scholarly journals Portfolios of Climate Smart Agriculture Practices in Smallholder Rice-Wheat System of Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains—Crop Productivity, Resource Use Efficiency and Environmental Foot Prints

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1561
Author(s):  
Deepak Bijarniya ◽  
C. M. Parihar ◽  
R. K. Jat ◽  
Kailash Kalvania ◽  
S. K. Kakraliya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Use ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Energy Productivity ◽  
System Productivity ◽  
Environmental Footprints ◽  
Farm Profitability ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Smart Agriculture

The conventional tillage based rice-wheat system (RWS) in Indo-genetic plains (IGP) of South Asia is facing diverse challenges like increase in production cost and erratic climatic events. This results in stagnated crop productivity and declined farm profitability with increased emission of greenhouse gases. Therefore, 3-year multi-location farmer’s participatory research trial was conducted to assess the impact of crop establishment and residue management techniques on crop productivity, economic profitability and environmental footprints in RWS. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of combinations of improved agronomic technologies compared to farmer’s practices (FP) on crop productivity, profitability, resource use efficiency and environmental footprints. The experiment had six scenarios that is, S1-Farmer’s practice; Conventional tillage (CT) without residue; S2-CT with residue, S3- Reduced tillage (RT) with residue + Recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF); S4-RT/zero tillage (ZT) with residue + RDF, S5-ZT with residue + RDF + green seeker + tensiometer + information & communication technology + crop insurance and S6- S5 + site specific nutrient management. Climate smart agriculture practices (CSAPs; mean of S4, S5 and S6) increase system productivity and farm profitability by 10.5% and 29.4% (on 3 yrs’ mean basis), whereas, improved farmers practices (mean of S2 and S3) resulted in only 3.2% and 5.3% increments compared to farmer’s practice (S1), respectively. On an average, CSAPs saved 39.3% of irrigation water and enhanced the irrigation and total water productivity by 53.9% and 18.4% than FP, respectively. In all the 3-years, CSAPs with high adaptive measures enhanced the energy-use-efficiency (EUE) and energy productivity (EP) by 43%–54% and 44%–61%, respectively than FP. In our study, global warming potential (GWP), GHG emission due to consumption energy and greenhouse gas intensity were recorded lower by 43%, 56% and 59% in Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) with high adaptive measures than farmers practices (3652.7 kg CO2 eq. ha−1 yr−1, 722.2 kg CO2 eq. ha−1 yr−1 and 718.7 Mg kg−1 CO2 eq. ha−1 yr−1). The findings of the present study revealed that CSA with adaption of innovative measures (S6) improved 3-year mean system productivity by 10.5%, profitability by 29.4%, water productivity and energy productivity by 18.3% and 48.9%, respectively than FP. Thus, the results of our 3-year farmer’s participatory study suggest that in a RW system, climate smart agriculture practices have better adaptive capacity and could be a feasible option for attaining higher yields, farm profitability, energy-use efficiency and water productivity with sustained/improved environmental quality in smallholder production systems of Eastern IGP of India and other similar agro-ecologies of South Asia. Finally, the adoption of these CSAPs should be promoted in the RW rotation of IGP to ensure food security, restoration of soil health and to mitigate climate change, the key sustainable development goals (SDGs).

scholarly journals Orchard Level Assessment of Irrigation Performance and Water Productivity of an Irrigation Community in Eastern Spain

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1829
Author(s):  
Herminia Puerto ◽  
Miguel Mora ◽  
Bernat Roig-Merino ◽  
Ricardo Abadía-Sánchez ◽  
José María Cámara-Zapata ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Distribution Networks ◽  
Irrigation Scheduling ◽  
Irrigation Performance ◽  
Irrigation Water Use ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Fruit Orchards ◽  
Peach Trees

