Conservation Agriculture for Improving Water Productivity in Vertisols of Semi-Arid Tropics
Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: Large variability and uncertainty of rainfall are the\nmain limiting factors for crop growth in rainfed agriculture.\nAgriculture water management interventions\nare considered as suitable adoption strategy to enhance\ncrop yield, productivity and income in rainfed condition.\nThree-year experimental data collected at the\nInternational Crops Research Institute for the Semi-\nArid Tropics, Patancheru, India are analysed to study\nthe impact of in-situ interventions (tillage and crop\nresidue) on field water balance and grain yield under\nthe two different cropping systems (maize + chickpea\nsequential and maize/pigeon pea intercropping). One\ndimensional water balance model is calibrated to capture\nfield hydrology (soil water, surface runoff).\nWeather data calibrated for 36 years showed that incorporating\ncrop residues reduced surface runoff by\n28% compared to control fields. However, the impact\nof tillage and residue treatment on soil water was\nnot consistent throughout the growing period. Water\nproductivity values for intercropping systems (WUE =\n0.61 to 1.49 kg m?3) were relatively higher compared\nto sequential cropping systems (WUE = 0.47 to 1.06 kg\nm?3). Second crop in sequential cropping system often\nsuffered from water stress that led to poor crop yield.\nHowever, a few rain events at the end of the monsoon\nperiod were beneficial to second crop. Simulation results\nindicated that the conservation agriculture could\nsave up to 30% yield loss incurred due to water stress\nduring deficit rainfall compared to conventional agricultural\npractices.
Source: Current Science
Language: English
Subfield: Soil Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2391769708