taken up to study the impact of the presence of technology. In order to ensure the accuracy of the data related to the previous year, care is taken in selection of farm households, those households who have maintained records. The data on input and output variables like cost of seed, cost of labor, cost of irrigation, cost of fertilizers, cost of pesticides and capital used for the both years were collected for the study. To overcome the conceptual problems in quantifying the impact of technology at two points of time, the value of inputs used and output produced was estimated at constant prices based on survey year's price. Also, it is considered the two periods used for the comparison are normal in terms of agro-climatic variables. The Cobb-Douglas production and decomposition analysis techniques were used to estimate the influence of factors and Bt technology on output change. The results of the estimated production functions reveal that seeds and fertilizer is the most important input to which output is highly responsive in both Bt and non-Bt cotton crop situations. The output elasticity of pesticide is higher in non-Bt cotton cultivation than that in Bt cotton cultivation. The decomposition revealed that the net impact of Bt technology alone is estimated to have increased the output by 10.88%. The adoption of Bt technology enabled the farmers to save inputs significantly. And the value of extra output produced per acre with adoption of Bt technology.
  • Authors:
    • Salakinakoppa, S.
    • Basavanneppa, M.
    • Biradar, D.
  • Source: Journal of Cotton Research and Development
  • Volume: 26
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: A field experiment was carried out during kharif 2006-2007, 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 at Agricultural Research Station, Siruguppa to study the response of Bt cotton to spacing and fertilizer levels under irrigated ecosystem. The results revealed that among the spacings, closer spacing of 90*45 cm produced significantly superior seed cotton yield (2243 kg/ha) over wider spacing of 90*90 cm (1867 kg/ha) and it was at par with 90*60 cm (2121 kg/ha). Among the fertilizer levels, application of 125 per cent NPK registered higher seed cotton yield over 75 per cent NPK but at par with application of 100 per cent NPK. On the contrary the ancillary data indicated that, higher seed cotton yield/plant (136.11 g/pl) and more bolls (40.46/pl) were observed in wider row spacing of 90*90 cm as compared to other spacings. In case of fertilizer levels more seed cotton yield/plant was observed in application of 125 per cent NPK (130.40 g/pl) as compared to 75 and 100 per cent fertilizer levels. Similar trend in bolls/plant, sympodia and boll weight were found as that of yield. Further, higher gross return (Rs.56774/ha), net returns (Rs.30837/ha) and B:C ratio (2.20) was recorded in closer spacing of 90*45 cm as compared to 90*90 cm. Among the fertilizer levels, application of 125 per cent RDF recorded maximum gross return (Rs.55256/ha), net returns (Rs.29415/ha) and B:C Ratio (2.15) which was significantly superior to 75 per cent NPK but at par with 100 per cent NPK. From the results, it can be concluded that, Bt cotton responds to closer spacing of 90*45 cm with the application of 100 per cent NPK for realizing higher yield and monetary advantages.
  • Authors:
    • Abraham, S.
    • Babar, S.
    • Singh, J.
    • Majumdar, G.
    • Venugopalan, M. V.
  • Source: Better Crops with Plant Food
  • Volume: 96
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Despite large tracts of irrigated cotton, rainfed systems remain the most important option for improving cotton production in India. Within rainfed fields, the potential effects of adopting high plant population with adequate NPK fertilizer management offer a good opportunity to increase crop productivity.
  • Authors:
    • Naidu, M. V. S.
    • Kailaimannan, R.
    • Venkaiah, K.
  • Source: Madras Agricultural Journal
  • Volume: 99
  • Issue: 4/6
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Some important physico-chemical parameters of irrigation water of guava orchards in Prakasam district were evaluated for the criteria of the irrigation water quality. Thirty water samples were collected from three different mandals of the Prakasam district. The present study revealed that pH was neutral to moderately alkaline, Electrical Conductivity (EC) was high, Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) was low to medium and Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC) was good to marginal. So, initiative must be taken to reduce salt accumulation in the soil through drainage and adopting the highly salt tolerant crops like cotton, mustard and tamarind for the better utilization of the land.
  • Authors:
    • Joshi, K. G.
    • Syed, I.
    • Kazi, S. S.
  • Source: African Journal of Agricultural Research
  • Volume: 7
  • Issue: 29
  • Year: 2012
  • Summary: Field experiment was conducted for two successive years on sweet orange to evaluate the effect of multi-micronutrient on yield and quality attributes of sweet orange grown on Inceptisols of Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India. The result indicates that the number of fruits per tree increased with the application of balanced dose of NPK along with multi-micronutrient from 426 to 554. Similarly, weight of fruit per tree was ranged from 72.42 kg/tree in control to 143.80 kg/tree in the treatment receiving multi-micronutrients through soil. Productivity was also enhanced from 20.06 to 39.83 t/ha due to application of multi-micronutrients along with recommended NPK. The quality of the fruits in terms of juice, TSS, fruit girth, ascorbic acid content, reducing and non-reducing sugar increased with the application of multi-micronutrient and NPK either applied through soil or fertigation, whereas, acidity of the fruit juice was found highest in untreated control as compared to balance nutrient application.