Over the last three decades, a great investment effort has been made in the modernization of irrigation in the Valencian Community (Spain). The initial change from distribution networks to pressurized ones and the shift towards drip irrigation systems was followed by improvements in irrigation scheduling, based on agrometeorological data, soil water content sensors, and remote sensing. These improvements are considered adequate for increasing irrigation water use efficiency, but it is difficult to find systematic measurements to assess its impacts on irrigation adequacy along with irrigation productivity in fruit orchards. This work presents the results of a four year assessment of irrigation water and energy use efficiency along with water productivity of a recently established irrigation community in the province of Valencia (Spain). The study was carried out at the orchard level and focused on two fruit crops: persimmon and peach trees. Six irrigation performance indicators, relative water supply (RWS), relative irrigation supply (RIS), yield performance (Yp), global water productivity (WPoverall), output per unit irrigation water (OUI), and the percent of nitrogen fertilization obtained by irrigation water, were defined and calculated for years 2017 to 2020 in 104 persimmon and peach orchards. The results showed that most of the farmers irrigated below the crop water requirements, showing RWS and RIS values less than 1, and there was great variability among farmers, especially in WPoverall and OUI indicators.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Greenhouse Cucumber Production Sustainability in Terms of Energy Use Efficiency

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Nawal Khamis Al-Mezeini ◽  
Abdulrahim M. Al-Ismaili ◽  
Said M. Tabook
Keyword(s):  
Total Energy ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Output ◽  
Energy Productivity ◽  
Greenhouse Production ◽  
Energy Use Efficiency ◽  
Energy Inputs ◽  
Energy Consuming ◽  
Greenhouse Cucumber ◽  
Use Efficiency

Sustainable agricultural production could be assessed through energy-use efficiency (EUE). Thus, this paper aims to evaluate the EUE for cucumber greenhouse production in Oman. Data were obtained by interviewing farmers (face-to-face). Result indicated that total energy inputs (e.g. electricity, water, fertilizers and agrochemicals) and total energy output (cucumber yield) were 1159726.0 MJ ha-1 and 89942.9 MJ ha-1, respectively. The highest energy consuming input in the greenhouse production was electricity, consuming 88% of total energy input. This indicates that electricity had again the highest impact in cucumber greenhouse production and 99% of electricity goes for cooling the greenhouse. When all energy inputs were classified into its forms; direct (D) and indirect (ID), and renewable (R) and non-renewable (NR), the highest portion of total energy forms in greenhouse cucumber production was for D and NR energy. The EUE and energy productivity (EP) were found to be 0.07 and 0.10 kg MJ-1, respectively. Energy use in greenhouse cucumber production was inefficient and solar energy need to be implemented to improve cucumber greenhouse sustainability production.

scholarly journals Re-designing irrigated intensive cereal systems through bundling precision agronomic innovations for transitioning towards agricultural sustainability in North-West India

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
H. S. Jat ◽  
P. C. Sharma ◽  
Ashim Datta ◽  
Madhu Choudhary ◽  
S. K. Kakraliya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Drip Irrigation ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Drip Irrigation System ◽  
Flood Irrigation ◽  
Energy Productivity ◽  
North West ◽  
Surface Drip Irrigation

AbstractA study was conducted to design productive, profitable, irrigation water¸ nitrogen and energy use efficient intensive cereal systems (rice-wheat; RW and maize-wheat; MW) in North-West India. Bundling of conservation agriculture (CA) with sub-surface drip irrigation termed as CA+ were compared with CA alone and conventional tillage based and flood irrigated RW rotation (farmer’s practice; ScI). In contrast to conventional till RW rotation which consumed 1889 mm ha−1 irrigation water (2-yr mean), CA+ system saved 58.4 and 95.5% irrigation water in RW and MW rotations, respectively. CA+ practices saved 45.8 and 22.7% of irrigation water in rice and maize, respectively compared to CA with flood irrigation. On a system basis, CA+ practices saved 46.7 and 44.7% irrigation water under RW (ScV) and MW (ScVI) systems compared to their respective CA-based systems with flood irrigation (ScIII and ScIV). CA+ in RW system recorded 11.2% higher crop productivity and improved irrigation water productivity by 145% and profitability by 29.2% compared to farmers’ practice. Substitution of rice with maize (MW system; ScVI) recorded 19.7% higher productivity, saved 84.5% of irrigation water and increased net returns by 48.9% compared to farmer’s practice. CA+ RW and MW system improved energy productivity by 75 and 169% and partial factor productivity of N by 44.6 and 49.6%, respectively compared to ScI. The sub-surface drip irrigation system saved the fertilizer N by 20% under CA systems. CA+ in RW and MW systems recorded ~13 and 5% (2-yr mean) higher profitability with 80% subsidy on installing sub-surface drip irrigation system and similar profitability without subsidy scenario compared with their respective flood irrigated CA-based systems.

