scholarly journals Growth and instability of area under drip method of irrigation in south Gujarat- A district-wise analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-14
Author(s):  
Deepa B. Hiremath ◽  
J.J. Makadia

The competition among the various sectors of the economy particularly agriculture for the scarce water is becoming intense as the demand for available water resources is fast exceeding the economic supply. Many farmers still adopt conventional methods of irrigation which not only results in severe wastage of water but reduces crop production and also cause ecological hazards like water logging and soil salinity. The mounting water scarcity in Gujarat state validates the adoption of water efficient technologies like drip irrigation. The present study for undertaken to examine the current status and growth performance of area under drip method of irrigation for various districts of South Gujarat using compound growth rates. Instability analysis was carried out using the formula given by Cuddy and Della to know the variation in area under drip irrigation in over the years. The findings of the study suggested that during the period 2005-06 to 2019-20, the area under drip method of irrigation in case of loanee respondents declined significantly over the years.This could be probably attributed to the excessive documentation and other procedural formalities which were discouraging for the less educated and illiterate farmers. It also led to increase in the transaction cost. On the contrary, the growth in non- loanee area was found to be positive and significant in majority of the districts of South Gujarat. Moreover, the variability in loanee and non–loanee area was recorded to be high i.e. that the area under drip in all the districts of South Gujarat region demonstrated to be unstable during the period of study.

Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bushra Niamat ◽  
Muhammad Naveed ◽  
Zulfiqar Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Yaseen ◽  
Allah Ditta ◽  
...  

Soil salinity and sodicity are among the main problems for optimum crop production in areas where rainfall is not enough for leaching of salts out of the rooting zone. Application of organic and Ca-based amendments have the potential to increase crop yield and productivity under saline–alkaline soil environments. Based on this hypothesis, the present study was conducted to evaluate the potential of compost, Ca-based fertilizer industry waste (Ca-FW), and Ca-fortified compost (Ca-FC) to increase growth and yield of maize under saline–sodic soil conditions. Saline–sodic soil conditions with electrical conductivity (EC) levels (1.6, 5, and 10 dS m−1) and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) = 15, were developed by spiking soil with a solution containing NaCl, Na2SO4, MgSO4, and CaCl2. Results showed that soil salinity and sodicity significantly reduced plant growth, yield, physiological, and nutrient uptake parameters. However, the application of Ca-FC caused a remarkable increase in the studied parameters of maize at EC levels of 1.6, 5, and 10 dS m−1 as compared to the control. In addition, Ca-FC caused the maximum decrease in Na+/K+ ratio in shoot up to 85.1%, 71.79%, and 70.37% at EC levels of 1.6, 5, and 10 dS m−1, respectively as compared to the control treatment. Moreover, nutrient uptake (NPK) was also significantly increased with the application of Ca-FC under normal as well as saline–sodic soil conditions. It is thus inferred that the application of Ca-FC could be an effective amendment to enhance growth, yield, physiology, and nutrient uptake in maize under saline–sodic soil conditions constituting the novelty of this work.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 294
Author(s):  
Khadija Nawaz ◽  
Rimsha Chaudhary ◽  
Ayesha Sarwar ◽  
Bushra Ahmad ◽  
Asma Gul ◽  
...  

Melatonin, a multifunctional signaling molecule, is ubiquitously distributed in different parts of a plant and responsible for stimulating several physiochemical responses against adverse environmental conditions in various plant systems. Melatonin acts as an indoleamine neurotransmitter and is primarily considered as an antioxidant agent that can control reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in plants. Melatonin, being a signaling agent, induces several specific physiological responses in plants that might serve to enhance photosynthesis, growth, carbon fixation, rooting, seed germination and defense against several biotic and abiotic stressors. It also works as an important modulator of gene expression related to plant hormones such as in the metabolism of indole-3-acetic acid, cytokinin, ethylene, gibberellin and auxin carrier proteins. Additionally, the regulation of stress-specific genes and the activation of pathogenesis-related protein and antioxidant enzyme genes under stress conditions make it a more versatile molecule. Because of the diversity of action of melatonin, its role in plant growth, development, behavior and regulation of gene expression it is a plant’s master regulator. This review outlines the main functions of melatonin in the physiology, growth, development and regulation of higher plants. Its role as anti-stressor agent against various abiotic stressors, such as drought, salinity, temperatures, UV radiation and toxic chemicals, is also analyzed critically. Additionally, we have also identified many new aspects where melatonin may have possible roles in plants, for example, its function in improving the storage life and quality of fruits and vegetables, which can be useful in enhancing the environmentally friendly crop production and ensuring food safety.


Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1454
Author(s):  
Kyung Do Kim ◽  
Yuna Kang ◽  
Changsoo Kim

Plant breeding has a long history of developing new varieties that have ensured the food security of the human population. During this long journey together with humanity, plant breeders have successfully integrated the latest innovations in science and technologies to accelerate the increase in crop production and quality. For the past two decades, since the completion of human genome sequencing, genomic tools and sequencing technologies have advanced remarkably, and adopting these innovations has enabled us to cost down and/or speed up the plant breeding process. Currently, with the growing mass of genomic data and digitalized biological data, interdisciplinary approaches using new technologies could lead to a new paradigm of plant breeding. In this review, we summarize the overall history and advances of plant breeding, which have been aided by plant genomic research. We highlight the key advances in the field of plant genomics that have impacted plant breeding over the past decades and introduce the current status of innovative approaches such as genomic selection, which could overcome limitations of conventional breeding and enhance the rate of genetic gain.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1822
Author(s):  
Daniel Moran ◽  
Milda Petersone ◽  
Francesca Verones

It has been argued that the trade of water intensive crops may be beneficial as it helps alleviate regional differences in water scarcity by effectively transporting moisture from humid regions to arid ones. However, the incentive to grow export crops can also intensify pressure on local water resources. Water abstraction for use in growing cash crops can affect rivers and wetlands with rich biodiversity reserves. In many macro-level environmental assessments, it is assumed that water use is a proxy for biodiversity pressure. Here we use correlation analysis to test the degree of spatial overlap between areas with high scarce-water consumption for cash crop production (i.e., crops where a majority is exported) and areas with high species richness or vulnerability of Red-Listed amphibians. We find that, globally, there is relatively little spatial overlap between areas where scarce water is used for export production and the habitat range of stressed amphibians.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (No. 3) ◽  
pp. 132-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiuping Wang ◽  
Zhizhong Xue ◽  
Xuelin Lu ◽  
Yahui Liu ◽  
Guangming Liu ◽  
...  

Techniques of drip irrigation are broadly applied for the reclamation of saline-alkali lands, during which effective management of water use to accelerate salt leaching is essential for crop production. In 2017, a field experiment with five treatments of soil matric potential (SMP) levels of −5, −10, −15, −20, and −25 kPa was conducted in heavy saline silty soil land in Bohai Bay, China to study the effects of drip irrigation on salt leaching. The results showed that salt leaching was enhanced with increasing SMP, particularly under an SMP of −5 kPa within a 30 cm soil profile depth and 15 cm distance from the dripper, and the average electrical conductivity of saturated paste extracts (ECe) decreased from 13.8 to 1.52 dS/m. Water consumption increased with increasing SMP, but the yield of oil sunflower did not differ significantly between SMPs of –5 and –10 kPa. These findings indicated that a relatively high crop yield of oil sunflower and effective salt leaching can be achieved if the SMP can be controlled at –10 kPa in heavy saline silty soil.  


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