Rajan Bhatt

Direct Seeded Rice in South Asia

Rice–wheat is the major cropping system occupying 13.5 million ha in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia. Conventional puddle transplanted system of rice is water, capital and energy intensive. This system leads to structural deterioration of the soil. Furthermore, aeration stress due to hard pan formation during the rice season modifies wheat yields. Technical training is required to grow mat type nursery and operating of transplanter put mechanical transplanting to a second option. Direct seeding of rice with zero or reduced tillage is a viable option for sustainable rice production, if problems of weeds, micronutrients deficiency, nematodes and development of aerobic variety are addressed. Further, direct seeded rice reduces emission of greenhouses gases. We review here the performance of direct seeding of rice at texturally divergent soils in different agroclimatic regions; and major problems encountered.

Resource Conservation Technologies (RCTs) for Climate-Resilient Agriculture in the Foothill of Northwest Himalayas

Potential threats to agriculture in the foothills of northwest Himalayas are the climate change. Further, erratic rains, undulating slopes and traditional management practices further strengthen the problem which might be responsible for soil erosion, low NUE, lower grains and finally to the lower livelihoods of the farmers. Climate change phenomenon influences the agriculture over the globe. India especially the northwest Himalayan region is one of the most vulnerable areas. Climate change is projected to reduce timely sown irrigated wheat production by ~6 % by 2020. In the case of late-sown wheat, the projected levels are alarmingly high, to the extent of 18 %. Similarly, a 4 % fall in the yield of irrigated rice crop and a 6 % fall in rain-fed rice are foreseen by 2020 due to climate changes. The warming trend in India over the past 100 years is estimated at 0.60 °C. The projected impacts are likely to further aggravate yield fluctuations of many crops with impact on food security. Thus there is a need for the serious attention on adaptation and mitigation strategies to overcome the problems of climate change more particularly in the northwest Himalayan region. Sustainable food security is further affected by persistent land degradation, land fragmentation, labour problem, overexploitation of natural resources, etc. We need to focus on sustainable production systems by strengthening the ecological foundations and mitigating the adverse effect of the global warming. This requires an integrated approach by considering technological, biophysical, socio-economic, political and environmental factors in one basket. Food security and environmental sustainability can be attained by improved land and water management, adopting eco-friendly technologies and initiating good agricultural practices in different agroecosystems. Further, strategic research and technology in agriculture and adoption of sustainable practices are necessary to meet current and future threats to food security.