scholarly journals Study and determination of energy consumption to produce conventional rice of the Guilan province

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (No. 3) ◽  
pp. 99-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Alipour ◽  
H. Veisi ◽  
F. Darijani ◽  
B. Mirbagheri ◽  
A.G. Behbahani
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Diesel Oil ◽  
Energy Productivity ◽  
Energy Inputs ◽  
Total Input ◽  
Efficiency And Productivity ◽  
Guilan Province

The aim of this study was to determine the energy efficiency indices in the agro-ecosystems of the Guilan province in 2010. One hundred and twenty-seven farmers were interviewed using a particularly designed questionnaire. The inputs in the calculation of energy use in agro-ecosystems embraced labour, machinery, electricity, diesel oil, fertilizers, seeds, while rice and straw yield were included in the output. The results depicted that total input and output energy into these agro-ecosystems were about 47,604 and 90,680.04 MJ/ha, respectively. The highest energy input was related to water (38.84%), electricity (27.87%) and nitrogen fertilizer (17.5%). Energy efficiency and energy productivity in these agro-ecosystems was 2.19 and 0.064 kg/MJ, respectively, and water productivity was 0.11 kg/m<sup>3</sup>. The results also showed that due to application of flood irrigation in these agro-ecosystems and also water elicited from subterranean sources by electrical pump, the inputs had the largest portion among the energy inputs to agro-ecosystems that this matter increased energy use in the unit area and also reduced energy efficiency and productivity.

scholarly journals Designing profitable, resource use efficient and environmentally sound cereal based systems for the Western Indo-Gangetic plains

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanuman S. Jat ◽  
Virender Kumar ◽  
Ashim Datta ◽  
Madhu Choudhary ◽  
Yadvinder-Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Use ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Market Demand ◽  
System Productivity ◽  
Gangetic Plains ◽  
Environment Quality ◽  
Irrigation Water Use ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Environmentally Sound ◽  
Evidence Generation

Abstract In the western Indo-Gangetic plains, issues of deterioration in soil, water, and environment quality coupled with low profitability jeopardize the sustainability of the dominant rice–wheat (RW) system. To address these issues, crop diversification and conservation agriculture (CA)-based management hold considerable promise but the adoption of both approaches has been low, and additional evidence generation from a multi-criteria productivity and sustainability perspective is likely required to help drive the change. Compared to prevailing farmers’ practice (FP), results suggest that CA-based rice management increased profitability by 13% and energy use efficiency (EUE) by 21% while reducing irrigation by 19% and global warming potential (GWP) by 28%. By substituting CA-based maize for rice, similar mean profitability gains were realized (16%) but transformative improvements in irrigation (− 84%), EUE (+ 231%), and GWP (− 95%) were observed compared to FP. Inclusion of mungbean in the rotation (i.e. maize-wheat-mungbean) with CA-based management increased the system productivity, profitability, and EUE by 11, 25 and 103%, respectively while decreasing irrigation water use by 64% and GWP by 106% compared to FP. Despite considerable benefits from the CA-based maize-wheat system, adoption of maize is not widespread due to uneven market demand and assured price guarantees for rice.

scholarly journals ON-FARM EXPERIMENTATION ON CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE IN MAIZE-LEGUME BASED CROPPING SYSTEMS IN KENYA: WATER USE EFFICIENCY AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. MICHENI ◽  
F. KANAMPIU ◽  
O. KITONYO ◽  
D. M. MBURU ◽  
E.N. MUGAI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Zero Tillage ◽  
System Productivity ◽  
Use Efficiency

