Managing impact of extreme weather events in sugarcane in different agro-climatic zones of Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

Sugarcane is a cash crop in Uttar Pradesh; economic condition of the farmers is highly dependent on sugarcane production. However, average yield of the state has gone up from 39.5 t/ha (1950-51) to 59.2 t/ha (2009-10), was observed associated with fluctuating weather conditions, whereas other major sugar producing area in India have average yield of 70 t/ha. The result of the above study showed that there was an average rising trend in the annual minimum temperature (0.03° Cyr-1) over all the agro-climatic zones of the state. Out of nine agro-climatic zones, four zones namely South Western Zone, Central Plain Zone, Western Plain Zone and Eastern Plain zone, which were marked by decreasing annual rainfall trend. However, Vindhyan Zone, Mid Western Zone and Bhabhar and Tarai Zone show rising trend. To explain better relation between cane yield and weather parameters this study also show that maximum, minimum temperature and moisture plays the most important role during germination, tillering, grand growth and ripening phases of the sugarcane. Considering extreme weather, we found that temperature below 25 °C, above 35 °C and 40 °C are slowing down the growth and finally reducing the final yield. It is also noticed that temperature and rainfall extremes had high possibility of governing sugarcane yields but there were also quite a number of instances wherein the extremes couldn’t be reasoned directly for the yield fluctuations. Therefore, to sustain the productivity, this study recommends the improvements of the adoptive responses of varieties, management of the risk associated with extreme weather events by providing weather linked value-added advisory services to the farmers and crop insurance agencies.

Sugarcane growth in India: Problems and prospects

“…India ranks second after Brazil in terms of area and production of sugarcane among world nations. However, in terms of productivity, India ranks way below at tenth place (Mall et al, 2016) and the probable reason for the low yields could be exhaustion of soils. The area, production, and productivity of sugarcane in India (during 2000-01 to 2017-18) are presented in Table 1.…”

Climate Change and Consequential Rainfall Trends: An Indian Perspective

“…Monsoonal rainfall trends came across as significantly increasing at Patna and Sabour for the pre-1990 period. Mall et al (2016) investigated the rainfall trends in nine agro-climatic zones spread over Uttar Pradesh using daily rainfall data ranging from the years 1971 up to 2013 obtained from various organizations. Four out of the nine zones considered for the study, i.e., South-western Semi-arid, Central Plain, Western Plain and Eastern Plain zones were characterized to have a decreasing trend in annual rainfall, two zones namely, North Eastern Plain and Bundelkhand zones lacked any clear annual trends while the remaining zones viz., Vindhyan, Mid Western Plain and the Bhabar and Tarai zones showcased an increasing trend with the annual rainfall trend in Bhabar and Tarai zone being statistically significant and its rising rate was estimated as 1.8 mm per year.…”

Evaluation of Bias Correction Methods for Regional Climate Models: Downscaled Rainfall Analysis Over Diverse Agroclimatic Zones of India

“…The increase in extreme events, particularly heavy rainfall events, is a major threat to sustained crop yields across the globe (Aggarwal, 2008; Bhatt et al., 2019; Guan et al., 2015; Lobell et al., 2011; Madadger et al., 2017; Mall et al., 2006, 2016; Ortiz‐Bobea et al., 2021; Rosenzweig et al., 2002). The crop‐diverse agroclimatic zones (ACZs) of India mainly receive most of their rainfall during monsoon months (JJAS).…”