Optimizing intensive cereal-based cropping systems addressing current and future drivers of agricultural change in the northwestern Indo-Gangetic Plains of India
“…The soil of the experimental field was loam in texture, low in organic carbon with slightly alkaline pH. The initial soil characteristics of the experimental site can be obtained from Gathala et al (2013). 10.1080/03650340.2017.1359415-F0001Figure 1.Location of the experiment.…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Treatments were organized in a randomized complete block design and replicated thrice in production-scale plots, each measuring 2000 m 2 (20 m × 100 m). The scenarios (Sc) were designed keeping in view present as well as future drivers of agricultural changes in the region and their details can be obtained from Gathala et al (2013). …”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Under Sc3 (CA-based rice-wheat-mungbean system) and Sc4 (CA-based maize-wheat-mungbean system) all the three crops were drill seeded in ZT conditions. Details relating to cropping system, tillage, residue retention, crop establishment, variety, irrigation and fertilizer management practices are described in Gathala et al (2013). Best bet (recently developed recommended practices for nutrient, water, weed, pests etc.)…”
Soil quality degradation associated with resources scarcity is the major concern for the sustainability of conventional rice-wheat system in South Asia. Replacement of conventional management practices with conservation agriculture (CA) is required to improve soil quality. A field experiment was conducted to assess the effect of CA on soil physical (bulk density, penetration resistance, infiltration) and chemical (N, P, K, S, micronutrients) properties after 4 years in North-West India. There were four scenarios (Sc) namely conventional rice-wheat cropping system (Sc1); partial CA-based rice-wheat-mungbean system (RWMS) (Sc2); CA-based RWMS (Sc3); and CA-based maize-wheat-mungbean (Sc4) system. Sc2 (1.52 Mg m−3) showed significantly lower soil bulk density (BD). In Sc3 and Sc4, soil penetration resistance (SPR) was reduced and infiltration was improved compared to Sc1. Soil organic C was significantly higher in Sc4 than Sc1. Available N was 33% and 68% higher at 0–15 cm depth in Sc3 and Sc4, respectively, than Sc1. DTPA extractable Zn and Mn were significantly higher under Sc3 and Sc4 compared to Sc1. Omission study showed 30% saving in N and 50% in K in wheat after four years. Therefore, CA improved soil properties and nutrient availability and have potential to reduce external fertilizer inputs in long run.
“…The soil of the experimental field was loam in texture, low in organic carbon with slightly alkaline pH. The initial soil characteristics of the experimental site can be obtained from Gathala et al (2013). 10.1080/03650340.2017.1359415-F0001Figure 1.Location of the experiment.…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Treatments were organized in a randomized complete block design and replicated thrice in production-scale plots, each measuring 2000 m 2 (20 m × 100 m). The scenarios (Sc) were designed keeping in view present as well as future drivers of agricultural changes in the region and their details can be obtained from Gathala et al (2013). …”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Under Sc3 (CA-based rice-wheat-mungbean system) and Sc4 (CA-based maize-wheat-mungbean system) all the three crops were drill seeded in ZT conditions. Details relating to cropping system, tillage, residue retention, crop establishment, variety, irrigation and fertilizer management practices are described in Gathala et al (2013). Best bet (recently developed recommended practices for nutrient, water, weed, pests etc.)…”
Soil quality degradation associated with resources scarcity is the major concern for the sustainability of conventional rice-wheat system in South Asia. Replacement of conventional management practices with conservation agriculture (CA) is required to improve soil quality. A field experiment was conducted to assess the effect of CA on soil physical (bulk density, penetration resistance, infiltration) and chemical (N, P, K, S, micronutrients) properties after 4 years in North-West India. There were four scenarios (Sc) namely conventional rice-wheat cropping system (Sc1); partial CA-based rice-wheat-mungbean system (RWMS) (Sc2); CA-based RWMS (Sc3); and CA-based maize-wheat-mungbean (Sc4) system. Sc2 (1.52 Mg m−3) showed significantly lower soil bulk density (BD). In Sc3 and Sc4, soil penetration resistance (SPR) was reduced and infiltration was improved compared to Sc1. Soil organic C was significantly higher in Sc4 than Sc1. Available N was 33% and 68% higher at 0–15 cm depth in Sc3 and Sc4, respectively, than Sc1. DTPA extractable Zn and Mn were significantly higher under Sc3 and Sc4 compared to Sc1. Omission study showed 30% saving in N and 50% in K in wheat after four years. Therefore, CA improved soil properties and nutrient availability and have potential to reduce external fertilizer inputs in long run.