SUMMARYConservation agriculture (CA) is a promising technology for controlling soil degradation, mitigating drought, increasing crop yield and reducing production costs. We hypothesized that adopting CA system would improve system productivity and efficiency, hence resulting in higher profits. To test the hypothesis, we designed a study to evaluate water use efficiency (WUE) and the economic benefits (yield and gross margins) of CA in the upper and lower midlands agro-ecological zones of eastern Kenya. Four tillage treatments, including farmers’ practice (residues removed), conventional tillage (residues removed) and two CA practices with residue retention (zero tillage and furrow–ridge), were laid out in 22 farmers’ fields where each farm was treated as a replicate. The results are based on four consecutive seasons farmer–researcher managed trials during the period 2010 and 2012. CA significantly improved crop yields after the first season of experimentation. Joint use of zero tillage and furrow–ridge provided higher WUE and yield advantage (25–34%) in the third and fourth seasons compared to the conventional practices. The lower midlands zone gave higher WUE values, which can be explained by the effects of water harvesting and retention for longer period on CA treatments. CA practices have increased income on average by 12% resulted from labour cost reduction and yield increment. Weeding costs for conventional tillage were USD 88 ha−1 compared to USD 24 ha−1 for herbicide application under CA. Practicing CA will certainly increase crop yields, WUE, generate more revenue and diversify risks during poor seasons. However, these benefits may not necessarily be earned in the first season, but will accrue in subsequent seasons.

TILLAGE AND RESIDUE MANAGEMENT FOR IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY AND RESOURCE-USE EFFICIENCY IN SOYBEAN (GLYCINE MAX)—WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM) CROPPING SYSTEM

2016 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. KARUNAKARAN ◽  
U. K. BEHERA
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Zero Tillage ◽  
Resource Use Efficiency ◽  
System Productivity ◽  
Energy Use Efficiency ◽  
Soybean Residue ◽  
Use Efficiency

SUMMARYContinuous rice–wheat (RW) cropping in an area of 13.5 million ha with intensive tillage has resulted in over exploitation of resources, decline of the factor productivity, loss of soil fertility and biodiversity and decline of resource use efficiency in the Indo-Gangetic plains (IGPs) of South Asia. This has led to unsustainability of agriculture in the region. Replacement of a cereal-cereal system with a legume–cereal system may prove beneficial for long-term sustainability of the system. A field experiment was conducted with soybean–wheat (SW) rotation in the IGP of India during 2009–10 and 2010–11 to assess the suitability of conservation tillage versus conventional tillage (CT) and crop-establishment techniques, namely bed (B) planting versus flat (F) planting. The study revealed that the zero tillage (ZT) for soybean during rainy and for wheat during winter season either in flat or in bed system performed equally good with CT. The maximum system productivity (7.06 t ha−1 in 2009–10 and 8.48 t ha−1 in 2010–11) was obtained with combined application of wheat + soybean residue. The maximum net returns of ₹46.98 and ₹65.08 thousands and B:C ratio of 2.35 and 3.08 were recorded in the SW system with zero tillage-flat (ZT─F) during 2009–10 and 2010–11, respectively. The minimum energy of 64.67 and 63.01 ×103 MJ ha−1 was utilized as input energy with zero tillage-bed (ZT─B) while the maximum energy use efficiency of 4.10 and 5.14 was obtained with ZT─F and ZT─B for the SW system during 2009–10 and 2010–11 respectively. The gross output energy was maximum with wheat + soybean residue (241.6 and 265.7 ×103 MJ ha−1) contrary to this the net energy (194.4 and 213.4 ×103 MJ ha−1) and energy use efficiency (9.03 and 10.96) was maximum with control (no residue) in the SW system. In wheat there was 37.85% improvement in irrigation water use efficiency (WUE) in raised bed planting than flat planting and 28.57% of irrigation water was saved. The study suggested that ZT either bed or flat planting to both the crops can successfully adopted along with application wheat + soybean residue together with full recommended dose of NPK fertilizers to the system for improving productivity, profitability, soil health and sustainability of SW system in the IGPs of South Asia.

