An Inter-District Analysis of Instability and Sustainability for Major Crops in Haryana

Increased volatility in farm production and sustainability of crops is a growing concern issue, and state-level analysis cannot reflect a complete scenario of volatile production behavior of different crops so district level study is taken up in this article. The study has estimated instability and sustainability in three major crops in the last three decades at district levels in Haryana. It was observed that Gram crop area is declining in every district at a very rapid pace. Cotton and mustard have seen facing severe ups and downs throughout the study period. To meet the demand of food and nutritional security, sustainable production is required and selected crops yield sustainability. Udemand of food and nutritional security, sustainable production is required, and selected crops yield sustainability was estimated using several sustainability indices at the district level.

AZOLLA: POTENTIAL BIOFERTILIZER FOR INCREASING RICE PRODUCTIVITY, AND GOVERNMENT POLICY FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Rice is the staple food for the significant population of Asia. Due to projected population growth in this region, the demand for this food is also predicted to be increased exponentially soon. Nitrogen (N) plays a dominant role in increasing rice yield as it is the most critical yield-limiting nutrient of rice. Chemical N fertilizers which are a major source in supplying N nutrients to rice, have adverse effects on overall soil and environmental health in the long term. The application of free-floating aquatic fern Azolla as a biofertilizer can be an alternative to improve rice yield without degrading the environment. It provides a natural source of many nutrients, especially N, improves the availability of other nutrients, plays a critical role in weed suppression, enhances soil organic matter, and improves efficiency of the inorganic fertilizers while maintaining the suitable soil pH condition for rice growth, which overall contribute to rice yield increment. Therefore, Azolla application has tremendous potential to improve soil health and boost yield sustainability.

Incorporating Drought and Submergence Tolerance QTL in Rice (Oryza sativa L.)—The Effects under Reproductive Stage Drought and Vegetative Stage Submergence Stresses

Drought and submergence have been the major constraint in rice production. The present study was conducted to develop high-yielding rice lines with tolerance to drought and submergence by introgressing Sub1 into a rice line with drought yield QTL (qDTY; QTL = quantitative trait loci) viz. qDTY3.1 and qDTY12.1 using marker-assisted breeding. We report here the effect of different combinations of Sub1 and qDTY on morpho-physiological, agronomical traits and yield under reproductive stage drought stress (RS) and non-stress (NS) conditions. Lines with outstanding performance in RS and NS trials were also evaluated in vegetative stage submergence stress (VS) trial to assess the tolerance level. The QTL class analysis revealed Sub1 + qDTY3.1 as the best QTL combination affecting the measured traits in RS trial followed by Sub1 + qDTY12.1. The effects of single Sub1, qDTY3.1 and qDTY12.1 were not as superior as when the QTLs are combined, suggesting the positive interaction of Sub1 and qDTY. Best performing lines selected from the RS and NS trials recorded yield advantage up to 4453.69 kg ha−1 and 6954 kg ha−1 over the parents, respectively. The lines were also found having great tolerance to submergence ranging from 80% to 100%, contributed by a lower percentage of shoot elongation and reduction of chlorophyll content after 14 days of VS. These lines could provide yield sustainability to farmers in regions impacted with drought and submergence while serving as important genetic materials for future breeding programs.

Yield sustainability of pearl millet and soil biological health with organic and inorganic fertilizer in arid environment

Aim: To assess sustainable yield levels and manure and/or urea needed to sustain in arid zone. Methodology: A field experiment was conducted over a period of 25 years in arid soils of Jodhpur with three levels of manure (0, 2.5 and 5.0 t ha-1 yr-1), urea (0, 20 and 40 kg N ha-1 yr-1) and their combinations to assess the rate of change in yield of pearl millet cultivated with manure and/or urea; minimum quantity of manure and/or urea to be applied for achieving yield stability and minimum quantity of manure and/or urea to be applied for improved soil biological health vis-a-vis yield sustainability.? Results: Application of fertilizers over the years showed significant impact on the status of soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil fertility, which in turn influenced sustainability. The results showed that SOC had significant effect on sustainable yield index (SYI). However, available soil N status did not much influence the SYI. Application of urea-N alone or even that of 2.5 ton manure alone is not adequate to achieve agronomic sustainability of yield. Interpretation: Integration of FYM @ 2.5 t ha-1 yr-1 with 20kg N ha-1 sustained higher productivity to self-effacing economic status for farmers in a fragile ecosystem with the available minimum resources for livelihood and also sustain soil biological health of arid soils.

Study on Yield Sustainability and Water Productivity of Groundnut on Farmers’ Fields through Improved Technology under Hyper Arid Partially Irrigated Zone of Rajasthan

Background: Groundnut is an important kharif crop in Rajasthan and occupies important position among state crop list. However, a vast yield gap exists between potential yield and the actual yield obtained due to partial adoption of recommended package of practices by the farmers. The technology gap is a major concern in achieving optimum and sustained production. Considering the facts, present study aimed to study the effect of adaptation of improved technologies in groundnut production, water productivity and sustainability in arid zone of Rajasthan.Methods: Field experiment of groundnut was carried out during four consecutive years 2016 to 2019 on farmer’s field of Bikaner districts under cluster frontline demonstrations to assess the impact of improved technologies on yield sustainability, water productivity and economics of groundnut crop. The two treatments evaluated at 25 farmer’s field were a) improved technologies i.e. high yielding varieties, seed treatment, timely sowing, optimum plant population, recommended fertilizer management, plant protection measures and irrigation management and b) farmers practice. The groundnut yield, water productivity, sustainability indices, economic returns and benefit to cost ratio of both the systems was compared using appropriate standard statistical procedure. Result: The results of the present field experiment revealed that, the improved practices gave higher and sustainable yield of groundnut over years compared to farmers practice. The mean pod yield recorded (3371 kg ha-1) with improved practices was 24.39 percent higher than farmer’s practice (2710 kg ha-1). Similarly, improved practices had higher sustainability yield index (0.63), sustainability value index (0.47), higher water expense efficiency (74.92 kg ha-1 cm-1), gross water productivity (16.58 ₹ m-3), net water productivity (11.89 ₹ m-3) and incremental benefit cost ratio (30.1) over farmers practice.

Incredible Role of Osmotic Adjustment in Grain Yield Sustainability under Water Scarcity Conditions in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Interrogations of local germplasm and landraces can offer a foundation and genetic basis for drought tolerance in wheat. Potential of drought tolerance in a panel of 30 wheat genotypes including varieties, local landraces, and wild crosses were explored under drought stress (DS) and well-watered (WW) conditions. Considerable variation for an osmotic adjustment (OA) and yield components, coupled with genotype and environment interaction was observed, which indicates the differential potential of wheat genotypes under both conditions. Reduction in yield per plant (YP), thousand kernel weight (TKW), and induction of OA was detected. Correlation analysis revealed a strong positive association of YP with directly contributing yield components under both environments, indicating the impotence of these traits as a selection-criteria for the screening of drought-tolerant genotypes for drylands worldwide. Subsequently, the association of OA with TKW which contributes directly to YP, indicates that wheat attains OA to extract more water from the soil under low water-potential. Genotypes including WC-4, WC-8 and LLR-29 showed more TKW under both conditions, among them; LLR-29 also has maximum OA and batter yield comparatively. Result provides insight into the role of OA in plant yield sustainability under DS. In this study, we figure out the concept of OA and its incredible role in sustainable plant yield in wheat.