“…The prevailing ZT practice uses a zero-till drill 1 attached to a fourwheel tractor to sow wheat directly into unplowed fields with a single pass, whereas conventional-tillage (CT) practices in wheat typically involve 'intensive tillage with multiple passes of the tractor to accomplish plowing, harrowing, planking, and seeding operations' (Erenstein and Laxmi 2008). In ZT wheat, agronomic factors leading to productivity advantages are related to (i) time-savings in crop establishment, allowing earlier sowing and, hence, reducing risks of terminal heat stress during the grain-filling phase; (ii) in cases, better control of damaging weeds, especially the herbicide-resistant Phalaris minor; (iii) better nutrient management; and (iv) water savings (Gathala et al 2013;Mehla et al 2000). Based on on-farm trials in Haryana, Mehla et al (2000) estimated a ZT induced yield gain of 15.4 %, which they attributed to timely sowing (9.4 %) and enhanced fertilizer-and water use efficiency, as well as weed suppression (6.0 %).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In researcher-managed field trials across South Asia, the combination of zero tillage (ZT) and residue retention ('conservation agriculture') has been found to have considerable agronomic and economic benefits, while improving the environmental footprint of agriculture by reducing energy costs and improving soil and water quality (Erenstein and Laxmi 2008;Chauhan et al 2012;Gathala et al 2013;Mehla et al 2000). ZT wheat is the most widely adopted resource conserving technology in the rice-wheat systems to date, especially in the Northwestern Indian IGP (Derpsch et al 2010).…”
Zero-tillage (ZT) is a proven technology for enhancing wheat productivity and, hence, food security in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, while reducing production costs. However, very few farmers possess their own tractors much less the specialized seed drills required to implement the technology. As a consequence, adoption of ZT largely hinges on affordable access to custom hire services. In Eastern India, the service economy for ZT is expanding, but remains in the early stages of growth. ZT service businesses remain largely uncharacterized, and related business dynamics poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap and derive recommendations for an efficient targeting of public sector support for those service providers (SPs) who are poised for growth, we identified factors that influence ZT entrepreneurship, encompassing new business formation and the resulting scale of the enterprise. We used data from a census of 270 ZT SPs in Bihar, as documented by the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA). To identify determinants of engaging in ZT service provision, the data were pooled with those of 1000 randomly-selected wheat farmers located in the same districts. We applied Heckman's two-step estimation procedure to derive unbiased estimates of determinants of the scale of the ZT service businesses. ZT SPs are generally larger, tractor-owning farmers who have taken up service provision as a side business since 2010 or later. Only 8.3 % of the surveyed farm households owned a tractor, demonstrating the importance of service provision for accessing ZT and other mechanization technologies. ZT SPs expanded their businesses considerably from 2011 to 2012 to an average total of 20 clients and 50 ha serviced per SP. However, larger areas were primarily achieved by servicing larger client farms. Welleducated farmers with larger land holdings and extensive social networks are most likely to become ZT SPs. However, among this stratum, the relatively smaller scale farmers were most likely to provide services at a sizeable scale. To efficiently accelerate the spread of ZT technology, we conclude that these smaller-scale tractor-owning farmers are the most sensible targets for purchase subsidies on ZT drills as well as the primary audience for business development training. Since a considerable fraction of the ZT area expansion resulted from service provision to larger client farms, there is a need to develop business models that enhance the social inclusiveness of ZT services by reducing the transaction costs of reaching smallholders.
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