scholarly journals Acidified Biochar as a Soil Amendment to Drought Stressed (Vicia faba L.) Plants: Influences on Growth and Productivity, Nutrient Status, and Water Use Efficiency

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1290
Author(s):  
Taia A. Abd El-Mageed ◽  
Eman E. Belal ◽  
Mohamed O. A. Rady ◽  
Shimaa A. Abd El-Mageed ◽  
Elsayed Mansour ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Seed Yield ◽  
Soil Amendment ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Water Status ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Use Efficiency

Drought is one of the major threats to global food security. Biochar use in agriculture has received much attention and improving it through chemical modification offers a potential approach for enhancing crop productivity. There is still limited knowledge on how acidified biochar influences soil properties, and consequently its influences on the agricultural productivity of drought stressed plants. The water use efficiency (I-WUE) of drought stressed faba beans was investigated through the effects of acidified biochar (ACBio) (a 3:100 (w:w) combination of citric acid and biochar) on soil properties, growth, productivity, nutrient uptake, water productivity (WP), and irrigation. Two field experiments (2016/2017 and 2017/2018) were conducted in saline soil (ECe, 7.2 dS m−1) on faba been plants grown under three irrigation regimes (i.e., 100, 80, and 60% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc)) combined with three levels of ACBio (0, 5, and 10 t ha−1). Plants exposed to water stress presented a significant decrease in plant height, dry matter, leave area, chlorophyll content (SPAD), the quantum efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm, Fv/F0, and PI), water status (membrane stability index and relative water content), and seed yield. Acidified biochar soil incorporation improved soil properties (chemical and physical), plant growth, physiological responses, WP, I-WUE, and contents of N, P, K, and Ca. Results revealed that the application of ACBio at 10 t ha−1 and 5 t ha−1 significantly increased seed yield by 38.7 and 25.8%, respectively, compared to the control. Therefore, ACBio incorporation may find application in the future as a potential soil amendment for improving growth and productivity of faba bean plants under deficit irrigation.

scholarly journals Energy Efficiency of Continuous Rye, Rotational Rye and Barley in Different Fertilization Systems in a Long-Term Field Experiment

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 229
Author(s):  
Gerhard Moitzi ◽  
Reinhard W. Neugschwandtner ◽  
Hans-Peter Kaul ◽  
Helmut Wagentristl
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Total Energy ◽  
Energy Input ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Output ◽  
Winter Rye ◽  
Net Energy ◽  
Energy Productivity ◽  
Total Energy Input ◽  
Use Efficiency

A goal in sustainable agriculture is to use fossil energy more efficiently in crop production. This 60-year-old experiment on a silt loam chernozem investigated effects of fertilization (unfertilized control, mineral fertilizer (NPK) and farmyard manure (FYM)) and rotation (continuous winter rye (CR), winter rye in rotation (RR), spring barley in rotation (SB) on diesel fuel consumption, total energy input (made of both direct and indirect inputs), crop yield, energy output, net-energy output, energy intensity, energy productivity and energy use efficiency. The input rates of fertilizer, herbicides and seeds were set constant during the experiment. Soil tillage was done with a moldboard plough with subsequent combined seedbed preparation and seeding. The mean calculated total energy input was highest in NPK with 11.28 GJ ha−1 and lowest in the unfertilized control with 5.00 GJ ha−1. Total energy input for FYM was intermediate with 6.30 GJ ha−1. With energetic consideration of NPK nutrients in FYM the total energy input increased to the level of NPK. The share of the fertilizer energy on the total energy input was 49% for NPK. Fertilization with FYM and NPK increased yield and energy output considerably, especially of CR and SB which attained about doubled values. Crop rotation also increased the yield and energy output, especially of unfertilized rye, which attained values increased by about 75%. Fertilization with FYM resulted in the highest energy efficiency as the net-energy output, the energy productivity and the energy use efficiency were higher but the energy intensity was lower compared to unfertilized controls and NPK. When the nutrients in FYM were also energetically considered, the energy efficiency parameters of FYM decreased to the level of the NPK treatment. Crop rotation increased the energy efficiency of winter rye compared to the monoculture.

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