Parihar CM, Jat SL, Singh AK and Jat ML

Directorate of Maize Research(Indian Council of Agricultural Research)

Pusa, New Delhi-12, INDIA

Energy scenario and water productivity of maize based CS under CA practices in South Asia

Major challenges for South Asian Agriculture

Climate change: Aberrant rainfall, drought and high

temperature

Low water, energy and nutrient use efficiency

Degradation of natural resources

Biotic stresses

Small land holding

Yield gaps: Wider at research & farm level and yield

stagnation

Yield gaps in major cereal crops

Rice Wheat Maize Rice Wheat Maize Rice Wheat Maize Rice Wheat MaizePunjab Haryana EUP BIHAR

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0Potential yield Attainable yield Average yield Management gap Total gap

Yiel

d (t

/ha)

Yiel

d Ga

p (%

)

1965-66 1975-76 1985-86 1995-96 2000-01 2005-06 2009-100

50

100

150

200

250

45.0

64.077.5

93.0102.7

110.0119.3

72.4

121.0

150.4

180.4

196.8208.6

230.7

10.40

28.84

47.05

62.1069.68 69.35

81.00

Population (crores) Food grains (mt) Wheat production

Moving ahead yet standing still - India

Modified from: KS Gill, PAU, Ludhiana

1950

-51

1952

-53

1954

-55

1956

-57

1958

-59

1960

-61

1962

-63

1964

-65

1966

-67

1968

-69

1970

-71

1972

-73

1974

-75

1976

-77

1978

-79

1980

-81

1982

-83

1984

-85

1986

-87

1988

-89

1990

-91

1992

-93

1994

-95

1996

-97

1998

-99

2000

-01

2002

-03

2004

-05

2006

-07

2008

-09

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Area (mha) Production (mt) Yield (kg/ha)

Are

a (m

ha)

, Pro

du

ctio

n (

mt)

Yie

ld (

kg/

ha)

Land Races DC Composites & DTC/DC

DC/TWC/SCH/

Composites

SCHCompositesSCH/TWC/

DC/Composites

Growth in Indian maize productivity

Year A (mha) P (mt) Y (kg/ha)2006-07 7.89 15.09 1912.52007-08 8.11 18.96 2337.82008-09 8.17 19.73 2414.92009-10 8.26 16.68 2020.0*2010-11 8.26 21.23 2570.2

3 times 12 times 5 times

Year Yield Increase (kg/ha/annum)

50-51 to 87-88 13 LR, OPV 100%

88-89 to 06-07 46.5 DCH 30%

07-08 to 10-11 164.5 SCH 25%*Severe drought year

Minimum soil disturbance

Rational soil cover

Efficient crop rotations

Immediate economical benefits to the farmers

CA?

Diversified crop

rotation

Minimum soil

disturbance

Permanent soil cover

CA based RCTs

Why CA for South Asian Agriculture?

Due to intensive production system,

Declining water table,

Residue removal and burning,

Depletion of soil organic matter and nutrient imbalance,

Soil salinity and sodicity,

In certain situation, where tillage operations caused delay in sowing and add to the cost of production.

Role of CA

(Adopted from Gupta and Malik, 2009)

Restores soil carbonConserves moistureSaves fuelSaves laborLowers machinery costsReduces erosionImproved soil fertilityPlanting on the best dateImproves wildlife habitat

RCTs

Employment

GenerationNatural

Resource

Conservation

Environmental

Quality

Crop

DiversificationSustainable

Development

Food

&

Livelihood

Security

Biodiversity

&

Agro-ecosystem

Water productivity under different tillage practices

Treatments

Water requirement (m3)

Water Productivity (kg/m3water)

2008-09 2009-10 2008-09 2009-10

Zero till (ZT) 6100 b 5950 b 1.38 b 1.31 b

Permanent Bed (PB) 5100 c 5100 c 1.78 a 1.63 a

Conventional Till (CT) 6800a 6800 a 1.17 c 1.11 c

Water productivity of different maize based cropping systems

TreatmentsWater requirement (m3) Water Productivity

(kg/m3water)

2008-09 2009-10 2008-09 2009-10

Maize-Wheat-Mungbean (MWM) 7200 a 7000 a 1.27 c 1.47 b

Maize-Chickpea-Sesbania (MCS) 4200 d 4200 c 1.75 a 1.68 a

Maize-Mustard-Mungbean (MMM) 5600 c 5600b 1.58 b 1.09d

Maize-Maize-Sesbania (MMS) 7000 ab 7000 a 1.18 d 1.15 c

ZT-MW

M

PB-MW

M

CT-MW

M

ZT-MCS

PB-MCS

CT-MCS

ZT-MM

M

PB-MM

M

CT-MM

M

ZT-MM

S

PB-MM

S

CT-MM

S0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50 2008-09 2009-10

Water productivity of different maize based cropping systems under CA practices

ZT-MW

M

PB-MW

M

CT-MW

M

ZT-MCS

PB-MCS

CT-MCS

ZT-MM

M

PB-MM

M

CT-MM

M

ZT-MM

S

PB-MM

S

CT-MM

S

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

Water requirement (M3)

Water requirement of different maize based cropping systems under CA practices

Energy scenario of different tillage practices

Treatments

2008-09 2009-10

Energy output

(MJ/ha)

Energy Productivity

Net Energy (MJ/ha)

Energy output

(MJ/ha)

Energy Productivity

Net Energy (MJ/ha)

ZT 137198 b 4.27 b 105018 b 108004 a 4.56 b 84043 a

PB 149963 a 4.78 a 118609 a 100242 b 5.07 a 79778 b

CT 134307 c 3.88 c 99645 c 87797 c 3.67 c 63553 c

Energy scenario of different maize base cropping systems

Treatments

2008-09 2009-10

Energy output

(MJ/ha)

Energy Productivity

Net Energy (MJ/ha)

Energy output

(MJ/ha)

Energy Productivity

Net Energy (MJ/ha)

MWM 149680 b 4.06 c 112544 b 151079 a 4.10 d 113943 a

MCS 156164 a 4.64 a 122527 a 100976 b 4.27 bc 77268 b

MMM 140467 c 4.61 ab 109835 c 78804 c 4.94 a 62648 c

MMS 115645 d 3.92 d 86122 d 63864 d 4.42 b 49307 d

ZT-MW

M

PB-MW

M

CT-MW

M

ZT-MCS

PB-MCS

CT-MCS

ZT-MM

M

PB-MM

M

CT-MM

M

ZT-MM

S

PB-MM

S

CT-MM

S0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000 2008-09

Net energy output (MJ/ha) of different maize based cropping systems under CA practices

Correlation between system productivity and energy input

10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 450000

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

f(x) = 0.121525039073203 x + 4958.92892207775R² = 0.486238221828351

Chart Title

Energy Input (MJ/ha)

Syst

em p

rodu

ctiv

ity

(kg/

ha)

Success stories in India

ZT Maize in A.P.

Maize revolution in A.P.

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

600

650

700

750

800

850

900Area ('000 ha)Production ('000 tonnes)Productivity (kg/ha)

Prod

uctio

n an

d pr

oduc

tivit

y

Are

a

Conclusions

CA based crop management is much needed in South Asian agriculture under climate change scenario

Adoption of CA practices enhances energy productivity

Crop establishment in Permanent Beds helps in realizing “more crop per drop”

Future thrusts

Identification of new plant types in location specific CA practices for climate resilient agriculture

CA practices Refinement for large scale adoption using farmers expertise with scientific know-how

Development of new farm implements for small and marginal farmers